Tuesday night featured a match up of the
cellar-dwellers in the Western Conference as the Anaheim Ducks visited SAP
Center to take on the Sharks. After watching the two teams square off for 65
minutes, it's safe to say that defense is not a major strength of either the
Sharks or Ducks. The two teams combined for 10 goals, a fruitless overtime and
a shootout that ended in Anaheim's favor.
If you enjoyed hockey in the
80's, Tuesday night's affair was a celebration of that bygone era, when defense
was more of a novelty. The two teams exchanged the lead 5 times, ending in a
5-5 tie at the end of regulation.
The shootout would end with Kevin
Labanc and Erik Karlsson turning in uninspiring attempts that never came close
to the Anaheim net. Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry scored on both of their
chances to help propel the Ducks out of the Western Conference basebment.
The Ducks took the 1-0 lead 5:16 into the contest when Adam Henrique
snapped a shot past Sharks goaltender Kaapo Khakonen from 12 feet out. Kevin
Shattenkirk carried the puck to the right corner before drawing a defender over
and flipping the puck to his left where Henrique gathered it up and deposited
pas Khakonen.
Erik Karlsson responded 62 seconds later by snapping a
shot from the point that beat Ducks goaltender Anthony Stolarz. The goal was
Karlsson's team leading 7th of the season.
The Sharks defenseman
appeared to score again just 23 seconds later. A follow up shot from the
defenseman found the back of the net, but the goal was credited to Nico Sturm,
who tipped Karlsson's shot while parked on the left post.
The Sharks
lead would be short lived as Frank Vatrano bagged his 4th goal of the season at
10:52. The Ducks forward swept a shot past defenseman Matt Benning, beating a
screened Khakonen just inside the left post.
It looked as if the teams would be all square at the
1st intermission, but the Henrique undressed Benning with a move just inside
the blueline with 15 seconds left in regulation. Sharks captain Logan Couture
and defenseman Mario Ferraro made half-baked attempts at getting to Henrique,
who skated in on Khakonen and lifting the puck past him for his 2nd of the
night.
A Max Jones holding the stick penalty set up the 1st power play
chance of the night for San Jose. They would respond with Timo Meier's 2nd goal
of the season. Meier carried the puck toward the Ducks net but tripped. He
regained his feet and immediately snapped a shot that beat Stolarz.
The Ducks grabbed a 4-3 lead at 15:10 of the period on a fluke play. John
Klingberg threw the puck at the net from the left wing boards, but the puck hit
Ryan Strome in the chest and deflected into the Sharks net.
Puck luck
swayed in San Jose's favor 21 seconds later when Meier carried the puck up the
right wing. Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg tried sweeping the puck away from
the Sharks winger, but he put it on his own net. Stolarz was late to react and
Meier was credited with his 2nd goal of the night.
Max Comtois put the
ducks back on top at 11:31 of the 3rd period. Troy Terry skated the puck around
the back of the Sharks net before filling the lane with a pass to Comtois for
the one-time chance that beat Khakonen. The goal was Comtois' 2nd of the
season.
Sharks head coach David Quinn pulled Khakonen for the extra
attacker with 3:07 left in regulation. The move paid off when Karlsson fired a
shot that hit Stolarz in the shoulder and bounced into the net to tie it up at
5-5.
Game Notes: * The game was nationally televised
on ESPN, and as a result of the Boston-Pittsburgh game running long, the puck
was dropped 25 minutes after the scheduled 7:30pm start time.
* Tomas
Hertl has recorded 6 points in his last 7 games. All are of the assist variety.
* Erik Karlsson's hat trick was the 1st of his career and the 1st in
Sharks history to be recorded by a defenseman.
* Matt Benning had
himself a night. The resident whipping boy was a -3 on the night and was
thoroughly undressed by Adam Henrique. The defenseman has been a horrible fit
in San Jose through the first 12 games.
* Timo Meier recorded 9 shots
on goal. Logan Couture added 8, to help the Sharks throw 44 pucks at Anthony
Stolarz. Anaheim matched the Sharks shot count, led by John Klingberg and Troy
Terry, who each has 7 shots on goal.
