Anaheim Ducks Crumble Defensively, Fall 6-3 to San Jose Sharks

Despite entering the game against the San Jose Sharks with a six-game winning streak, the Anaheim Ducks got blasted by the Sharks and dropped the game 6-3 in a contest where the Ducks seemingly forgot how to play defense. The scoreline was not pretty, and the game was honestly not even as close as the final score may dictate: the Sharks dominated the Ducks in just about every facet.

The Ducks opened the scoring at the 4:57 mark of the first period. The third line won a puck battle in the corners, sustaining some pressure in the offensive zone. Rickard Rakell got the puck to Andrew Cogliano, who deflected the puck on net against Antti Niemi. However, Niemi could not control the rebound, and Cogliano potted his own rebound for his sixth goal of the season. Rakell has become one of the Ducks’ most consistent performers this season, and the third-line of Cogliano, Rakell, and Jakob Silfverberg was one of the few bright spots in the game.

However, that was one of the few Ducks’ positives. Kyle Palmieri took a high-sticking penalty at the six-minute mark of the game, and on that, the Sharks would make the Ducks pay. The Sharks perfectly executed a power-play, with all five players getting a touch on the puck. Patrick Marleau zipped a cross-ice pass to Joe Thornton, who fed Joe Pavelski at the front of the net for an easy tip. The goal was Pavelski’s 25th and his 13th power-play goal of the season, matching Alex Ovechkin for the league-lead. That was Pavelski’s sixth goal against the Ducks this season as well, with at least one in all five games.

The first period ended with a tie on the scoreboard and a 14-9 shot advantage for the Ducks, but the second period was when it all unraveled for the Ducks.

James Sheppard chipped a puck to Barclay Goodrow, and Hampus Lindholm took a bad angle against Goodrow, who took a shot. The puck deflected off the stick of Francois Beauchemin and past Ilya Bryzgalov, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead at the 2:15 mark of the second period. It was Goodrow’s third goal of the season and first in 14 games for the young winger.

The Ducks had just killed a Ryan Kesler penalty, but the team could not clear a Matt Irwin shot. Thornton sent the puck to Brent Burns at the line, who fired a shot that Marleau tipped past Bryzgalov for a 3-1 lead at the 6:16 mark. The goal was Marleau’s tenth of the season, while Joe Thornton moved past Phil Housley for 37th all-time on the scoring list with his 1233rd career point.

The Sharks would make it 4-1 at the 12:37 mark of the second period. Clayton Stoner attempted to clear the puck from his defensive zone, but Logan Couture intercepted the puck and sent the puck cross-ice to Irwin, who fired a shot through a load of traffic past Bryzgalov for his third goal of the season. Matt Nieto and Sami Vatanen helped to set the screen for Bryzgalov, and the Sharks quickly had three goals in the second period. This forced Bruce Boudreau to call his timeout.

Not much changed. A failed Cam Fowler attempt at one end led to a three-on-two break at the other, with Goodrow, Sheppard, and Tomas Hertl opposing Palmieri and Vatanen. Goodrow got the puck to Sheppard, who fired a shot past Bryzgalov to make it 5-1 at the 14:30 mark of the second. The goal was Sheppard’s fifth of the season, and his second point of the night.

It was still not over for the Ducks. John Scott was serving a roughing minor, but it would be the Sharks who would score on the Ducks’ power-play. Nieto took the puck and had a two-on-one with Brenden Dillon. Nieto got the puck to Dillon, who tried to make the pass back to Nieto, but Matt Beleskey got in the way of the pass but sent the puck into the net before he knocked the net off while sliding. The goal was Dillon’s second of the season, and it made the score 6-1 at the 16:07 mark of the second. That ended the night for Bryzgalov, who gave up six goals on 25 shots in just over 36 minutes (10.00 GAA, .760 SV%). Frederik Andersen, who was being preserved for the match against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, came in.

The Ducks would make the scoreline look a little better just 1:23 into the third period. Palmieri shot the puck, and before anybody could clear the rebound from Niemi, Beleskey crashed the net and chipped a puck onto the back of Niemi before it slid down and into the net to cut the deficit to 6-2. The goal was Beleskey’s 19th of the season, tying him with Corey Perry for the team’s goal-scoring lead. It was a bit of redemption for him, after the shorthanded goal went in off him.

The Ducks would get another with 1:10 left in the game. Lindholm entered the zone with the puck and fired a cross-ice pass to Patrick Maroon, who absolutely ripped one home past Niemi to make the score 6-3. It was Maroon’s sixth goal of the season, and after scoring only two in 36 games to start the season, he has four in his previous five and has been a terrific player on the top-line with Ryan Getzlaf and Perry. He has four goals and seven points during his five-game point streak.

The Bryzgalov stat-line was less than stellar, but the Ducks’ defense was a major let-down. Allowing 25 shots in 36 minutes equates to about 42 over an entire game: most times that happens, a team will lose unless a team gets superb goaltending. Most of those goals, neither Andersen nor Bryzgalov would have been able to make much difference. Same with John Gibson or Jason LaBarbera.

The Ducks played an incredibly strong first. Again, they outshot the Sharks 14-9. In the rest of the game, the Sharks out-shot the Ducks 24-14: the Ducks had the same number of shots in the final 40 minutes that they had in the opening 20. For some reason, the team’s defense all but evaporated in the final two periods.

The Ducks are now 11-4-5 against the Pacific Division this year. However, they are 1-4-0 against the Sharks and 10-0-5 against the other five teams in the division. Barring a postseason meeting, this will be the last meeting against the Sharks, who took nine of ten points in the season series (they lost in overtime on December 22nd). The Ducks also fell to 10-11 in multi-goal games this season, while giving up six goals for the sixth time this season (against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Sharks twice, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators).

The team has to regroup quickly, for they return home to Honda Center for a two-game homestand, starting with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Blackhawks lost a tough game on Wednesday 4-3 to the Los Angeles Kings, squandering leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals (which was easily the best postseason series last year).

Patrick Kane leads the Blackhawks in all offensive categories, with 23 goals, 30 assists, and 53 points. His partner-in-crime, Jonathan Toews, has 14 goals and 41 points and should be in the running for the Selke Trophy. Duncan Keith leads the Blackhawks’ defensemen in assists (23) and points (29), while playing 25:51 per game, which is sixth in the NHL. Brent Seabrook has seven goals, which is the most among Chicago defensemen.

The Blackhawks are on a California trip, and will have to face the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks in four nights. They will play the Ducks Friday and the Sharks Saturday. Chicago is currently on a seven-game road-trip, which started in Pittsburgh before the All-Star Break. After California, they will travel to Winnipeg, Minnesota, and St. Louis for a key stretch in the Central Division. The Blackhawks are currently third in the Central Division with 62 points, which is six behind the Nashville Predators and two behind the Blues.