ANAHEIM
Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf started things Monday night, and in the end, finished the San Jose Sharks.
Dropping the gloves to scrap with standout Sharks center Joe Thornton just two seconds into the game, Getzlaf helped set a tone that led to a 4-1 Ducks victory in the sixth and clinching game of an opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series at Honda Center.
After a power-play goal by Milan Michalek put the Sharks on top 10:19 into the first period, the Ducks responded with goals from Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne and defenseman Francois Beauchemin before Getzlaf applied the punctuation with a goal of his own at 17:06 of the third period.
By defeating top-seeded San Jose four games to two, the Ducks earned a second-round date opposite the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. The series will begin in Detroit, though the NHL has not announced a date for Game 1.
The spirited Ducks effort also included a rare fight by defenseman Ryan Whitney, who hadn’t dropped the gloves since last season’s playoffs, when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“A little playoff hockey,” Whitney said. “It was an intense game.”
It certainly started that way, with Getzlaf and Thornton mixing it up off the opening faceoff.
“It was obviously something that was provoked a little bit last game,” Getzlaf said. “He challenged me last game off the opening draw. I didn’t really want to fight at that point, with the series 3-1.
I didn’t want to give them any spark. Tonight was an opportunity to redeem myself, and Joe wanted to go again to spark his team, so we just decided to go.
“We wanted to be in their face and we wanted to play. I’m sure Joe thought the same thing. Joe kind of came in and said ‘Do you want to go tonight?’ I had every intention of asking him.”
It took the Ducks a while to get going, with the Sharks posting an 18-9 advantage in shots in the first period, but once they got rolling, San Jose had no answer.
The Sharks, winners of the Presidents’ Trophy, became just the fifth NHL team since 1967-68 to post the NHL’s best regular-season record and go out in the first round of the playoffs.
“We were ready (for the series) right away,” Selanne said. “I think San Jose was cruising all year.
They didn’t really have any hard times. Sometimes that can be dangerous.”
The Ducks snapped a 1-1 tie with goals on back-to-back shots by Selanne and Beauchemin a minute, 13 seconds apart in the second period.
Selanne scored on the power play at 13:03, just nine seconds after Sharks center Torrey Mitchell went to the penalty box for hooking Ducks rookie center Andrew Ebbett.
After winning a right-wing faceoff, Selanne took a pass from Chris Pronger and drove from near the boards toward the net. Selanne’s attempted centering pass in front deflected off the stick of San Jose defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
A strong forecheck by rookie winger Mike Brown led to Beauchemin’s goal at 14:26. Brown pushed the puck from near the right corner behind the net, where Ryan Carter banked a pass off the opposite-side boards to Beauchemin for a one-timer from the left point. Brown and Sharks center Marcel Goc were right in front of Nabokov when the puck sailed past him.
After being out-shot 18-9 in the opening 20 minutes, the Ducks turned the tables in the second period, posting a 15-8 advantage.
The Ducks took the game’s first three penalties, and after surviving two, fell behind 1-0 when
Michalek converted on the power play. Seven seconds after a faceoff in the Ducks’ zone, Michalek found an open spot in the slot and buried the rebound of a hard Rob Blake shot from near the right-wing boards.
The Ducks got even with a power-play goal of their own, a 4-on-3 strike from Perry at 12:33. Parked in front of the net, Perry eluded Blake to backhand the mid-air rebound of a long Getzlaf shot past Nabokov.
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Story by Dan Wood, Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
