Special teams play may not be the most important aspect of the
first-round series between the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim
Ducks; Thursday night’s opener, however, went the way of the Ducks
2-0 on the strength of a power-play goal in the third period at
sold out HP Pavilion
SAN JOSE
Special teams play may not be the most important aspect of the first-round series between the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. Thursday night’s opener, however, went the way of the Ducks 2-0 on the strength of a power-play goal in the third period at sold out HP Pavilion.
Scott Niedermayer, competing in his 15th Stanley Cup Playoffs, drilled a 40-footer from the right point off a feed from Ryan Getzlaf to snap the scoreless tie and give eighth-seed Anaheim a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game Two is scheduled for 7 p.m. at HP Pavilion before the next two games are played on Ducks ice Tuesday and Thursday.
The Ducks were on their third power play of the game, courtesy of a Jonathan Cheechoo trip of Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne inside the Duck zone at the 4:20 mark.
After Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Milan Michalek were able to clear the zone to use up 40 seconds, Anaheim’s third move into the San Jose zone resulted in the game-winner.
Niedermayer’s first blast from the right point was turned back by goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Anaheim’s forward line kept the puck in the zone long enough for Getzlaf to slip a long pass along the blueline to a waiting Niedermayer for the one-timer.
San Jose coach Todd McLellan called the opener “a well-played game by both teams.”
The Sharks managed a 35-17 edge in shots on net.
“We didn’t create many second opportunities,” said McLellan of the abundance of long-range shots at Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller.
“(Anaheim) did a great job around their net. We can be better. We have to find a way to get our sticks around the net.”
Getzlaf put the closing touch on the win with an unassisted goal with 2:25 left in the game.
Getzlaf went into the penalty box at 15:26 for elbowing. As the centerman left the box, he positioned himself at the San Jose blueline between two Shark defensemen. As the power play ended, Vlasic’s cross-ice pass to Rob Blake was picked off by Getzlaf. The Duck angled to the top of the slot and rifled a shot over Nabokov’s shoulder and under the crossbar for the 2-0 cushion.
Cheechoo damped the Shark chances further with another tripping penalty in the Ducks zone with 2:04 left.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle noted that the staff strives to have Getzlaf shoot more often.
“We would like him to shoot the puck like he did on a regular basis. When you see him shoot the puck like that, you wonder why he always wants to pass it. We are always after him to shoot the puck. He has to play extremely well for us to have any chance in this series.”
This series has produced the lone shutout in the eight first-round games played through Thursday.
“I don’t know if you can say it was a perfect hockey game on our part by any means,” Carlyle said. “We took far too many penalties. We wore down all of the penalty killers and most of our players.”
Nabokov, who faced only four shots in the first period, then seven in the second as the teams went into the third 0-0, credited Anaheim’s defense.
“They played well against out power play. They played a great road game.”
San Jose’s Joe Thornton, playing in his 71st playoff game, agreed.
“The storyline is that their power play was better than ours. We had some chances. They are a good penalty-killing team. They use their speed.”
Thornton pointed out that the Sharks lost the playoff opener to Calgary last season before winning in seven games.
“Anaheim wasn’t doing anything we haven’t seen before,” said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle. “Just some poise, better execution, will help out next time.”
