Coming into the game, there was talk of a potential Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks series in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, which would have been the first time two Californian teams would have met each other in the NHL postseason. In the first game of a back to back with these two teams, the Ducks ousted the Sharks, scoring two early goals and then never gave up the lead as they handed San Jose their 4th loss at home in the regular season 5-2.
All game long, the Sharks had no answer for Anaheim's top line. Under 3 minutes into the game, Ryan Getzlaf went behind the San Jose net, and threw a backhand pass to the side for Bobby Ryan, who tapped it in for the early 1-0 lead. Then just 3 minutes later, Corey Perry took a long shot from the top of the faceoff circle that Evgeni Nabokov reacted too slowly too, as the puck went through his legs before he could drop the pads down and the Ducks had a 2-0 lead. The Sharks then tried to mount a comeback, as Joe Thorton shot a puck from the high slot that Jonas Hiller couldn't see through several bodies and San Jose cut the lead in half 2-1.
The Sharks seemed to then get their offense going with the help of back to back power plays in the second period. On the second power play attempt, Christian Ehrhoff fed a long stretch pass to Milan Michalek, who rifled a high shot over the shoulder of the Hiller to tie the game 2-2. The Sharks had several opportunities to take the lead after that, as the game opened up offensively, but a turnover in the defensive zone cost the Sharks, as Mike Brown was undefended in the slot and shot the puck past Nabokov's foot to give anaheim the lead back 3-2. After that goal, San Jose's offense seemed deflated, and Anaheim continued to pour it on offensively. During a 4 on 4, Teemu Selanne outskated Jonathan Cheechoo, who had just turned it over in the Anaheim zone, and created a 2 on 1 with Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf fed the puck across to Selanne, who lifted the puck over Nabokov's glove before Cheechoo could get back and the Ducks had a 2 goal lead again.
The third period had very little scoring chances, but on their only power play of the game, Anaheim extended the lead. The Sharks tried to pressure the Ducks to possibly get a goal shorthanded, and it led to another odd-man rush for Anaheim, and Bobby Ryan netted his 30th goal of the season and second of the game to secure the win 5-2.
In the 5 games played against the Sharks, the Ducks went 2-3-0. In the 3 losses, they were shutout twice and scored only 1 goal in the other loss. In the 2 wins, the Ducks scored a total of 9 goals while giving up only 2. Ryan Getzlaf led all skaters with 4 assists in the game. Bobby Ryan's early first period goal was the first time the Ducks had scored against the Sharks since mid-October, where they won 4-0. The Sharks dropped their league best record to 31-4-4 at home, while the Ducks improved to 22-15-3, tying with New Jersey for the second best road record in the NHL. Evgeni Nabokov picked up an assist on the power play goal by Michalek, which gave the goaltender his first point this season. Bobby Ryan's 30 goals of the season broke a franchise record for most goals scored by an Anaheim rookie, while Dan Boyle's assist on Joe Thorton's first period goal broke a franchise record for most assists in a season by a San Jose defenseman. The two goals by Ryan were the first times he had gotten a point against the Sharks. San Jose is still dealing with multiple injuries, but they welcomed back Tomas Plihal, who centered the fourth line Saturday night. With the win, Anaheim has a 2 point lead over Nashville for 7th place in the Western Conference. The loss keeps San Jose 5 points ahead of Detroit with 1 more game played than the Red Wings, but now the Sharks only have a 1 point lead over Boston, who clinched the Eastern Conference earlier Saturday, in the race for the President's trophy. Anaheim and San Jose will play each other again tomorrow night in Anaheim in their final meeting of the season. Both the Sharks and the Ducks hope that San Jose defenseman Kent Huskins will return for the game, as Anaheim plans to honor his past services to the Ducks during the game as they did with Travis Moen March 15th.
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