Hiller Makes 42 Saves, Ducks Take 2-0 Lead Over Sharks

It is a well known fact in any playoff series: teams that win are provided with secondary scoring, and dominate on the special teams. It also helps to have a rising star in net, as the Anaheim Ducks once again stunned the San Jose Sharks on the road, killing 6 straight penalties, getting timely goals from two young third-liners, and their rookie goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 42 of 44 shots to help the Ducks defeat the Sharks 3-2, taking a 2-0 series lead before sending it to Anaheim for Game 3.

After a slow, defensive game 1 that didn't have much intensity to it after the first period, both teams came out explosively, registering a combined 29 shots on goal with the Sharks holding the 1 shot edge. But it was Anaheim who put one in the net, as Bobby Ryan found a loose puck that creeped behind Evgeni Nabokov and slapped it home before Nabokov could seal it off with his stick, and the Ducks took the 1-0 lead early in the first period.
But in the second period, the Sharks completely dominated play, only allowing one sustained cycle in their defensive zone at the end. And they solved the puzzle Jonas Hiller and broke out of their franchise longest playoff scoreless drought, as Ryane Clowe intercepted an attempted breakout pass in the Anaheim zone, and slid a puck underneath Hiller's pad through a screen to tie the game 1-1.
The third period opened up once again for both teams, but again it was Anaheim that was the beneficiary. A shot from point blank from Erik Christansen rebounded wildly all the way to the other side of the net, and before Nabokov could position himself for the rebound, Andrew Ebbett scored his first career playoff goal to break the tie 2-1. Then just 4 minutes later, a cycle between the Niedermayer brothers led to a rebound in front of Nabokov that Drew Miller stuffed underneath the pads to give Anaheim a commanding 2 goal lead with under 7 minutes left in the third. But Jonathan Cheechoo put the Sharks right back in the game, outmuscling two Anaheim defenders before skating right in on Hiller and roofing the puck top shelf, reducing the deficit to 2-3 under 40 seconds after Miller's goal. But Anaheim plugged up the neutral zone, and in the final minute cycled the puck in San Jose's zone, and the Sharks were not able to put up a good scoring chance in the final five minutes of the game and the Ducks took a commanding 2-0 series lead on the road.

The story of the game was once again special teams and faceoffs for the Sharks. Ryan's opening goal was scored on the power play on Anaheim's first of two chances in the game. The Sharks then received 6 straight power plays, but failed to capitalize on any of them, although there were more chances than in game 1, but credit goes to Mike Brown, who absolutely stifled any attempt by the Sharks to enter the offensive zone. Drew Miller's game winning goal was set up by a faceoff win from Todd Marchant, who has been dominating the faceoff circle this entire series. Jonas Hiller took the first star award for the second time in as many games in the series, stopping 77 of 79 shots through the first two games. Anaheim now go back home for games 3 and 4, where they have a chance to sweep the first-seeded Sharks on home ice, although they were only 20-18-3 at home, the worst home record out of all the playoff teams. Game 3 will be Tuesday night.