Some suspense remains in the San Jose Sharks’ bid for the
Presidents’ Trophy and the top seeding in the upcoming Stanley Cup
Playoffs after the Anaheim Ducks dealt the Sharks a 5-2 setback at
sold-out HP Pavilion Saturday night.
SAN JOSE – Some suspense remains in the San Jose Sharks’ bid for the Presidents’ Trophy and the top seeding in the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs after the Anaheim Ducks dealt the Sharks a 5-2 setback at sold-out HP Pavilion Saturday night.
San Jose, with four games left in the season, holds a six-point edge over second-place Detroit (113-107) in the Western Conference. Boston, also down to four games, won 1-0 over the New York Rangers Saturday to clinch the Eastern Conference top spot and trails San Jose by one point for the overall crown.
Ryan Getzlaf, two points ahead of San Jose’s Joe Thornton (85-83) entering play, contributed four assists as the Ducks remained in seventh place (88 points) in the Western Conference. San Jose and Anaheim complete the home-and-home series Sunday at 5pm on the Ducks’ ice.
Thornton, ninth among NHL scorers entering play, notched his 25th goal of the year 9:35 into the first period as the Sharks came back from a 2-0 deficit. San Jose pulled even at 4:07 of the second period when Milan Michalek scored a power-play goal.
The Ducks regained the two-goal cushion with the final two goals of the second period.
Mike Brown chipped in a 15-footer from the slot at 8:07 for the 3-2 Ducks lead. Teemu Selanne added his 26th of the year when he finished a 2-on-1 rush by tapping in a Getzlaf feed at 17:39.
Getzlaff’s fourth assist came on a similar 2-on-1 move at 13:14 of the third, Bobby Ryan finishing the play for his second goal of the night, 30th of the year.
Anaheim opened the scoring by converting its third shot of the night into a 1-0 lead 2:47 into action. Getzlaf collected the puck at the left post in the Sharks’ zone, began to go behind the net and then dropped a pass to an unmarked Ryan five feet off the post for the open stuff shot. Corey Perry added his 30th of the season on a 40-footer past goalie Evgeni Nabokov at 5:46.
While the Sharks are guaranteed either first or second in the West, a six-team grouping from sixth to 11th insures that San Jose’s first-round opponent will not be finalized until next weekend.
San Jose plays host to Colorado on Tuesday and Phoenix on Thursday to end the home portion of the schedule. The Sharks have just four regulation losses in the first 39 home dates. San Jose completes the regular season Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles opposite the Kings.
