SAN JOSE
– The Dream lives on.
Facing first-round elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs,
the San Jose Sharks responded with a 3-2 overtime victory over the
Anaheim Ducks at sold-out HP Pavilion Saturday night.
SAN JOSE – The Dream lives on.
Facing first-round elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks responded with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks at sold-out HP Pavilion Saturday night. As a result, Game Six in the best-of-seven series switches to Anaheim for Monday’s 7:30 p.m. game.
Patrick Marleau scored the game-winner for the second time in the series, jamming the puck over the goalline patrolled by Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller 6:02 into the extra play.
The winning play was ignited by Joe Thornton, who finished the night with three points. Thornton controlled the puck behind the Ducks net, then slid the puck to an awaiting Marleau at the left post. Marleau needed several jabs at the puck to be able to complete the play, avoiding Hiller and other Duck defenders in the area.
The victory leaves San Jose down 3-2 in the series. A seventh game, if needed, will be played Wednesday night in San Jose.
An overtime session appeared unlikely after San Jose scored in each of the first two periods to take a 2-0 lead.
The Sharks powered to 29 shots on net in the first 40 minutes, the Ducks 13.
The lone power play of the game came 7:25 into the first period.
Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks’ leading series scorer with five points entering Saturday’s showdown, earned the team’s second penalty at 6:51 when he hooked Thornton.
An offensive zone face-off led to the score. Marleau controlled the puck, passed to Rob Blake and received a return pass at the top of the right circle. Finding an open look at the net, Marleau fired. The high shot bounded off Hiller’s chest, dropping five feet away. Thornton’s quick reaction netted his 12th career playoff goal.
Only one goal was scored in the second period as San Jose posted an 18-8 edge in shots. Both teams had quality scoring chances, but strong play by goalies Hiller and Evgeni Nabokov, along with a few struck posts, minimized the scoring.
San Jose was able to avoid trouble during three Duck power plays in the second period. Anaheim was on the penalty kill only once in the second period. Ryane Clowe had an opportunity to expand the lead when, with Hiller was out of position at the right post, the Shark forward had some room to deliver a 15-footer from a tough angle for an insurance goal. The puck banged off the left post and the penalty was killed off by the Ducks.
Devin Setoguchi produced his first goal of the series and second of his career at 17:16 of the second. Setoguchi controlled the puck behind the Anaheim goal as Marleau and Thornton readied in the low slot. Hiller was down against the left post as Setoguchi veered toward the goalline. Setoguchi, unmarked, waited as Hiller began to stand up. The Shark marksman drilled an eight-footer between Hiller and the post for the 2-0 lead.
San Jose’s two-goal lead quickly evaporated in the tense third period.
Anaheim’s second shot on the period made it a 2-1 contest.
San Jose’s Mike Grier lost control of the puck as he sped out of the defensive zone. The Ducks used the turnover to put together a 3-on-2 rush that ended with Ryan Carter’s first-ever playoff goal. Andrew Ebbett’s cross-ice pass to Carter set up the 20-footer that found its way between the pads of Nabokov 55 seconds into the period.
Corey Perry’s goal at the end of a 3-on-3 rush for the Ducks tied it at the 4:42 mark. San Jose had a 9-3 edge in shots over the period’s scoreless final 15 minutes.
