The San Jose Sharks were back at the SAP Center on Wednesday night as they hosted the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks fell to the Ducks in their first road trip of the preseason earlier this week. The Sharks ran with a fairly light roster during their trip to Southern California, but tonight they brought a lineup that looks more like what we’ll see on opening night against the Vegas Golden Knights next week.
The first thing I noticed during the game was Cam Lund’s effort level. He lost his stick in the defensive zone, blocked a shot, then had a good attempt at clearing the puck without his stick; however, the Ducks quickly regained possession in their offensive zone. Regardless of the outcome, it was a smart play by the 21-year-old forward.
The Sharks tested Anaheim goaltender Calle Clang early in the game; however, he made an incredible split-save to deny the Sharks’ scoring opportunity. He also got some help from the post, as at one point, Tyler Toffoli got a breakaway opportunity that hit the inside of the post before launching into the corner.
Both teams took a penalty in the first period, but neither power play was either to take advantage, and it remained 0-0 heading into the first intermission.
Yaroslav Askarov would be forced to make a save quickly to start the second period; however, he wouldn’t be able to deny Beckett Sennecke just over a minute into the period, as the 19-year-old forward would make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Alex Wennberg was called for slashing a couple of minutes later. The Sharks would kill off the penalty, but moments later, Drew Helleson would find Sam Colangelo behind the Sharks’ defense, and the Massachusetts native would make it 2-0 for the Ducks.
Things continued to spiral as Cutter Gauthier scored 7:55 into the period, scoring his second of the preseason and making it 3-0 for the visitors. In less than eight minutes, the Sharks went from a tied hockey game to a three-goal deficit. Even though it’s a preseason matchup, head coach Ryan Warsofsky certainly wasn’t going to be happy with his team slipping up in such a major fashion.
Dmitri Orlov was stripped of the puck on an offensive zone entry, allowing the Ducks to rush the other way for a 2-on-1. Luckily for the team in teal, Askarov was able to deny the attack and keep the Sharks’ deficit at three goals.
The Ducks’ Frank Vatrano was called for hooking at 13:46 in the period, but Anaheim maintained a perfect penalty kill by shutting the Sharks down for two minutes. The Sharks’ power play got another opportunity with just over a minute left in the period as Stian Solberg was called for a puck-over-glass delay of game penalty. After a couple of close calls for Clang, the Sharks were unable to find the net before the end of the second period.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to get on the board in the third period,as a Will Smith slap shot deflected off of Clang into the crease, where William Eklund put it away after it touched Tyler Toffoli, making it a 3-1 Ducks lead. After the goal, things started to get a bit chippy as a scrum broke out in the corner, which saw Vincent Desharnais go after Pavel Mintyukov after he exchanged cross-checks with Eklund. Desharnais and Mintyukov got coincidental minor penalties, while Eklund was also penalized for cross-checking, giving the Ducks a power play. It would be cut short, though, as Olen Zellweger was called for a penalty 30 seconds later.
Philipp Kurashev nearly scored, causing the goal horn to go off and play to stop for a moment, as the goal appeared to go into the net; however, it was waved off and ruled to be off the post and out. Moments later, Kurashev would get his point as he’d find Jeff Skinner, who fired off a wide-open one-timer to reduce the Ducks’ lead to a single goal. Sennecke had a breakaway opportunity just under eight minutes into the period, but a decent defensive play by a trailing Shakir Mukhamadullin helped Askarov turn the shot aside.
The Sharks’ power play got another opportunity with 8:53 remaining in regulation, as Ross Johnston was penalized for interference. Toffoli hit the post again early in the power play, but the Sharks would fail to get another quality scoring opportunity during the two minutes.
The Sharks maintained solid offensive pressure shortly after pulling their goaltender, but eventually Egor Sidorov would put away the empty-net goal and put the game out of reach. Vatrano then scored a second empty-netter. The Sharks played well, outside of an eight-minute stretch in the second period, but that short amount of time created too big a deficit for them to overcome, as they fell 5-2.
