San Jose Sharks Drop 2-1 Decision To Anaheim
Playing on their second consecutive night, the San Jose Sharks took on one of their Southern California rivals for the first time. The Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks battled it out at SAP Center, with the Ducks emerging with a 2-1 victory off the strength of two third period tallies.
The loss dropped the Sharks record to 2-1-1 through the first week of preseason action.
San Jose got off to a strong start as Joel Ward, skating alongside Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, slapped one past Ducks netminder Anton Khudobin at the 13:17 mark of the first to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The defensive pairing of Brent Burns and Paul Martin each recorded an assist on the play.
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The two teams didn’t muster much during the middle frame, but Anaheim used two goals in the final frame to seize control away from the San Jose Sharks. Chris Wagner would even things up at one with a snap shot past Martin Jones, who made his second start for San Jose.
Then, longtime Sharks’ nemesis and one of the most hated men in San Jose, Corey Perry tipped home a Shea Theodore shot at the 12:23 mark of the third to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead, which they wouldn’t relinquish. Perry was named third star of the game as he was his usual pesky self in recording the goal and four penalty minutes in 15:24 of action.
It was the second consecutive game in which the Sharks allowed a power play goal, with both coming on tip-ins. San Jose wasn’t as sharp as their previous effort against the Arizona Coyotes. While the Sharks outshot the Ducks 24-21 on the night, they couldn’t generate many offensive chances.
Both goaltenders were solid in this one as Khudobin took home first star honors in thwarting 23 San Jose shots, while Jones took the defeat with his 19 stops. Jones continues to look comfortable between the pipes for the Sharks and appears to be the guy in net.
Peter DeBoer appears to be settling in on his line combinations, and it was good to see Ward light the lamp in more than 20 minutes of action. Ward should provide a presence on San Jose’s second line that was often missing when Matt Nieto was there.
The San Jose Sharks return to the ice for their final preseason game at home when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. The Sharks and Canucks have squared off twice already this preseason with Vancouver claiming a 1-0 victory on Sept. 21, while San Jose answered back with a 4-0 shutout victory one night later.
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