Ducks, Stolarz trip up Sharks a second time
The Ducks joined the playoff race Wednesday, not as contenders, of course. But they relished their role as disruptors with a second consecutive victory over the Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, this one a 4-1 win that put another dent in their rivals’ postseason hopes.
A win would have moved the sixth-place Sharks within one point of the fifth-place Arizona Coyotes and within two of the fourth-place St. Louis Blues in a tight battle for the West Division’s final playoff spot.
Anthony Stolarz and the last-place Ducks would have none of it, jumping out to a three-goal lead by the end of the second period and riding the hot goaltending of Anthony Stolarz to sweep the twogame set in San Jose.
Stolarz stopped 73 of 74 shots Wednesday and Monday, including a career-high 46 on Monday. Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said Stolarz earned a second consecutive start against the Sharks. Ryan Miller served as his backup and No. 1 goalie John Gibson was scratched.
Erik Karlsson scored the Sharks’ lone goal at 17:44 of the final period.
Ryan Getzlaf returned to the Ducks’ lineup after sitting out their 4-0 victory Monday over the Sharks because of a nagging back injury, and he gave them a 1-0 lead 8:08 into the first period. Getzlaf moved within seven points of Teemu Selanne’s franchise record of 988.
Troy Terry set up Getzlaf’s goal by swiping an errant pass by Karlsson and feeding the puck to a hard-charging Getzlaf at the right goal post. Getzlaf chipped the puck behind San Jose goalie Josef Korenar, who was making his first NHL start.
Korenar made his debut Saturday against the Kings and he didn’t look comfortable in place of Martin Jones against the Ducks, who swarmed his net and fired from here, there and everywhere. They could have led by more, but a couple of good chances went off the post.
Unlike Monday, when the Ducks built a threegoal lead by the end of the first, they had to settle for a one-goal lead. Also unlike Monday, the Ducks didn’t lose their way in the second and third periods. They were tested in the second, but led 3-0 going into the third.
Derek Grant deflected Josh Manson’s perimeter shot to make it 2-0 at 2:29 of the second. Karlsson then left Alexander Volkov unmarked in front of Korenar’s net and Volkov scored his third goal in two games against San Jose to extend the lead to 3-0 at 13:40 of the second.
Karlsson, a two-time
Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman, has had better games than Wednesday.
Volkov’s goal came against the run of play, with the Sharks starting to generate sustained pressure that was absent during the first half of the game. The Ducks chased the puck and Stolarz turned away the Sharks repeatedly, just as he did while making a careerhigh 46 saves Monday.
The goal was Volkov’s fourth in seven games since the Ducks acquired him March 24 from the Tampa Bay Lightning for minor league forward Antoine Morand and a seventh-round pick in 2023. Volkov asked to be traded in order to get an enhanced role. He’s getting one with the Ducks.
Jakob Silfverberg’s power-play goal in the closing moments made it 4-1.
The Ducks play host to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, with a limited number of fans in attendance for the first time in more than a year because of the pandemic. The Golden Knights are locked in a battle for division supremacy with the Colorado Avalanche.