Sharks Fall 5-2 to the Ducks in Final Home Game of 21-22 Season

Anaheim Ducks left wing Max Comtois (44) gets a floating corner shot top shelf goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (34) at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Apr 26, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell 5-2 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. The Ducks got goals from Trevor Zegras, Max Comtois, Josh Mahura, and Zach Aston-Reese. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves for the win. Brent Burns and Scott Reedy scored for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the loss:

“I just thought the longer the game went on, I was okay with our game, I really was. It felt like they capitalized on their chances and we didn’t. Stolarz played well. I just thought it was one of those games, it would have been nice to win our last home game but I think that we just couldn’t find that goal we needed early.”

Scott Reedy has now played 33 games with the Sharks and has six goals. He scored four of those since April 14, showing major improvement at the NHL level. Boughner talked about what Reedy brings to the team:

“He’s got a knack around that net. Sometimes you can’t teach that, that hand-eye. He sticks around there. He scored 18 in 30-something games in the American League, and he comes here and he’s got six all of a sudden. You’d like to see what he could do at this level for a whole year.”

Trevor Zegras gave the Ducks an early lead with a power play goal at 4:05. His shot went over Kahkonen’s shoulder on the short side and lodged between the net and the camera, so hardly anyone realized he had scored until they could not find the puck out on the ice. Adam Henrique got an assist.

At 6:47, Troy Terry seemed to score but the goal was called back after a review. The puck had been directed with a distinct kicking motion.

Max Comtois made it 2-0 for real at 5:26 of the second period. Comtois carried the puck into the zone and then dropped it back to a trailing Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk passed it back for Comtois to take the shot. The puck went up over Kahkonen’s shoulder on the short side, again. Assists went to Shattenkirk and Simon Benoit.

Sonny Milano made it 3-0 less than a minute later. Troy Terry brought the puck into the zone and then made a drop pass to Milano in the slot. Milano used a backhand shot to send the puck over Khkonen’s right shoulder and in. Assists went to Terrry and Dominik Simon.

Brent Burns got the Sharks on the board at 15:32 with a power play goal. It was his second shot from the middle of the blue line in just a few seconds. Assists went to Logan Couture and Thomas Bordeleau.

Scott Reedy brought the Sharks within one at 18:36, redirecting a shot from Jaycob Megna. Assists went to Megna and Sasha Chmelevski.

Josh Mahura made it 4-2 at 10:47 of the third. His shot went just past Kahkonen’s glove, off the post and in. Assists went to Milano and Comtois.

Zach Aston-Reese scored and empty net goal at 19:18, with an assist going to goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

The shot counts for the Sharks went down with each period. They started out 17-7 in the first, then were even at 10 in the second, and the Ducks out-shot them 14-6 in the third. That last number is misleading as the Sharks had a lot of chances and pressed hard to start the third, but hit some posts.

In the face-off circle, the Ducks prevailed, winning 52% of the draws. The Sharks had two penalties to kill and gave up the one goal and no other shots. They had three power plays and had four shots and one goal.

The Sharks will play next on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Ducks, Sawchenko Gets the Start

San Jose Sharks goaltender Zach Sawchenko, right, stops a shot by Anaheim Ducks center Adam Henrique in second period action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

ANAHEIM- The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks Sunday. Adam Henrique, Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim and Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves for the win. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose and Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves in his first NHL start.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about Sawchenko’s performance:

“Sawzy, I thought he stood tall. I thought that he gave us the saves we needed early, he made some big saves to keep the momentum on our side. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the two points for him. But for his first full start I think he should be pretty happy with it.”

Undrafted, Sawchenko played for the San Jose Barracuda and the Allen Americans from 2019 to 2021 before signing with the Sharks at the end of last season.

The goaltender talked about making his first start: “It was a long road to get here. I think it’s that much more special, doing it here with the same team that I started with whatever it was, four years ago or three years, whatever the number is.” Sawchenko is of Ukrainian descent and he was asked about the performance of the Ukrainian anthem that played before the game. He said: “Obviously it’s cool. It was cool to hear that yesterday in San Jose too.”

The game-winning goal came after a very convenient line change by the Ducks, and Boughner was not happy about it:

“It’s just a complete, disastrous blown call. And the thing that pisses me off the most is they don’t even come over to the bench, they race off the ice. Just, the respect to come and explain it. Everybody missed it, no review, if you watch it, the replay, it’s too many men all day long.”

The game started with a fight between Jeffrey Viel and Sam Carrick.

Logan Couture made it 1-0 Sharks at 7:47. Couture carried the puck in, looking for the pass but took the shot instead and sent the puck right under Stolarz. Assists went to Timo Meier and Santeri Hatakka.

The Sharks came out of the first period with the lead and a shot lead of 10-9. The Sharks had to kill three penalties and had one power play in the period. Their penalty kill gave up just one shot and had two short-handed shots. Their power play got two shots on goal.

The Ducks tied it up at 1:41 of the second period. Max Comtois’s shot went off of Sawchenko and then off of Adam Henrique and into the net. Assists went to Comtois and Troy Terry.

A little over a minute later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the lead back for the Sharks with a shot from the blue line through traffic. The puck wet off of Kevin Shattenkirk’s leg and into the net. Nicolas Meloche got the assist.

Sony Milano tied it up again with 20 seconds left in the period. The puck came out of a scrum in front of the net and Milano was right there and in the clear to put it away. Assists went to Adam Henrique and Cam Fowler.

The second period had just two penalties called, one to each team. Each power play got just one shot in. The Sharks were badly outshot in the period, 13-6 Ducks.

At 7:03 of the third period, Jacob Middleton puck the puck in the net during a penalty kill but the play was called offside and the goal was called back. Middleton was about half a stride ahead of the puck that Nieto was bringing over the line. To follow up on that valiant effort, Middleton took a stick to the face at the end of the penalty kill to give the Sharks a power play.

Nine seconds into overtime, Logan Couture was covering Adam Henrique while the Ducks had the puck. Couture took an eye off of Henrique, who was near the bench. While Couture was looking away with Henrique behind him, Rickard Rakell jumped on the ice at the other end of the bench, giving himself a good lead on Couture and Burns both. Rakell skated into the zone alone and beat Sawchenko over the glove. Assists went to Terry and Fowler.

After the game, the teams conferenced about the play. It could have been a too-many men on the ice play since Henrique was lackadaisical about getting off the ice. But the goal held up.

The Sharks struggled in the face-off circle Sunday, winning just 38% of the draws. They improved in the third, winning 53% of them. The Sharks excelled at blocking shots, however, blocking 28 to the Ducks’ 7.

The Sharks lost Radim Simek to injury late in Saturday’s game, giving Santeri Hatakka a chance in the lineup Sunday.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-3 in SO to Ducks, 7th Loss in a Row

San Jose Sharks left wing Alexander Barabanov (94) loses his balance in front of Anaheim Ducks goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) and Ducks’ Kevin Shattenkirk (22) at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Tue Feb 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

ANAHEIM- The San Jose Sharks lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in a shoot-out. It was their seventh loss in a row. Derek Grant and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim, with two goals from Rakell. Anthony Stolarz made 40 saves for the win. Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored for San Jose, with two goals from Couture. James Reimer made 26 saves in his eighth start in a row.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner discussed the Sharks power play in overtime and one of the differences between the two teams:

“We did have a couple good looks. You know, our big guys were tired, at the end of the game, let’s be honest. We took a lot of penalties and they killed a lot of penalties and, you know, Anaheim has got some guys that are fourth line that do some killing for them and I think that makes a big difference for ice time.”

The Ducks took the lead at 3:38 of the first period. Derek Grant scored on a two-on-0 after the Ducks picked off a neutral zone pass. Assists went to Sam Carrick and Nicolas Deslauriers.

Logan Couture tied it up at 7:10. Brent Burns took a shot off of an offensive zone draw. Stolarz stopped it but Couture jumped on the rebound for his 16th of the season.

Matt Nieto found Burns on his way into the zone to give the Sharks a lead at 17:22. Burns dropped to one knee for the one-timer and got the puck past Stolarz for his first goal in 16 games. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Timo Meier.

At 7:00 of the second, Rickard Rakell tied it up when a shot from Trevor Zegras created a rebound. Assists went to Zegras and Cam Fowler.

Logan Couture scored his second of the night on the power play at 13:44. Once again, Brent Burns took the shot and Couture cleaned up the rebound. Assists went to Burns and Meier.

At 16:09, Rickard Rakell tied it up again with a shot from the face-off circle into the short side. An assist went to Adam Henrique.

A scoreless overtime period saw the Sharks get seven shots on goal, three of those on a power play. The Ducks had no shots in overtime. In the shootout, Stolarz stopped Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl missed the net. For the Ducks, Trevor Zegras and Rickard Rakell scored, and Reimer stopped Troy Terry.

The Sharks out-shot the Ducks 43-29, though the teams were very close in the second and third periods (14-14 and 9-8). They had 14 shots on goal in four power plays. Their penalty kill gave up seven shots and had one short-handed shot in three penalties. The Sharks won 61% of the face-offs.

Ryan Dzingel made his debut with the Sharks after being acquired on Monday. He saw time on the power play (2:31) and skated in overtime. He had two shots in the game and drew the overtime penalty on a break away. Jonathan Dahlen was a healthy scratch Tuesday.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson and goaltender Adin Hill have both started skating but there is still no confirmed return date for the injured players.

The Sharks next play on Thursday back in San Jose against the New York Islanders at 7:30 PM PT.