Couture, Jones lead Sharks past Ducks
Logan Couture had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones made 28 saves and the San Jose Sharks excelled on the road again, beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 Saturday night to take a 20 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Marcus Sorensen and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks, who gave another disciplined, organized performance while moving halfway to their first playoff series victory since their Stanley Cup Final run in 2016. The Sharks also are halfway to their first playoff series victory over Anaheim, their longtime downstate rivals.
Hampus Lindholm had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who are leaving Honda Center with an 0-2 series deficit for the third time in their last five playoff series.
Jakob Silfverberg scored in the opening minute and John Gibson stopped 32 shots as Anaheim dropped to 3-6 in its last nine home playoff games overall.
Game 3 is Monday night in San Jose.
Anaheim improved on its limp showing in its series-opening defeat, but still couldn’t crack Jones and the San Jose defence when it counted. The Sharks’ late-season slump hasn’t hurt their ability to rise in the post-season, while the Ducks have retained little momentum from their ferocious second-half surge in the regular season.
But after getting shut out two days earlier, the Ducks scored on their first shot of Game 2. Just 40 seconds in, Silfverberg flung a long shot past defenders and got his 18th career post-season goal past Jones, who didn’t appear to read it well.
Anaheim also established its physical game early on. Nick Ritchie, Lindholm and Francois Beauchemin all delivered major hits, with Lindholm sending Game 1 hero Evander Kane to the bench with a mouth injury from an open-ice shoulder check.
The Sharks still evened it midway through the period when Brenden Dillon shot the puck off the back boards and it caromed perfectly to Sorensen at the far post for the tap-in. Couture then put San Jose ahead with a slick power-play score, badly faking Gibson before sliding home his 31st career playoff goal.