Sharks roast Ducks for road win in Anaheim
It was the type of play that all too often this season has resulted in the puck being in the back of the San Jose Sharks’ net.
With the Sharks on a first-period power play Friday, Timo Meier turned the puck over near the Anaheim blue line, helping give the Ducks a 2-on-1. Adam Henrique then slid a pass over to Frank Vatrano, but his shot from point-blank range was stopped by a sliding Eetu Makiniemi.
Makiniemi, in his first career NHL start, had seven saves in the first period and 23 for the game as the Sharks beat the Ducks 6-1 at Honda Center to snap a four-game losing streak.
Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier both had a goal and an assist and Tomas Hertl,
Matt Benning, and Alexander Barabanov all added two assists as the Sharks improved to 1-0-2 against the Ducks this season.
Scott Harrington, Nico Sturm, Nick Bonino, and Steven Lorentz also scored for San Jose, which enjoyed its most lopsided victory of the season.
The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home against the Arizona Coyotes.
After Karlsson scored a power goal at the 7:53 mark of the second period, ripping a slap shot past Ducks goalie John Gibson after a nice entry play by Alexander Barabanov. Just eight seconds later, Sturm took advantage of a quirky bounce off the end boards.
An entry pass by Matt Benning that was initially headed around the boards instead ricocheted toward the front of the net, where
Sturm tapped it in, as Gibson was behind the net looking for the puck.
The Sharks on two occasions have scored goals seven seconds apart, with the latest one being last season when Radim Simek and Jeff Viel scored in the second period of an 8-7 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
Makiniemi got his first taste of the NHL on Wednesday, as he took over for Kaapo Kahkonen in the third period of what became a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Instead of going back to Kahkonen, Sharks coach David Quinn started Makiniemi, saying Friday morning that, “we’ve got a goalie (in Makinieimi) we like a lot, and we like Kaapo a lot. But we lost the other night 6-5 and we want to give the kid a chance.”
“It’s a special moment and just really happy for him, and all the time and effort he’s put into it. But more importantly, we think we’ve got a good goalie here.”
PREGAME INTERVIEW >> Friday’s game was streamed on ESPN+ and Karlsson did a pregame interview with Linda Cohn. Karlsson was asked about the persistent trade rumors that have surrounded him in recent weeks, with Cohn saying, “What do you want to see happen?”
“That’s way above my paygrade, (with) whatever happens,” Karlsson replied. “I’m kind of a day-today guy and you never know what’s going to happen in the future. So I’m not planning for anything.”
Karlsson now has 12 goals and 25 assists, as his 37 points remain tops among all NHL defensemen.