S.J. makes it 4 straight with shootout victory
When forward Joonas Donskoi scored in the sixth round of the shootout to beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1, Sharks goalie Martin Jones wasn’t the least bit shocked.
“He does that to me all the time in practice, so I’m not surprised,” Jones said.
Donskoi beat deked Ducks goalie Ryan Miller out of his double-cupped jock with a backhand-to-forehand move in front of a sold-out crown at SAP Center on Saturday to extend San Jose’s winning streak for four straight.
Jones stopped five of six Anaheim shooters in the shootout.
“I thought we played really well tonight,” Jones said. “If you look at the high-quality scoring chances, you probably could count on one hand the ones we gave up.
“It was a really solid game for us. We could have run away with that one if Miller doesn’t play the way he does.”
The Sharks had a 40-26 edge in shots through regulation and managed all five shots during sudden death.
Joel Ward tied the game with his second goal of the season at 11:57 of the third period. He capped a 2-on-1 break at the tail end of Anaheim’s first power play by tapping home a short rebound left by Miller on Barclay Goodrow’s shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Goodrow broke out of the Sharks’ zone when Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen failed to hold the puck inside the blue line. That left only defenseman Hampus Lindholm to defend and Ward made the perfect late pass to set up Goodrow’s in-close shot.
“It was a good feeling to score, tie it up and give ourselves a chance to get back in the game,” Ward said.
“We felt like we were getting some looks,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski added. “Miller was playing really good. Then we get that little break with Ward and Goody. That was a huge goal. You could really feel the momentum swing.”
Corey Perry’s third goal of the season scored at 6:23 of the opening period stood as the only tally of the first 40 minutes for either team.
The Sharks got a little comfortable with a forecheck and cycle in the Anaheim end that they were slow to react when the puck popped free near the Ducks’ blue line. That’s where Anaheim’s Derek Grant spotted a breaking Perry and hit him with a pass through center.
Perry broke in behind the San Jose defense and drove the right boards before cutting into the middle and beating Jones in tight with a low shot between the pads. Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon was caught flatfooted on the play.
Dillon was asked to move alongside Justin Braun as San Jose’s top shutdown defense pairing was missing MarcEdouard Vlasic, who sustained a head injury in Thursday’s win over Nashville.
The injury not only forced Dillon to move up, but meant Dylan DeMelo stepped back into the lineup for the first time after being a healthy scratch for 10 straight games. DeMelo teamed with rookie Tim Heed on a third pairing. Briefly: D Paul Martin (ankle) joined fellow blue liner Vlasic sidelined due to injury. Martin is expected to return next week. Vlasic skated lightly after the team’s morning skate. … LW Jannik Hansen and C Ryan Carpenter were healthy scratches.