Despite heavy workload, San Jose continues climb
ANAHEIM — The schedule was not at its most inviting for the Sharks. Sunday presented their sixth game in nine nights, and this one on a back-to-back.
Yet when it was over, the Sharks had swamped Anaheim 6-2, getting goals from five players and another sterling game from goalie Aaron Dell for their fifth win in six games.
“We had a lot of reasons not to show up and play as well as we did tonight,” said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer, whose team moved from fourth place to second place in the Pacific Division with the results of the six games. “It wasn’t a perfect game and we got some breaks, but it was good win.”
Mikkel Boedker had two goals and an assist and Joe Thornton added a goal and an assist for San Jose, which made the most of its 26 shots.
“They didn’t really have a tremendous amount of scoring chances, but the ones that they did, they made count,” Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re normally a better defensive club than what you saw tonight.”
Games between these division rivals are typically low scoring, and at the end of the first period, San Jose led 1-0 on Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s goal, with Dell stopping Anaheim on two breakaways.
The game took on new life when the Sharks bolted to a 3-0 second-period lead on goals from Kevin Labanc and Boedker.
The Ducks finally scored late in the second when Rickard Rakell found the net on 5-on-3 power play, and then however briefly, made things interesting when Ryan Getzlaf scored early in the third to make it a 3-2 game.
Thornton answered just a minute later with a slap shot during a power play that sailed past goalie John Gibson.
“That was huge,” Dell said. “It killed all their momentum. It was kind of a turning point.”
Boedker’s second goal took the life out of Anaheim and ended the night for Gibson, who allowed five goals on 22 shots.
“It’s one of those that you leave scratching your head,” Carlyle said. “Coming off an off day, you should have more energy ... playing against a team that played last night. They should be the tired ones.”
The Ducks had won four consecutive games at home but had no answers for the Sharks.
“We had all four lines going,” said Sharks forward Melker Karlsson, who scored their final goal. “I think we’re a really good team, hard to beat, play good defensively. If we do everything right, we can beat every team here.”
San Jose’s confidence was hardly dented by winning its second game in two nights.
“We had to play a structured game,” Labanc said. “We outsmarted them, we were blocking shots.”
San Jose’s efforts have been buoyed by the strong play of Dell, who has been starting in place of the injured Martin Jone. Dell made 33 stops Sunday.
“The goalie was excellent again,” DeBoer said. “That’s where it starts for us.”
“Unbelievable,” Labanc said. “He’s been a real key to all of our success, stopping all those pucks. He’s a great goalie.” Briefly: The two previous games played by these teams ended in shootouts, each winning one . ... Vlasic hit Anaheim’s Brandon Montour in the face with a puck in the first period, but Montour was uninjured and returned later in the period.
“I think we’re a really good team, hard to beat, play good defensively. If we do everything right, we can beat every team here.”
Melker Karlsson, Sharks forward