Meier’s role continues to grow in the playoffs

ANAHEIM >> Timo Meier made his seventh career playoff appearance Saturday as he began Game 2 against the Anaheim Ducks on the Sharks’ third line with center Chris Tierney and fellow winger Kevin Labanc.

Meier’s come a long way since he was the Sharks’ first-round draft choice at ninth overall in 2015.

Unlike last season when he filled a fourth-line role in the Sharks’ first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, used mainly for energy and physicality, Meier is showing his offensive prowess in his second full NHL season.

Meier, 21, finished the regular season with 21 goals and 36 points in 81 games and is also on the Sharks’ second power-play unit. Last season he had six points in 34 games.

“Really, no comparison. He’s a huge part of our team,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said of Meier. “A big part of our power play, a big part of our 5-on-5 game, big part of our depth. We can use him up and down the lineup, first line, second line, third line.

“He’s been a real engine on whatever line he’s been on, making those lines go. He’s at a whole different level, I think, maturitywise, on and off the ice.”

In Game 1, Meier had 14:51 of ice time, an assist on Brent Burns’ second-period goal where he helped provide a screen in front of Ducks goalie John Gibson, five shots on net and two hits. His assist was his first career playoff point.

In the first period Saturday, Meier had four hits, three shot attempts and one blocked shot.

“It was important, with the nerves, to use them as energy and just go out and play free and play physical,” Meier said of last season. “Right now, I have a little more confidence than I had last year, so, for me, same thing. I want to go out there and do whatever I can to help the team win and make a difference.”

• Joe Thornton gave the stew that is social media a good stir when he joined the Sharks for pregame warmups Thursday night, a routine he continued before Saturday’s game at Honda Center.

Thornton, however, was oblivious to the storm that his appearance prior to Game 1 sparked. He’s made a conscious decision to stay away from Twitter after a brief flirtation with the social media platform in Vancouver “about two years ago.”

“It was about 11 o’clock at night, and I went on it because I wanted to check out Beetlejuice’s page from the ‘Howard Stern Show,’” Thornton said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I just do? I have to get off this thing.’”

Thornton, 38, said he spent about six minutes on Twitter before he decided to pull the plug. He stays off Facebook, as well.

“I was in full-fledged panic because I started getting all these requests with people following me,” Thornton said. “I phoned (a Sharks public relations director) and said, ‘You’ve got to get me off this thing.’

“It got crazy.” Deleting Twitter is proving to be a smart decision for Thornton, especially with all the chatter and speculation about his health status for the playoffs. Thornton, who’s recovering from damage to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, missed his 37th consecutive game Saturday. He labeled his status for the remainder of the series as “day to day.”

In regards to taking part in the last two pregame skates, Thornton said he wants to be out with “the fellows,” get back into his game day routine and see a little more ice time than he receives at the Sharks morning practices.

“I might as well. I’m here, right? There’s ice. Skate,” Thornton said.

• Noted antagonist KevinBieksa,whoscored the series-clinching goal against the Sharks in the 2011 Western Conference finals as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, rejoined the Ducks’ blue line Saturday after he missed the past 12 games with a hand injury. He’s replacing Andy Welinski. Defenseman Cam Fowler remains sidelined by a shoulder injury.

Bieksa, 36, brought even more nastiness to an already chippy Ducks lineup, along with 85 games of playoff experience.

In Game 1, the Sharks exploited the Ducks third pairing of Welinski and Marcus Pettersson, who entered the series with a combined 29 NHL games. The downside is that Bieksa isn’t exactly the fleetest of foot, to be friendly, at a time when the NHL is getting progressively faster.

TheDucksseemtohave accepted that the Sharks are going to be the faster team by plugging Bieksa into the lineup, choosing to combat their speed with physical play.

“He’ll give us a little bit more of a rugged (look),” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. “We feel we didn’t do enough impeding their progress. They had opportunities to freely get to our net often.”