Timo Pielmeier, acquired from the Sharks in a March trade, had 33 saves in defeat.

The Ducks opened their 2009 Rookie Tournament series against the San Jose Sharks with a 2-1 shootout loss on Monday night at Sharks Ice. The Ducks dressed four first-round draft picks for the game, including Mark Mitera (19th overall, 2006), Logan MacMillan (19th overall, 2007), Luca Sbisa (19th overall, 2008) and Peter Holland (15th overall, 2009).

The Sharks opened the scoring at 6:21 of the first period when Michael D’Orazio lifted a shot past the blocker of Ducks goaltender Timo Pielmeier. Acquired from San Jose with Nick Bonino in exchange for Kent Huskins and Travis Moen last March 4, Pielmeier kept the game within one goal with an outstanding kick save midway through the first. As play continued, MacMillan delivered a thunderous open-ice hit on Philip Varone to raise the intensity in the opener of this three-game series. Pielmeier finished the game with 35 saves on 36 shots.

“We got a good goaltending effort early in the game and we had some good performances from guys,” said Ducks assistant coach Newell Brown. “I thought we played solid as a team.”

Newell Brown Audio

Nicolas Deschamps Audio

Following a scoreless second period, left wing Nicolas Deschamps took a feed from right wing Josh Brittain and beat San Jose goaltender Thomas Heemskerk five-hole at 6:41 of the third to even the score at 1-1.

“It was a good goal for us and after that, we were all over them,” said Deschamps.

The game would eventually be decided by an eight-round shootout that was preceded by a five-minute overtime. In the final round of the shootout, San Jose’s Dean Strong beat Pielmeier for the 2-1 victory. Deschamps scored Anaheim’s lone goal in the second round.