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By Adam Brady (abrady@anaheimducks.com)
AnaheimDucks.com

ANAHEIM – If the Ducks and Sharks are to see each other again in the postseason, it promises to be an intriguing clash.

One night after the Ducks thrashed the Sharks in their own building, 5-2, San Jose got revenge at Honda Center with a 3-2 victory that came down to an Anaheim charge to tie it in the final seconds. And the battled raged after the final horn, when Anaheim’s furious attempts to find the net (with goalie Jonas Hiller on the bench for an extra attacker) erupted into a full-fledge brawl involving everyone on the ice, including Sharks goalie Brian Boucher.

"We had many chances at the end there to put the puck away," said Ryan Getzlaf, who had a chance to punch in a rolling puck in the closing seconds, but couldn't get his stick on it under pressure from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. "We played a good hockey team tonight. There is no doubt about it. There were a few chances that were missed and a few penalties taken in different situations that we shouldn’t have."

A Jonathan Cheechoo power play strike in the third was the difference as the Ducks dropped a hard-fought battle to San Jose, 3-2.

The postgame fight (in which six minors and five misconducts were handed out) was the fallout of a tight battle that saw neither team take more than a one-goal lead, a game ultimately decided by a Jonathan Cheechoo power play goal in the third period.

Cheechoo’s strike with 6:41 left came after Chris Pronger took a delay of game penalty while trying to kill off a Drew Miller holding minor, as Pronger inadvertently flipped the puck over the glass trying to sweep it out of the zone. Cheechoo struck about a minute and a half later, redirecting a Christian Erhoff shot from the point for the goal that would stand up as the game-winner. It was the second power play goal of the game for San Jose, second in the league with 84 on the season.

It was just the second loss in the last 11 for Anaheim, and it snapped a four-game win streak that was built in part by a big three-city road trip that ended successfully last night in San Jose. The Ducks missed a chance to catch Columbus in sixth place in the Western Conference, which they would have done with a victory. San Jose, meanwhile, maintained its hold on the top spot in the conference and continued its quest for the President’s Trophy for best record in the NHL.

"There were obviously some emotions, frustrations and whatnot," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "It was all displayed toward the end of the hockey game, that is for sure. We didn’t seem to have the required energy tonight for stretches of the game. It seemed like we were running on fumes at times. That leads to mistakes, turnovers and some of things that we haven’t done from a structured standpoint."

Anaheim struck first blood on the first shorthanded goal of Petteri Nokelainen’s career 5:38 into the game. After Scott Niedermayer tried to flip the puck out of the zone on the penalty kill, it was caught out of the air by Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who tried to place it down on his stick. But before he could, it was swiped by Nokelainen, who sprinted the other way on a breakaway and took a wrist shot that goalie Brian Boucher saved initially but dragged with him over the stripe as he fell on his side.

That was the only damage done by either side in the first, but San Jose quickly struck back in the second. Jeremy Roenick took a Joe Thornton pass and one-timed it home from the slot 2:43 into the period to tie it 1-1.

Corey Perry's power play goal in the second gave the Ducks the lead, but they couldn't hold it.

The Ducks went ahead again midway through the period, as Corey Perry struck on the power play for his team-leading 31st of the year. A Teemu Selanne pass on the rush was broken up and sent airborn, and as it fell to the ice, Perry slapped at it and tucked it inside the far post.

But San Jose got even again less than four minutes later, also on the power play, as Joe Pavelski received the puck on the edge of the crease and spun around to send it under Hiller.

It was the second start in as many nights for Hiller, who beat the Sharks the night before in San Jose. Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov, however, gave way to backup Boucher after taking the defeat last night.

The Ducks don’t play again until Friday night, with their final regular season home game against Dallas, then they end the regular season Saturday in Phoenix.

"It’s tough, but it’s nice that we get a little bit of a break before our last two games, especially this late in this season," Perry said. "We’ve been playoff hockey for the last couple of weeks here. It’s been a long haul and we’re in a great position where we are. It’s our destiny. We have to come out and prove that we belong there. We have to ready for Friday. It’s going to be a test, especially with these days off. We have to be prepared."

GAME NOTES

Anaheim extended its power play goal streak to seven consecutive games, going 10-for-27 (37.0%) during that stretch. In the last four contests, the club has gone six-for-eight on the power play for a 75.0% success rate.

Over the past seven games, the Bobby Ryan-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry line has earned 15-19=34 points. During that span, Getzlaf has collected 2-11=13 points, Perry with 7-4=11 points and Ryan earning 6-4=10 points. 

With an assist tonight, Ryan Getzlaf extended his point streak to six games (2-11=13). His assist accounted for his 90th point of the campaign (25-65=90), becoming just the third player in franchise history to reach the 90-point mark in one season (also Selanne and Kariya, multiple seasons).

 

With his assist tonight, Teemu Selanne moved into a share of 42nd place with Bernie Nicholls on the NHL’s all-time scoring list, bringing his career point total to 578-631=1209 in 1130 games. He also extended his point streak to five games, having earned 3-3=6 points during the span.

 

Corey Perry has a five-game goal streak at HOME (5-2=7) and extended his overall point streak to three consecutive games (3-2=5).

 

Tonight’s attendance was 17,398, a sellout including standing room only.

GAME LOG

3rd Period

20:00 - END OF GAME - One power play goal in the third makes the difference as the Sharks take this one, 3-2.

20:00 - During a furious final seconds, the Ducks can't get the puck through and a brawl erupts after the final horn involving everyone on the ice, including goalie Brian Boucher. Getzlaf drops the gfloves with Vlasic after Vlasic dives on Getzlaf and puts him in a chokehold. Fans inadvisedly throw stuff on the ice as it's being broken up, clearly not pleased with the performance of the officials tonight.

19:40 - Getzlaf has a chance to bat at a rolling puck in the slot and whiffs on it.

18:40 - Hiller to the bench.

16:22 - Justice is served as Perry's penalty expires, but that was two minutes the Ducks didn't have a good chance to get the tying goal.

14:22 - ANA Penalty - Corey Perry, 2 min. high sticking. Perry is battling near the net with Douglas Murray and unfathomably gets whistled for the high stick. And Perry is absolutely furious, charging at the official who made the call before being held by back Getzlaf.

13:19 - SAN JOSE GOAL (POWER PLAY) - JONATHAN CHEECHOO - Christian Erhoff lines up and fires a rocket from inside the blueline that Cheechoo redirects out of the air with his back to the net and gets it past Hiller. Big goal for San Jose, which takes a 3-2 lead.

13:00 - Hiller makes a big stop.

12:50 - Miller comes out of the box to get his stick on the puck and send it down to the other end. Big.

12:00 - Huge next couple of minutes for both teams.

11:41 - ANA Penalty - Chris Pronger, 2 min. delay of game. Bad break for the Ducks as Pronger tries to sweep the puck out of the zone and sends it over the glass.

10:41 - ANA Penalty - Drew Miller, 2 min. holding. Miller is caught pulling down Pavelski. I don't like this.

10:12 - Not the most thrilling third period of hockey I've ever seen.

8:20 - Teemu Selanne skates fast. Just mentioning.

5:45 - Perry nearly gets the go-ahead goal when he redirects a Pronger shot under Boucher, but the goalie reaches back to squash it.

4:29 - There's one you don't see every day. Perry's shot is deflected over the net, over the 200 level and into the back of the Club level, practically into the Jack Daniel's Club.

0:00 - Here we go in the third, the Sharks with a half-minute of PP time.

2nd Period

20:00 - END OF PERIOD - The Ducks score one (Perry), but give up two (Roenick and Pavelski) and we're tied 2-2 after two. San Jose gets 27 seconds of power play time when we come back.

17:27 - ANA Penalty - James Wisniewski, 2 min. roughing. Wisniewski gets drilled in the face by the glove of Devin Setoguchi and looks around incredulous that there's no call. So, he takes his frustration out on Setoguchi, drilling him with a cross check as the San Jose forward heads up the ice. Not the smartest play in the world, but Wiz was pretty worked up.

16:04 - Ebbett just misses by an inch as he pulls a puck back into the zone before it crosses completely over the blue line. He's whistled for the offside call and the home crowd doesn't like it.

15:16 - SAN JOSE GOAL (POWER PLAY) - JOE PAVELSKI - Dan Boyle holds the puck in the left wing circle for a couple of beats before finding Pavelski on the edge of the crease. He turns and forces the puck under Hiller for the tying strike.

14:50 - Marchant and Setoguchi do a little pushing and shoving away from the play. Nothing comes about from it.

14:13 - ANA Penalty - Rob Niedermayer, 2 min. charging. Not sure about that one either.

13:30 - Ebbett gets the puck in front of the defense on the wing, and takes a wrist shot that rings the crossbar.

11:31 - ANAHEIM GOAL (POWER PLAY) - COREY PERRY - On the rush, Selanne tries a pass to the middle of the ice, but it's knocked away and flutters high in the air. When it comes down to the ice, Perry immediately slaps at the bouncing puck and tucks it just inside the far post. It's the 31st of the year for Perry, who retakes the solo team lead and it's 2-1 Anaheim.

10:50 - SJ Penalty - Jody Shelley, 2 min. slashing. Parros drills Shelley into his own bench, much to the pleasure of the home crowd. Shelly skates after Parros and hits him from behind with his stick and gets the penalty. He looks pretty surprised by it? You can read his lips saying, "On me?" and then, "Come on!"

7:40 - Ducks being outshot 8-1 in this period.

5:46 - Big kill for Anaheim as Brown darts out of the box.

3:46 - ANA Penalty - Mike Brown, 2 min. hooking. Brown gets his stick into a San Jose player in front of the net. Marginal at best.

2:43 - SAN JOSE GOAL -  JEREMY ROENICK - Mikkelson can't hold the puck in the corner and it's taken away by Jonathan Cheechoo and big Joe Thornton, who sends a pass to the slot to Roenick, and he one-times it past Hiller. The greatest player in hockey video game history gets San Jose on the board and we're tied 1-1.

0:00 - Off and running in the second.

1st Period

20:00 - END OF PERIOD - A nice first period for Anaheim, which holds San Jose at bay and gets a shorthander from Nokelainen to jump up 1-0.

17:05 - Christensen has room to shoot on the right wing and nearly slings it past Boucher. The Ducks are fighting for every puck right now -- and winning.

14:20 - Hiller stays strong as Michalek tries to jam one through a couple of times.

As they bring back the gimmick of alternately showing a guy in a Sharks jersey ("boooo!") and then a guy in a Ducks jersey ("yeah!") the Sharks fan ultimately takes his jersey off (with thankfully a t-shirt underneath. But we did get an unpleasant flash of his gut as he did it.

9:02 - SJ Penalty - Rob Blake - 2 min. holding. As Nokelainen tries to weave through the defense again, Blake grabs onto his shoulder and pulls him back. Pretty easy one to call.

A chant of "Let's go, Ducks!" with Thunderstick accompaniment.

5:38 - ANAHEIM GOAL (SHORTHANDED) - PETTERI NOKELAINEN - Scott Niedermayer tries to flip the puck out of the zone and Vlasic tries to catch and put it down. But before he can put it on his own stick, it's taken away by Nokelainen, who's off and running on a breakaway. As he gets close to Boucher, he tries to wrist a shot under him. Boucher makes the initial save, but the puck is still loose as he falls on his side and drags it back with him over the stripe. It's 1-0 Anaheim on the first shorty of Nokelainen's career.

5:28 - Close call as Vlasic feeds Cheechoo on the doorstep, but the Ducks adjust quickly enough to make a wall just before Cheechoo knocks the goal over.

4:10 - ANA Penalty - Andrew Ebbett, 2 min. holding the stick. How is that illegal? Okay, last time I use that joke.

Forgot to mention, Ducks in their white jerseys while San Jose is in their black third jerseys. The Ducks have been so good in white lately, I like it.

0:23 - The Sharks are whistled for offside, just before Vlasic sends one through Hiller on the rush. Whoa.

0:00 - And we're underway at Honda Center, the crowd alive with banging Thundersticks. Not sure that's a good thing.

Pregame

Starting Goaltenders - ANA Jonas Hiller; SJ Brian Boucher

Starting Skaters - ANA Ryan Whitney, Chris Pronger, Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf; SJ Rob Blake, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jonathan Cheechoo, Joe Thornton, Jeremy Roenick

Scratches - ANA Bret Hedican, Ryan Carter; SJ Patrick Marleau, Alexei Semenov, Ryane Clowe

Hiller gets the start for a second straight night. Not the case for Evgeni Nabokov, who gives way to Boucher tonight.