VIDEO: Ducks Get Swept

By Lauren Laessig

First Period

The San Jose Sharks came out aggressive and quick, two things the Ducks have yet to do. John Gibson was forced to make big saves almost immediately, including the save on Logan Couture’s early breakaway bid. Only 5 minutes and 43 seconds in, Marcus Sorensen got his own rebound and scored his third goal of the postseason for San Jose. Things went from bad to worse when Lindholm was sent to the box for a tripping penalty with 4 minutes and 46 seconds left in the first period. The Ducks penalty kill looked strong as they kept the Sharks off the scoreboard. The last few minutes of the period were dominated by the Ducks who gained momentum after their aggressive penalty kill.

Second Period

Anaheim started the second period with the same confidence they ended the first period with.  They had multiple scoring opportunities while Gibson stopped any from the opposition. Ryan Getzlaf scored off a Corey Perry wrap-around pass 0.2 seconds too late during the Ducks third power play opportunity to end the second period. The Sharks had one power play opportunity to the Ducks three, but both teams remained scoreless.

Third Period

The Ducks started the third period with one minute and one second remaining on their power play. Rickard Rakell snuck one past the pads of Martin Jones 27 seconds in to tie the game. San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer challenged the goal siting offsides, the video review determined he was correct and the Ducks goal was reversed. Brandon Montour was sent to the penalty box two minutes and three seconds in for a high stick penalty, but Anaheim’s special teams kept them in this game with another huge penalty kill. Andrew Cogliano tied up the game at 12:07. This was the third goal for Anaheim, but the first one to land on the scoreboard. Tomas Hertl scored only one minute and 16 seconds later to put the Sharks up by one yet again with a little under 11 minutes to play. The Ducks weren’t able to find the back of the net after that and their season came to an end.

Analysis

The Anaheim Ducks battled through adversities all season long to earn their spot in the playoffs. It appeared to have caught up with them as they were too worn down for the San Jose Sharks who consistently played faster and smarter. The Ducks committed 20 penalties during this series opposed to the Sharks 11 and scored only 4 goals while San Jose racked up 16.  The Ducks had the least amount of goals of any other playoff team, the scoring simply was not there this season.  The Anaheim Ducks injury-plagued season has come to an end, and playing in his last game was Francois Beauchemin. The veteran blueliner contributed four goals and four assists during the Ducks victorious Stanley Cup run in 2007 and he will be greatly missed.

For more on the final game of the season, check out our post game show!

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April 19th, 2018