Ducks Lose Third Home Game In Four Days
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brent Burns and Martin Havlat each had a goal and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Ducks 5-3 Monday night to send Anaheim to its third home loss in four days.
Havlat snapped a 15-game goal drought, Joe Pavelski scored just his second goal in 19 games and added a late assist, and James Sheppard wrapped it up with his first goal of the season with 9:56 to play in San Jose's final stop on a five-game trip.
Emerson Etem scored his second career goal and Francois Beauchemin also scored for the Ducks, who wrapped up a string of five home games in eight days with their first three-game skid of the season.
Corey Perry scored for Anaheim with 1:40 to play, but Dan Boyle scored on an empty net with 28 seconds left.
Antti Niemi stopped 24 shots for the road-weary Sharks, who begin a seven-game homestand Wednesday against Anaheim needing a strong push to make the playoffs for the 14th time in 15 seasons.
Viktor Fasth made 34 saves for the Ducks, who have hit the first skid in their remarkable season.
The Ducks have followed up their triumphant win over NHL-leading Chicago last Wednesday with three consecutive losses, including back-to-back defeats from Detroit by a combined 7-2 over the previous three days. Anaheim had won a franchise-record 13 straight home games before its current slump.
Teemu Selanne didn't score while appearing in his 1,373rd NHL game, surpassing Teppo Numminen's record for Finnish players.
The Sharks had plenty of jump in their first game since trading veteran Swedish defenseman Douglas Murray to Pittsburgh earlier in the day for two second-round draft picks, ending his eight-year tenure with San Jose.
San Jose took a 3-0 lead before holding on in the second of three meetings in 10 days for the California rivals. The Ducks beat San Jose 5-3 a week ago, and they'll meet at the Shark Tank in two days.
The Sharks led 2-0 just 7:10 in on goals from Burns and Pavelski, who pounced for just his second goal since Feb. 11 when Sheppard jarred the puck loose from Perry in the slot. Havlat then scored just his fourth goal of the season on a long rebound in the slot in the opening minute of the second period, setting off scattered boos at Honda Center.
The Ducks finally answered midway through the period when Etem and Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart both chipped at the puck on Etem's rush. The puck deflected again off Stuart's body and past Niemi for the 20-year-old Etem's second NHL goal in eight days, both against San Jose.
The momentum appeared to be moving when Beauchemin scored in the opening minute of the third period, firing a top-corner shot off a setup by captain Ryan Getzlaf. The Sharks had an apparent power-play goal waved off with 12:04 to play when video review couldn't overturn the on-ice call against Logan Couture, who deflected a long shot with a high stick.
Moments later, Sheppard threw a long shot at the net, and it might have deflected off Anaheim's Ben Lovejoy before finding Fasth's net.
