Game Preview: Sharks At Ducks
The San Jose Sharks were struggling to score and on the brink of their longest losing streak of the season when they hosted the Anaheim Ducks three weeks ago.
A victory in that contest sparked a drastic turnaround.
San Jose seeks a sixth consecutive win Monday night as it visits an Anaheim team that has dropped seven of nine in the series.
The Sharks (19-11-4) scored more than two goals once during a 2-5-2 stretch and had dropped a season worst-tying four straight when the Ducks came to town Nov. 29.
Tommy Wingels had a goal and three assists in a 6-4 victory, beginning a stretch in which San Jose has won nine of 10 while scoring at least three goals six times.
Brent Burns scored with 38 seconds left in overtime to give the Sharks a 3-2 victory over St. Louis on Saturday after Joe Thornton assisted on Marc-Edouard Vlasic's tying goal with 21 seconds remaining in regulation.
"We found a way to get a late goal, but we had a lot of opportunities before that," Vlasic said. "It's nice to get the win the way we did."
Three victories during the current winning streak have come by one goal, leaving coach Todd McLellan feeling a bit uneasy at times. He's more concerned with the end result, though.
"We have to be happy with it, the point production and the game, the way we're playing," McLellan said. "We played a good team (Saturday). Gave up 12 shots in the last two periods and overtime, which is a good thing for our club now."
Anaheim (22-8-5) responded to last month's loss to the Sharks by winning seven straight, but the streak came to an end with a 6-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. The Ducks beat Montreal on Thursday before falling to Ottawa 6-2 the next night to finish a five-game road trip.
Ryan Getzlaf scored both goals for Anaheim, which has played the last seven games without star forward Corey Perry due a knee injury suffered Dec. 5 against Minnesota. Perry skated Sunday and left open the possibility that he could return for this contest.
"I'm not going to push it, so we'll see what happens," Perry told the team's official website. "I have to feel confident on the ice. It's all about how I feel. I'm talking with doctors and trainers, and doing everything that I have to do to be ready."
Defenseman Francois Beauchemin had missed the last 12 with a broken finger. He also skated Sunday but is doubtful to play, likely choosing to return for Saturday's matchup against Arizona.
"It's not like we can't win with either of them out of the lineup, even though we'd love to have them both back," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "If this was the playoffs, or if these were the last three games and we were fighting for a playoff spot, it would be a different story. At this stage, we just want to make sure they're better."
Perry had two goals and an assist in the last meeting with the Sharks, who won the first matchup this season 4-1 on Oct. 26 in Anaheim. Antti Niemi has been in net for both wins, with the latest starting his run of seven straight victories with a 2.27 goals-against average.
Frederik Andersen is 8-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA since losing to the San Jose last month.
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