San Jose Sharks Finish Sweep Of Anaheim Ducks, Face Golden Knights Next
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Tomas Hertl scored the tiebreaking goal 9:09 into the third period, Martin Jones was spectacular in goal yet again, and the San Jose Sharks completed a first-round sweep of the rival Anaheim Ducks with a 2-1 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
Hertl scored just 1:16 after the Ducks finally got a puck past Jones when he deflected a point shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic past John Gibson. San Jose then held on to advance to the second round against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
Fourth-line winger Marcus Sorensen scored for the third straight game to open the scoring for San Jose and Jones did most of the rest of the work with 30 saves. He robbed Corey Perry several times and got help from a replay review that negated an apparent tying goal early in the third.
Andrew Cogliano scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who were outscored 16-4 in the series and swept for the first time since 1999 against Detroit. Gibson finished with 22 saves.
Gibson was unable to match the play of Jones, who had a shutout in Game 1, set a San Jose playoff record with 45 regulation saves in Game 3 and then might have been even better in the clincher that gave the Sharks their second sweep in franchise history after also doing it in the first round in 2013 against Vancouver.
Jones robbed Perry with a pad stop early in the second and then again twice in one sequence later in the period. Anaheim looked poised to capitalize on a late power play in the period but Jones stopped Perry once again with a sprawling pad save and then Ryan Getzlaf finally got a puck past Jones, although it came a fraction of a second after the final buzzer.
Referee Eric Furlatt emphatically waved the goal off on the ice and Getzlaf could only lean on the goal in frustration over the failed opportunity.
That frustration only grew as the power play continued into the third period. Rickard Rakell appeared to tie the game with a one-timer but the Sharks challenged the zone entry and the officials ruled Perry and Rakell were offside after video review.
Cogliano finally scored for Anaheim off a feed from Ryan Kesler but the good feeling didn't last long before Hertl responded.
That led to chants of "We want Vegas!" and "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" down the stretch at the sold out Shark Tank.
Even though the Ducks were the team facing elimination, the Sharks looked more desperate at the start. San Jose got the first seven shots on goal in the game and took the early lead with another contribution from the fourth line.
Sorensen, who spent most of the season in the AHL, took the rebound of Brent Burns' point shot and scored his third goal of the series less than six minutes into the game.
Gibson then robbed Evander Kane later in the period and Anaheim killed off a penalty to keep the game at 1-0 before the Ducks generated some chances late that Jones was able to turn aside.
NOTES: Perry had no points in the series. ... Linesman Brad Kovachik left the game in the first period with an injury and was replaced by Mark Shewchyk. ... San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan opened the dressing room door to lead the Sharks onto the ice pregame.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.
