SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves and nearly posted a second straight shutout against San Jose, Ryan Getzlaf scored his first goal in more than a month, and the Anaheim Ducks completed a two-game sweep of the Sharks with a 4-1 win Wednesday night.
“Stoley played great for us,” said forward Derek Grant, who also scored for Anaheim. “He made several big saves when we needed him to. … It’s unfortunate they got one by Stoley because he’s been great these last two games.” Stolarz followed up a 46-save performance in a 4-0 win Monday night with another strong performance against the struggling Sharks. The performance Monday earned
him a rare chance at back-to-back starts, and he came within 2:16 of becoming the first Ducks goalie with shutouts in back-to-back games since John Gibson in December 2015. “He wasn’t supposed to start tonight,” coach Dallas Eakins said. “We ended up pushing Gibby back. That’s what you want to do as a player. It would help if you were noticed and be noticed totally. That kid is fighting for every minute he can get. Good on him.”
Alexander Volkov and Jakob Silfverberg also scored for Anaheim.
Josef Korenar made 23 saves in his first career start for San Jose but got little help from his teammates. Erik Karlsson’s goal with the goalie pulled late in the third was the only time San Jose got one past Stolarz in the two-game series. “We made it easy on him,” forward Tomas Hertl said. “He made a couple of good saves, but we should be more complex around the net and more hungry for goals.
The past two games weren’t good enough for us.” The Sharks lost four of five games on a homestand against Anaheim and Los Angeles, the bottom two teams in the West Division. San Jose entered the homestand on a four-game winning streak but was dealt a big blow to their playoff hopes.
San Jose is four points behind St. Louis for the final playoff spot.
“We were on the top of the mountain a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel,” coach Bob Boughner said. “This is tough because every game is important. … It’s a squandered opportunity.”
Getzlaf got the Ducks going in the first after a turnover by Karlsson in the defensive zone. Getzlaf beat Ryan Donato for a position in front and tapped in a pass from Troy Terry for his first goal since March 6.
Anaheim built on that lead in the second, when Grant deflected a point shot from Josh Manson past Korner.
The Sharks responded with a few good shifts but couldn’t get anything past Stolarz. They fell behind 3-0 when Volkov was left alone in front to beat Korner.
Silfverberg added a goal in the closing minute on the power play.
FISTICUFFS
The frustration for the Sharks led to a pair of fights in the third period, with Dylan Gambrell taking on Manson in the first and Radim Simek squaring off with Max Comtois in the second.
LINEUP SHIFT
The Sharks made some lineup changes after losing three of four games. Rudolfs Balcers moved up to the top line with Logan Couture and Evander Kane, with Kevin Labanc dropping to the second line. Fredrik Handemark got the nod as a fourth-line center, and defenseman Nicolas Meloche replaced Christian Jaros on the third pair. Defenseman Haydn Fleury debuted for Anaheim after acquiring a deal from Carolina before the deadline.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host Vegas on Friday night.
Sharks: Visit Minnesota on Friday night.
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