Sharks Win A Bone Cruncher Over Duck

“This team has a lot of confidence right now.”---  Joe Thornton

By Barbara Mason Bay Area Sports/Raiderdrive.com

According to Jeremy Roenick, Friday night’s against the Anaheim Ducks was the biggest game of the year for the team so far.  San Jose has proven that they can win on the road, proven that they can win at home and now they need to prove that they can handle teams like Dallas, Detroit and Anaheim.  Could San Jose provide the toughness that they would need to get past their southern California rivals?  This was the 7^th meeting between these two teams with San Jose only winning one of the last 6 played. 

With less than a minute gone in the first period, San Jose was up on the board courtesy of Joe Thornton scoring his 21^st goal of the season and the early 1-0 lead.  The game was extremely physical from the get go which is commonplace whenever these teams meet. “That’s the way we like it,” said Joe Thornton of the physicality in this contest.  The period ended with the single goal.

The Ducks continued to press and they broke through in the second period when Todd Marchant scored his 9^th goal of the year and the game was tied 1-1.  San Jose had opportunity after opportunity to take the lead however Anaheim refused them time and time again.  The Ducks power kill was perfect into the second period keeping San Jose out of the net. This was one of those games where a single mistake could mean disaster in this evenly matched contest.  A critical moment in the game came when Joe Thornton drew two penalties giving San Jose a two-minute 5 on 3.  The Ducks held San Jose giving them a real lift when they denied the Sharks what could have been the go ahead goal.  Despite the Ducks being out shot 2 to 1, the period ended in a 1-1 tie.  San Jose had taken 26 shots on goal to the Ducks 13.

The third period brought yet another 5 on 3 for San Jose and they were not to be denied again.  Once again it was Jeremy Roenick to the rescue blasting in his 13^th goal of the season taking his team into the lead for what turned out to be the final score 2-1.  It was an electric period, in fact this game had to be one of best played all season.  The Sharks refused to allow even one shot on goal for Anaheim in the final period.  San Jose had 17 finishing with 43 to the Ducks 13.

“Getting over that hump.  We lost one late in their building a few months ago that was really depressing,” said Jeremy Roenick of the team’s history with Anaheim.  “Going into the playoffs, we have to prove to ourselves that we can beat these teams and play like we did.  When you outshoot a team like that 43-13, you’re onto something,” he said.

“We played another real good game.  This team has a lot of confidence right now,” said Joe Thornton after the game.  “We take a lot of pride in our defensive play.  We’ve been playing really well in the third period.”

“That was an unbelievable job offensively and defensively,” said a pleased Coach Ron Wilson.  “It was about puck possession tonight.  We had the puck must have been 75% of the time and if they did get the puck in our end, we were aggressive, we jumped them and didn’t give them any time.”

These teams will meet once again in the regular season, next Friday down in Anaheim.  Next up for the Sharks will be a road game against Phoenix this coming Tuesday. The playoff bound Sharks now hold substantial leads over both Anaheim and Dallas as they sit atop their division.