The Ducks smother the Sharks

Four times behind, the Ducks still burn

Six goals, no flame

The San Jose Sharks scored six goals on qualification night and still went dark. They had finished 32nd of 32 last season and were out on qualification night in both earlier Gauntlets, the last time beaten 3-1 by these same Anaheim Ducks. At SAP Center they led 2-0, then 5-3, then 6-4. Every lead slipped away.

Punch and counterpunch

Tyler Toffoli opened with a slap shot at 3:40, the Sharks goalie off only while a penalty on the Ducks was being signalled. Ryan Reaves made it 2-0 at 11:12, and Cutter Gauthier answered 0:41 later. Beckett Sennecke tied it on the power play two seconds before Reaves and Ross Johnston dropped the gloves.

The second period was a brawl of a different kind. Defenseman Mario Ferraro scored, and Alex Killorn replied 0:58 later. Then John Klingberg and Adam Gaudette ripped power-play slap shots for a 5-3 Sharks lead. Kreider pulled one back on the power play at 19:29, but Jeff Skinner restored the two-goal cushion in the third.

Kreider, then Carlsson

Gauthier tipped one in at 10:29. Then Petr Mrazek came off for a sixth skater, and Chris Kreider wristed home the tying goal at 19:09, with 0:51 left in regulation. Yaroslav Askarov made 37 saves, but 44 shots were too many. Leo Carlsson, set up by Mikael Granlund, ended it 0:46 into overtime. The Sharks were snuffed, and the Ducks burn on among the 18 flames still lit.