Ducks break out to early lead, beat Sharks 5-2
- Share via
SAN JOSE — Max Comtois and Sonny Milano scored in a span of less than a minute in the second period and the Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Trevor Zegras and Josh Mahura also scored and Zach Aston-Reese had an empty-netter for the Ducks, who had lost six of their past seven games. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves to beat San Jose for the third time this season.
Brent Burns and Scott Reedy scored for the Sharks in their final home game of the season. Kaapo Kahkonen made 25 saves.
The Sharks started slow the game after posting their biggest win of the season, when they rallied late to force overtime and beat Vegas in a shootout on Sunday night to harm the Golden Knights’ playoff chances.
San Jose has little else to play for outside of the spoiler role as the Sharks will miss the playoffs for a third straight season for the first time in franchise history.
The Ducks are in a similar situation, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season and coming off an emotional game Sunday night when Ryan Getzlaf played the final game of his career.
Anaheim converted on an early power play in the first when Zegras beat Kahkonen up high from in close. The puck got stuck in the netting and no one reacted immediately to the goal before Zegras raised his hands in celebration when he finally realized he scored his 23rd goal of the season.
Ryan Getzlaf finished his 17-year career spent entirely with the Ducks in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.
Anaheim then seized control with two goals in a stretch of 56 seconds early in the second period that came right after the Ducks killed a penalty.
Comtois got the first when he finished off a give-and-go with Kevin Shattenkirk and then Sonny Milano made it 3-0 with a backhand from the slot.
The Sharks got back into it with a power-play goal from Burns and a deflection by Reedy late in the second period.
Mahura scored midway through the third to give the Ducks an insurance goal.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
