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The Anaheim Ducks earned their second win in a row last night, beating the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in overtime.
Anthony Stolarz got the start for the Ducks, playing his first game in almost a month.
The Ducks found themselves down right away, allowing a goal to Matt Nieto off an odd-man rush only 38 seconds into the game. It was a rough first half of the frame overall, with Anaheim spending a lot of time in their own end. Then after John Klingberg and Jayson Megna collided at the opposing blue line, the Ducks surrendered another odd-man rush, getting lucky with a near miss. After the ensuing faceoff though, Erik Karlsson just put a shot on net from the point and it was deflected in to beat Stolarz through traffic, to make it a 2-0 game.
Trying to spark the Ducks afterwards, Sam Carrick dropped the gloves with Jonah Gadjovich and it seemed to work, as right afterwards, Trevor Zegras took a pass to beat Kaapo Kahkonen, cutting the lead in half. Then on a power play only minutes later, Frank Vatrano had a perfect chance to tie the game on an open net, but put not one but two shots in-close off a post. However, on a four-minute power play soon after, Mason McTavish found Ryan Strome in front for a deflection in front with a great pass, tying the game 2-2.
The Ducks were badly outplayed in the first half of the second period though and midway through the period, Kevin Labanc just threw the puck on net and it was tipped in by Timo Meier, to put San Jose back ahead. Mason McTavish did tie the game once again for Anaheim though off a wild bounce on a dump-in but only 14 seconds after McTavish’s goal, Labanc one-timed a shot that was once again tipped in by Meier, giving the Sharks another lead. John Klingberg nearly tied the game for Anaheim again soon after, but he was absolutely robbed by a diving Kahkonen to preserve the Sharks’ lead.
In the third period, the Ducks didn’t get a ton going for a lot of the frame, but later on, Anaheim capitalized off a Sharks’ turnover and Mason McTavish beat Kahkonen with a well-placed shot to tie the game. So despite being outchanced through much of the game, Anaheim still managed to get to overtime.
Then in the extra frame, McTavish ended up taking the puck off Tomas Hertl in the neutral zone and got it up to Troy Terry, who found John Klingberg in front for the overtime winner, leaving the Ducks with the extra point.
It basically continues the trend of recent games where the Ducks were outshot, but still managed to come away with the win.
You can’t help but enjoy the Ducks/Sharks games this season, and it’s too bad we won’t see another this year. Three of the four matchups were just wild outings that ended up going past regulation and with each team so prone to defensive errors, it made for an unpredictable game every time the teams met. It would maybe be more frustrating to watch if there was anything actually at stake for either team but with both clubs so far outside the playoff race anyways, the chaos made for fun viewing.
Mason McTavish continues to excel with the expanded role as well, picking up two goals and four points in the win. In terms of how much of an impact he had on the Ducks' offense, for reference, no other forward on the team had more than a single point last night. Playing with more skilled linemates, it’s going to be fun to see what he can do for the rest of the year.
In other news, Troy Terry was selected as the Ducks’ representative for the NHL All-Star Game. It marks the second year in a row he’s been named as an All-Star and despite cooling off recently, Terry is still tied for the team lead in goals and has the most points of any player on the Ducks as well.
So while the Ducks’ play hasn’t even necessarily changed a ton (they’re still being outshot consistently), Anaheim has managed above a .500 points percentage over their last 10 games, going 5-4-1.
They’ll return to action against the Boston Bruins tomorrow, with three games remaining on their homestand.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM JANUARY
Ducks fall to Flyers as long homestand continues
John Gibson earns shutout as Ducks pull off win over Stars 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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