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Ducks get quick revenge, down Sharks

Dec 19, 2007 - 8:06 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - After getting their first win of the season against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Sunday, the San Jose Sharks decided to wear their road uniforms again. Perhaps it's time for another approach.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 20 shots to get his first shutout of the season as the Ducks downed the Sharks, 2-0, on Tuesday.

The shutout by Giguere was his first since he blanked the Nashville Predators on December 6, 2006. It was his fourth career shutout against San Jose and the 26th of his career.

"Everybody in the league is going to get shut out sooner or later, but we had an opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and Anaheim, and we let that slip," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We didn't build on how we played Sunday, and that's disappointing."

Giguere made seven saves in the first period, four in the second and nine in the third period.

"We aren't going to win any games 7-0," Giguere said. "We know we have to grind these out. We rely on our defense."

The 30-year-old netminder was infrequently challenged in this contest, but did benefit from a bit of luck when Mike Grier had a couple of chances at an undefended net in the first period, including a shot that slid along the goal line nearly the entire width of the crease but never fully crossed the line.

"That shot just got unlucky - it just sat on the goal line and got knocked away before I could reach it," Grier said.

"Both our team and their team have big defenses," Ducks right wing Corey Perry said. "It's tough to get inside on them, they block out well, and both teams move the puck well. When you have two teams that have such solid defense, it's tough to get anything going. You just have to capitalize on your chances."

Anaheim and San Jose had met three times prior to Tuesday, with each game ending in a shootout. The Ducks won the first two meetings before the Sharks bested their division rival in another shootout on Sunday.

"I think it's two evenly-matched and competitive hockey clubs," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "We know one another, we've played one another so many times, and the teams haven't changed dramatically since this coaching staff and management have been here."

The Ducks peppered San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov with shots early in the first session, but the netminder - the only one in the NHL to start every one of his team's games this year - turned back all five shots by the Ducks.

The Ducks broke through at 2:40 of the second period when Chris Kunitz centered a pass to a hard-skating Perry on the left corner of the crease. Perry's quick flip beat Nabokov on his glove side. For Perry, it was his 18th goal of the season.

"It was a great play by (blueliner Sean) O'Donnell with a soft chip and having Kunitz driving, I just stayed wide and he found me backdoor," Perry said. "I just had to tap it in."

After a 58-second stretch of 4-on-4 hockey, the Ducks scored as soon as they got the man advantage when Bobby Ryan took Todd Marchant's pass in the slot. Ryan didn't connect cleanly, but the puck went between Nabokov's pads as the goaltender sprawled to defend the expected high shot at 17:28 of the second session.

The teams will meet again on Sunday for the third time in seven days in what has become one of hockey's fiercest rivalries. A total of 30 minutes of penalties were handed out to both sides for either roughing or fighting in the contest.

Ryan, a rookie with six NHL games to his credit, already understands the tenor of the rivalry.

"They are a team that does not back down, and so are we," he said. "It's a good head-to-head matchup."

Nabokov recorded 14 saves for the Sharks, who have lost two of their last three games.