Ducks' Hiller is killer
Game Commentary: Anaheim goalie stops 28 shots in 5-2 victory over San Jose
Matthew Kimel
Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Sports
Jeremy Roenick said the Ducks were a desperate team fighting for a playoff spot after they handed the San Jose Sharks a 5-2 loss at the Tank Saturday.
The desperate Ducks have been fighting night in and night out to keep their playoff hopes alive and just a few weeks ago, the thought of Anaheim being one of the eight Western Conference playoff teams was nearly out of sight.
"They're hungry to get in," San Jose defenseman Rob Blake said.
With the win, Anaheim has won four straight and nine of its last 11.
"At this time of the year, you earn your wins and they did, give them credit," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "They played an extremely good game."
And after being shut out by Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks the last two times the teams have met, it was clear that Anaheim did not want to be out done again.
Even though the league-leading Sharks are just points away from possibly clinching their first Western Conference Championship and Presidents' Trophy, the Ducks, apparently, were the team that wanted the two points more.
Anaheim went out to a 2-0 lead and would never trail once.
The Ducks broke the scoring when Bobby Ryan got an open look at the net and beat Evgeni Nabokov at 2:47 in the first period after receiving a setup pass from Ryan Getzlaf from behind the Sharks' net.
The Ducks hastily got on the board again after Nabokov was beat five-hole by Corey Perry at 5:46 on a shot he normally saves with ease.
"We weren't there mentally or physically," McLellan said.
And while Nabokov's physical presence in the net was obvious, he clearly wasn't mentally in the game for some reason or another.
"As a coach, you'd like your team to score lots of goals, but we know we're not going to score five goals against the San Jose Sharks every night," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "From our standpoint, we were lucky we caught them on a flat night."
The loss -- which McLellan deemed "unacceptable" -- marked just the second time that San Jose has given up five goals in a game this season in its own building and the second time the team has lost by more than two goals at home.
The desperate Ducks have been fighting night in and night out to keep their playoff hopes alive and just a few weeks ago, the thought of Anaheim being one of the eight Western Conference playoff teams was nearly out of sight.
"They're hungry to get in," San Jose defenseman Rob Blake said.
With the win, Anaheim has won four straight and nine of its last 11.
"At this time of the year, you earn your wins and they did, give them credit," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "They played an extremely good game."
And after being shut out by Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks the last two times the teams have met, it was clear that Anaheim did not want to be out done again.
Even though the league-leading Sharks are just points away from possibly clinching their first Western Conference Championship and Presidents' Trophy, the Ducks, apparently, were the team that wanted the two points more.
Anaheim went out to a 2-0 lead and would never trail once.
The Ducks broke the scoring when Bobby Ryan got an open look at the net and beat Evgeni Nabokov at 2:47 in the first period after receiving a setup pass from Ryan Getzlaf from behind the Sharks' net.
The Ducks hastily got on the board again after Nabokov was beat five-hole by Corey Perry at 5:46 on a shot he normally saves with ease.
"We weren't there mentally or physically," McLellan said.
And while Nabokov's physical presence in the net was obvious, he clearly wasn't mentally in the game for some reason or another.
"As a coach, you'd like your team to score lots of goals, but we know we're not going to score five goals against the San Jose Sharks every night," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "From our standpoint, we were lucky we caught them on a flat night."
The loss -- which McLellan deemed "unacceptable" -- marked just the second time that San Jose has given up five goals in a game this season in its own building and the second time the team has lost by more than two goals at home.
Be the first to comment on this story