Ducks go up 3-1 in series

ANAHEiM, Ca – Jonas Hiller posted his first career playoff shut-out with a 4-0 win over the Sharks before 16,830 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The first period started with both teams battling it out again. No goals were scored, but San Jose put 10 shots on goal while Anaheim attempted eight shots. The first goal came at 6:33 into the second period. Bobby Ryan scored past Evgeni Nabokov with an assist by Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Whitney. There was an unusual delay during the second period, when Milan Michalek checked Ryan into the glass that separates the team benches, causing it to shatter. Action stopped while the crews cleaned-up and the glass was replaced. Immediately following the cleanup, at 10:13 after two rebounds, San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov over committed to the side of the net and another rebound, with a wrist shot by Ryan (forth goal of series) went behind Nabokov to put the Ducks up by two. Corey Perry and Chris Pronger each received credit for an assist on the shot. With his lack of production people are watching and Joe Thornton had no shots and no hits through the second=2 0period. The Ducks once again led in shots by a 12 to nine margin during the second period. Hiller was stellar in the net during the first two periods and stopped every attempt by the Sharks. The third period was purely dominated by the Ducks. Even when the Sharks had chances, the Ducks applied pressure, and Hiller continued to stop every shot. At 14:09, the Ducks opened their lead to 3-0, with a goal by Perry with an assist from Getzlaf. The goal was Perry’s first goal of the series. The Sharks pulled Nabokov just under two minutes remaining in the game for the extra man, but with only 40 seconds left in the game, Drew Miller(second of series) put the icing on the game with an empty-net goal. The assist went to Rob Niedermayer and Todd Marchant. When the final stats were tallied Hiller stopped 31 shots in the shutout over the Sharks, while Nabokov had 22 saves. Game five will be Saturday, April 25th in San Jose, and it will be a must win for the Sharks. Contact the writer at: shellie.lima@prohockeynews.com
Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net