In Anaheim Friday night, the Ducks needed a late goal from Hampus Lindholm to defeat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2.
Rickard Rakell and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Ducks who improved to 14-9-5 on the season.
“You want to have an impact on the game when you’re on offense,” Lindholm said. “I thought tonight that goal was really big for us. I thought we had some defensively good plays, too, that kind of helped us in the defensive zone, and that’s what I’m kind of focusing on, but it was really nice to see one go in.”
Jonathan Bernier rebounded from a dismal 8-3 loss to the Calgary Flames last weekend and stopped 22 shots for the win.
“I had a solid week in practice and was dialed in tonight,” Bernier said. “I just wanted to give the team a good chance to win, and we found a way to win again tonight.”
Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc scored for the Sharks.
“I would say any professional sports athlete that has something that doesn’t go their way or goes drastically poor from a scoring standpoint would rather get right back on and ride the horse again if you get bucked off,” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said of starting Bernier in net.
WATCH: All Sharks vs. Ducks highlights
Martin Jones made 29 saves in the loss.
“We didn’t hang our heads and we battled,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “We are just finding our way to lose right now instead of win.”
Bernier was especially solid in the closing minutes of the game when the Sharks ramped up the pressure to try to force overtime but he held the Ducks in the game for the win.
“We had chances. We were there, but it doesn’t matter. We just kept plugging away. We had some good looks,” the Sharks’ Joe Pavelski said. ” We have to start putting them in the net. It’s frustrating when you know a goal can change a game like that and you’re missing some good opportunities. You keep working for the next chance.”
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