The San Jose Sharks have just had the Anaheim Ducks’ number lately. That continued in a big way on Thursday, as they prevailed 6-3.
Just take a look at two stats that exemplify the fact that it wasn’t all on Ilya Bryzgalov.
The win was Todd McLellan's 23rd in the regular season against the Ducks, his most against any team
— Darin Stephens (@SharksStats) January 30, 2015
Sharks have won 9 of the last 12 meetings against the Ducks, including 7 straight in San Jose
— Darin Stephens (@SharksStats) January 30, 2015
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There were some out there who wondered if Bryzgalov was getting unfair treatment when he went into the 2014-15 season without an NHL contract. On a night like this, it’s difficult to imagine him playing at the highest level next year.
The San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks came into Thursday’s second period tied 1-1 and then things just fell apart for Bryzgalov & Co. It wasn’t all Bryzgalov’s fault, yet it’s still hard not to focus on him after he gave up six goals on 25 shots.
Some of those tallies were just pretty, like this great bit of puck movement that set up Joe Pavelski’s power-play goal:
Others were just rough to watch, like this Matt Irwin tally:
The Ducks probably wanted Bryzgalov to stick it out, but that was just getting uncomfortable.
Bryzgalov came in with a 1-2-0 record and a lousy .854 save percentage, yet his last start showed some promise. That’s gone away now.
The last two goals allowed were especially rough:
Oof.
#NHLDucks Bryzgalov: "If I made a couple of saves on some of those goals, it might be different." #ANAvsSJS
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) January 30, 2015
Update: The Ducks scored a couple garbage goals to make the score more respectable, but there weren’t really any fireworks in the third period. The Sharks ultimately took the game 6-3.
OK, one eventful thing happened in the later moments:
Winner, Winner, you know what's for dinner! #ANAvsSJS #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/qvHiTVqGiT
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 30, 2015