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Where do Anaheim Ducks go from here?

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The Sharks scored seven-unanswered goals from the second to third period, as San Jose embarrassed the Anaheim Ducks in an 8-1 drubbing in Game 3 to move within one win of advancing to the second round.

Most hockey fans expected the first-round series between the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks to be tight. Through three games, that hasn’t necessarily been the case.

Sure, Game 2 was decided by one goal and Game 1 wasn’t a blow out, but the Sharks still found themselves up 2-0 heading into last night’s clash. Unfortunately, Anaheim saved their worst performance for Game 3, as they were annihilated 8-1 on the road. They’re now officially in must-win mode. One more loss and they’re going to be packing their bags for the summer.

So where do they go from here?

Overcoming a 3-0 deficit is daunting, especially when you’re playing a team that’s performing as well as San Jose has lately.

“We know what happened,” Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson said, per NHL.com. “It’s embarrassing. It’s not good enough. Now it’s do or die, so if you dwell on a game like this, it gets you nowhere.”
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]

Penalties were a huge issue for the Ducks in Game 3, as they gave San Jose eight power play opportunities. The Sharks managed to convert on four of them. Also, the fact that they’ve only found the back of the net three times in three games in less than ideal. That’s not exactly a recipe for success.

Captain Ryan Getzlaf has two assists in three games, Rickard Rakell, who led the team in scoring during the regular season, has one goal in three games, Corey Perry has a minus-3 rating, eight penalty minutes and seven shots on goal and Ryan Kesler has one helper and four shots. It’s not good enough from top to bottom with this team right now.

The embarrassment of losing a game of that magnitude by seven goals can affect the team in one of two ways. Either they fold the tent and move on to next season, or they roll up their sleeves and use this brutal loss as motivation to climb back into the series.

Does this series end in four games? Who knows. But it would be surprising to see the Ducks pack it in during Game 4. One victory is just a small start, but it would allow them to head back home, where they were 26-10-5 during the season.

It’s not over, but things have to change in a hurry.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.