Heading into opening night, it seemed like the Sharks would only lose and the Ducks would only win for a simple reason: goaltending.
That was pretty much the case on Wednesday, as John Gibson played a huge role in Anaheim upsetting San Jose 5-2. The American-born goalie celebrated his contract extension by stopping 31 out of 33 shots, keeping the Ducks in the game even as they allowed 24 shots on goal in the second period alone.
It seemed like the Sharks needed works of art to beat John Gibson, and this Tomas Hertl goal was exactly that:
Meanwhile, it was a tough night for Martin Jones, whose lowest point came on a Brandon Montour tally (one that just can’t happen when the goalie at the other end is standing on his head):
Heading into this game, the Sharks boasted a “Who’s who” lineup, as Erik Karlsson adds staggering firepower to a lineup that already made the playoffs last season. On the other hand, injuries forced the Ducks to roll with a group that would elicit a “Who?” response from even most hardcore hockey fans.
It’s fitting, then, that a big move came when Max Comtois scored his first NHL goal in his first game, quieting “The Shark Tank” with a 1-0 goal just 49 seconds into the game.
To wade through choppy waters without the likes of Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, and Ondrej Kase, the Ducks need “no-name” players to step up ... but they’re still forced to rely on big names. Gibson delivered in an authoritative way, and so did other important Ducks. Anaheim received key three-point outputs from Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg, while Adam Henrique and Ryan Getzlaf came up big, too.
While there were plenty of flashes of the brilliance expected from Karlsson, it wasn’t the ideal first night in teal. The superb Swede suffered a -2 rating, only fired one shot on goal, and failed to generate a point while logging almost 27 minutes (26:48) in his Sharks debut.
The good news is that Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer is finding ways to get both of his star defensemen on the ice, as Brent Burns logged 25:18 in this one. Unfortunately, their presence didn’t pay big dividends on special teams; while the Ducks went 2-for-3 (albeit giving up Hertl’s shorthanded goal), the Sharks failed to convert on three opportunities.
Again, San Jose still generally dominated the flow of play and puck possession, even if they didn’t have much to show for it on the scoreboard.
It makes no sense San Jose is going to lose this game. At no point was Anaheim better.
— Fear the Fin (@fearthefin) October 4, 2018
It’s just one game, yet if nothing else, it’s a real confidence-booster for a Ducks team that will need to be plucky to overcome this early stretch of injuries. Gibson and their healthy top guys are the key there, and for at least one night, that was enough against a potential juggernaut (or megalodon?) in the Sharks.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.