Recap: Ducks Can't Rally from Early Deficit, Fall 5-4 to Sharks

The Ducks fought back from an early hole but could not overcome a three-goal deficit, falling 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks in a preseason contest tonight at SAP Center.
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With the loss, Anaheim dropped to 1-1-0 two games into its seven-game preseason slate. The Ducks continue their exhibition schedule and return home to Honda Center tomorrow night against the Arizona Coyotes.
"We just got off guard by the start a little bit," Kevin Shattenkirk said. "First game back and it seemed like everyone was just gauging the pace of the game. We settled in and we're fortunate to get a couple goals to get us back in it."
Hunter Drew, Glenn Gawdin and Josh Lopina scored for Anaheim. Shattenkirk, Nathan Gaucher, Justin Kirkland, Rocco Grimaldi Pavol Regenda, Tyson Hinds and Jakob Silfverberg added assists.
Anthony Stolarz made 24 saves in his first preseason action.
"We got in a hole early on," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "You never want to do that but that was our circumstance. It was encouraging to see the guys dig in and get our feet underneath us."
The win moved San Jose to 2-0-0 for the preseason. Noah Gregor, Scott Reedy, Danil Gushchin, Jonah Gadjovich and Max Veronneau scored for the home side. Goaltender James Reimer made 26 saves.
The Sharks came out flying in their second consecutive home game of the preseason, taking a 2-0 lead before the game was even four minutes old.
San Jose took the night's first lead on its very first shift, when a Ducks turnover turned into a 3-on-1 rush the other way which Gregor wrapped around Stolarz's outstretched right leg and just inside the post for the early advantage.
The Sharks would quickly double the lead less than two minutes later, taking full control in the game's opening moments. This time a broken play behind the net found the stick of Reedy unchecked in the slot, who beat Stolarz with a quick wrist shot from in tight.
Anaheim initially responded well to the early adversity and seemed to gain some momentum from a mid-period power play stock full of scoring chances.
The Ducks finally broke through shortly after that penalty expired when a strong neutral zone check by Kirkland poked the puck free for Drew and Gaucher, who rushed ahead on a 2-on-1 at the San Jose net. Gaucher froze Reimer by keeping the puck in a shooting position before feeding Drew across the ice for a wrister that the big winger buried up top.

Anaheim wouldn't be able to maintain the one-goal deficit heading to the period as a bad break in the defensive zone set up Gushchin with an open net. Veronneau got to a loose puck to the slot, but had his shooting attempt blocked by Charles Cote. Unfortunately for Anaheim, the carrom off Cote's stick went right to Gushchin alone on the backdoor for the tap-in goal, restoring the Sharks' two-goal cushion.
Ducks forward Max Jones left the game following the first period, was evaluated for an injury and did not return.
San Jose would get right back to work early in the middle frame, making the Ducks pay for a couple of unsuccessful defensive zone clears. Just as it appeared Anaheim would be able to evacuate the zone and change some tired defenders, the Sharks twice held the puck in at the blue line before Gadjovich tipped home Marc-Edouard Vlasic's point shot to give the hosts a commanding 4-1 edge.
Facing a three-goal deficit, the Ducks responded with outstanding individual effort by Grimaldi just before the midway point of the second period. The Anaheim native, who joined the Ducks in training camp on a professional tryout, dumped the puck into the offensive zone and went to retrieve it himself, stealing it away from two Sharks defenders and delivering a perfect backdoor feed to Gawdin, who shoveled it past Reimer.

Grimaldi tallied three assists in Anaheim's preseason opener and now has four points in two exhibition appearances.
"Great veteran guy," Eakins said of Grimaldi. "We lost a forward early in the game and Rocco is a fit kid. We can run him pretty hard."
The goal seemed to give the Ducks a shot of life as they followed up the goal with consecutive strong shifts in the Sharks end. After a couple of point shots went just wide of the net, the puck eventually found Lopina in some open ice in the slot and the 21-year-old forward made no mistake, quickly potting it past Reimer before the veteran netminder could find the puck.

Trailing by just one early in the third, Anaheim would be unable to find an early tying goal, instead again falling behind by two when Veronneau crashed the net and got a loose puck behind Stolarz. It appeared the Anaheim netminder had made the save, but a long delay until a whistle by the referee gave Veronneau enough time to get behind Stolarz and pull the puck over the line.
The Ducks would push for offense throughout the third, most notably on a four-minute power play when Artyem Guryev took a double-minor high-sticking penalty, but the Sharks did well to protect the middle of the ice, forcing Anaheim to the perimeter and limiting any strong scoring chances.
Gawdin struck again to bring Anaheim back within a goal with just 83 seconds to play in regulation, joining the rush for a shorthanded tally. Silfverberg won the race to the puck behind the San Jose net, spinning and throwing a pass in front to Gawdin, who beat Reimer one-on-one.
"He was real, real solid," Eakins said of Gawdin. "Tonight you saw the offense he can bring. Moving forward, a big thing for him is we know he can chip in, but he's really going to be graded on if he's able to check and kill penalties. That's the part of the lineup he's looking at."
The Ducks would be unable to secure the last-minute equalizer though as the Sharks skated away with a 5-4 win.
The Ducks continue their preseason schedule tomorrow night at Honda Center against the Arizona Coyotes.
An exclusive screening
of the Disney+ original series "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" season 2 will precede the game. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 5:45.