Recap: Ducks Sink Sharks with 4-2 Preseason Victory

The Ducks improved to 2-0 in the 2023 preseason tonight with a 4-2 win over the rival San Jose Sharks tonight at SAP Center.

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Sam Carrick led Anaheim offensively with a three-point night while Olen Zellweger registered a goal and an assist, helping the Ducks to an early 3-0 lead that would prove too much for the Sharks to overcome. Brett Leason also scored for Anaheim. Jacob Perreault, Ilya Lyubushkin and Pavol Regenda added assists.

Offseason acquisition Alex Stalock earned the win in net with 15 saves.

Anaheim outshot San Jose 25-17 in the victory.

William Eklund and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose. Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves.

The first period was all Ducks as the visitors took a 2-0 lead before 10 minutes had come off the clock and held a commanding 3-0 edge at intermission.

Leason put the Ducks ahead just over seven minutes into the action, finishing a backdoor pass from Carrick on a 2-on-1 rush created by Perreault's neutral zone takeaway.

With two goals and an assist tonight, Carrick now has four points in Anaheim's first two exhibition games (2-2=4) and also fought LA's Hayden Hodgson in Sunday's preseason opener.

Zellweger scored 42 seconds later when he danced away from trouble just inside the blue line and snuck his shot through a swarm of bodies in front of Blackwood.

The two-time reigning Western Hockey League Defenseman of the Year, Zellweger will start his professional career this season. He finished his WHL tenure third all-time among defensemen in points-per-game (2.07).

Agozzino capped the first-period outburst with a power-play goal, finding some open space in the slot and converting Regenda's pass from behind the net.

The 32-year-old Agozzino, acquired from Pittsburgh on June 27, is back with the Ducks after two years away. He played eight games for Anaheim across two seasons (2019-21) and tallied 27 points in 31 games for the San Diego Gulls in 2020-21.

With the secondary assist on the goal, Zellweger has three points in four career NHL preseason games.

Former Sharks defenseman Scott Harrington very nearly pushed the Anaheim lead to four in the opening minutes of the middle frame on a crisp give-and-go with Blake McLaughlin, but his backhand shot in tight rang the crossbar.

Instead San Jose would pull within two with a 4-on-3 power-play goal as Eklund hammered home a one-timer from Shakir Mukhamadullin in the right faceoff circle.

Unfortunately for Anaheim, the third would initially follow the same script as the second as moments after Tristan Luneau rung the post with a slapshot off the post from the top of the circles, Vlasic beat Stalock off the rush on the other end to bring San Jose within one.

But that would be as close as the hosts would come, as Carrick hit the empty net with nine seconds to play to conclude his big night offensively and seal Anaheim's road win.

The Ducks continue their eight-game preseason schedule Wednesday with a rematch against the Sharks at Honda Center.