5 Keys: Ducks at Sharks, Game 4

SHARKS at DUCKS
10:30 p.m. ET; GOLF, NBCSCA, PRIME, TVAS2, SN1
San Jose leads best-of-7 series 3-0
SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks will try to complete a series sweep when they play the Anaheim Ducks in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at SAP Center on Wednesday.

After winning Games 1 and 2 at Honda Center, the Sharks rolled to an 8-1 victory in Game 3 at SAP Center on Monday, setting a franchise single-game playoff record for goals. A victory in Game 4 will move San Jose into the next round against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Here are 5 keys for Game 3:

1. Ducks must stay disciplined

The Ducks took 10 penalties and gave up four power-play goals on eight opportunities in Game 3. They also gave up numerous odd-man rushes and easy goals to San Jose when their defensemen became too reckless joining the rush.
"We've just got to play playoff hockey," center Ryan Kesler said. "The first three games, [we had] too many turnovers, too many penalties. We're a defense-first team, no matter what everybody says. That's the way we got to play, and we haven't. We do that, we'll win one game and we'll see what happens."

2. Scoring struggles for Ducks

San Jose goaltender Martin Jones made 45 saves in Game 3, the most he's ever made in Stanley Cup Playoff game. He's 3-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average, .970 save percentage and one shutout in this series. In his career, Jones is 19-14 with a 1.93 GAA, .930 save percentage and five shutouts in the playoffs.
The Ducks know they have to get more pucks and bodies to the net.
"You have to create havoc around the net," forward Corey Perry said. "You look at goals that are being scored in the League, there's a lot of traffic, a lot of rebounds, a lot of garbage that's laying around and somebody has to be there. It's a matter of getting to those areas and having the will to outwork the other team."

3. Pressure

The Ducks are the team facing elimination, but the Sharks are trying to avoid a return trip to Anaheim and end the series as quickly as possible. San Jose is 4-1 when taking a 3-0 series lead; the only loss came four years ago in the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings. They are one of four teams that has lost a series after winning the first three games; teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series are 184-4 (97.9 winning percentage).
"I think this group understands where we're at," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "We wanted to go put that team in a 3-0 hole. For us, I don't really think it's overconfidence, but we're playing the type of hockey that we need to. We're sticking to our systems, we're playing hard."

4. Depth scoring

The Sharks had goals from eight players and points from 13 in Game 3. Nine Sharks have scored at least one goal in the series, and 15 have at least one point. The Ducks have goals from three players and points from six.
San Jose's top line of Pavelski, Evander Kane and Joonas Donskoi combined for three goals and seven points in Game 3. The fourth line of Eric Fehr, Marcus Sorensen and Melker Karlsson combined for two goals and four points.
"That's the strength of our team," Donskoi said. "We have four good lines and everybody can bring offense and score goals."

5. Playing for pride

The Ducks finished second in the Pacific Division with 101 points, one more than San Jose. They never imagined they'd fall into a 3-0 hole. They were especially frustrated and embarrassed by their performance Monday, which could fuel them in Game 4.
"We're not going to quit," forward Andrew Cogliano said. "We're going to play, and I think, most importantly, we're going to play smarter in terms of giving ourselves the best chance. Because I think the last three games we haven't done that. And that's why we lost."
"if they're going to beat us, we're going to force them to play their best game."

Ducks projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano -- Ryan Kesler -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie -- Adam Henrique -- Ondrej Kase
Jason Chimera -- Derek Grant -- JT Brown
Josh Manson -- Hampus Lindholm
Francois Beauchemin -- Brandon Montour
Marcus Pettersson -- Andy Welinski
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched: Antoine Vermette, Kevin Bieksa, Chris Kelly, Troy Terry, Korbinian Holzer, Reto Berra, Jacob Larsson
Injured: Cam Fowler (shoulder), Patrick Eaves (illness)

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Eric Fehr --Melker Karlsson
Paul Martin -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Joakim Ryan, Joel Ward, Jannik Hansen, Dylan Gambrell, Barclay Goodrow, Antoine Bibeau
Injured: Joe Thornton (knee)

Status report

Based on their morning skate, the Ducks will likely stick with the same lineup they used in Game 3. That would leave Bieksa and Vermette scratched again, with Welinski and Chimera remaining in the lineup. ... DeBoer said he'll stick with the same lineup he used for the first three games of the series. That includes Burns, who missed the final 10 minutes of Game 3 and didn't take part in the optional morning skate. Thornton skated again and stayed late for extra work.