Ducks defeat Sharks in nine-round shootout

SAN JOSE -- Antoine Vermette scored in the ninth round of the shootout to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Monday.
Vermette beat goalie Martin Jones with a wrist shot inside the left post to end the game.
"I started a little quicker and then I slowed down, changed sides and saw how he was going to react," Vermette said.

WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Sharks highlights]
Corey Perry and Rickard Rakell scored in the second period for the Ducks (10-7-3), who won their third straight game.
Reto Berra made 40 saves in his first NHL win since Dec. 1, 2015, for the Colorado Avalanche against the New Jersey Devils.
"I'm really happy," said Berra, who made his first start for Anaheim in his fourth game of the season. "At the end, that's a big two points here. I feel really welcomed here in this group. The guys are awesome, helped me a lot to stay positive. "
Joonas Donskoi scored two goals, and Martin Jones made 28 saves for the Sharks (10-8-1), who have lost three straight (0-2-1).
Donskoi has seven goals, one more than he had all last season.
"He's one of the guys who has driven our team and stepped up," San Jose captain Joe Pavelski said. "Tonight was a huge game by him. You could see it right from the start. He had legs, he wanted to play the puck, and it continued all night."

Perry (first round), Cam Fowler (fourth) and Brandon Montour (sixth) scored for the Ducks in the shootout. Donskoi (third), Brent Burns (fourth) and Tim Heed (sixth) scored for the Sharks.
San Jose outshot Anaheim 3-0 in overtime but couldn't get the puck past Berra, who stopped a deflected Burns shot with his mask at 2:58.
Berra started one night after No. 1 goaltender John Gibson made 50 saves in a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers. Regular backup Ryan Miller is out with a lower-body injury.
"That's the depth of your organization," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Goaltending, people would say it's the most critical one. You don't know how important it is until you don't have it. Reto tonight stood tall for us, earned us the extra point.
"Again, good person, he's worked hard. It's good to see. He's a good teammate. It's good to see those kind of things happen for him. We sure are thankful he's part of our organization."
Perry tied it 1-1 45 seconds into the second period. Montour sent a cross-ice pass from the right side to Perry, who put a wrist shot inside the left post before Jones could recover.
The Ducks took a 2-1 lead when Rakell scored on a rebound at 11:39 of the second. Jones stopped Perry's shot from the high slot but couldn't cover the puck. Rakell got to it and shot between Jones' pads.
Donskoi scored his second goal of the night on the power play at 8:19 of the third period to tie it 2-2. Danny O'Regan's shot deflected off Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, and Donskoi got to the loose puck and beat Berra with a backhand.
"We've got a lot of good players in this room," Donskoi said. "After last year, I was really looking to bounce back. We have a lot of young guys who have a chance to play a bigger role."
Donskoi gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 3:31 of the first period. He knocked the puck away from center Dennis Rasmussen deep in Anaheim's end, got it back from Logan Couture and put it between Berra's pads from in front.
"It was a tough start and a good chance that they scored on, but after that I get better and better into the game," Berra said. "I stayed calm, I stayed big."

Goal of the game

Perry's goal 45 seconds into the second period.

Save of the game

Berra stopping Burns at 1:10 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Donskoi's goal at 3:31 of the first period.

They said it

"It was a long one. I just tried to stay with it, even if they scored. They scored on the same move all the time, but it doesn't matter. I just kept going, tried to get a read, tried to be big and patient, and it worked out at the end." -- Ducks goaltender Reto Berra on the nine-round shootout
"It's great to have him back. We missed him last year. That's the guy we saw two years ago."-- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on forward Joonas Donskoi's bounce-back season

Need to know

Fowler returned to the Ducks lineup after missing 12 games with a knee injury. … Perry has scored two of his four goals this season in two games against San Jose. ... Sharks forward Melker Karlsson (upper body) missed the game and is day to day.

What's next

Ducks:Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; PRIME, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Sharks: At the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)