Ducks Defeat Sharks; Playoff Hopes On Life Support

The San Jose Sharks’ Stanley Cup Playoffs hopes have officially been put on life support as the Anaheim Ducks win 6-1 on Thursday.

John Carlson scored a hat trick for the Ducks, who helped their playoff chances get much closer as they snapped their six-game losing streak. Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn, and Frank Vatrano also scored for Anaheim, and Lukas Dostal made 16 saves.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the only goal for the Sharks, who have now lost three of their past four games. Yaroslav Askarov got the start for the San Jose Sharks and made 27 saves.

Turnovers and a lack of puck possession ultimately ended the Sharks’ very early on. Team Teal struggled to gain traction throughout the game. The penalty kill continued to struggle, going 1 for 3. Since March 30th, the Sharks’ penalty kill has had a success rate under 45%.

Coach Ryan Warsofsky opted to make changes, inserting Ty Dellandrea, Pavol Regenda, and Mukhamadullin back into the lineup. Adam Gaudette, John Klingberg, and Igor Chernyshov were scratched after playing on Wednesday.

Carlsson gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 2:59 of the first period. While on a rush down the left wing, Carlsson walked Ty Dellandrea and made a backhand forehand move around Askarov and lifted the puck over his glove.

Carlson pushed it to 2-0 at 6:20 with a one-time blast from the point that beat Askarov over the glove.

Killorn pushed the Ducks lead to 3-0 at 5:14 of the second period. After Sam Dickinson missed a one-timer, Beckett Sennecke found Killorn around the sliding San Jose Sharks defenseman for the tap-in goal.

Carlson scored his second goal of the game with a power-play goal at 10:31 of the third period to make it 4-0. Another failed clear, and Carlson’s blast from the point beat Askarov.

Mukhamadullin got the Sharks on the board to make it 4-1 at 12:40. Mukhamadullin rushed down the slot and fired a wrist shot by the glove of Dostal.

Carlson blasted home his first career hat trick with a power play one-timer from the left face-off dot to make it 5-1.

Varano pushed the lead to 6-1 for the Ducks.