Ducks prevail against Sharks in nine-round shootout
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Antoine Vermette scored in the ninth round of a marathon shootout as the Anaheim Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Monday night at SAP Center.
The Sharks outshot the Ducks 39-30 in regulation, including a 20-7 advantage in the third period, and posted a 3-0 edge in overtime shots.
San Jose broke a seven-game drought on the power play to tie the score at 2 at 8:19 of the third period.
Joonas Donskoi scored his second of the game and seventh of the season by backhanding a rebound off the crossbar and over the goal line 32 seconds after Jakob Silfverberg slashed Joe Thornton.
Anaheim rallied for the only two scores of the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the third.
The Ducks scored 45 seconds into the period when Brandon Montour made a perfect cross-ice feed from the right point to Corey Perry on the opposite post -- a pass that eluded Logan Couture's outstretched stick and threaded between shutdown defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun. Perry punched home his fourth goal to tie it 1-1.
The period featured tight checking until just past the halfway point. After Sharks goalie Martin Jones failed to freeze a Perry shot, Rickard Rakell nudged his stick in to score his eighth of the season at 11:39 for a 2-1 lead.
The Sharks scored the only goal of the opening period despite getting outshot 10-6 and surrendering the only power play of the period.
Donskoi pokechecked the puck off the stick of Anaheim center Dennis Rasmussen to Couture, who slid a pass back to the San Jose winger. Donskoi opened Reto Berra's five-hole to score with a move back to his forehand at 3:31.
Berra made 40 saves. Jones stopped 28 shots.
NOTES: Anaheim G Reto Berra made his first start after having appeared three times in relief. ... D Cam Fowler returned to the Ducks' blue line after missing 12 straight with a knee injury. ... F Melker Karlsson sustained an upper-body injury on Saturday that kept him out Monday against Anaheim. ... C Ryan Carpenter and D Dylan DeMelo were San Jose's healthy scratches. D Korbinian Holzer, D Jaycob Megna and D Francois Beauchemin did not dress for Anaheim, which is carrying nine blue-liners on its active roster. ... San Jose next visits Arizona on Wednesday, and Anaheim hosts Vegas on Wednesday.