The San Jose Sharks won the first three games of their first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks thanks to having more speed Calvin Ridley Color Rush Jersey , better depth, and discipline.
They completed the sweep thanks largely to Martin Jones.
Jones frustrated the Ducks with stellar plays over the final two periods and Tomas Hertl answered Anaheim’s only goal midway through the third with a game-winner just over a minute later, sending the Sharks into the second round with a 2-1 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
”It’s tough to play an elimination game when you got an opportunity to sweep a really good team like that,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. ”You rarely see sweeps. That’s because there’s so much parity and the other teams are so evenly matched. This is a tough game to play. I thought we had some good moments and some moments we didn’t handle well, but we found a way, and that’s been the story all year.”
Hertl scored just 1:16 after the Ducks finally got a puck past Jones when he deflected a point shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic past John Gibson. San Jose then held on to advance to the second round against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
Fourth-line winger Marcus Sorensen had a goal for the third straight game to open the scoring for San Jose and Jones did most of the rest of the work with 30 saves. He robbed Corey Perry several times and got help from a replay review that negated an apparent tying goal early in the third.
”When you play a team up against the wall like that you know they’re going to come with a push,” Jones said. ”They gave us everything they had and it was tough but the guys did a great job. We had a couple of huge penalty kills, some huge blocked shots. It was a gutsy way to win there.”
Andrew Cogliano scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who were outscored 16-4 in the series and swept for the first time since 1999 against Detroit. Gibson finished with 22 saves.
”We came at them pretty hard, obviously a couple of bounces here and there and it’s a different hockey game http://www.chiefsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-robert-golden-jersey ,” captain Ryan Getzlaf said. ”Their goaltender played absolutely outstanding, we just couldn’t get it by him.”
Gibson was unable to match the play of Jones, who had a shutout in Game 1, set a San Jose playoff record with 45 regulation saves in Game 3 and posted a .970 save percentage for the series. He was at his best in the clincher that gave the Sharks their second sweep in franchise history after also doing it in the first round in 2013 against Vancouver.
Jones robbed Perry with a pad stop early in the second and then again twice in one sequence later in the period. Anaheim looked poised to capitalize on a late power play in the period but Jones stopped Perry once again with a sprawling pad save.
”It definitely was our best game and it still wasn’t enough,” Perry said. ”You play this way the first couple of games you never know what would happen, that’s the frustrating part.”
Getzlaf then finally got a puck past Jones, although it came a fraction of a second after the final buzzer. Referee Eric Furlatt emphatically waved the goal off on the ice and Getzlaf could only lean on the goal in frustration over the failed opportunity.
That frustration only grew as the power play continued into the third period. Rickard Rakell appeared to tie the game with a one-timer but the Sharks challenged the zone entry and the officials ruled Perry and Rakell were offside after video review.
Cogliano finally scored for Anaheim off a feed from Ryan Kesler but the good feeling didn’t last long before Hertl responded.
That led to chants of ”We want Vegas!” and ”Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!” down the stretch at the sold out Shark Tank.
”Any time you can score a goal after they score one pretty quickly, it kind of deflates their bench,” forward Logan Couture said. ”We get energy again. It brings energy back in the rink. Definitely felt good.”
Even though the Ducks were the team facing elimination, the Sharks looked more desperate at the start. San Jose got the first seven shots on goal in the game and took the early lead with another contribution from the fourth line.
Sorensen http://www.buccaneersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-ronald-jones-ii-jersey , who spent most of the season in the AHL, took the rebound of Brent Burns‘ point shot and scored his third goal of the series less than six minutes into the game.
NOTES: Perry had no points in the series. … Linesman Brad Kovachik left the game in the first period with an injury and was replaced by Mark Shewchyk. … San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan opened the dressing room door to lead the Sharks onto the ice pregame.
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MINNEAPOLIS — A series that was solely in the Rockets’ favor in Houston took a turn in Game 3 in Minnesota.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was his usual calm self after the 121-105 loss on Saturday, but he knows his team will have to match the Timberwolves‘ intensity in Game 4 on Monday night in Minnesota.
“Yeah, it’s disappointing,” D’Antoni said after Houston lost its first game of the series and just the third in 23 meetings against Minnesota. “But, hey guys, you have a playoff series and they’re a good team. They played better than we did today. We’ll make some adjustments. We’ll figure this out.
“On Monday, we’ll have to match their intensity. If we don’t, we’ll get beat again. It’s pretty simple.”
Driven by the Target Center crowd that hadn’t witnessed a home playoff game since 2004, the Timberwolves pulled to 2-1 in the seven-game series with the top-seeded Rockets. Jimmy Butler scored 28 points Keke Coutee Color Rush Jersey , Jeff Teague added 23 and Minnesota hit 15 3-pointers in Saturday’s win.
The Timberwolves, who hit the fewest 3s per game in the NBA during the regular season, matched Houston’s total. The Rockets led the league in 3s per game in the regular season.
“They’re a great team,” Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We know we’re going to have to play better on Monday. I think we’re capable of playing better. We’re learning more each day.
“We learn. We improve. Same thing, we know we can’t feel too good about ourselves. We have to get in tomorrow, study the film, get ready. We know Monday will be an intense game.”
The Timberwolves hope they’ve found a combination to be able to keep up with the Rockets. Minnesota’s defense, which was among the worst in the league during the regular season, has slowly come around and helped trigger a big second half on Saturday.
From Karl-Anthony Towns engaging defenders down low to power forward Taj Gibson defending James Harden one-on-one resulting in a poor shot attempt, the Timberwolves’ defense effort became contagious team-wide.
The Rockets shot 47.5 percent from the field in the second half but had seven turnovers and were just 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from 3.
“We’re a young team in playoff experience http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-gallup-jersey , so we’re growing, getting better every game,” Teague said. “Tonight we took a big step. I think we picked up our intensity and played a lot harder, but it’s still a long way to go.”
Minnesota also got Towns more involved on the offensive end. His lack of shots has been a topic all series. The All-Star center had nine shots in each of the first two games of the series and scored a total of 13 points.
On Saturday, he had 18 points, including 12 in the second half.
“I think it is a sense of patience,” Towns said. “First quarter, I don’t think I shot a shot. So it’s letting the game come to me naturally, not trying to rush and trying to find shots. Letting the shots find me and my teammates were amazing.”
Harden scored 29 points and Chris Paul had 17 points and six assists, but the Rockets now need to make an adjustment.
Houston wants to get back to its defensive approach and limit Minnesota as it did in the first two games of the series. The Timberwolves averaged 91.5 points per game in the first two games and shot just 38.8 percent from the field in Game 2.
“We knew that was going to be a lot more comfortable coming home Cheap Saquon Barkley Jersey ,” Paul said. “They make a lot more 3s tonight, 15 for 27, and we got to be better defensively. We were just opening up the lane and letting Teague drive and all the other guys, so we know we got to be better.”
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