It’s crunch time against Sharks, Stars

Having pulled themselves into the thick of the Pacific Division race, the Ducks can take direct aim at the two teams ahead of them in the standings.

The Ducks play host to San Jose tonight and Dallas on Tuesday night in two games that could propel them into first place. But the results against each this season couldn’t be any different.

Anaheim has won four of five meetings against San Jose with its only loss coming in a shootout. It has dropped all three against Dallas.

“I’m not sure, but I think San Jose has Dallas’ number too,” Ducks defenseman Sean O’Donnell said, referring to the fact the Sharks have won three of five from the Stars, winning three times in Dallas. “So it’s kind of like, Dallas has ours, we have San Jose’s and San Jose has Dallas’. It doesn’t make sense.”

The thing that makes sense in Coach Randy Carlyle’s mind is that special teams have been critical in both series.

The Ducks’ penalty killing has come up big against San Jose, which has only two power-play goals in 28 situations over the five games.

Not so much against Dallas. The Stars have scored five times on the power play in 12 chances and the Ducks are only two of 19.

In either case, Carlyle said both teams present a huge challenge.

“You have to be prepared to play the game at a high level or you’ll get embarrassed,” he said.

In his latest chance to stick with a team, Brandon Bochenski came to Anaheim knowing he had to make an immediate impact.

An offensive player by trade, he got his first goal in his third game with the Ducks in Wednesday night’s 5-0 victory over Toronto. It was his first score since March 29 when he played for Boston.

“It’s definitely the longest string I’ve had,” Bochenski said. “I feel like a big weight is off my shoulders.”

The Ducks are taking a chance on Bochenski, who didn’t score in 20 games with Boston as he gained weight and struggled to adjust to a power forward role that the Bruins wanted him to play.

Bochenski said Carlyle made no promises when he came over in a trade for defenseman Shane Hnidy, but the winger is getting a long look as he’s playing on the second line with Doug Weight and Chris Kunitz.

“They’re giving me the ice time, they’re giving me the power-play time,” Bochenski said. “It’s up to me to make the most of it.”

A large part of the Ducks’ success against San Jose can be attributed to their defense as they’ve held Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Milan Michalek to one point each over the five meetings.

Carlyle, however, wasn’t willing to share his assessment, saying he doesn’t want to put “gasoline on the fire.”

“If you think I’m going to come here and talk about our ability to do this and that against one player or two players, you’re asking me to do something I don’t want to do,” he said.

TODAY

vs. San Jose, 5 p.m., Ch. 56

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 23-17-6; Sharks 25-12-6.

Record vs. Sharks -- 4-0-1.

Update -- Center Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks’ leading scorer, did not practice because of an illness. “He’s got a cold,” Carlyle said. Winger George Parros remains questionable for tonight.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.

eric.stephens@latimes.com