Ducks get away from Sharks

Just as the San Jose Sharks pulled up behind them in their rear view mirror, the Ducks decided it was time to put their collective feet on the gas.

After watching the Sharks whittle down the Ducks’ once-sizable lead in the Pacific Division over the last few weeks, the Ducks responded to the challenge of a home-and-home showdown by throttling San Jose, 7-4, Tuesday night at HP Pavilion.

The Ducks (33-13-8) had a 12-point cushion on San Jose when they defeated the Sharks in the teams’ last meeting, on Dec. 26. The lead was only three points when the Ducks arrived in San Jose on Sunday after a shutout loss to Nashville.

Consecutive games had the Sharks salivating at the thought of driving the Ducks out of first place. Instead, the Ducks know they’ll stay on top when they hit the road again after tonight’s rematch at the Honda Center.

“We were pretty excited about this game,” said goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the beneficiary of the season-high goal output. “These are two big games against those guys. We wanted to come out and do our thing in the first period. When we got our scoring chances we found a way to put it in.”

The Ducks had struggled offensively before and after the All-Star break, scoring only 13 goals in seven games since a 5-1 victory at Dallas on Jan. 11. Little did they know that it would be their checking line that would lead them out of their slump.

Travis Moen scored two goals, Rob Niedermayer had a goal and two assists and Samuel Pahlsson also had a multi-point night as the line combined for seven points. The Ducks would need the rare outburst from the trio as the Sharks made things interesting with three third-period goals.

“It’s always nice when you get a contribution from that grouping,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We expect more offense from them than what they’ve been able to deliver.”

The Ducks scored four times at even strength in the second period to build a 6-1 lead. Andy McDonald got his fourth goal in the last three games and 16th this season to start the onslaught against goaltender Vesa Toskala.

Niedermayer capitalized on a blunder by defenseman Matt Carle deep in the San Jose zone before Dustin Penner and Moen followed with goals. At that point, the normally boisterous San Jose crowd didn’t have the energy to boo Chris Pronger -- one of its favorite targets over the years -- and instead turned its displeasure toward the Sharks.

It was the trio of Moen, Pahlsson and Niedermayer that got the Ducks going, as the unit accounted for their first two goals.

Moen put the Ducks on the scoreboard at the 13-minute 10-second mark. After Pahlsson won a faceoff in the defensive zone, Moen chipped a pass to himself around rookie defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and beat Toskala with a wrist shot.

Pahlsson followed with his eighth goal this season only 32 seconds later when he finished off a rush led by Scott Niedermayer and Rob Niedermayer. Scott Niedermayer led the rush when Pahlsson knocked Patrick Marleau off the puck in the Ducks’ zone.

The Sharks got one back at the 18:09 mark when Mark Bell’s sharp-angle shot was initially stopped by Giguere but the puck squirted between his legs and Mike Grier managed to push it over the goal line.

Toskala followed up with a key save on Penner near the end of the period but that didn’t keep the Ducks from seizing back the momentum.

“We played well for 40 minutes and that’s the bottom line,” Carlyle said. “We didn’t do enough for 60, but we were fortunate enough that we had a big-enough lead.”

*

TONIGHT

vs. San Jose, 7, FSN West

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 33-13-8; Sharks 34-19-1.

Record vs. Sharks -- Ducks 3-1-0.

Update -- Moen has already reached career highs with nine goals and 18 points in his third NHL season.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.

eric.stephens@latimes.com