Sharks Have the Key to Beating the Ducks

Maybe something was lost in the translation. Maybe it was the postgame singing. Or perhaps it was because the best spokesman was not immediately available for comment because he was watching the end of a hockey game on TV.

Whatever the reason, the San Jose Sharks simply couldn’t come up with an answer to Wednesday night’s most pressing question:

Why do they dominate the Mighty Ducks?

So, Johan Garpenlov, what gives?

“Actually, I don’t know,” said Garpenlov, a Swede who played on a line with Russians Sergei Makarov and Igor Larionov that scored 10 points in a 5-2 victory over the Ducks.

“Maybe our style fits this team. It’s hard to say why. We’ve played pretty good against this team.”

If there was an opening Wednesday, the Sharks found it and took full advantage to defeat the Ducks again.

San Jose is 5-0 against the Ducks, hence the singing, but is only 8-21-10 against the rest of the league.

There must be something to this one-sided series.

“I wish I knew,” Larionov said. “They (the Ducks) play so well on the road, then they come home and don’t do so well. There’s no answer to why they’re losing to us.”

What’s your opinion, Coach Kevin Constantine?

He was watching the King game on TV, but later had this to say:

“The Ducks are an awfully good team and we have just been fortunate to get a lot of wins against them.”

Style and substance probably played as big part in San Jose’s victory as anything else.

The Ducks and Sharks play a hard-checking, defensive-oriented style and San Jose once again seemed to execute the game plan more efficiently.

Garpenlov had two goals, Larionov had one goal and three assists and Makarov had two goals and two assists. Larionov and Makarov tied the team record with four points in a game.