Hebert Posts Shutout With Greatest of Ease : Hockey: Ducks protect their goalie well in crucial game with Sharks. He makes 27 saves in 3-0 victory.

Guy Hebert caught a break Monday night. Caught a few pucks too, but nothing the San Jose Sharks threw at him seemed troublesome.

The end result might have looked easy, but the Ducks needed a victory more than any other night in their history. To make it happen, they relied on a well-proven method of operation, building a lead then turning the game over to Hebert for protection.

Mission accomplished.

Final score: Ducks 3, Sharks 0.

Playoff standings: Sharks in the eighth and final spot with 34 points, Ducks two points behind.

It was Hebert’s second shutout this season, fourth as a Duck and fifth of his NHL career. He is 4-0 with a 1.85 goals-against average against San Jose this season. Moreover, Monday was the first game in the past five that he has saved fewer than 30 shots.

“It was definitely a huge game if we are going to stick around in this thing,” Hebert said after stopping all 27 shots he faced. “The guys did a great job in front of me. I can’t give enough credit to the forwards and defensemen. I left a couple of bad rebounds and the guys cleared them for me.”

Really, it was tough to remember many quality San Jose scoring chances. Early on, Shark rookie Jeff Friesen roared into the Duck zone, unleashing a potentially dangerous shot, but Hebert handled that. Late in the game, there was a flurry in front of the net, but a shot whistled wide.

As the clock ticked down to zeros, The Pond crowd of 17,174 bellowed “Geeeeee.” (Say it with a hard ‘G’).

Later, Hebert said, “Anybody sitting in the stands could sense the urgency tonight.”

The Ducks seemed to sense it too, and because they played so well in front of him, there were few urgent moments for Hebert. Mostly, he faced distant slap shots with no Sharks in front of the net to screen his view or change their direction.

Even when killing penalties, hardly a strength this season, the Ducks gave up few scoring chances. When they had the power play, the league’s weakest at 9.8%, the Ducks buzzed the Shark net. Although they didn’t score, they seemed to wear down the Sharks with repeated dangerous attacks.

“If ever there’s a time for our special teams to come together this is a great time for it to happen,” Hebert said.

In the final moments, Hebert thought back to the teams’ last meeting, April 2 at The Pond, and remembered how a blowout turned into a narrow, 5-4, Duck victory with a couple of late Shark goals. He was determined to avoid a repeat Monday.

“I wasn’t very happy with that,” Hebert said. “I wanted to stay focused for 60 minutes.”

With the Ducks firmly entrenched in the playoff race, it would seem unlikely that their concentration would wander, but they haven’t been a model of consistency lately, winning one, losing one, winning one, losing one.

It’s difficult to pin blame for any Duck inconsistency on Hebert, however. In fact, he’s been about the most bankable player on the ice this season.

“There is a lot of excitement around here,” he said. “There are some guys who haven’t had the chance to play in a playoff situation.”