Sharks Take Bite Out of Ducks

The plan was simple and only needed to be repeated by the Mighty Ducks. Stop the San Jose Sharks’ playmaking centers, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

The Ducks put the defensive clamps on the two in a victory last week in San Jose. But they should have known better than to not account for Jonathan Cheechoo on Wednesday night.

Cheechoo scored three goals against them for the second time this season and the Sharks buried three power-play chances for a 6-4 victory at the Arrowhead Pond.

While Thornton and Marleau grab most of the headlines for the Sharks, it is Cheechoo who has a career-high 31 goals. The third-year right wing has an NHL-best 24 goals since Dec. 1, the day San Jose traded for Thornton.

The game was filled with missed opportunities for the Ducks. Although they scored two more power-play goals for 12 in their last six games, they also didn’t cash in seven others in missing a chance to pull within two points of idle Edmonton for eighth place in the Western Conference.

“They were three for eight and we were two for nine on the power play,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said.

“I thought that was the difference in the hockey game. We took some inopportune penalties at critical points.”

Tom Preissing gave the Sharks the lead for good at 12:56 of the third with a power-play blast inside the post to beat goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who was shaky in his fourth consecutive start in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Cheechoo pushed the lead to 5-3 when he ripped a blast from outside the right circle past Bryzgalov. After getting his first shutout against the Sharks last week, Bryzgalov fared far worse Wednesday, even though he had two assists, a record for a Duck goalie.

“I don’t think he was as good as he’s been,” Carlyle said. “It’s a lot to ask for a young goaltender in these situations.”

The Ducks’ Dustin Penner cut the lead to 5-4 after they pulled Bryzgalov for an extra attacker, but Nils Ekman ended the rally with an empty-net goal.

There were still some positives for the Ducks.

The line of Chris Kunitz, Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne continued to flourish. Kunitz scored a third-period goal on a rebound to tie the score at 3-3 after McDonald intercepted a clearing pass by Shark goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Since Carlyle put the three together on Jan. 16, they have accounted for 33 points in nine games. Selanne had a goal and an assist as he scored in his 13th consecutive game.

The teams traded power-play goals in the second period. Taking advantage of Thornton’s high-sticking penalty at the end of the first, McDonald banged in a rebound 31 seconds in to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

Cheechoo, who had a hat trick against the Ducks on Dec. 20, tied the score two minutes later.

“It’s hard to ignore a guy who’s got 30 goals,” the Ducks’ Scott Niedermayer said. “That second one, he made a nice little shot from a bad angle.

“He’s ready to shoot and he knows what Thornton is going to do.”

After McDonald gave them their second power-play tally, the Ducks failed to convert on four consecutive man advantages.

Thornton had three assists for the Sharks.