Ducks get their say in San Jose

SAN JOSE -- Something about playing in HP Pavilion tends to bring out the best in the Ducks.

The loud arena that usually houses a boisterous sellout crowd is often considered one of the toughest venues in the NHL to play in. But it hasn’t helped the San Jose Sharks lately in their meetings with their Pacific Division rival.

The Ducks won their fifth in a row there Tuesday night as they used goals by Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan along with Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s first shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory that kept San Jose from taking over sole possession of first place in the division.

Even the 17,197 on hand got tired of booing Ducks captain Chris Pronger as they usually do vociferously. Mostly they were kept silent as Anaheim got a critical win following a shootout loss to the Sharks at home Sunday night.

The Ducks (16-15-5) ended their three-game losing streak and, more importantly, didn’t lose any more ground in the standings. They remained in third, five points behind Dallas, which took over first with a shootout win Tuesday at Edmonton.

“They have a great team and it’s always a really tight game when we play against them,” Giguere said. “We know that if we don’t bring our ‘A’ game in this building, we’re not going to be successful.”

Giguere stopped 20 shots for his 26th career shutout and first in the regular season since Nov. 6, 2006 against Nashville. The Ducks managed only 16 shots against San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov, but they made them count.

Even though he won a job out of training camp and scored in the season opener Sept. 29 against the Kings, Ryan spent only six more days with the parent club as he appeared overwhelmed by the speed of the NHL game.

Two months with the Portland (Maine) Pirates, the Ducks’ affiliate in the American Hockey League, have sped up his learning curve.

Ryan gave them a big insurance goal toward the end of the second period when he hustled up ice on a two-on-one break with Todd Marchant. Marchant waited for an opening and hit the rookie with a clean cross-ice pass.

As he was being dragged down from behind by Sharks defenseman Craig Rivet, Ryan still managed to sweep a shot between Nabokov’s pads for a 2-0 lead.

“It was one of those evenly played hockey games and we were fortunate enough to get the first goal,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “And then got a big goal from our rookie Bobby Ryan.”

Scott Niedermayer also got his first point since returning to the Ducks as he pushed the puck out to the neutral ice, which allowed Marchant to build up some speed for the odd-man rush.

After going 12 games without scoring the first goal, the Ducks did it for the second straight time this week against the Sharks.

Perry did the honors by getting his team-leading 18th of the season early in the second when he got free on a defensive lapse by the Sharks and banged in a nice cross-ice feed from Chris Kunitz.

The Ducks kept the lead with some effective play in their end along with some dogged penalty killing. Since giving up four power-play goals in one period to Minnesota on Friday, Anaheim hasn’t allowed one in its last 14 short-handed situations.

Ryan’s goal also came on the power play against the NHL’s best penalty killing unit.

“I don’t know if we were sharp,” Carlyle said. “We were effective in our checking game. We did a pretty good job of retrieving the puck and moving it out of our zone and I think that was the key to our hockey game tonight.”

The Ducks have now won three of four against the Sharks overall with a return engagement here Saturday. The first three meetings were decided by shootouts and this one was closely played throughout.

“This is the way,” Giguere said. “Grind it out. We’re not going to win any games 7-0. From now on, these are going to be playoff-type games.”

TONIGHT

vs. Colorado, 7, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 16-15-5, Avalanche 19-13-1.

Record vs. Avalanche (2006-07) -- 1-1-2.

Update -- With franchise icon Joe Sakic injured, Paul Stastny has emerged as Colorado’s best player and a candidate for the NHL All-Star game as he leads the Avalanche with 15 goals and 41 points.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.

eric.stephens@latimes.com