Rob Blake and Dan Boyle have given the San Jose Sharks more bite

When the Sharks signed Rob Blake as a free agent and acquired Dan Boyle in a trade with Tampa Bay in July they gained more than Stanley Cup championship experience.

They added possibilities to their offense and depth to their defense, following the example of -- yes -- the Ducks, in theory if not in exact practice.

The Ducks’ 2007 championship team is remembered well for its toughness and not well enough for a formidable defense led by Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin. The Sharks went as far as they could go without a mobile defense supporting their speedy wingers; with Blake and Boyle, they set franchise records and led the NHL with 53 wins and 117 points.

The duo reached a new level Tuesday by having a hand in every Sharks goal in a 4-3 victory over the Ducks, putting the visitors in position to tie their playoff series at two games each tonight at the Honda Center.

Boyle was everywhere a defenseman should be and some areas that turn coaches’ hair gray, dashing deep into the Ducks’ zone to score his team’s second and third goals. Blake, 39 and still able to shoot as hard as anyone, scored the first goal. Both assisted on Patrick Marleau’s power-play winner at 10:33 of the third period.

Those were the duo’s first points of the series. Those can’t be their last contributions if the Sharks are to rally past the eighth-seeded Ducks.

“When Scott Niedermayer and Dan Boyle are on the ice, both teams are playing with four forwards,” Sharks Coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday. “They’re both dynamic, they both skate so well, they read the rush well, that often as a coaching staff -- I’m sure they feel the same way -- you feel like you’re playing with one defenseman.

“We want to encourage that. We feel that’s an asset that Dan brings and we’d be remiss if we weren’t encouraging him to do it.”

Blake and Boyle said they didn’t set out to be active on offense but took what was there.

“Our forwards did a good job of entries, getting into the zone and being able to find some things,” Blake said.

“When we play the game we’re supposed to be playing, that fast game, we’re going to get to areas pretty quick and we’re going to have some time, and that’s what we try to rely on.”

He praised the defense the Ducks had in 2007 and since reinforced by adding Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski.

“They have guys that can play, that can shut you down, but can also provide offense and that’s where a lot of their plays generate from them,” Blake said.

“Niedermayer in the third was on the rush all the time, creating chances for them left and right. It’s tough to defend that.”

Takes one to know one. Blake and Boyle were tough to stop too.

“Our forwards are big and strong and can push a defense back. They can turn up and we can come in and find the late holes,” Blake said.

“You can have the players but you also need the system in place.”

Ducks center Todd Marchant compared the slick-skating Boyle to “having kids around -- where’d they go? All of a sudden he pops up on the back door.”

Boyle came in and ate the Ducks’ lunch off their kitchen table by jumping up into the play.

“The last few years of my career now, it’s been take care of your own end first and do what you’ve got to do offensively, but I’ve got to pick the right spots,” he said.

Boyle said the key element he and Blake have added is “a low panic point,” and that’s precisely what the Sharks lacked when they screeched to an ugly halt in the second round of the last three playoffs.

Pronger said the Ducks can counter the Sharks in two ways: by taking fewer penalties -- fat chance that will happen -- and by doing a better job of limiting the Sharks’ time and space.

“Once Blake gets it in his hands, we’ve got to close him out more and not give him as much time as he had [Tuesday],” Pronger said. “He was able to kind of walk down and take his pick of shooting or trying to make a pass across the crease or, like you saw on the winning goal, he threw it in the slot.”

Credit high mobility and a low panic point. It’s what the Ducks used to have -- and what the Sharks will try to use against them again tonight.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com