ANAHEIM, Calif. — While Bobby Ryan blossoms into a big-time playoff scorer for the Anaheim Ducks, the top-seeded San Jose Sharks are wilting.
Anaheim’s remarkable rookie scored two goals, Jonas Hiller made 31 saves in his second playoff shutout, and the Ducks rocked their rivals yet again, winning 4-0 Thursday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
Corey Perry had a late goal and an assist, and Ryan Getzlaf added two assists for the Ducks, who emphatically moved within one game of becoming the eighth No. 8 seed to win an NHL playoff series since 1994.
Ryan, the Ducks’ 22-year-old Calder Trophy finalist, scored twice in a 3:40 span of the second period, giving him four goals in the four-game series. Anaheim then clamped down on Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and the Sharks’ top scorers, making Hiller’s job relatively easy.
Game 5 is Saturday night at the Shark Tank, where Anaheim already won twice in the series.
Ryan was the NHL’s rookie leader with 31 goals and 57 points despite not joining the Ducks until mid-November, and he’s been just as good in the postseason. He was selected a Calder Trophy finalist Wednesday, although the modest American said he’d vote for Columbus goalie Steve Mason.
Anaheim’s businesslike Game 4 win was the first in the series for a home team. The Ducks never trailed in San Jose, and the Sharks took the lead four times in their 4-3 win in Game 3 Tuesday night.
Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves in another unspectacular effort for the Sharks. They won the Presidents’ Trophy with a franchise-best 117 points, but they’re now one game away from the worst postseason flop yet in a recent history full of embarrassing faceplants.
San Jose was knocked out in the second round in each of the past three seasons, leading to coach Ron Wilson’s firing. The Sharks have never advanced past the conference finals during five consecutive playoff appearances — and unless their top two lines awaken from their four-game slumber, the franchise could be in for a wholesale overhaul.
Ryan, a former No. 2 overall pick, played poorly in two postseason games for the Ducks last year against Dallas, and he didn’t make Anaheim’s roster out of training camp because of the team’s salary-cap problems. He finally made it to Anaheim by the regular season’s 19th game, and he eventually became a dependable scorer on a line with Getzlaf and Perry, posting three multiple-goal games in the Ducks’ final seven regular-season contests as they squeaked into the playoffs.
Ryan opened Game 4’s scoring early in the second period, dangling in the slot before beating Nabokov. Ryan was serenaded with chants of “Bobby! Bobby!” — and moments later, his errant stick broke a pane of glass between the benches, causing a roughly 20-minute delay while it was replaced.
Less than a minute after play resumed, Ryan found himself alone in nearly the same spot in the slot, where he slammed home a rebound of Perry’s shot.
Anaheim also got another strong game from Hiller, the Swiss goalie who supplanted former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere this season.
Drew Miller’s empty-net goal with 40.1 seconds left punctuated the most one-sided game of the series and led to a prolonged scrum that resulted in misconduct penalties for Jeremy Roenick and Sheldon Brookbank.
Notes: Anaheim made the only roster adjustment for either team from Game 3, scratching C Petteri Nokelainen and putting Ryan Carter on the ice for the first time in the series. … A 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit Orange County about 2½ hours before game time, and an aftershock gently rocked the Pond between the first two periods. … D Francois Beauchemin is the only other Ducks rookie to score two goals in a playoff game, doing it April 25, 2006, against Calgary.
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