Anaheim, CA (My Sportsbook) - Jonas Hiller was sensational again between the pipes, making 36 saves, as the Anaheim Ducks completed a startling upset of the top-seeded San Jose Sharks with a 4-1 win in Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin and Ryan Getzlaf each lit the lamp for the Ducks.
"We had guys step up in all different areas, from penalty killing to scoring goals, and that's what you need in the playoffs," Getzlaf said. "There's never going to be one line throughout the whole playoffs. It's going to be a team effort and that's what we had this series."
Milan Michalek had a power-play goal for the Sharks, while Evgeni Nabokov was beaten four times on 32 shots in defeat.
"Their goalie was better than ours, their (defensemen) were better than ours, their forwards were better than ours," said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle. "I think we had a lot of chances in the six games, but we missed a lot of opportunities to put the puck in the net when we had the chance."
For San Jose, this was supposed to be the year the franchise overcame past playoff inadequacies to reach the top of the mountain and raise hockey's ultimate prize.
The Sharks were coming off the most fruitful regular season in club history, capturing their first Presidents' Trophy while setting franchise records in wins (53) and points (117). But the Ducks, led by the superb goaltending of Hiller, extended San Jose's postseason heartache.
Perennial Cup contenders since a trip to the conference finals in 2004, San Jose had gotten knocked out in the semifinals in each of the last three seasons and was hoping to exorcise its playoff demons, but this abrupt appearance only adds to the organization's frustration.
Anaheim, meanwhile, became just the eighth No. 8 seed to defeat the top seed since 1994 and the first club to accomplish the feat since Edmonton defused the mighty Red Wings in 2006.
The Ducks now have the unenviable task of facing the defending champs in the next round after Detroit made quick work of the neophyte Blue Jackets, sweeping Columbus in its opening-round series.
The teams traded power-play tallies in a rough-and-tumble first period. The animosity was evident right from the game's opening draw, as San Jose's Joe Thornton engaged in a scrap with Getzlaf.
Facing a must-win situation, the Sharks struck first with the man advantage. Rob Blake launched a low slap shot from above the right circle that Hiller kicked out with his right pad, but Michalek potted the juicy rebound at 10:19.
Anaheim responded a little over two minutes later when Perry parked himself in front of Nabokov and flashed deft hand-eye coordination, backhanding the rebound of a Getzlaf wrister out of the air with 7:27 remaining.
The Ducks took control of the game in the middle stanza with two quick goals.
While on the power play, Chris Pronger worked the puck down low to Selanne at the right side of the net. Selanne, who scored 16 times with the extra skater during the regular season to lead the club, had his intended pass inadvertently tapped in by San Jose defenseman Christian Ehrhoff with 6:57 left.
Beauchemin then fired a rocket from the left point that deflected off the shaft of Boyle's stick and past a bewildered Nabokov with 5:34 to go in the second period.
The Sharks peppered Hiller with shots in the third period, desperately trying to prolong their season, but the Swiss netminder was up to the task, stopping all 11 shots over the final 20 minutes.
Getzlaf's sizzling wrister from the high slot beat Nabokov with 2:54 remaining and sent the fans gathered at Honda Center into a frenzy.
Game Notes
The team that scored first in every previous contest in this series had won...Pronger had two assists...Anaheim finished 2-for-5 on the power play...San Jose was 1-for-4 with the man advantage...This series marked only the second time in league history that two California teams met in the playoffs. The other was when the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals in seven games in 1969.
