Rickard Rakell leads Ducks to win over Sharks in shootout
Rickard Rakell had two goals in regulation and scored the winner in a shootout to lead the Ducks over the skidding San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Trevor Zegras converted in the first round of the tiebreaker, and Anaheim goalie Anthony Stolarz turned away Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. That put it in the hands of Rakell, who went top shelf on James Reimer to give the Ducks their second straight win.
It was Rakell’s second multigoal game of the season. The Swedish left wing has a three-game point streak (three goals, one assist), and six of his 14 goals have come in the last seven games.
Derek Grant also scored for the Ducks, and Stolarz stopped 40 shots.
Couture had two goals for the Sharks, who lost their seventh in a row. He has 17 goals this season, including four in the past five games.
Brent Burns added a goal and two assists, and Timo Meier also had a pair of assists. Reimer made 26 saves.
Rakell accounted for both Anaheim goals in the second. He tied it at 2 seven minutes into the period when he knocked in a rebound after Reimer’s left pad stopped Zegras’ shot.
The Ducks’ losing streak increased to four on Thursday with a 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
After Couture’s second goal gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead, Rakell evened it again at 16:09 when he retrieved a loose puck in the slot and beat Reimer on his glove side with a snap shot.
Anaheim scored first at 3:38 of the first when Grant put the puck past Reimer on a two-man breakaway. Nicolas Deslauriers set it up with an interception in the neutral zone before Sam Carrick and Grant put on a passing clinic in the Anaheim zone. Grant completed it with a wrist shot for his first goal in his last seven games.
Both of Couture’s goals came off rebounds. He tied it 1-all at 7:10 of the first period on a tap-in after Stolarz stopped Burns’ shot off the faceoff.
Couture put San Jose up 3-2 at 13:34 of the second on a power-play goal. The Sharks’ captain scored on a backhand after Burns’ slap shot from deep in the offensive zone deflected off Stolarz’s pads.
Burns put San Jose ahead 2-1 at 17:33 of the first with a one-timer from the right point.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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