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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – After getting his first NHL shutout,
Jean-Sebastien Giguere wasn't shy about spreading the credit
around.
"The guys were great in front of me. Whenever you have a
shutout or a good defensive game like this, you've got to give
credit to your teammates," Giguere said Wednesday night after the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Oleg
Tverdovsky's power-play goal.
"Everybody showed up tonight. The defensemen took the rebounds
away and the forwards backchecked every time. So we didn't give
give them much," Giguere said.
His 24 saves helped the Ducks post consecutive victories for the
first time since a season-best three-game winning streak from Dec.
13-17. The shutout was the first by a Ducks goalie since Dec. 8 at
Minnesota, when Guy Hebert beat the Wild 1-0 in overtime with the
help of Tverdovsky's power-play goal.
Giguere, obtained from Calgary on June 10, was making his 12th
start and fourth straight since being designated by coach Guy
Charron as the team's No. 1 goalie for the rest of the season. He
preserved the shutout with several acrobatic stops.
One came less than 4 1/2 minutes into the second period, as Giguere
foiled Tony Granato's bid from in front after a perfect setup from
behind the net by Mark Smith. In the opening minute of the third,
he thwarted Niklas Sundstrom from close range after Scott Thornton
fed him from behind the net.
"We played a pretty good defensive game, and Giggy was our best
`defenseman' out there," Tverdovsky said. "He played unbelievable
tonight."
Tverdovsky scored his 10th goal at 8:57 of the second period,
getting a pass in the slot from Teemu Selanne and beating Evgeni
Nabokov high with a one-timer from 45 feet.
The goal came during a two-man advantage after Bobby Dollas and
Mike Rathje earned tripping penalties 32 seconds apart for taking
down Selanne and Paul Kariya.
"I just pushed on him with my stick and he went down," Rathje
said. "I guess it was two minutes for being too strong. Then
again, it is Paul Kariya. They got that 5-on-3 goal and they had a
hot goalie, so what can you do?"
The Sharks, who have won 18 games this season by scoring the
winning goal in the third period or overtime, took 12 shots after
the second intermission. They kept intense pressure on Giguere
during the final two minutes.
"Going into the third period, we knew we didn't have to score
anymore goals to win," Tverdovsky said. "We just had to play
good defense to keep our lead. With a couple of minutes left, we
realized that Giggy had a chance to get a shutout, too, and we made
sure he got it."
The Sharks, whose lead over Dallas in the Pacific Division was
trimmed to two points, are 4-2-2 during Owen Nolan's 11-game
suspension. Gary Suter, Marcus Ragnarsson and Vincent Damphousse
also sat out because of injuries.
Game notes
The Sharks dropped to 16-5-3 against teams with losing
records. ... Dollas played his fourth consecutive game after
sitting out 16 of the previous 17 as a healthy scratch. ...
Selanne's (35) goals and (71) points against the Sharks are more
than any other player, active or otherwise -- and the most he's had
against any NHL team. ... The Sharks have the league's best
penalty-killing percentage on the road, allowing 22 goals in 181
short-handed situations.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
San Jose Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Carolina 6
Atlanta 3
Pittsburgh 3
Florida 2
Washington 2
Nashville 1
Vancouver 2
Montreal 1
Detroit 7
Chicago 3
Dallas 6
Minnesota 2
Phoenix 3
Columbus 2
Colorado 8
Boston 2
Anaheim 1
San Jose 0
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