Vermette scores winner in shootout, Ducks edge Sharks 3-2 (Nov 20, 2017)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Antoine Vermette made sure Reto Berra had a memorable first start with Anaheim.
Vermette beat goalie Martin Jones in the ninth round of a long shootout to give the Ducks a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
Corey Perry, Cam Fowler and Brandon Montour also scored during the tiebreaker for Anaheim.
Joonas Donskoi, Tim Heed and Brent Burns had shootout goals for the Sharks. Tomas Hertl missed his attempt in the ninth round, leaving Vermette a chance to win it.
''I tried to change pace, change direction,'' Vermette said. ''I started a little quicker and then I slowed down, changed sides and saw how he was going to react.''
Perry and Rickard Rakell scored in regulation for the Ducks. Berra made 40 saves in his first start of the season.
''The last two weeks, since I played my last game, I felt really good in practice and the same in the game,'' Berra said. ''It was a tough start and good chance that they scored (on), but after that I got better and better into the game. I stayed calm, I stayed big, and so I'm really happy.''
Donskoi had two goals for the Sharks, including the tying score in the third period. Jones stopped 28 shots.
''He's one of the guys who has driven this team,'' Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. ''It was a big night for him. He stepped up. You could see right from the start he had legs and he wanted to play the puck.''
Donskoi helped create his own goal by knocking the puck away from a Ducks defender and getting it to Logan Couture for a give-and-go as the Sharks took a 1-0 lead 3:31 into the game.
The Ducks came back in the second period to even the score 45 seconds in. After winning a faceoff in the San Jose zone, Montour sent a sharp pass to Perry's stick. Perry settled it and fired into the net for the equalizer.
Rakell gave the Ducks a 2-1 advantage midway through the second, just as a power play ended. Perry took a shot that bounced off Jones' pads, and Rakell knocked it into the net before Jones could cover up.
''Our goaltender made some big stops and got us to overtime and made a couple more in overtime,'' Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. ''And obviously the shootout, we scored one more than they did.''
The Sharks snapped an 0-for-17 streak on the power play with a goal midway through the third to tie it. Donskoi tracked down a rebound and flipped it off Berra's right pad and into the net for his second career multi-goal game.
''It felt good to get a power-play goal,'' Donskoi said. ''We haven't been so good on the power play. We've got a lot of good players in this room, a lot of young guys who have a chance to play a bigger role.''
NOTES: Ducks D Cam Fowler returned to action after missing 12 games with a knee injury. ... Sharks C Melker Karlsson missed the game with an upper-body injury. ... Sharks forward Kevin Labanc, who hasn't played much recently, started on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Donskoi was moved to the second line. ... Ducks G Ryan Miller missed the game with a lower-body injury. Berra made his fourth appearance this season. ... Perry has seven points in his last five games. ... Rakell has a point in seven of his past eight games, with a total of 11 during that span. ... The Sharks scored their second power-play goal in eight November games.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Sharks: Play at the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
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