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The Anaheim Ducks showed their embarrassment from their playoff-opening shutout loss with every bone-crunching hit they landed on the San Jose Sharks throughout Game 2.

The Sharks knew what to expect from their hard-nosed California rivals. Even after the Ducks scored in the opening minute [url=http://www.texanscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jose-altuve-jersey]Jose Altuve Jersey[/url] , San Jose survived the storm quite well – and when Anaheim made minor mistakes, the Sharks capitalized for enough goals to take a major series lead back to San Jose.

Logan Couture had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones made 28 saves and the Sharks thrived on the road again, beating the Ducks 3-2 Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Marcus Sorensen and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks, who gave another disciplined, organized performance while moving halfway to their first playoff series victory since their Stanley Cup Final run in 2016.

”Nothing we haven’t taken before,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said of the Ducks’ physical style. ”Maybe they are coming a little bit harder. Be poised. Make some plays. Stick to what we are trying to do.”

They’re not leaving Orange County without bruises, however: The Ducks attempted to make up for their listlessness in Game 1 with a series of big hits early in the rematch. Nick Ritchie, Hampus Lindholm and Francois Beauchemin all delivered early on, with Lindholm sending Game 1 hero Evander Kane to the bench with a mouth injury from an open-ice shoulder check.

The Ducks kept up that pressure until the final minutes, when Corey Perry clobbered Melker Karlsson with 3:43 to play. Instead of getting mad, the Sharks took the power play and salted away the win.

”We didn’t shrink [url=http://www.texanscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jadeveon-clowney-jersey]Jadeveon Clowney Jersey[/url] ,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. ”We stood in there. That’s one thing about our group: We don’t get pushed out of games. We didn’t ask the referees to fix it. We stood in there and came out of the first period up 2-1.”

Game 3 is Monday night in the Shark Tank.

Lindholm had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who are leaving Honda Center with an 0-2 series deficit for the third time in their last five playoff series. Jakob Silfverberg scored in the opening minute and John Gibson stopped 32 shots as Anaheim dropped to 3-6 in its last nine home playoff games overall.

”I know the resolve in our room,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. ”I guarantee you we’re not going to lay down. We made some mistakes and basically gave them goals. When you gift things in the playoffs, you’re usually going to end up on the wrong side of the score.”

Anaheim undeniably showed more resolve and creativity than in its series-opening defeat, but its scorers still couldn’t crack Jones and the San Jose defense when it counted. The Sharks’ late-season slump hasn’t hurt their ability to rise in the postseason, while the Ducks have retained little momentum from their ferocious second-half surge in the regular season.

But after getting shut out two days earlier, the Ducks scored on their first shot of Game 2. Just 40 seconds in, Silfverberg flung a long shot past a few defenders and got his 18th career postseason goal past Jones, who didn’t appear to read it well.

The Sharks still evened it midway through the period when Brenden Dillon shot the puck off the back boards and it caromed perfectly to Sorensen at the far post for the tap-in. Couture then put San Jose ahead with a slick power-play score, badly faking Gibson before sliding home his 31st career playoff goal.

Honda Center grumbled when Hertl put the Sharks up 3-1 early in the second, and the Ducks finally responded with their first sustained stretch of control. Lindholm trimmed the deficit with a nasty wrist shot during a power play, and Perry barely missed tying it up moments later with his shot off the post.

”We have some strong shifts [url=http://www.cowboyscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-james-hanna-jersey]James Hanna Jersey[/url] , then we take a couple off,” Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour said. ”We have some lapses, and they capitalized on those.”

NOTES: Joe Thornton sat out again for San Jose. The 38-year-old center hasn’t played since Jan. 23 after having right knee surgery. … D Kevin Bieksa returned to the Ducks’ lineup for his 86th career playoff game. He missed the past month recovering from hand surgery. … Ducks D Cam Fowler missed his sixth straight game with a shoulder injury. He isn’t likely to return for this series, depriving Anaheim of its top defenseman.

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Sidney Crosby tormented the Flyers just as he has from the start of his NHL career. Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin were clutch when needed in pivotal games. And Matt Murray? Oh, just two shutouts and the type of outings that show more zeros on the board are possible in the second round – and maybe, beyond.

But with the game on the line and facing a Game 7 on home ice where they already lost twice, the Pittsburgh Penguins turned to a blossoming postseason star to lead the way.

Jake Guentzel was just the player to bail out the Pens.

He scored the tying and go-ahead goals in Game 6, then scored two more – all four in succession – to put the game away and lift the Penguins to an 8-5 Game 6 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

The Flyers are headed home, as usual, with a Stanley Cup drought that dates to 1975.

The Penguins are nestled in a familiar spot, in the second round for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons.

But a bigger prize looms for the Penguins – a third straight Stanley Cup. The Penguins have won nine straight playoff series, which ties a franchise record and are the most in the NHL since the Detroit Red Wings also won nine from 1997 to 1999.

The New York Islanders are the last team to win 10 straight [url=http://www.ramscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jack-youngblood-jersey]Jack Youngblood Jersey[/url] , in fact, they won 19 consecutive postseason series (1980 to 1984) that included four Stanley Cup championships.

Now comes the hard part.

Pittsburgh has reached the same round as the last three teams going for a threepeat (1989 Oilers, 1993 Penguins, 1999 Red Wings) – and all three lost in the second round.

The Penguins say, bring it on.

”Things are never going to always go your way, especially in the playoffs,” Murray said. ”We got the job done. This time of year, it doesn’t matter how, it just matters that you get the win.”

Crosby had a hat trick in Game 1 and matched a postseason-high with four points in a Game 3 win in the Philadelphia arena where fans stuck his photo on the inside of urinals.

He shook it off – as if he was ever bothered by the activity – and scored six goals and had 13 points in the series.

”Sid loves to compete. When he goes to hostile environments, he’s at his best,” coach Mike Sullivan said. ”He’s a high-stakes player. He has `it’. `It’ is what helps you perform in those big moments. It’s hard to explain `it’. You know `it’ when you see it. Sid is one of those guys.”

Crosby has been the dominant and reliable Penguin over the course of a career that includes three Stanley Cups. But this season brought new challenges to the franchise.

The Penguins have crafted a new identity after the departures of Chris Kunitz, Marc-Andre Fleury [url=http://www.billscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-adolphus-washington-jersey]Adolphus Washington Jersey[/url] , Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley and Matt Cullen, all vital pieces of Pittsburgh’s 2016 and 2017 titles.

”I think we have a bunch of capable guys that can play for us here. It’s kind of the next man up and the guys did a great job,” Guentzel said.

Sure, four goals is a bit ridiculous, but Guentzel will need to be a key contributor again especially if Malkin isn’t ready to go.

Malkin, who scored three goals in five games, sat out Game 6 with a leg injury. He missed the final four minutes of the first period in Game 5 after Philadelphia’s Jori Lehtera fell on it when the two got tangled in the corner. Malkin returned to start the second period. But he was hurt to the point where he sat out Game 6, and all it takes is one nagging injury to slow down the road toward completing the Stanley Cup trilogy.

If he plays or not, there are still enough playoff-tested Penguins to keep them rolling.

”We’ve been through a number of these elimination games over the last couple of years so it’s not a surprise to any of us,” Sullivan said. ”My hope moving forward is we can learn from those experiences and hopefully we have better success.”

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