A four-goal second period helped the San Jose Sharks to a 8-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, in their first game on home ice. The victory gives them a 3-0 series lead in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

These two California rivals battled it out in the first two games, but as the series shifted to San Jose on Monday night, the Ducks were in desperation mode. Unfortunately, the Sharks set the tone from puck drop and put pressure on the Ducks.

The home team struck first as Mikkel Boedker outskated defenseman Hampus Lindholm to set up Logan Couture, netting his second goal of the series.

Nothin’ but net. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/HVx4sfDPuN

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 17, 2018

Following a Chris Tierney missed breakaway chance, Joonas Donskoi drew a holding penalty on Ryan Getzlaf and the Sharks went on their first power play of the game. The Sharks could not find the back of the net with the man-advantage.

A few minutes later, Timo Meier committed a hooking penalty and Ducks’ Rickard Rakell answered back with a power play goal, tying the game with 6:20 left in the first period.

They never saw it coming! #LetsGoDucks

🎥➡ https://t.co/wulmwbnRPW pic.twitter.com/EmCp3vPn6a

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 17, 2018

The Sharks then exploded with four answered goals in the second period, continuing a trend of second period success during this series.

Less than one minute separated two quick opening period goals.

After Brandon Montour fell in neutral zone, Donskoi got the puck then scored the tiebreaking goal off a 2-on-1 break with Evander Kane, who picked up the assist. Marcus Sorensen then scored his second goal of the playoffs from a 3-on-1 break setup pass by Donskoi, extending the lead to 3-1.

Perfectly executed. 👌 #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/QoB7LUo2Np

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 17, 2018

Another member of the fourth line got in on the action as Eric Fehr called his own number scoring a goal with 6:17 left in the period, making it a 4-1 lead.

It was clear the Ducks’ frustrations began to show, as tempers boiled in a post-whistle skirmish leading to the Sharks fourth power play of the night.

Tomas Hertl capped off the second period coring onslaught by sneaking in the team’s first power play goal with nearly three minutes left. This goal tied the franchise record for team goals scored in a period on home ice.

5 goals, 5 goals, 5 goals, 5 goals, 5 goals@tomashertl48 makes it 5-1 #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/19jZjZ6Ytu

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) April 17, 2018

The final period involved three Sharks power play goals. Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and Montour slashing penalties led to Joe Pavelski, Tierney and Kane goals. Halfway through the period, Corey Perry took a blatant cross-checking penalty. Getzlaf wasn’t a fan of the call and during a media timeout he earned himself a game misconduct.

Martin Jones could easily be said to be the source of the Ducks’ frustration. Though the offense was rolling, Jones still did his best Superman impression, making 45 of 46 saves in net.

His counterpart, John Gibson, will want to forget this game after giving up five goals on 24 shot attempts. Backup Ryan Miller replaced Gibson in the third period and saw even worse success, making just nine of 12 saves.

Numbers

As you can see, the possession was closer than you would think, despite the Sharks’ eight goals. The first period in particular felt very close, and even the second period felt like the Ducks weren’t giving up, but things fell apart in the third. Overall, it was still tight, as shown by the small edge in corsi with San Jose’s 53 percent to Anaheim’s 47 percent.

Rakell set up in Ovi’s office for his goal. The Sharks fired off a lot of attempts up close, which is unsurprising, given how much special teams time they were given.

Notes

• Sharks set a franchise record for most goals scored in a playoff game (8).
• Sharks unveiled Duck Hunt shirts, towels inside SAP Center and they are absolutely awesome.
• Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry had a combined six penalties, including a 10 minute misconduct penalty for Getzlaf. Ryan Kesler also took a penalty, making this the second game in this series where every Ducks player wearing a letter sat in the sin bin.
• Thirteen players had at least one point, including all twelve forwards. Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi each picked up one goal and two assists.
• Sharks will most likely never lead the series in hits, but their 10 takeaways compared to Ducks’ two was huge.
• Faceoffs were even at 35.
• Kane made a highlight reel move in the second period, turning around his defender, but he missed shot. It’s hard to complain, though, with eight goals on the night./