Sports rivalries between California teams are always intense. When it comes to hockey there isn’t much of a history Josh Bellamy Jersey , but that’s about to change.
North meets South when the San Jose Sharks visit the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of a first-round Western Conference matchup on Thursday night at Honda Center
This is the 14th playoff series between California teams and only the second between San Jose and Anaheim. It will be nearly impossible to top the first series.
In 2009, the Sharks entered the postseason as Presidents’ Trophy winners and with franchise records of 53 wins and 117 points. The eighth-seeded Ducks pulled off the upset in six games.
This season, Anaheim (44-25-13) finished on a 10-1-1 run to ease past San Jose and the Los Angeles Kings into second place in the Pacific Division.
“If we didn’t have success, we might not even be qualified for the playoffs,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle told the team’s official website.
San Jose (45-27-10) reached 100 points for the first time in coach Peter DeBoer’s three seasons but enters the playoffs on a 1-4-1 slump after a season-high eight-game winning streak.
“We’re drawing probably one of the top teams in the league, and it’s a great test for us,” DeBoer said Monday.
The Sharks went 3-0-1 versus the Ducks in the regular season, with three games going to a shootout. DeBoer is not expecting an easy series.
“They had 101 points, and that was without (Ryan) Getzlaf and (Ryan) Kesler (hip injury) for big parts of the season, so they’re probably a 110-point team at the end of the day,” he said.
Carlyle, who led Anaheim to its only Stanley Cup title in 2007, gave his insight on the Sharks.
“They’re a skating, well-coached hockey club,” he told the Orange County Register. “Lots of balance. They’re not a flashy team by any means but they’ve got a lot of depth through their lineup. They play a high-tempo game.”
San Jose’s offense is powered by Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns, who overcame a slow start — seven assists in his first 19 games — to lead the team with 67 points. Wings Joe Pavelski (66 points) and Logan Couture (team-high 34 goals, 61 points) also figured prominently.
Sharks winger Evander Kane, the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Atlanta Thrashers Anthony Brown Jersey , will make his postseason debut. Kane had nine goals and five assists in 17 games after being acquired in February from the Buffalo Sabres.
“In the short period he’s been here, he’s brought speed, which backs teams off. He’s brought a physical presence, which keeps people honest,” DeBoer said Monday.
For the second straight season, winger Rickard Rakell was Anaheim’s top goal scorer, this time with a career-high 34.
Getzlaf appeared in only 56 games — he missed 19 between late October and mid-December after facial surgery — and tied a career low with 11 goals, but also put up 50 assists. He has 118 points (37 goals, 81 assists) in 121 career playoff games.
Anaheim also got 20 goals this season from winger Ondrej Kase — a seventh-round draft pick in 2014 — and 20 from center Adam Henrique after he was picked up in a late November trade from the New Jersey Devils.
Both teams have solid options in goal, but the Ducks may have the better tandem.
Anaheim’s John Gibson set a career best with 31 wins and posted a 2.43 goals-against average in 60 games, while Ryan Miller went 12-6-6 with a 2.35 GAA and owns 28 career playoff wins.
San Jose’s Martin Jones reached 30 wins for the third time in as many seasons with the club despite a career-worst 2.55 GAA. Aaron Dell, who won 15 games in his second season, has never played a minute in the postseason.
Both teams will miss key players. For the Ducks, defenseman Cam Fowler (eight goals, 24 assists) is expected to sit out the first round with a shoulder injury.
“The one thing they have is depth,” DeBoer said of Anaheim’s defensemen. “If (Fowler’s) in, he’s a great player. If he isn’t, they have a lot of great players.”
The bulk of the Ducks’ blue-line scoring comes from Josh Manson (career-high 37 points) Nick Bellore Jersey , Brandon Montour (career-high 32 points) and Hampus Lindholm (31 points).
San Jose will still be without Joe Thornton. The 20-year-veteran center has not played since suffering a right knee injury in late January. Nine months earlier, Thornton needed surgery to repair the MCL and ACL in his left knee.
“Not for Game 1, and that’s as far as we’ll go,” DeBoer said Tuesday.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at Honda Center.
Chris Sale pitched his latest Bronx gem, Rafael Devers went 5 for 5 with a first-inning grand slam and the Boston Red Sox held the New York Yankees to two hits during an 11-0 rout Saturday night to take back baseball’s best record.Sale (8-4) allowed only Giancarlo Stanton’s clean single over seven innings, striking out 11. He has a 1.73 career ERA against the Yankees, best among pitchers with at least 10 starts against them since 1920. His ERA at Yankee Stadium is 1.86, second only to Seattle’s Felix Hernandez among pitchers with five starts.
Boston is a major league-leading 56-28, just ahead of the Yankees at 53-27. New York held the majors’ best mark by percentage points after winning Friday’s series opener 8-1.
Yankee Stadium hosted a season-high sellout of 47,125, and the crowd gave starter Sonny Gray (5-6) an earful after he gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 0-4 with a 9.35 ERA against Boston since being acquired by New York from Oakland last season.
RANGERS 13, WHITE SOX 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Bartolo Colon overcame a sluggish start to earn his 245th major league win and match Dennis Martinez for the most by a pitcher from Latin America when Texas beat Chicago.
Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua homered for the Rangers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and clinched their fifth consecutive series. Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.
The 45-year-old Colon (5-5) was done after Matt Davidson led off the sixth with a homer to center field that pulled the White Sox to 5-3.
Colon already had the most wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic, having surpassed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for that distinction with his 244th victory at Kansas City on June 18, six days before a loss at Minnesota. Colon won in his first start at home since June 6 to match Martinez, who is from Nicaragua.
White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
GIANTS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX (AP) – Dereck Rodriguez blanked the Diamondbacks into the seventh inning and San Francisco made it two wins in a row at Arizona.
Brandon Crawford Ricky Wagner Jersey , Andrew McCutchen and Joe Panik homered on another rough night for Shelby Miller (0-2), who struggled in his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Panik’s homer, off reliever Jimmie Sherfy in the eighth, was his first since April 3, a span of 162 at-bats.
Ty Blach and Cory Gearrin completed San Francisco’s 10th shutout of the season.
The Giants have won nine of 11 to pull into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for second in the NL West, 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks. San Francisco can complete a three-game road sweep on Sunday.
Rodriguez (3-1), the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan ”Pudge” Rodriguez, dominated in his sixth major league start. He allowed six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked two.
MARINERS 6, ROYALS 4
SEATTLE (AP) – Ryon Healy had four hits, including a homer, and drove in three runs to lead Seattle over Kansas City.
Felix Hernandez (8-6) gave up four consecutive hits, including a three-run homer by Mike Moustakas, to start the game. But the right-hander settled down to pitch four scoreless innings after that, helping the Mariners to a season-best sixth consecutive win.
Edwin Diaz worked a perfect ninth for his 31st save. The Mariners (53-31) are 22 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.
Jason Hammels (2-10) lost his fifth straight, allowing six runs and 13 hits in six innings.
PADRES 4, PIRATES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Wil Myers homered, doubled and drove in three runs L. P. Ladouceur Jersey , and rookie Joey Lucchesi threw five scoreless innings to send San Diego past Pittsburgh.
The Padres had to hold on after closer Brad Hand allowed two runs in the ninth before earning his 23rd save. Hand gave up doubles by Elias Diaz and Austin Meadows, and a triple by Gregory Polanco. The reliever then got Jordy Mercer to fly out to shallow right field, pinch-hitter Jose Osuna to foul out to right and struck out Starling Marte.
Myers, limited to 19 games this season due to injuries, homered off Trevor Williams (6-6) in the third, his second. Myers then chased the San Diegan with a two-run double to give the Padres a 4-0 lead in the fifth.
San Diego won for just the third time in 13 games.
Lucchesi (4-3) won for the first time since April 28. He was making his third start since missing five weeks with a strained right hip. The left-hander allowed one hit while striking out five and walking four.
BLUE JAYS 4, TIGERS 3
TORONTO (AP) – Justin Smoak led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run and Toronto handed Detroit its 11th straight loss.
Smoak connected against reliever Joe Jimenez (3-1) for his 11th homer of the season.
Seyunghwan Oh (4-2) worked one inning for the win. Randal Grichuk also homered for the Blue Jays, who have won 10 of 11 at home.
John Hicks hit a solo homer in the Detroit second off Sam Gaviglio and Nick Castellanos made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the third, his 12th.
Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer to cap Toronto’s three-run fifth that tied the score.
RAYS 5, ASTROS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Wilson Ramos drove in four runs in the first two innings against Justin Verlander, and Tampa Bay won for the seventh time in eight games.
Matt Duffy finished with three hits, including two in the first two innings,
to help the Rays move to .500 (41-41) for the first time since June 1. Tampa Bay
has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five straight games for only
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