Recap: Ducks Grab Early Lead, Roll to 4-1 Preseason Win Over Sharks

The Ducks raced out to an early lead they never relinquished, knocking off the San Jose Sharks 4-1 in a preseason contest tonight at Honda Center.
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With the win, Anaheim improved to 3-1-0 moving past the halfway point of its preseason schedule. All three of the Ducks' remaining exhibition games are against the rival Los Angeles Kings.
Ten Ducks found the scoresheet offensively, with Derek Grant leading the way with a game-high two points (1-1=2), including the night's opening goal. Max Comtois, Frank Vatrano and Nathan Beaulieu also scored.
John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz split the night in net, combining to stop 29-of-30 San Jose shots. Gibson made 17 saves in his first action of the preseason. Stolarz replaced him in net at the 10:12 mark of the second period and denied all 12 shots he faced.
Logan Couture scored the lone goal for San Jose.
Anaheim initially went ahead just before the midway point of the first period on a play that quickly went from full of joy to nothing but concern for a teammate. Just as Grant shoveled home a backdoor pass from Urho Vaakanainen, the Finnish defenseman went crashing into the end wall, requiring immediate medical assistance.
Vaakanainen was taken to UCI Medical Center for evaluation. He has full movement in his extremities and was fully conscious and alert.
"We had him for a second after the deadline last year and it didn't take long to realize just how genuine of a person he is," Troy Terry said. "When something like that happens, I don't even want to talk about him on the ice. It's a human being that we all care for. It's hard to see that happen. He's a great hockey player. People know that, but he's just a better person. It's hard. It's hard for us to see that. We've all been told he's doing better… It's good to hear and he does mean a lot to everyone here."
"Unbelievable job by our doctors and our training staff to get out to Vaakanainen as fast as they did and carry out an unbelievable protocol," head coach Dallas Eakins added. "They don't do that stuff by accident, it's something they actually practice and tonight practice made perfect. I just want to recognize all of those guys because they work extremely hard at it. They got Vaaks off, he's in the hospital. He is alert, and talking and all that good stuff. He just went to the hospital for precautionary measures obviously."
Grant, who added an assist later in the game, matched a career-best with 15 goals in 71 games last season.
Comtois doubled the Ducks' lead less than three minutes later on a nifty backhand from down low, lifting a rebound opportunity over Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen's glove for Anaheim's second power-play goal of the preseason.

Ryan Strome drew the primary assist and now has three points in his first two exhibition games as a Duck.
"I've always been a fan of his, just watching him play," Terry said. "To play with him, it's been easy, honestly, I think is the best word to use. All of a sudden and I have way more space, especially down low. He's so smart. He's such a cerebral player where if I'm in a battle, I know exactly where he is and same with him."
Vatrano capped the scoring surge with a wicked shot from high slot, taking a pass from Danny O'Regan on right wing and quickly firing it through Kahkonen's leg pads to give the Ducks a commanding three-goal lead.

"It was a quick transition," Vatrano said. "It started in their defensive zone. I saw Danny O'Regan stretch and widen. I kind of hit him with a stretch pass and I beat my guy up the ice and Danny made a great pass for the middle. I was lucky enough to put it through a screen and catch the goalie off guard."
Axel Andersson collected the secondary assist, his first career NHL preseason point.
The Sharks temporarily got back within two early in the second period when Couture cashed in on the power play, burying a cross-crease feed from Evgeny Svechnikov.
Anaheim would waste little time restoring its three-goal cushion though, as Beaulieu scored almost exactly three minutes later, roofing a wrister from the left faceoff circle off a low-to-high pass from Jakob Silfverberg stationed behind the Sharks net.

The Ducks would spend much of the rest of the middle frame on the penalty kill, offering the coaching staff a look at several players competing for opening night roster spots in that role. The Ducks "killers" did the job well, eliminating four minor penalties in the final 10 minutes of the second.
Anaheim focused on protecting the lead in the third and did so in large part thanks to a stellar performance by Stolarz, who made a couple quality saves on in-tight chances and locked down a 4-1 Ducks victory.
The Ducks continue their seven-game preseason schedule Sunday against the Kings at Crypto.com Arena.