The Anaheim Ducks are down 1-0 in the best-of-7 series after falling 3-0 to the San Jose Sharks in game one.

The result was not ideal, but the series is far from over and I expect the Ducks best effort when the clubs meet for game two tonight at Honda Center.

The Ducks failed to score a goal against Martin Jones, spoiling another strong outing from John Gibson.

Gibson made 31 saves in the loss. Jones made 25 stops and earned his fifth career playoff shutout.

 Anaheim entered the playoffs on a five game win streak and was 18-2-2 in the final 22 home games. The Sharks stumbled a bit with one win in five games to close out the seaso. Unfortunately, that all means zip when the puck drop in a playoff game.

The Ducks have work to do. They can earn the split in this series - if they follow these three easy steps.

1. Play physical and in control - The Ducks out hit the Sharks 41-22 to set a tone in this series. That's what you want to do in the first game of a series like this and it's in front of your own fans. Anaheim's problem came in the form of a parade of penalties. San Jose had six cracks with the man adavantge and scored on one. The Ducks cannot let that happen again. Play hard, play heavy, but play with control and discipline.

2. Make it harder to camp in front of Gibson - The Sharks are going to set up shop in front of the Ducks net. Anaheim's defense has to do a better job of disrupting that game plan and allow Gibson to see the puck. Brent Burns' goal caught Gibson by complete surprise. He never saw it. Don't let that happen again.

3. Make smarter passes - The key word is "smarter." The Ducks have young guys in the blue line.. i.e. Marcus Pettersson and Andy Welinski. Any Ducks fan will tell you the goofy drop passes and errant passes in front of their own net is enough to give them ulcers. Hampus Lindholm had three giveaways himself. Don't do that crap. They cannot give the Sharks free shots on net, or repeated odd man rushes from poor puck play. Cut this down and you'll see a different result.

The series is not over but another sloppy game and it could feel over heading to San Jose down 2-0.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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