It was not a good night at the Honda Center for the home team. The Anaheim Ducks were thoroughly dominated by the San Jose Sharks throughout their 6-2 loss on Sunday night.

In what should have been a golden opportunity to pull within a single point of the second place Sharks, Anaheim now finds themselves five full points behind their Nor Cal rivals with two more games played.

San Jose was on the second of a back-to-back and their sixth game in nine nights. The Ducks did not take advantage of any fatigue that may have been setting in for the Sharks.

The Ducks were plagued by a lack of discipline and an off night from the usually solid John Gibson. San Jose scored twice on five power plays with Mikkel Boedker and Joe Thornton scoring nearly mirror image goals with the man advantage. Both fired shots past a screened Gibson to thwart any rally ideas the Ducks may have had.

How it all played out:

- John Gibson won his three previous starts, including two against the Kings. He was very good allowing just six goals on 82 shots. The Sharks exposed him with five goals on only 22 shots. He was heavily screened on a couple. That's on the defense. One of Boedker's goals and the Melker Karlsson goal went right through him and that's on him. I won't blame him for the "L," but he needs to be better going forward.

- Adam Henrique and Ondrej Kase were the lone bright spots in the game for Anaheim. Both seemed to be on the puck all night. And most of the Ducks offensive zone time was generated while they were on the ice. Kase continues to impress me. He plays with so much enthusiasm. I love it.

- The Ducks trailed 3-0 before pulling to within a single goal early in the third period. For a moment it felt like they were going to find a way to earn at least a point in this game. But, Josh Manson took a penalty immediately following the second goal. And exactly one minute after Ryan Getzlaf's goal, Thornton scored on the power play to double the lead and pretty much put the Ducks to bed for good.

- All is not lost. Anaheim is 2-1 on the current five-game home-stand. They have a couple more games to earn points before the All Star break and they probably need to get all four to feel better about their positioning. The Ducks remain two points out of third place in the Pacific Division. They've played more games than everybody else, but its still too early to focus on that.

- Getzlaf collected a goal and an assist in the loss. With 28 points (5g 23a) in 24 games, he is still scoring 1.17 points per game since returning from his injury.

- Cory Perry needs to move down the linuep and play with Henrique. Rico and Perry have some chemistry and the Ducks more scoring throughout the lineup. Otherwise Perry is completely disappointing and frustrating to watch.

The Ducks host the struggling and desperate New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Both teams need points. It should make for a fun night.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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