John Carlson’s first career hat trick paced the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-1 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano had the other Ducks goals as Anaheim (42-32-5, 89 points) snapped a six-game skid (0-5-1) and improved to 24-13-3 on home ice this season. The Ducks are tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for second in the Pacific Division, both a point behind the Edmonton Oilers.
Beckett Sennecke, Pavel Mintyukov, Troy Terry and Mikael Granlund chipped in a pair of helpers each and Lukas Dostal made 18 saves.
Shakir Mukhamadullin responded for the Sharks (37-34-7, 81 points) and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots for San Jose, which has dropped back-to-back games. The Sharks sit four points behind the Los Angeles Kings, who hold the second Western Conference wild-card position.
With Anaheim leading 3-0, Carlson added his second of the night on a power play at 10:31 of the third, blowing a point shot past a screened Askarov for his 13th.
Mukhamadullin got the Sharks on the board at 12:40, snapping a Tyler Toffoli feed past Dostal from the top of the slot for his fifth of the season.
Carlson completed the hat trick on a 5-on-3 power play at 14:03, one-timing a Terry feed short-side past Askarov for his 14th of the season.
Anaheim took a 6-1 lead as Vatrano backhanded in the rebound off Mason McTavish’s shot for his fifth of the season at 17:32 of the third.
Killorn made it 3-0 Anaheim at 5:15 of the middle frame, tapping in the rebound off Sennecke’s shot for his 14th of the season.
Anaheim outshot San Jose 10-5 in the first period and led 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Carlsson opened the scoring 2:59 into the opening period, dangling around 10 and snapping a shot glove side past Askarov for his 28th of the season.
Anaheim doubled its lead at 6:20 as Carlson one-timed a Granlund pass blocker side past Askarov for his 12th of the season.
Thursday was the fourth and final meeting between the Ducks and Sharks this season. Anaheim edged San Jose 7-6 in overtime in the first contest on Oct. 11 before the Sharks responded with a pair of wins — 5-4 on Dec. 29 and 4-3 on April 1.
–Field Level Media
