(Saturday, April 4th)

Final Score: Anaheim 5, San Jose 2

San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Bobby Ryan scored twice and Ryan Getzlaf dished out four assists, as the playoff-hopeful Anaheim Ducks handled the NHL- best San Jose Sharks, 5-2, in the opener of a home-and-home set at HP Pavilion.

Getzlaf broke the team record for assists in a season with 64. Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry, and Mike Brown also scored for the Ducks, who have won four straight and nine of their last 10 games. Jonas Hiller stopped 28 shots to extend his winning streak to seven games, which ties a club mark.

Anaheim has tallied 20 goals during its four consecutive triumphs.

"Every coach would like your team to score lots of goals, but we know your not going to score five against the San Jose Sharks every night. We caught them on a flat night," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

With the win, the surging Ducks moved to seventh in the Western Conference with 88 points. Anaheim is two points ahead of Nashville and St. Louis. The Predators won in a shootout against Columbus while the Blues lost in overtime to Dallas on Saturday. The Ducks are one point behind the Blue Jackets for the sixth spot in the West.

Anaheim has three games left: home against the Sharks on Sunday and Dallas on Friday, and at Phoenix next Saturday.

Joe Thornton and Milan Michalek lit the lamp for the Pacific Division champion Sharks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 22 shots in the loss.

"We didn't skate very well for pretty much the whole game. It's disappointing but we have a chance to redeem ourselves tomorrow night," Thornton said.

San Jose (113 points) is six points ahead of idle Detroit for the top spot in the West. The Sharks are one point ahead of Boston for the best record in the NHL. Boston shut out the New York Rangers 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Anaheim drew first blood on a goal from Ryan just 2:47 into the game to give the visitors an early edge.

Perry's 30th goal of the year at the 5:46 mark of the first frame extended Anaheim's lead to 2-0. After just keeping the puck in the Sharks zone, Getzlaf hit Perry with a pass. Perry fired a shot from the right circle that beat Nabokov stick-side.

San Jose responded with a goal from Thornton with 10:25 left to cut the deficit in half.

Michalek's power-play goal at the 4:07 mark of the second period tied the tilt at two. Michalek took a pass from Christian Ehrhoff before lasering a shot from the left circle that beat Hiller glove side.

Anaheim responded with a score from Brown to take a 3-2 lead at the 8:07 mark. Brown's shot in front of the net deflected off the stick of Nabokov and trickled into the net.

Selanne lit the lamp with 2:21 left to give the Ducks some breathing room heading into the final frame. Getzlaf made a cross-ice pass to Selanne, who beat his defender to set up a 2-on-1. Selanne lifted a shot past the glove of Nabokov.

Ryan added an insurance goal for the Ducks with 6:46 to play.

Game Notes

The Ducks went 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Sharks went 1-for-3...San Jose leads the season series with Anaheim, 3-2...The Sharks were without leading scorer Patrick Marleau for a third straight game...San Jose had a five-game home winning streak snapped...Anaheim finished a three-game road trek with a 3-0 mark.

04/05 02:27:58 ET