Santorelli's goal the difference as Ducks top Sharks

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[December 05, 2015]  ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With one third of their season finished, the Anaheim Ducks appear to be finding themselves.

Left winger Mike Santorelli scored early in the third period to give the Ducks a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night in front of 15,701 at the Honda Center.

"We did it by being aggressive," Anaheim center Shawn Horcoff said about the win. "When we're skating like that, that's when we're at our best. In order to do that, we need all four lines going. Tonight, we had that."

San Jose center Joe Thornton saw how the Ducks' intensity affected his team.

"We were hesitant a little bit, and we shouldn't be," Thornton said. "We have good players who make good plays. We just didn't execute as well in the third period as we did in the first two periods."

Goalie John Gibson made 23 saves for his second shutout in three games as the Ducks (10-12-5) gave the Sharks (14-11-0) their third loss in four games.

Anaheim center Nate Thompson praised Gibson's ability to remain calm under pressure.

"I had the honor of watching him in the world junior championships and you could see it then," Thompson said. "He was only 19 at the time and he didn't have a heartbeat, in a good way. You can see it in the way he plays. He was huge tonight."

Santorelli scored his fourth goal of the season 2:49 into the final period. Thompson secured the puck behind the net and passed to Santorelli, who dragged a wrist shot from the right circle inside the right post.

"That's the type of play that was going to get the win," Sharks center Joe Pavelski said. "Tonight, they found a way to get it."

San Jose took only two shots on goal in the third period, with 18 minutes, 28 seconds elapsing between them.

"It seemed we weren't clean enough," Pavelski said. "When we had a chance to break out, either the puck hopped or we misread the play. They had good pressure."

The Ducks thus ended San Jose center Patrick Marleau's goal-scoring streak at four games.

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"That might have been our best third period in the last few years, as far as shutting teams down," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We kept attacking. That's a great hockey team with speed and a lot of goal scorers, and to shut them down was pretty impressive for me."

Santorelli and Thompson almost combined for the game's first goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway with three minutes left in the first period. But Sharks goalie Martin Jones used his chest to block Thompson's short-range wrist shot.

Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen also had a chance to give Anaheim an early lead four minutes into the game. But Vatanen's wrist shot from the top of the slot hit the upper-right corner of the goal frame and slid across the crease.

Jones finished the game with 24 saves

NOTES: San Jose scratched C Chris Tierney, RW Ben Smith and D Dylan Demelo. The Sharks recalled Demelo and LW Michael Haley from their AHL team in San Jose on Friday, one day after sending D Mirco Mueller to the AHL. ... Sharks C Patrick Marleau played in his 485th consecutive game. Marleau also began the game tied with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner for 17th all-time in game-winning goals. ... San Jose D Marc-Edouard Vlasic needs two points for 200 in his career. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer, LW Patrick Maroon and G Frederik Andersen, who missed his sixth consecutive game because of the flu. ... Ducks D Cam Fowler moved past Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer and into fourth place in career games by an Anaheim defensemen with 372.

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