Second period miscues haunt Sharks in another preseason loss to Ducks

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks got third-period goals from William Eklund and Jeff Skinner, but were unable to overcome some second-period puck management issues in a 5-2 preseason loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday at SAP Center.

With the Sharks down by three goals, Eklund scored a power play goal 50 seconds into the third period, and Skinner, one of a handful of new forwards for San Jose, one-timed a pass from Philipp Kurashev past Ducks goalie Calle Clang at the 5:22 mark.

But the second period proved to be the Sharks’ undoing for the second straight game, as the Ducks scored three times in a span of 6:46.

After a Beckett Sennecke goal 69 seconds into the middle period, the Ducks took a 2-0 lead on a Sam Colangelo goal less than six minutes later.

Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov tried to find Michael Misa with a pass just inside the Ducks’ zone. But Ducks defenseman Tyson Hinds took away the puck to start the transition, which Colangelo finished off with a shot that beat San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov short to the blocker side at the 6:38 mark.

Orlov was then unable to control a Kurashev pass back to the point, and Cutter Gauthier jumped on the loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Askarov from an angle off the rush for his second goal of the preseason.

Egor Sidorov and Frank Vatrano added empty net goals for Anaheim in the final 1:31 of the third period.

Askarov finished with 20 saves in his second game of the preseason.

The Sharks close exhibition play this week with road games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday and the Utah Mammoth. Macklin Celebrini, who dealt with an undisclosed illness near the start of training camp and has been kept out of contact drills in recent days, is expected to make his preseason debut in one of those games.

During Monday’s loss to the Ducks in Anaheim, the Sharks allowed goals to Gauthier, Radko Gudas, and Frank Vatrano in a span of 2:51 to fall behind 3-0 by the 9:13 mark of the second period. The Sharks got goals from Adam Gaudette and Pavol Regenda in the third period but lost 3-2.

The Sharks dressed their most experienced lineup so far this preseason on Wednesday, with at least 15 of the players in uniform expected to be on the 23-man roster next week.