Ducks take a bite out of Sharks

For all the lapses and foibles that have made them look decidedly average the last two months, the Ducks have nights when they offer a reminder of how good they can be.

At the least, the San Jose Sharks have borne the brunt of their domination. The Ducks controlled all areas of a 3-1 victory over the Sharks that was important for a multitude of reasons Friday night at the Honda Center.

The Ducks (38-17-11) stretched their lead in the Pacific Division over Dallas to six points as San Jose fell nine points out in third place. In defeating the Sharks for the second time in five days, the Ducks also clinched the season series with their fifth victory in seven games.

The win in front of the 13th consecutive announced sellout of 17,174 erased the memories of a sloppy 4-3 overtime loss to the cellar-dwelling Kings only 24 hours earlier.

“We were pretty low after last night,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It’s a credit to our players for picking themselves back up and putting forth an effort tonight that was necessary for our group and our mind-set.

“To me, this is a big step for our hockey club.”

The victory opened a season-high eight-game homestand with style.

The Ducks got goals on the power play from Dustin Penner and Chris Pronger, the latter providing insurance with 6 minutes 10 seconds left in regulation. The penalty-killing units also dominated as they held the NHL’s second-best power play without a goal in six situations.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a 30-save performance that gave him his third 30-win season. Chris Kunitz also scored and Andy McDonald had two assists.

“We were disappointed with our approach [Thursday] and our emotion wasn’t at the level it should be at,” Giguere said.

“I think tonight was a very important game to bounce back from [that].”

The Ducks skated hard from the outset and their effort drew two San Jose penalties within a 1:10 span. Twenty-six seconds into the first penalty on the Sharks, Penner added to his club rookie record by punching in his 23rd goal.

Penner, with his fourth goal in three games, may be the Ducks’ answer for a power forward.

Teemu Selanne moved the puck to Ryan Getzlaf at the right of San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov and Getzlaf slipped it across the crease.

As he battled with defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic in front of Nabokov, Penner quickly got his stick on the loose puck and banged it in to give him a team-leading six goals in seven games against the Sharks.

“The coaching staff has tried to mold me into a power forward that battles in front of the net and picks up all the loose change,” Penner said.

“When you get more ice time, you get more confidence and it’s kind of a snowball effect.”

The Ducks continued to victimize San Jose’s young defensemen. Rookie Matt Carle has been a popular target and McDonald had his way with the former NCAA player of the year in setting up Kunitz’s first-period goal.

McDonald beat Carle across the ice to a puck along the right boards and then did a 360-degree turn that spun the trailing defenseman to the ice. As he cleared himself of Carle, McDonald found the crashing Kunitz, who easily beat the defenseless Nabokov.

“They’re a great team and we have to be at our best to compete,” Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. “Anything but your best isn’t going to be pretty.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com