Top-seeded Sharks eliminated

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Although the San Jose Sharks wouldn't go down without a fight or two, the Anaheim Ducks can take a punch as impressively as they took this playoff series from the NHL's best regular-season team.

Teemu Selanne and Francois Beauchemin scored their first playoff goals 43 seconds apart in the second period, and the eighth-seeded Ducks ousted the Presidents' Trophy-winning Sharks from the first round with a 4-1 victory Monday night.

Jonas Hiller made 36 saves to finish his phenomenal playoff series debut for the Ducks, who won a fight-filled Game 6 clincher in a remarkable playoff upset two years after winning the franchise's only Stanley Cup.

With a dynamic offensive effort that negated all the Sharks' physical bluster, Anaheim became the third team to beat the NHL's top regular-season club in the first round since 2000, and just the fifth since 1968. The 1990-91 Blackhawks were one of the victims as they were eliminated by Minnesota 4-2.

The Ducks are the eighth No. 8 seed to win a playoff series since 1994, largely dominating the league's first all-California postseason series in 40 years.

The simmering in-state rivalry boiled into a slugfest with 60 total penalty minutes and a long series of brawls, including a surprising scrap between stars Joe Thornton and Ryan Getzlaf two seconds after the opening faceoff.

Thornton pummeled Getzlaf in the fight - but the Ducks center landed the decisive blow with 2:56 to play, scoring an unassisted goal that wrapped up the series.