Author: M Walsh

Sharks Beat Coyotes 8-7 in Shoot-Out

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl scores as teammates congratulate him in the third period with Jayden Halbgewachs (89), Mario Ferraro (38), Noah Gregor (73) and Brent Burns (88) against the Arizona Coyotes on Tue Dec 28, 2021 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks won 8-7 in a barn-burner against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. Alexander Barabanov, Nick Bonino, Radim Simek, Jeffrey Viel, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 39 saves for the win. Lawson Crouse (2), Janis Moser(2), Clayton Keller, Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrew Ladd scored for the Coyotes. Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves in the loss.

On Monday, Adin Hill was added to the Sharks COVID-19 protocol list. Jonathan Dahlen and Tomas Hertl were added to the list list on December 21. Brent Burns was put on the list on the 17th, and removed from it on December 26. That made him available to play his 1200th game Tuesday.

Shortly after a fight between Jonah Gadjovich and Jan Jenik, Alexander Barabanov started the scoring at 2:46 of the first period. Logan Couture took a shot from the slot that banked perfectly off of Barabanov and into the net. Couture and Timo Meier got the assists.

Lawson Crouse tied it up at 5:36. Phil Kessel set up the shot with a pass from the corner, to Crouse in the slot.

Nick Bonino made it 2-1 Sharks at 11:22. Bonino started the play by knocking the puck off of Shayne Gostisbehere’s stick. When Andrew Cogliano took a shot, Bonino was on hand to gather the rebound and backhand it in. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Andrew Cogliano.

Janis Moser tied it back up at 17:40, scoring his first NHL goal. Lawson Crouse got the puck away from Brent Burns below the goal line and made a qick pass up to Moser for the shot. An assist went to Crouse.

The Sharks had the only power play of the first period, and had two shots with the man advantage. The Coyotes out-shot the Sharks 14-8 in the first.

Radim Simek gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at 5:27 of the second period. Tomas Hertl was in front of the net when Simek tooka shot from the blue line. The puck went between Hertl and Janis Moser and over Wedgewood’s glove. Assists went to Jayden Halbgewachs and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Jeffrey Viel scored his first NHL goal to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead at 5:34. Viel may have been making a pass to center ice, where Jonah Gadjovich was going to the net. The puck never reached Gadjovich, and instead went off of a Coyote defender and into the net. Assists went to Gadjovich and Lane Pederson.

Clayton Keller got one back for Arizona at 7:48. The Coyotes were having trouble getting through the neutral zone when Phil Kessel found Keller across the ice and in the open. Keller was into the zone and taking the shot before the Sharks could get to him. Assists went to Kessel and Johan Larsson.

Timo Meier restored the Sharks’ two-goal lead at 14:13. With Couture, Barabanov and Meier attacking the net, Meier knocked the puck out of the air and over the goaltender for his 13th of the season. Assists went to Barabanov and Couture.

Janis Moser cut the lead back down to one, with his second NHL goal, on the power play at 19:37. After a failed clear, the Sharks penalty kill was looking weary when Moser took the shot from the blue line. The puck went by five skaters and in. Assists went to Larsson and Loui Eriksson.

The Coyotes had the only second period power play, and had two shots with the man advantage. Arizona out-shot San Jose again, this time 14-11.

Tomas Hertl made it 6-4 at 1:44 of the third. Noah Gregor got the puck to Hertl with a back-hand centering pass from the boards. Hertl put it away with a slap shot, scoring his 15th of the season.

Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona at 7:35. Crouse gathered a loose puck up at the corner of the net, then slipped between Reimer and Erik Karlsson before lifting the puck into the net. Assists went to Dysin Mayo and Phil Kessel.

Logan Couture scored the Sharks’ seventh of the night at 13:00. Still in the neutral zone, Erik Karlsson banked the puck off of the end boards. Barabanov got to it first and the dropped it to Couture for the shot. Assists went to Barabanov and Karlsson.

Shayne Gostisbehere scored for Arizona at 16:51. Gostisbehere took a shot from the blue line that went off of Nick Bonino and in. Assists went to Kessel and Larsson.

Andrew Ladd tied the game at 18:31 on the power play. Ladd was the last Coyote to touch it before it bounced up and over Reimer and into the net. Assists went to Crouse and Gostisbehere.

The Sharks penalty kill gave up 8 shots and a goal in the third period across two penalties. The Sharks power play got no shots on goal in the third. In overtime, the Sharks power play got one shot on goal and gave up two short-handed shots to the Coyotes. The Coyotes won 57% of the face-offs.

The game went to a shootout after a scoreless overtime. Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, Nick Schmaltz missed for Arizona and James Reimer stopped Clayton Keller.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Philadelphia Flyers.

On Sunday, Jim Wiley passed away at the age of 71. Wiley was the Sharks’ third Head Coach, coaching the Sharks for most of the 1995-1996 season. He was a professional hockey player for eight years, from 1972-1980. He went on to coach for fourteen years, retiring in 2008.

Sharks-Canucks Game and Seven other NHL games Postponed

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Adin Hill (33) can’t stop a shot by Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat during Sat Dec 18, 2021’s game at SAP Center in San Jose which will sit empty as the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks game has been postponed on Tue Dec 21, 2021 due to Covid 19 protocols. The NHL will reopen the season on Mon Dec 27, 2021 (TSN file photo)

By Mary Walsh

Tuesday’s San Jose Sharks game against the Vancouver Canucks has joined a list of eight games postponed for COVID-19 concerns. The Sharks game against the Edmonton Oilers that was scheduled for Thursday has also been postponed. The next Sharks game on the schedule is Monday in Anaheim, against the Ducks at 7:00 PM PT.

The NHL first announced on Monday that games between Canadian and US teams would be postponed until after the holiday break. Then the postponements expanded to include all games after Tuesday night. Wednesday’s games had already been postponed because the teams are shut down under COVID-19 protocols, and the NHL and the NHLPA decided to postpone the five games scheduled for Thursday. There will be two games played Tuesday and after that, the NHL holiday break will begin.

As of Monday night, the regular season is expected to resume on Monday, December 27. Players will report back to their teams on Sunday: “for testing, practice and/or travel only. Upon return from the Holiday Break to team facilities, no individual in the team’s Traveling Party shall enter the facility (other than for testing purposes) until they have a negative test result. Any practice scheduled for Dec. 26 must begin after 2:00 p.m. local time.”

44 games have been postponed this season, 39 in past 7 days. At this time, the NHL intends to continue with the regular season. Sunday, they released a statement that read, in part:

“The NHLPA’s and NHL’s medical experts have determined that, with virtually all players and club hockey staff fully vaccinated, the need to temporarily shut down individual teams should continue to be made on a case-by-case basis. The effects of recently introduced enhanced prevention and detection measures will be evaluated daily.”

On Monday, the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators were added to the list of teams shut down for COVID-19 concerns. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators were shut down Sunday. The Calgary Flames, with 19 players and three coaches in protocol, were shut down Saturday through the 27th.

Canucks Sink Sharks 5-2, Meier Scores 100th

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Timo Meier (28) is congratulated by San Jose Sharks teammate Erik Karlsson (65) after scoring his 100th career goal in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks fell 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks Thursday. Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller, Jason Dickinson scored for Vancouver, and Brock Boeser scored twice. Thatcher Demko made 34 saves for the win. Timo Meier and Andrew Cogliano scored for San Jose and Adin Hill made 25 saves in the loss,

The win lifted the Canucks record to 6-0 since Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach. Meanwhile, the Sharks have just two wins in their last six outings. Tomas Hertl is on a 6 game point streak and Timo Meier’s goal was his 100th in the NHL.

Afte the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner shared his impression of his team’s performance:

“I thought that, you know, the way we played tonight, I felt good about our team. I felt good about the way we played but we just didn’t execute, like I said, we didn’t capitalize. I thought that, you know, we probably needed a save earlier that we didn’t get. And sometimes that’s demoralizing too, when you’re sitting on the bench thinking you’re carrying the play and you’re chasing the game.”

Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano said: “It seems like, you know, opportunities that they get are going in and we’re not fighting hard enough to score our goals. We just have to be more desperate. I think we’re in a situation now where we’ve given some games back in a race that there’s a lot of teams in. And our will to win needs to increase.”

Brock Boeser scored the first goal of the game at 12:41 of the first period. Tanner Pearson made a pass across the ice to Boeser, who took the shot from just above the hask marks.

Bo Horvat made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 16:23. J.T. Miller made a cross-ice pass to Horvat, who was just below the hash marks that Boeser scored from. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.

Timo Meier cut the Canucks lead in half with a goal at 17:22. An Erik Karlsson shot was blocked and bounced out to Meier in the face-off circle. His shot went through traffic and in. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl.

Brock Boeser made it 3-1 with his second of the game at 17:17 of the second period. J.T. Miller passed the puck up from below the goal line and found Boeser in the face-off circle. Boeser took the shot and the puck went off of Hill’s glove and before going into the net just under the bar. Assists went to Miller and Tanner Pearson.

Andrew Cogliano made it 3-2 at 8:29 of the third period. Cogliano chased down his own dump-in and took a shot from a bad angle that may have suprised Demko. Assists went to Lane Pederson and Brent Burns.

J.T Miller scored into an empty net at 17:32. Jason Dickinson scored into an empty net at 18:57. Assists went to Elias Petterson and Kyle Burroughs.

The Sharks out-shot the Canucks 34-30 in the game. In the third period, however, while the Sharks trailed, the Canucks out-shot the Sharks 15-11. The Canucks won 57% of the face-offs. The Sharks had one power play and it had two shots on goal. The Sharks penalty kill allowed three shots and one goal in three penalties.

Jayden Halbgewachs made his NHL debut with the Sharks Thursday. He took one penalty and had three shots on goal in 16:44 of ice time with the second line.

The Sharks will host the Vancouver Canucks again on Tuesday, at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-1 to Kraken; Seattle strikes with 3 goals in third period

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Seattle Kraken center Jared McCann (16) puts one on goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Dec 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– In their first ever matchup, the San Jose Sharks fell 3-1 to the Seattle Kraken. Ryan Donato, Brandon Tanev and Calle Jarnkrok scored for Seattle and Chris Driedger made 33 saves for the win. Logan Couture scored for San Jose and James Reimer made 27 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Any time you’re not scoring a goal until you pull the goalie it’s going to be a tough way to win a hockey game and you almost gotta play perfect on the other side of the puck. And, you know, I didn’t think we played bad defensively but I think we opened it up, down 1-0, gave them a few chances.”

Sharks forward Timo Meier, who had five shots in the game, said: “Obviously, frustrating to lose this game. You know, we were right there the whole game. Had a tough time to score some goals. Their goalie made some big saves. I thought we didn’t do enough in the offensive zone, we didn’t work hard enough to get that bounce and score that goal earlier.”

The first two periods were scoreless. Seattle outshot San Jose 11-8 in the first, while San Jose outshot Seattle 12-7 in the second. There was a single penalty in the game, to Seattle in the second period. The Sharks power play got two shots on goal.

Ryan Donato scored the first goal of the game at 6:23 of the third. Joonas Donskoi took a shot that Reimer stopped but Donato was on the doorstep to gather up the rebound. The puck went off of Radim Simek’s skate and into the net. Assists went to Donskoi and Carson Soucy.

Brandon Tanev made it 2-0 at 14:18. Morgan Geekie caught a pass from Calle Jarnkrok in the neautral zone and carried it to the Sharks net. He got a pass around Brent Burns, setting Tanev up for the shot. Assists went to Geekie and Calle Jarnkrok.

Logan Couture scored with the Sharks net empty at 17:53. Brent Burns took a shot through traffic and the puck went off of a defenseman. It bounced right to Couture in the face-off circle. Couture put the puck into an open net. Assists went to Burns and Tomas Hertl.

Calle Jarnkrok scored into the empty net with six seconds left. Mason Appleton and Alex Wennberg got the assists.

The final shot count was 34-30 Sharks. In the face-off circle, the Sharks edged the Kraken, winning 51% of the draws,

The Sharks next play on Thursday, against the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Stars 2-1, Reimer Returns, Hertl scores

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) scores on Dallas Stars right wing Alexander Radulov (47) and goaltender Braden Holtby (70) at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Dec 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson scored for San Jose. That goal tied Karlsson for third in the NHL among defensemen. James Reimer made 34 saves for the win. Michael Raffl scored for Dallas and Braden Holtby made 23 saves in the loss.

The Stars’ power play is ranked fourth in the NHL right now, so it was a good sign for the Sharks that their penalty kill was perfect Saturday. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Our penalty kill has been sort of our backbone all year and we take a lot of pride in that. It was nice to respond. This is a good power play here in Dallas. I thought we did a really good job of coming up with sort of a game plan to nullify that shot Klingberg has at the top.”

Tomas Hertl deflected Timo Meier’s shot to start the scoring at 8:30. Meier spun on the face-off dot before taking the shot. The puck ramped off of Hertl’s stick and went off the top bar and in. Assists went to Timo Meier and Alexander Barabanov. That was Hertl’s 14th goal of the season, and he has now scored in four games in a row.

The Sharks took two penalties in the first period, and allowed five shots to the Dallas power play. The Stars out-shot the Sharks 14-6, and beat them in the face-off circle 61% of the time.

Erik Karlsson scored with a hard shot from the blue line at 16:28. The Stars challenged it for goaltender interference as Tomas Hertl was in the blue paint behind Braden Holtby. Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell helped Hertl get into that spot. Assists went to Timo Meier and Alexander Barabanov. That was Karlsson’s eighth of the season.

The goal held up and the Sharks earned a power play from the failed challenge. The Stars killed the penalty, spending much of the penalty time in the Sharks zone.

The Sharks took one penalty in the second period and gave up two shots to the Stars power play. The Stars took two penalties. The Dallas penalty kill gave up one shot to the Sharks power play, and got one short-handed shot on goal. The second period shot count was 11-10 Sharks, and in the face-off circle, 54% to the Stars.

Michael Raffl cut the lead in half by deflecting Radek Faksa’s shot over James Reimer at 8:26 of the third period. Assists went to Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa. It was Raffl’s third goal of the season.

At the time the goal was scored, the shot count was 6-2 Dallas. After the goal, the Sharks reasserted themselves on offense and balanced out the shot disparity. Noah Gregor and Jonathan Dahlen in particular had some good shifts in the o-zone. The final shot count was 35-25 Stars, with the face-off wins also going to Dallas at 53%.

Kevin Labanc was injured on his first shift of the game and did not return. After the game, Boughner had no specific updates on Labanc’s condition but he said it was some type of upper body injury.

Timo Meier had two assists in the game but he is still chasing his 100th NHL goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT. They will host the Seattle Kraken for their first meeting ever.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Wild, Wild Win Streak at Eight

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Minnesota Wild center Victor Rask (49) tries to get control of the puck against San Jose Sharks center Noah Gregor (73) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Sharks fell 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild Thursday. It was the Wild’s eight win in a row. Wild goals were scored by Kevin Fiala, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway (2) and Kirill Kaprizov. Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the win. Sharks goals were scored by Jonathan Dahlen and Tomas Hertl. Adin Hill made 22 saves in the loss.

To start the third period, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner juggled his lines a bit. The result was positive but not enough, as he explained after the game:

“We switched up the lines a little bit, sometimes it’s good to put them in the blender when things aren’t going your way. We did that and the team reacted but, it’s just, you know, it’s a good team and in order to beat those good teams you have to be good for sixty minutes, especially our team and it I think that it took too long to find our game tonight.”

Minnesota’s Kevin Fiala scored the lone goal of the first period, 6:22 in. Jon Merrill’s shot was blocked by Mario Ferraro right in front of the net. The puck dropped in front of an open net for Fiala’s shot. Assists went to Merrill and Brandon Duhaime.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored the the Wild’s first power play goal at 7:04 of the second period. Jacob Middleton was in the box for tripping Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello sent the puck into a crowd in front of the net and it went off of Eriksson Ek’s stick for a perfect deflection past Hill. Assists went to Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov.

Jordan Greenway scored Minnesota’s second power play goal at 15:20. Jacob Middleton was in the box for holding Nick Bjugstad. Kevin Fiala brought the puck into the slot, then made a pass out to Greenway in the face-off circle. Greenway took a quick shot and beat Hill on the far side. Assists went to Fiala and Alex Goligoski.

Jonathan Dahlen scored for San Jose 3:29 into the third period. Tomas Hertl won an offensive zone face-off and sent the puck up to Erik Karlsson at the point. Karlsson brought the puck down the boards a bit before taking a shot that went off of Dahlen in front of the net. Assists went to Karlsson and Hertl.

Tomas Hertl cut the Wild lead to one with a power play goal at 13:26. Jonathan Dahlen took a shot that created a rebound. The puck fell to Hertl at the side of the net and he lifted it in behind Talbot. Jonathan Dahlen and Logan Couture got the assists.

The Sharks pulled Adin Hill for the extra skater with more than to minutes left. The Wild got the puck out and Jordan Greenway raced Brent Burns for the puck. As they reached the net, Greenway was able to nudge the puck in to make it 4-2. Moments later, with the net still empty, Kirill Kaprizov broke away to make it 5-2.

The Sharks had a good night in the face-off circle, winning 57% of them. The shots were close in the first to periods, but in the third, the Sharks outshot the Wild 19-9. the Sharks penalty kill gave up four shots along with the two goals, and the Wild penalty kill gave up four shots and one goal. Jacob Middleton took three penalties in the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT, against the visiting Dallas Stars.

Sharks Beat Back Flames 5-3, Hertl Scores Hat Trick

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San Jose Sharks left wing Jasper Weatherby (26) screens Calgary Flames goaltender Dan Vladar (80) to allow a goal by center Tomas Hertl to score in the first period at SAP Center on Tue Dec 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks came back from a two goal defecit to win 5-3 against the Calgary Flames Tuesday. The Sharks got goals from Erik Karlsson and Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick. Logan Couture passed the 600 point mark in his NHL career. Adin Hill, making his fourth start in a row, made 40 saves for the win. Dillon Dube, Johnny Gaudreau and Adam Ruzicka scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar made 22 saves in the loss.

Tomas Hertl’s three goals and one in the previous game signal a shift from a 10 game dry spell, during which he had just two goals. Of this sudden productivity, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Yeah, he was frustrated for a couple weeks, a few weeks getting chances but not putting it in. We had a talk the other day and he just, good players do that. He’s a heck of a player in this league I think. You knew it was going to come, just like [Bonino] a few weeks ago, we were talking about it. You don’t play that long in the league and have that much success and the switch goes off.”

Calgary’s Dillon Dube started the scoring just 97 seconds into the game. Milan Lucic made a quick pass from the outside to the slot and the puck went off of Dube and also Mario Ferraro right in front of the net. Lucic got the assist.

Tomas Hertl tied the game with his tenth of the season, on a power play at 8:58. Alexander Barabanov made a pass from one face-off circle to Hertl in the other. Hertl took the shot off the pass and put it in the top corner on the short side. Barabanov and Brent Burns got the assists.

Johnny Gaudreau scored his tenth of the season, giving Calgary the lead back at 11:55. Matthew Tkachuk made a nifty between-the legs pass from almost behind the net. The pass found Gaudreau on the doorstepTkachuk and Elias Lindholm got the assists.

Adam Ruzicka scored the first of his career at 4:31 of the second period. Christopher Tanev’s shot created a rebound and Ruzicka kept after it until he could push it around Hill’s skate and in. Tanev and Brad Richardson got the assists.

Erik Karlsson cut the lead down with a break-away goal as he came out of the penalty box. Logan Couture spotted him and got the puck up to him as the penalty expired. Assists went to Couture and Jasper Weatherby.

Logan Couture tipped an Erik Karlsson shot, tying the game again on the power play at 14:27. Jonathan Dahlen got the secondary assist.

Tomas Hertl gave the Sharks a lead with his second of the night at 18:10. Alexander Barabanov’s shot created a rebound close to the goal line. Hertl was there to lift it in.

At 6:29 of the third period, Lane Pederson went into the boards by the bench, head-first, with some help from Milan Lucic. Pederson returned from the dressing room very quickly and no penalty was assessed.

Calgary pulled their goaltender for the extra skater with a little under two minutes left in the third. Tomas Hertl scored his third of the night into the empty net at 18:10.

With just under ten seconds left in the game, Ferraro’s clearing attempt hit referee Michael Markovic in the face and he needed help to leave the ice.

The Flames beat the Sharks in the face-off circle in 59% of the draws. They out-shot the Sharks 43-27. The Sharks power play had two chances and scored on both. Their penalty kill gave up three shots and produced three short-handed shots.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in San Jose against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Blue Jackets 6-4, Give up Lead Twice

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Columbus Blue Jackets’ Max Domi, right, takes a leap over San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (left) stick during the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sun Dec 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-4 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Columbus got goals from Sean Kuraly, Cole Sillinger, Jack Roslovic, Alexandre Texier and two from Adam Boqvist. Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Nick Bonino, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl. Adin Hill made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “I think that it was a tale of two games. I thought I liked our start even though we got out of period one 1-1. The second period, you know, we did some good things but we didn’t manage our game properly.” He went on in some detail:

“Mario fanned on the one, but then we’re all over them and we let them come back on the two-on-one goal. Roslovic got behind us, you know, break away. You know, just, dumb plays, and they come back to haunt you. Again, you score four goals on the road and you feel like you should come away with at least a point.”

Adam Boqvist scored the first goal for Columbus at 16:16 of the first period. Justin Danforth had the puck knocked off of his stick but it went across the ice to Boqvist in the opposite face-off circle. Hill got across to face the shot but it slipped by him. Danforth got the assist.

Nick Bonino tied it up for the Sharks with three seconds left in the period. Matt Nieto pushed the puck out from behind the net and Bonino jumped on it at the crease. Matt Nieto and Andrew Cogliano got the assists.

Erik Karlsson gave the Sharks a lead 21 seconds into the second period. Alexander Barabanov carried the puck out of the defensive zone and into the o-zone. He found Karlsson with a pass just as Karlsson crossed the blue line. Karlsson took the shot right away and beat Merzlikins. Barabanov got the assist.

Sean Kuraly tied it back up less than 30 seconds later, off a two-on one with Andrew Peeke against Brent Burns. Assists went to Peeke and Alexander Texler.

Brent Burns grabbed the lead back for San Jose at 8:44, with a blast from the blue line that flew by three Blue Jackets, hit Merzlikins in the sleeve and went into the net. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Timo Meier.

Cole Sillinger tied it back up at 17:48, off another two-on-one, this time with Mario Ferraro back. Sillinger took the shot from the hash marks and beat Hill on the blocker side.

Jack Roslovic gave the Blue Jackets the lead again 1:57 into the third period. Roslovic beat three Sharks defenders to the net for a back-hand shot around Hill’s outstretched glove. Assists went to Max Domi and Andrew Peeke.

Adam Boqvist scored his second of the night at 5:34, giving the Blue Jackets a two goal lead. Gabriel Carlsson caught a pass from Jakub Voracek on the boards. As he skated to the net, he made a back-hand pass across to Boqvist who was just arriving above the blue paint. Assists went to Carlsson and Voracek.

Tomas Hertl cut the Columbus lead back down to one at 10:11 of the period. Timo Meier dug a puck out of the corner ad Jonathan Dahlen pushed it up to Hertl in the face-off circle. Assists went to Dahlen and Meier.

Gustav Nyqvist scored scored a sixth goal for Columbus at 16:42. The Sharks challenged it as an offside play and it was disallowed.

Alexandre Texier scored into the empty net at 18:53 to make it officially 6-4. Assists went to Gustav Nyqvist and Eric Robinson.

The Sharks just barely won the face-off battle, winning 51% of the draws. They won 71% of the second period draws but were beaten in the first and the third. The Sharks outshot the Blue Jackets in the first, 19-9, but were out-shot in the third 12-5, for a total shot count of 34-30 San Jose. The Sharks had no power plays, and the Blue Jackets had just one. The Sharks penalty kill gave up no shots.

The Sharks return home now, to face the Calgary Flames in San Jose on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Shutout Blackhawks 2-0; Reimer makes 29 stops for SJ

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San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) makes one of his 29 saves this one against Chicago Blackhawks center Kirby Dach (72) during the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Sun Nov 28, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Blackhawks 2-0 Sunday in Chicago. Timo Meier scored both Sharks goals and James Reimer made 29 saves for his 25th career shut out. Chicago’s Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach reflected on James Reimer’s shut out performance: “The double rebound in front, I mean that’s when you know you’re in the zone. When you make the save and it’s basically an open net and you find a way to stab your glove out and save another one.”

The Sharks needed that performance, especially in the first period, when the Blackhawks outshot the Sharks 11-4. Boughner said:

“I wasn’t happy about the way we were playing in our defensive zone. I thought that we weren’t collapsing, I thought we weren’t protecting the house, we weren’t stopping our feet, we were losing all kinds of battles. So we talked about that in between the first and second.”

Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro also talked about how well Reimer has been playing for the Sharks:

“His shut out should have came a lot earlier. So he’s been playing great for us, he’s the reason we why we have a lot of the wins that we do. Him and [Hill], they’ve stepped up big. So, super proud of him, we’re super happy for him, he was especially big in the first period when we weren’t playing very strong.”

The first period saw just one power play, for the Sharks. The Sharks had one shot in that power play. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 62%.

Timo Meier scored his first at 13:39 of the second period. Logan Couture’s pass got to Rudolfs Balcers deep in the slot. Balcers took a shot and it went off of Meier’s stick before going in. Assists went to Balcers and Couture.

The Sharks outshot the Blackhawks 15-9 in the second, and won 65% of the face-offs. The Sharks took the only penalty of the period, for too many men on the ice. Their penalty kill allowed two shots.

Meier scored his second from the middle of the neutral zone, into an empty net, at 18:29 of the third. Logan Couture got the assist.

The Blackhawks outshot the Sharks 9-3 in the third period. The Sharks took the only penalty in third period. Their penalty kill did not allow any shots. The face-off circle saw a big drop off for the Sharks in the third. They won just 35% of the draws.

The Sharks are scheduled to play on Tuesday against the Devils in New Jersey at 4:00 PM PT.

Sunday, the Sharks placed Evander Kane on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the AHL Barracuda. .

Sharks Lose 4-1 to Maple Leafs; fifth loss out of last eight games for SJ

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Right winger Wayne Simmonds hoists his stick and arms after scoring a goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs against San Jose Sharks goaltender James Remier at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Nov 26, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks (10-9-1) fell 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs (15-6-1) in San Jose Friday. Toronto goals came from William Nylander, Wayne Simmonds, Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Joseph Woll made 34 saves for the win. Nick Bonino scored for San Jose and James Reimer made 13 saves on 17 shots and Adin Hill made 16 saves in the loss.

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “I just thought that they were the better team, we didn’t look as fresh as we have in the last couple games. I didn’t think we had the same pop. You gotta be at your best to beat one of these teams like this.”

Sharks Captain, Logan Couture said his teams needs to get back to shooting the puck:

“I mean we had success earlier in the season. We shot the puck with traffic and right now maybe we’re looking for seams too early, we’re getting too cute with the puck. I think if we get back to just blasting it from the flanks and from the middle of the ice, we ‘re going to find rebound goals or dirty goals.”

William Nylander started the scoring just 32 seconds into the game. John Tavares made a touch pass at the blue line to catch Nylander on his way into the zone. Nylander carried the puck to the net before taking a shot. Reimer got a toe on it but it bounced over the line. Assists went to Tavares and Morgan Reilly.

Nick Bonino tied tied up at 4:44. Bonino gathered a loose puck up near the hashmarks and took the shot right away. The puck went under Woll and in. Assists went to Noah Gregor and Erik Karlsson.

Wayne Simmonds gave his team the lead back soon after, at 5:16. Simmonds deflected a quick shot over Reimer’s glove and off the cross bar. Assists went to Kampf and Nick Ritchie.

Auston Matthews made it 3-1 at 4:57 of the second period. After a couple of cross-ice passes with Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren sent the puck to the net where it came loose before Matthews tapped it in. Assists went to Michael Bunting and Timothy Liljegren.

John Tavares scored Toronto’s fourth at 10:44, on the power play. Reimer fought off two shots, but Tavares persisted without much interference from Sharks skaters. He finally got it through, over Reimer’s pad. Assists went to Nylander and Mitchell Marner.

After that goal, Boughner pulled Reimer and put Adin Hill in net. After the game, Boughner said:

“It definitely wasn’t his fault. I told him that much when he came back to the bench. I said the plan was to play him Sunday in Chicago. So I said just get some rest. It was good for Hill to get in there, I think I was trying to spark the team, maybe have a little bit of momentum change there. I thought Hiller played well when he went in there, so that was important to see.”

It was the fifth time in a row that Reimer was pulled against the Mape Leafs, playing for various teams.

The shot count for the game was close, 35-33 Sharks. In the face-off circle, it was not close: the Maple Leafs won 60% of them. The Maple Leafs had six shots on the power play, in two tries. The Sharks power play had two shots in three tries.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 4:00 PM PT.