Author: M Walsh

Sharks Beat Sabres 5-3; Seven Sharks sit for Covid protocols still get second straight win

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl celebrates scoring his fifth goal of the season on this third period goal at 6:02 against the Buffalo Sabres at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 2, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Tuesday night in San Jose. Sharks goals came from Tomas Hertl (2), Jonathan Dahlen, Ryan Merkley and Mario Ferraro. James Reimer made 25 saves for the win. Sabres goals came from Jeff Skinner (2) and Drake Caggiula. Craig Anderson made 22 saves in the loss.

The Sharks roster is still in a state of flux due to COVID-19 protocols. Jonathan Dahlen was back, as was Andrew Cogliano, but Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc were out. Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Matt Nieto, Radim Simek and Marc-Edouard Vlasic remained out. Logan Couture returned after missing the last game, though not for COVID-19.

After the game, Couture said: “It was chaotic but proud of the effort again. I mean, found a way. Went down to five D early in that second period, or maybe even half way through that second period. Credit to those guys back there, they found a way. I mean, it wasn’t pretty, the whole game, but, found a way.”

Jonathan Dahlen scored first for the Sharks, at 7:25 of the first period. Brent Burns sent a shot from the blue line right down the middle and into a swarm of bodies at the net. The puck evaded Anderson and sliped back into open ice where Dahlen lifted it into the net. Assists went to William Eklund and Burns.

A little over a minute later, Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner tied the game during a delayed penalty. His shot zipped through traffic in the slot and past Reimer. Assists went to Vinnie Hinostroza and Robert Hagg.

Ryan Merkley made it 2-1 Sharks at 12:49. After holding the puck patiently at the blue line, he took a shot that went off of a couple Sabres in front of the net before landing behind Anderson. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl.

Hertl made it 3-1 Sharks early in the second period. Rudolfs Balcers picked up a turnover in the Sabres zone and carried it almost to the goal line before passing it back to the Hertl at the top of the slot. Hertl carried the puck around traffic down to the net and put it past Anderson at 6:13.

Drake Caggiula cut the Sharks lead down a bit at 13:33. Hinostroza brought the puck across the line and then passed it to Caggiula on the boards. Caggiula took a hard shot that went by Reimer on the far side. Assists went to Hinostroza and Dylan Cozens.

Early in the third, Mario Ferraro scored his first of the season with a one-timer from the blue line, off a pass from Nick Merkley. Assists went to Merkley and Jasper Weatherby.
Tomas Hertl added another at 11:46 to make it 5-2. He got the puck from Balcers just as he entered the zone, then wove his way through traffic right down the slot before taking the shot. Assists went to Balcers and Ferraro.

Jeff Skinner scored his second of the game at 18:13. Just as the puck jumped off of Reimer’s glove, Skinner tapped it out of the air. It bounced off the back of Reimer’s helmet and landed over the line. Assists went to Tage Thompson and Rasmus Asplund.

A littl emore than half way through the second period, Sharks defenseman Santeri Hatakka left the game with an upper body injury. He did not return and the team did not have any updates after the game.

The Sharks made an excellent showing in the face-off circle, winning 64% of the draws. The shot count was consistently close through the three periods, ending up 28-27 Sabres. There were few penalties in the game, and fewer power play shots. The Sharks power play had one shot on goal, the Sabres power play had none.

The Sharks next play on Thursday, at home against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT.

COVID-19 Protocols Purge Roster, Sharks Beat Jets Anyway 2-1

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San Jose Sharks left wing Alexander Barabanov (94) and Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) make contact while chasing the puck in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Oct 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in overtime Saturday. Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 34 saves for the win. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves in the loss. That could be the result of a Sharks game on most nights, but Saturday was distinctly different from regular regular season Sharks games.

Late Saturday afternoon, the Sharks roster looked a lot like a preseason game. A slew of players, eight in total, were pulled from the lineup at the last minute and seven were replaced by call-ups from the AHL Barracuda. Andrew Cogliano, Jonathan Dahlen, Erik Karlsson, Jacob Middleton, Matt Nieto, Radim Simek, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Head Coach Bob Boughner were all held out of the game due to NHL COVID-19 protocol. Logan Couture was alsoout due to illness but not in COVID-19 protocol.

Seven players had just hours notice that they would be playing Saturday. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka made his NHL debut, with Ryan Merkley, Nicolas Meloche, and Jaycob Megna making their season debut on the blueline. The forwards making their season debuts were RW Nick Merkley, LW Jonah Gadjovich and LW John Leonard. Mike Ricci stepped in behind the bench to fill out the coaching roster.

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said that a crazy day like Saturday can be good for a player who is making a debut with an NHL team: “Sometimes that’s the best thing. So those guys got to play their first game with not a lot of time to think about it and they get a good result in it and I think that can just really help all those guys.”

After the game, Sharks assistant coach John Maclean talked about the team’s response to these strange circumstances:

“They had great energy and they all knew that they had to play. Everybody got ice. It was like, the bench was lively, they were pretty much coaching themselves. They were excited to get out there and play. So that’s always fun to see.”

The first period shot count was very close, 14-13 San Jose. The Sharks power play got two shots on net. In the face-off circle the Sharks struggled. Nick Bonino won 60% of his draws and Jasper Weatherby won 50%, but Tomas Hertl was around 20%. As a result, the Sharks won just 25% of their draws in the first.

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, 54 seconds into the second period. Barabanov carried the puck down the wall to the goal line, where he spun and threw it at the net. The puck went off of Timo Meier’s stick and across the goal mouth to Tomas Hertl, who was able to put it away. Meier and Barabanov got the assists.

The Sharks out-shot the Jets 13-7 in the second period. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle to 54%, but Hertl still seemed outmatched, especially against Pierre-Luc DuBois, who he drew against 7 times in the first two periods, and won only once.

Sharks Defenseman Santeri Hatakka did something about that at 3:43 of the third period, drawing a high-stick from DuBois. DuBois earned a double-minor and Hatakka went to the box for cross-checking. Still, the Sharks did not get credit for a single shot during that power play, and their face-off numbers did not improve.

The Jets tied the game at 16:48 of the third. DuBois drew the Sharks defense to himself as he drove the net. His shot bounced into the slot, where Nikolaj Ehlers picked it up for another try. Reimer stopped that too but Kyle Connor found the puck and put it in the net before Reimer could get across. Assists went to Ehlers and DuBois.

By the end of regulation, the only Shark with a better than even win percentage was Jasper Weatherby, who only took nine draws. He won six (67%) of those. Bonino had dropped from a high of 60% to 41% and Hertl went from 20% to 21%. All around, it was not a good night for the Sharks in the face-off circle. In shots, the Jets out-shot the Sharks 15-6 in the third.

Thirty seconds into overtime, Nikolaj Ehlers was called for interference on Brent Burns and Timo Meier scored the game winner 1:07. Burns sent the puck to Labanc near a face-off dot. Labanc skated with it to the top of the slot and then made a subtle touch-pass to Meier for the winning shot.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday, in San Jose against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT.

Canadiens Shut-Out Sharks 4-0

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (34) shutout the San Jose Sharks as the Sharks center Tomas Hertl’s (48) shot is stopped in front of the net by Allen during the first period at SAP Center on Thu Oct 28, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-0 to the Montreal Canadiens in San Jose Thursday. It was the Sharks’ third loss in a row. It was Montreal’s first win in San Jose since 1999. Brendan Gallagher, Mike Hoffman, Alexander Romanov and Josh Anderson scored for Montreal and Jake Allen made 45 saves for the shut-out win. Adin Hill made 28 saves for San Jose in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the loss: “Our power play is not… you know, it’s generating shots and chances, we’re just not getting a bounce and that would have been a, both the last two games, that would have been a difference.” When asked about whether the Sharks are being aggressive enough in front of the goalie, he said: “We were there but we weren’t quite in his lap where we’re supposed to be.”

Sharks forward Timo Meier said: “We had some chances. It’s just, you know, we made it easy on their goalie, and in front of the net, we didn’t find the rebounds to put them in. So we didn’t do enough to win this game.”

The Canadiens scored the only first period goal at 12:09. Mike Hoffman was on his way to the net when Brett Kulak took a shot that created a rebound in the slot. Hoffman swept the puck around Adin Hill and tucked it in the net. Assists to Brett Kulak and Nick Suzuki.

The first period shots were nearly even at 10-9 Montreal. The Sharks had two power plays in the period and six shots with the man advantage. The Sharks had a slight advantage in the face-off circle, winning 53% of the draws.

The Canadiens scored again at 8:53 of the second period. It was Montreal’s first power play of the game. Alexander Romanov defelcted a hard shot from Jonathan Drouin at the point.

Brendan Gallagher made it 3-0 at 12:54, scoring his first of the season. Assists went to Josh Anderson and Nick Suzuki.

The Sharks led the second period in shots 16-10. Each team had two power plays in the period. The Sharks penalty kill only allowed two shots and their power play managed seven shots on goal. The Sharks won 62% of second period the face-offs.

Midway through the third period, Jake Allen stopped three quick shots in close from Dahlen, Balcers and Couture. It was a good example of how frustrating the game was for the Sharks. Allen was indeed in the zone on Thursday.

The Sharks pulled Adin Hill for an extra attacker with a little over three minutes left. Josh Anderson scored an empty netter at 17:52. Assists went to Tyler Toffoli and David Savard.

Near the mid-point of the third period, William Eklund took a shot off of his wrist. He required some attention on the bench but did return to play.

That Sharks out-shot the Canadiens 20-12 in the third. The Sharks took one penalty in the third, apart from a flurry of penalties in the final three seconds of the game. The Sharks penalty kill gave up three shots.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, in San Jose against the Winnipeg Jets at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Predators 3-1; Loss is second in a row for Sharks

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Mike Ferraro (38) skates around the back of the net in the second period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tue Oct 21, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 3-1 by the Predators in Nashville Tuesday. Nashville goals came from Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund. Juuse Saros made 28 saves for the win. Timo Meier scored for the Sharks, and James Reimer made 23 saves in the loss.

The Predators scored less than two minutes into the game, on a very early power play. Duchene skated right down the slot, with Brent Burns in front of him. His shot slipped around Burns’ stick and past Reimer at 1:20. Assists went to Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen.

That was only penalty the Sharks’ took in the game. The Sharks power play had two shots on goal in the first, and the teams were dead even in shots for the first period at nine each. In the face-off circle, the Predators had an edge with a 52% win percentage.

Filip Forsberg made it 2-0 Predators at 12:31 of the second period. Roman Josi held the puck around the face-off dot until two Sharks and their goalie moved to defend against his shot. Then he found Forsbeg in the slot with a centering pass. Forsberg’s shot went between Mario Ferraro’s legs and over Reimer’s glove. Assists went to Josi and Dante Fabbro.

The Sharks had a slight edge in shots during the second period, 12-10. Their pwoer play got four shots in two tries. They improved in teh face-off circle to 57%.

Timo Meier scored for San Jose 11:54 into the third period. After an offensive zone draw, Meier jumped on a rebound and managed to get the puck in the net before tripping over Juuse’s outstretched left arm. Assists went to Jonathan Dahlen and Logan Couture.

Mikael Granlund scored into an empty net at 19:07, with a shot from his own net front. An assist went to Alexandre Carrier.

The Sharks finished with a 29-26 edge in shots and won 54% of their face-offs.

The Sharks next play on Thursday, at home in San Jose against the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Bruins 4-3; Win streak ends at four

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The Boston Bruins Brad Marchand (63) gets congratulations from teammates after scoring 28 seconds into the first period as the San Jose Sharks Logan Couture (39) skates away at the TD Garden in Boston on Sun Oct 24, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost Sunday by a score of 4-3 to the Bruins in Boston. Bruins goals came from Brad Marchand, Derek Forbort, David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk. Linus Ullmark made 23 saves for the win. Jasper Weatherby, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier scored for San Jose. Adin Hill made 10 saves on 14 shots before being replaced by James Reimer, who stopped 20 of 20 shots.

The game represented the team’s first loss of the season, and the first two periods were fairly grim. Nonetheless, the fact that the Sharks came back from a three-goal deficit was a positive. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“I thought that battling back at the end was important. We talked about that in between the second and the third, is trying to get back to a little bit of our identity so we could at least take that into the Nashville game and see what happens in this game.”

Brad Marchand scored for Boston just 28 seconds into the first period. David Pastrnak won the race to the puck below the goal line, and passed it back to Patrice Bergeron, also by the goal line. Bergeron’s pass found Marchand arriving on the doorstep for a quick shot over Hill’s glove.

Derek Forbort made it 2-0 at 3:18 with a shot from the point. Assists went to Marchand and Connor Clifton.

Pastrnak scored Boston’s third of the game at 16:12 on the power play. A pass from Bergeron came smoothly across the ice and Pastrnak buried it from the face-off dot.

Jasper Weatherby scored the Sharks’ first of the game at 16:44 of the period. Weatherby and Jonah Gadjovich played some catch as they skated into the zone, before Weatherby took the shot and beat Ullmark on the short side. Assists went to Gadjovich and Andrew Cogliano.

Jake DeBrusk scored the only goal of the second period at 5:41. Oskar Steen went to dump the puck in but it hit DeBrusk instead. DeBrusk followed the puck into the zone and got past Radim Simek before taking a shot that went by Hill on the glove side. Assists went to Steen and Forbort.

Jacob Middleton and Trent Frederic fought three minutes into the third period.

Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks at 13:19 of the third, deflecting Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Vlasic and Alexander Barabanov.

Timo Meier scored at 15:08 to bring the Sharks within one. Meier deflected Couture’s shot from the point, knocking the shot down and under Ullmark. Assists went to Couture and Brent Burns.

The shots per period were very close except for the second, when Boston out-shot San Jose 11-5. The game total was 34-26 Bruins. In the face-off circle, the Bruins won 52% of the draws. The Sharks penalty kill gave up one goal and five shots. The Bruins penalty kill allowed five shots, all in the first period.

William Eklund and Lane Pederson were out of the line-up, replaced by Alexander Barabanov and Jonah Gadjovich, both making their season debuts. No injuries were mentioned.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:30 PM PT.

Sharks Defeat Maple Leafs 5-3; Sharks undefeated at 4-0

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The San Jose Sharks Logan Couture goes for the victory skate in front of the Sharks bench after scoring a second period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Fri Oct 22, 2021 (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their fourth in a row, beating the Maple Leafs 5-3 in Toronto. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson and Jonathan Dahlen and two from Logan Couture. Adin Hill made 30 saves for the win. Jason Spezza, Ondrej Kase, and John Tavares scored for Toronto. Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves in the loss.

In a scoreless first period, the teams were tied in shots at 11 each. They each had one single-shot power play.

Logan Couture got the scoring started at 2:31 of the second period. He was the beneficiary of a dogged play by Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Off the face-off, Vlasic skated down and took a shot. The shot rebounded but he was already there to collect it, carry it behind the net to try for a wrap-around. That needed a little help and Couture was there to finish it off.

Jason Spezza tied it up with a quick shot from the slot at 3:27. The Sharks stopped several shots and attempts before Spezza’s got through. Wayne Simmonds got the assist.

Timo Meier gave the Sharks another lead less than 20 seconds later. His shot from the wall zipped through before Hutchinson could even see it.

Those three goals were scored in the space of just one minute and 13 seconds.

Ondrej Kase tied the game again at 10:44. After a flurry of activity in the Maple Leafs’ zone, Kase broke away for a clear shot at Hill. A little fake before a backhand shot tricked Hill and the puck went past the prone goaltender. The Sharks looked outmatched in the face-off circle, winning just 35% of the draws.

Erik Karlsson scored a little over a minute later to give the Sharks their lead back. Karlsson took the shot from the blue line and it went by a few bodies before sneaking into the short side top corner. An assist went to Middleton, who kept the puck in after Karlsson’s first shot and then got the puck back to Karlsson for the scoring shot.

The teams were tied in shots again in the second period, this time 12-12. In face-offs, the Sharks improved a bit, to a win percentage of 47. There were no penalties in the period.

25 seconds into the third period, Logan Couture passed the puck back from the goal line to the front of the net for Jonathan Dahlen. Dahlen put the puck in the net for San Jose’s fourth of the night. Assists went to Couture and Meier.

John Tavares got one back for Toronto at 13:39. William Nylander’s shot hit Adin Hill up high and spun into the air. It landed and hit Tavares’ skate before bouncing off of Middleton and into the net. Assists went to Nylander and Jake Muzzin.

Logan Couture scored into the empty net with 40 seconds left in the period. Andrew Cogliano got the assist.

The third period was by far the Sharks’ best in the face-off circle. They won 61% of those draws for a game total of 48%. Their power play got three shots on goal and their penalty kill gave up three shots. The final shot count for the game was 33-31 Toronto.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Boston against the Bruins at 10:00 AM PT.

Sharks Beat Senators 2-1; SJ improves record to 3-0

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The San Jose Sharks Logan Couture (39) scores a second period goal on the Ottawa Senators goaltender Matt Murray (30) one of two goals enough for the Sharks to win it at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa on Thu Oct 21, 2021 (Canadian Press news photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their third in a row, winning 2-1 against the Senators in Ottawa. Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc scored for San Jose, and James Reimer made 30 saves for the win. Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa and Matt Murray made 22 saves in the loss. For Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, Thursday’s contest was his 600th consecutive game. He earned an assist and skated for 25:56.

Sharks Captain Logan Couture said that the key to this win was work:

“We didn’t have our best legs tonight. We didn’t have our best, we turned too many pucks over throughout that game. [Reimer] made some big saves, especially early in that third, but we just worked. Blocked shots at the ends, Reims stepped up huge, stuck together as a team.”

Sharks defenseman and ex-Senator, Erik Karlsson, said:

“This was a great win for us. I don’t think that we played good at all. This was our sloppy game. I feel like you could tell that they had a little bit more energy, they got a little bit more bounces, they were a little bit hungrier. But we thought we might win, that’s the most important thing.”

The Senators’ Drake Batherson scored the only first period goal, at 10:06. A Sharks three-on-two turned into a Senators two-on-one as Sharks scrambled to get back. Batherson opted to shoot instead of passing to Josh Norris and squeezed the puck under Reimer’s arm for his first of the season. Assists went to Brady Tkachuk and Artem Zub.

Midway through the period, the teams took almost simultaneous penalties and played most of two minutes four-on-four. During that time, Kevin Labanc put the puck in the net but the Senators challenged it for off-side and got it called back. Both Brent Burns and Nick Bonino had their skates in the zone before the puck crossed the line. While Burns was legal, since he had control of the puck, that exception did not extend to Bonino.

The Senators were short one forward as Shane Pinto sustained a shoulder injury during his first shift of the first period. He attempted to return for the second but left again after just one shift.

Shots were almost even at 8-7 Senators for the first period. Face-offs were also close, with the Sharks holding a slight edge at 58%. Both teams took penalties in the final minute of the period, so that the Senators had part of a power play to start the second period.

The Sharks killed that penalty off and tied the game with a goal from Logan Couture at 1:58. Brent Burns’ pass from the point found Couture right above the blue paint. Couture tapped the puck into an open net, as Murray was on the wrong side of the crease. Burns and Timo Meier got assists.

Kevin Labanc got his goal back on the power play at 14:36, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Erik Karlsson sent the puck to Labanc at the top of the face-off circle for a quick shot through traffic. Jasper Weatherby created a good screen in front of the goaltender. Assists went to Karlsson and William Eklund.

Shots were even closer in the second, 13-12 Senators. Ottawa took two penalties in the second period, and the Sharks power play tallied four shots. The Senators power play had two shots. The Senators bounced back in the face-off circle, winning 71% of the draws.

In the third period, the Sharks rebounded in the face-off circle, winning 60% of the draws. The shots were very uneven in the final frame, at 11-4 Senators. The Sharks penalty kill gave up just one shot.

The Sharks next play on Friday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs at 3:00 PM PT.

Sharks Shut Out Canadiens 5-0 in Montreal

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San Jose Sharks rookie Jonathan Dahlen (76) holds up the stick after scoring a second period goal on the Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (34) the Sharks Nick Bonino (13) and the Canadiens David Savard (58) look on during Tue Oct 19, 2021 game at the Bell Centre in Montreal (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks (2-0) won their first road game of the season, 5-0 against the Montreal Canadiens (0-4). Jonathan Dahlen scored his first and second NHL goals, the fastest first two goals from a rookie in Sharks history. Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc scored the balance of the goals. Adin Hill made 21 saves in the shut-out win. Jake Allen made 20 saves for the Canadiens.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how Dahlen fits on the line with Logan Couture and Timo Meier: “Dahlen is a real smart player and I think he’s a good complement to that line. He’s a guy that’s new to the league but you can put him out in situations, like we want to have [Couture] against the other teams’ top lines.”

Sharks Captain Logan Couture also talked about how well his line is working: “Timo’s playing so well and Dahls is such a smart player, easy to play with. I think we read really well off each other.”

Jonathan Dahlen scored the first Sharks goal at 1:22 of the first. Brent Burns caught a pass up the boards from Logan Couture and sent it right down the slot. The puck went off of Timo Meier first, the Dahlen’s stick sent it in. The goal was initially given to Meier,until the second deflection was spotted on review. Meier and Burns got the assists.

Dahlen scored again a little more than two minutes later. Couture carried the puck down the slot and took a shot that hit Allen in the pad. Dahlen arrived just in time to catch the rebound and put the puck in the empty net. The skaters celebrated as if it were Dahlen’s first NHL goal. Evidently he was not sure about the first one either. Assists went to Couture and Meier.

Erik Karlsson made it 3-0 in the final minute of the period. Karlsson’s shot from the blue line snuck through a bit of traffic in front of the net, perhaps even touching a defender. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Mario Ferraro.

The Sharks had to kill one penalty in the first period, giving up no shots, and they had three shots in their one power play. The Sharks out-shot the Canadiens 12-3 in the period, and won 63% of the face-offs.

Timo Meier made it 4-0 with a power play goal at 3:09 of the second period. Couture’s pass from the slot found Meier at the top of the face-off circle. He took a quick wrist shot that got by Allen on the short side. Assists went to Couture and Karlsson.

The Sharks won 85% of the face-offs in the second period, but were out-shot 11-5 by Montreal. Each team had two shots on the power play.

Kevin Labanc Made it 5-0 with a power play goal at 14:31 of the third period. Labanc caught pass from Karlsson and took his shot from the top of the face-off circle. Jasper Weatherby was helping with a screen when the puck went in. Assists went to Karlsson and William Eklund.

The Sharks won 62% of the face-offs in the game, with Jasper Weatherby taking eight draws and winning six. San Jose out-shot Montreal 25-21. Timo Meier contributed seven of those shots.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators at 4:00 PM PT.

In other news, the NHL has suspended Evander Kane for 21 regular season games for using a false COVID-19 vaccination card.

Sharks Start Season With 4-3 Win Over Jets

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Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) takes the puck past the San Jose Sharks center Andrew Caliano (11) during the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Oct 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 4-3 in their season opener against the Winnipeg Jets. Sharks rookie forward, Jasper Weatherby, scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game. Tomas Hertl, Rudolfs Balcers and Andrew Cogliano also scored for the Sharks. Adin Hill made 20 saves for the win. Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Copp and Jansen Harkins scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “The bench was very cohesive tonight, together, very positive, helping the young guys out, you know, and being able to spread some ice time out and roll four lines was a treat for me.”

Those young guys made a good showing. Jasper Weatherby had a shot, a goal and and assist in 10:25 of ice time. William Eklund had a shot, an assist and a hit in 14:01. Jonathan Dahlen had a shot and a hit in 14:45. Lane Pedersen had four hits in 10:27 of ice time.

Tomas Hertl, explaining his exuberance celebrating the Sharks’ fourth goal, scored by Balcers, said: “It was a lot of fun again, I missed that, you know, just win at home, full crowd, it was amazing.” It has been a long time since the Sharks played for a crowd of 16,000+.

The Jets the only first period goal 4:20 in. Adin Hill had just made an impressive diving stop seconds earlier, when a puck went off of a linesman and surprised everyone by bouncing right to the net. But he was sliding in the wrong direction when Brenden Dillon’s shot was knocked down in front of the net by Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois gathered it up and put it away. Assists went to Dillon and Neal Pionk.

The Jets outshot the Sharks 10-6 in the first. The Sharks held a slight edge in the face-off circle, winning 57% of the draws. Each team took a penalty in the final two minutes. The Jets power play got one shot in before taking their own penalty. The teams started the second period 4-on-4 for 29 seconds before the Sharks went on the power play.

Copp scored almost 30 seconds into the Sharks power play, Copp scored short-handed to make it 2-0 Jets. Hill was trying to move the puck away from the net and instead put it into Erik Karlsson’s skates as the defenseman went around behind the net. The puck trickled around the back of the net and Adam Lowry got to it first, then put it in front of the net for Copp to shoot it in.

The Sharks got no shots on goal during that power play. Soon after, the Sharks were back on the penalty kill.

Andrew Cogliano changed things up for the Sharks by scoring short-handed about 25 seconds into the Jets power play. Assists went to Logan Couture and Brent Burns.

Adam Lowry knocked Rudolfs Balcers down with an elbow from behind at 6:44. That led to a fight between Logan Stanley and Jacob Middleton. Middleton acquitted himself well before going to the box to watch his team’s power play. The Sharks power play got one shot on goal.

They had another chance at 11:59. Jasper Weatherby caught a pass from Erik Karlsson at the top of the face-off circle. Weatherby took the a quick shot and beat Hellebuyck on the glove side. Assists went to Karlsson and Kevin Labanc.

The Sharks led the Jets in shots 11-6 for the second. In the face-off circle, they won 53% of the draws.

The Sharks took the lead with a powerplay goal at 3:25 of the third. William Eklund’s shot created a rebound that went right to Tomas Hertl who had an almost open net to shoot at. Assists went to Eklund and Karlsson.

Soon after, Rudolfs Balcers scored another goal for the Sharks while falling into Hellebuyck, who was next to the net instead of in the blue paint. The Jets took issue with that and several scrums broke out by the Winnipeg net. Assists on the goal went to Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl.

The Jets got one back at 13:28. The Sharks had just killed off a Jets power play and scored an empty net goal that didn’t count due to a player being off side. Jansen Harkins knocked a rebound in after Stanley’s slapshot created a big rebound. Assists went to Stanley and Josh Morrissey.

The Sharks won 69% of the third period draws, bumping their game total up to 59%. They led in shots 31-23 for the game.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Preseason: Sharks Shut Out Golden Knights 4-0

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

The Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks faced off for the final pre season game Sat Oct 9, 2021 at SAP Center in San Jose (photo from fearofthefin.com)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks (3-2) defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (3-4) by a score of 4-0. In their final pre-season game, the Sharks got goals from Jonathan Dahlen, Keving Labanc, Willim Eklund and Brent Burns. Adin Hill made 25 saves for the shut-out win. Robin Lehner made 30 saves for the Golden Knights.

Timo Meier sent the puck across the crease to where Jonathan Dahlen was lurking to tap the puck in behind the goalie. Assists went to Meier and Erik Karlsson.

Kevin Labanc made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 6:37. Labanc found the puck as it emerged from traffic in front of the net. He sent it back down the slot and past Robin Lehner on the glove side. Assists went to Jasper Weatherby and Tomas Hertl.

The teams were tied on the shot clock, 6-6, at the end of the first. Each team had a power play chance. The Sharks penalty kill gave up two shots and their power play needed just the one to score. The Sharks won 75% of the first period face-offs.

William Eklund made it 3-0 at 3:32 of the second. He carried the puck through the neutral zone and passed to Balcers, low in the slot. Balcers passed it right back and Eklund took the shot. Assists went to Balcers and Karlsson.

The Sharks out-shot the Golden Knights in the second, 16-9. The Sharks had the only second period power play. They got five shots in that one. The Golden Knights improved in the face-off circle, so the Sharks won only 56% of those.

Brent Burns made it 4-0 with a shot from the blue line at 9:36 of the third. The puck zipped through traffic and Lehner did not see it coming. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Matt Nieto.

The teams each had a power play in the third period. Neither penalty kill gave up a shot. The shot count was very close in the third, 12-10 Sharks. The Golden Knights won 60% of the face-offs.

The Sharks will play their season opener at home on Saturday the 17th at 7:00 PM PT against the Winnipeg Jets.