Author: M Walsh

Sharks Beat LA 4-1

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Friday afternoon at the SAP Center. Sharks goals came from Patrick Marleau, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Noah Gregor and Logan Couture. Martin Jones made 33 saves for the win. The lone Kings goal came from Kyle Clifford and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves in the game. Friday’s win came after an ugly 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

The Sharks’ ability to rebound from losses has improved recently.

After the game, Sharks goaltender Martin Jones said: “Based on our record, I’d say yes. You know, we’ve got a lot of veteran guys in here, it’s nothing new. You go through it every year, tough stretches. It’s pretty important to get it turned around as quickly as you can, not let it spiral.”

One of the Sharks goals was a career-first.

Joe Thornton talked about Noah Gregor scoring his first NHL goal: “It changes your mindset when you get that first one. Confidence is such a big part of sports and you could see after he scored that, confidence just grew and hopefully it can grow from there.”

“It felt was awesome,” said Gregor. “It took, I think this is game 11? It took a bit but it was awesome to see the puck go in the net for the first time.” Of what the coaches have asked from him over this season, he said: “Just try to stay consistent in my game. Bring that speed. I think the speed is my biggest attribute, just try to bring that every single night. Also, my defensive game, always trying to improve it, be a little harder on pucks and plays a little bit quicker.”

The first goal came shortly after a Sharks power play, at 7:26 of the first period. Joe Thornton wrested control of the puck by the Kings net, carried it out to center and then found Marcus Sorensen on the wing. Sorensen convinced everyone that he was about to shoot, drawing defensive attention to him, and making Jonathan Quick come out to stop the shot. Instead, he sent a pass across the ice to Patrick Marleau, who was skating toward an open net. It was Marleau’s sixth of the season. Assists went to Sorensen and Thornton.

The second goal came from Marc-Edouard Vlasic at 13:14 during a delayed penalty. With two skaters lined up in front of Quick, Vlasic shot it in the short side, sneaking over Quick’s pad and through a narrow gap by the post. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier.

The Kings out-shot the Sharks 8-4 in the first period.

The Sharks resumed their scoring ways at 2:58 of the second period. Noah Gregor broke away through the neutral zone. He passed two Kings before catching a pass from Brenden Dillon and shooting on the fly. It was Gregor’s first NHL goal, in his 10th NHL game. Assists went to Dillon and Martin Jones.

The second goal of the second period came from Logan Couture at 14:42. Erik Karlsson sent a shot right down the slot. First it hit Barclay Goodrow’s stick, then Logan Couture’s right on the edge of the paint. Goodrow and Karlsson got the assists.

The Kings out-shot the Sharks 13-9 in the second period.

At 12:54 of the third, Antti Suomela collided with Kurtis MacDermid and had to leave the game. MacDermid was given a match penalty but after an official review that was downgraded to a minor interference penalty.

The Kings broke Martin Jones’ shutout bid with a couple of minutes left in the game. Matt Luff found Kyle Clifford in the slot with a pass from the boards. Clifford sent it in without hesitation and it went right by Jones.

The Kings out-shot the Sharks 11-8 in the third period. the Kings won 54% of the face-offs in the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona against the Coyotes at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Sink Islanders 2-1 in OT; Loss Snaps Isles’ 5-game Win Streak

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photo from sfgate: San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture, right rear, is congratulated by left wing Evander Kane (9) and defenseman Brent Burns, front right, after scoring against the New York Islanders during overtime in an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. The Sharks won 2-1.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime Saturday. Marcus Sorensen and Logan Couture scored for San Jose, while Martin Jones made 27 saves for the win. Casey Cizikas scored for New York and Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves in the loss.

“We didn’t help ourselves tonight by getting in the box but we still found way and I thought it was a pretty gutsy effort,” said Sharks Head Coach Peter DeBoer. That was in reference to the six penalties in a row that the Sharks had to kill for the win. Sharks forward Evander Kane said: “We killed a lot tonight, let’s be honest. I mean we did a great job with the penalty kill and Joner was fantastic in stopping, some key saves there in some real dangerous scoring areas.”

The New York Islanders are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, with just one road loss before Saturday’s game. Asked whether that added value to the win, Logan Couture said: “The big thing was, I mean we saw all the teams around us before the game, they won. So we wanted to keep pace. You know, we’re right in it now, after a horrendous start. We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to make a push here and collect some more points. I think that’s enough motivation right there.”

A scoreless first period was marked by speed and offense from the Sharks as they out-shot the Islanders 8-1 in the first seven minutes of play. By the end of the period, the Sharks had an advantage in shots 13-7 and had won 73% of the face-offs. Barclay Goodrow won five of those face-offs and lost none. Each team took a penalty, each team killed one. The Sharks had four shots during their power play, the Islanders had none.

The second period started with a fight 37 seconds in, between Brenden Dillon and Casek Cizikas after a hit on Mario Ferraro.

Almost seven minutes in, Martin Jones had to make a save on a breakaway by Brock Nelson before the rest of his team arrived to help defend the zone. They made quick work of that and went the other way with Mario Ferraro and Marcus Sorensen attacking two on one. Ferraro’s pass bumped almost gently off of Sorensen’s stick and around Semyon Varlamov. Assists went to Ferraro and Joe Thornton.

Less than 30 seconds later, New York tied it up with a goal from Casey Cizikas. Adam Pelech’s shot went off of Cizikas’s body as he fought Brent Burns for position in front of the net. Assists went to Pelech and Ryan Pulock.

The Sharks challenged the goal for goaltender interference. The replay did look a good deal like the disallowed goal in Las Vegas Thursday, but the only contact with Jones was Brent Burns’ stick as Cizikas pushed his way through it. The goal was upheld and the Sharks were shorthanded but killed the penalty. They killed another at 12:08 when Lukas Radil was called for tripping Scott Mayfield. And another at 16:42, when Kevin Labanc was called for slashing Anthony Beauvillier. Over the course of those four power plays, the Islanders got credit for four shots.

Over the period, the Islanders had ten shots and the Sharks had only six. In the face-off circle, their dominance dwindled to 58%.

The Islanders were back on the power play early in the third period. This time it was Patrick Marleau in the box for tripping Scott Mayfield. This time the Islanders brought some real pressure to bear, getting three shots on goal and spending very little time retrieving the puck in their own end. The Islanders had another chance at 12:26, their sixth power play in a row, when Kevin Labanc went to the box for tripping.

In the third period, the Islanders out-shot the Sharks 11-5 but the game remained tied. The Sharks had some time to recover from the endless penalty kills during the pre-overtime break.

Exactly half way through overtime, Evander Kane picked up a drifting puck that Brent Burns left behind. He had to battle for possession but he got it and eventually found Logan Couture in front of the net for a game-winning shot.

The Sharks finished the game with a 53% winning percentage and the Islanders had 28 shots to the Sharks’ 26.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Tough It Out, Beat Golden Knights 2-1 in OT

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in overtime Thursday, in Vegas. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier and Logan Couture. Aaron Dell, making his first start in three weeks, made 37 saves for win. The lone Vegas goal came from Brayden McNabb and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves.

Aaron Dell last played on November 2, seven games ago for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks forward Timo Meier said: “He was incredible, he made some really big saves for us, he was steady all game in net. And that’s a big win and he definitely was a huge part of that.”

In his first game of the season, Antti Suomela seemd to scored the first goal. From high in the face-off circle, he tipped Brenden Dillon’s shot from the point at 6:08. Las Vegas challenged it for goaltender interference by Timo Meier. Merrill had given Meier a push as he hit Fleury’s glove while skating around him at the edge of the crease. The officials did not consider the push to be relevant and the goal was disallowed.

The Sharks started Thursday’s game without Tomas Hertl and Dalton Prout,  and Melker Karlsson and Radim Simek both left the game early with injuries. No injury details were forthcoming after the game but Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

It was a big character win for us, was a lot of thing stacked against us with some of the injuries in the lineup, obviously coming into this building and what happened the last couple times we’ve been in here. So, I thought our guys dug deep, I thought we got contributions from everybody. I didn’t think we had any passengers tonight and obviously Deller gave us a big game.

The Sharks took the only penalty of the first period, and that was to Logan Couture for tripping Reilly Smith. The Golden Knights had two shots on that power play and 14 shots in the period to the Sharks’ 6.

When Timo Meier scored at 1:26 of the second period, it counted. Skating through the neutral zone, Meier caught a pass from Dylan Gambrell and went tearing into the Vegas zone. Nate Schmidt had a step on him, but a stutter step got him around the defenseman and a hard stop by the goal sent Schmidt into the post as the puck went into the net.

By the middle of the period, the Sharks were being out-shot 8-2, and that was before they took a penalty for too many men on the ice at 9:12. Vegas got two shots on that power play as well.

The Sharks’ first power play came at 13:14 of the second, a tripping penalty to Marc-Andre Fleury against Marcus Sorensen. The Sharks got one shot early in the power play, but spent a lot of time stuck in the defensive zone after that, being turned back in the neutral zone again and again. They finished with two shots in that power play. The Sharks were out-shot in the second period 14-11.

The Sharks took their third penalty of the game at 4:18 of the third period when Brenden Dillon was called for interference on Cody Eakin. The Sharks had a couple of scares during that one, but their goaltender was up to the challenge and bailed them out. Vegas only had one shot in that power play.

Vegas tied it up at 10:18 of the third when Brayden McNabb took a shot from the top of the face-off circle. The puck found its way into the net through traffic. William Carrier got the assist.

The Sharks were on the power play at 11:17 when Cody Eakin was called for slashing Timo Meier. The Sharks had three shots in that power play. The Sharks had six shots for the period, as did Vegas.

In overtime, the shots were 6-4 Sharks after Logan Couture ended it at 3:20. His breakaway was made possible by a pass-interrupting tip from Marc-Edouard Vlasic in front of the Sharks net. Fleury stopped Couture’s initial shot, but Couture closed on the net and poked the puck under the goaltender before any defenders could catch him.

The three stars went to Logan Couture, Brayden McNabb and Ryan Reaves, likely for the 12 hits he got credit for.

The Sharks next play on Saturday back in San Jose against the New York Islanders at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Streak at Six, Beat Red Wings 4-3 in Shoot-Out

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks won their sixth in a row, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a shoot-out Saturday. Sharks goals came from Kevin Labanc (one in regulation and the shoot-out winner), Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Erik Karlsson. Martin Jones made 25 saves for the win. Detroit goals came from Andreas Athanasiou (2) and Taro Hirose. Jimmy Howard made 16 saves for the Red Wings.

After the game, Sharks captain Logan Couture said: “It’s nice to win. It’s a lot more fun playing hockey right now than it was three weeks ago. So we’re having a good time.”

Couture also talked about the way the team has been winning lately, compared to expectations at the start of the season:

It feels like we’ve been scoring enough goals lately to win. It’s weird, I mean we said at the start of the year we weren’t going to win 5-4, 4-3 games but that’s what we’ve been doing. So if we’re finding ways to score goals right now and that’s why we’re winning, I still think we can be tighter defensively, give up less odd-man rushes. But it’s nice winning.

The win brought the team’s record to even at 10-10-1.

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer talked about the significance of that: “It’s been a lot of work to scratch back into this race. We’ve got a lot of work left to do. But it’s nice to win that game. I think we would’ve walked out of here with only one point tonight, you know, we would’ve been disappointed.”

Kevin Labanc gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period. Entering the zone with Logan Couture and Evander Kane 3 on 2, he took the shot from the middle of the slot, but Howard stopped it and fell forward to cover it. He didn’t quite have it and it trickled out to the side, where Labanc found it again and lifted it over the prone goaltender. Assists went to Logan Couture and Radim Simek.

At the end of the first, the shots were 9-8 San Jose and the Red Wings had won 56% of the face-offs.

Just 1:11 into the second period, the Sharks extended their lead with a blast from Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the point. His shot hit Howard on the inside of the arm and went in. Assists went to Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc.

Detroit got one back 13 seconds later when Andreas Athanasiou scored his fourth of the season. After helping to thwart the Sharks in the neutral zone, Athanasiou skated into the o-zone and around the Sharks defense to put a backhand shot under Jones and into the net. Assists went to Robby Fabbri and Joe Hicketts.

An impressive push from Detroit followed that goal, but it was halted by a penalty to Anthony Mantha for goaltender interference at 5:41. While it slowed the Red Wings, the power play did nothing else for the Sharks. They did not register any shots with the man advantage. Detroit had their own shotless power play at 8:21 after Melker Karlsson was called for high-sticking.

Detroit did tie it at 11:34 when Taro Hirose scored his first of the season. Brendan Perlini found Hirose in the slot right in front of Jones while the Sharks defense seemed not to see him at all. Hirose had room and time to pick his shot but he did so quickly. Assists went to Perlini and Madison Bowey.

The Sharks retook the lead just under a minute later. After shots from Couture and Labanc in the face-off circles could not get by Howard, Labanc skated down the slot and made a backward pass to Karlsson. Karlsson sent the puck right back to the net and in. A mass of bodies screened Howard from seeing what was coming in time. Assists went to Labanc and Couture.

Detroit had another power play at 16:27 when the Sharks were penalized for too many men on the ice. The Red Wings got two shots, but no more in those two minutes.

Athanasiou forced overtime by scoring his second of the game at 15:46 of the third period. Valteri Filppula and Athanasiou broke fast through the neutral zone and went in two-on-one against Radim Simek. Filppula made a cross-ice pass and Athanasiou took the shot. Assists went to Valtteri Filppula and Robby Fabbri.

After a fast-moving overtime, including a penalty kill for the Sharks, Kevin Labanc was the only shooter to score in the shoot-out. Martin Jones stopped Frans Nielsen, Andreas Athanasiou and Dylan Larkin. Jimmy Howard stopped Logan Couture.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose. If that sounds familiar, it is because the Sharks played the Oilers last Tuesday as well, also in San Jose.

Sharks Beat Predators 2-1 in Shoot-out

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1 in a shootout at SAP Center Saturday. Timo Meier scored to win in the seventh round of the shootout, and Tomas Hertl scored during regulation for the Sharks. Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville. Martin Jones made 24 saves for the win, and Juuse Saros made 31 saves for the Predators.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson said: “This is a good start. I think this was the first game where we felt right from the start no matter what the score was we felt like we were playing our game and we weren’t too worried about what they were doing. We were focused on the things that we needed to do well and I think we did that.”

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said: “I think 60 minute effort for sure. You know, I thought we handled the adversity of not scoring first even though we were playing well better than we have in the past. Stuck with it, and yeah I think it was our best 60-minute effort.”

Coming into Saturday’s game, Nashville had won 2 of their last 5, with their last game being a 9-4 loss in Colorado. The Sharks had also won 2 of their last five, and had just come off a high-scoring game that they prevailed in 6-5. Tightening defense was clearly a goal for both teams, so it should be no surprise that the game was scoreless through the first period and much of the second. In shots, the teams stayed within three or four, each leading for one period they each had two power plays and no power play goals. The Sharks had the lead in blocked shots and the Predators were doing better in the face-off circle.

Filip Forsberg broke the deadlock at 14:44 of the second. He scored his eighth goal of the season carrying the puck in from the blue line while fending off Erik Karlsson on his right. Despite Karlsson getting a stick in his way, Forsberg put the puck up and over Jones on the short side. Dante Fabbro got the assist for his pass from the Predators’ blue line.

With a little over a minute left in the second period, Dante Fabbro took an Evander Kane shot in the face and had to leave the game. He returned during the third period wearing a face cage.

Tomas Hertl tied it at 5:22 of the third period. He had a shot knocked off his stick during the zone entry but the Sharks retained control of the puck and eventually Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s point shot got to the net and Hertl was there to knock it in. Assists went to Vlasic and Erik Karlsson.

The score remained unchanged through the rest of the period and overtime, including an overtime power play for Nashville.

Before Timo Meier scored to win the shootout for the Sharks, Saros stopped shots from Kevin Labanc, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, Evander Kane and Brent Burns.

Martin Jones stopped Matt Duchene, Ryan Ellis, Filip Forsberg, Kyle Turris, Ryan Johansen, Nick Bonino and Rocco Grimaldi.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 5th in a Row, Fall 5-2 to Canucks

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photo from sfgate.com: Thatcher Demko (35) goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks goes into the defensive posture against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. Demko stopped 24 San Jose shots for the Sharks second consecutive home stand loss.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks lost 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks Saturday at the SAP Center. This was the first road win for the Canucks in San Jose since March 31, 2016, and it added a fifth to the Sharks’ second four-loss streak of the season. Canucks goals were scored by Brandon Sutter, Elias Pettersson, Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette. Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for the win. The Sharks goals were scored by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Evander Kane. Goaltender Aaron Dell made 23 saves for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks captain Logan Couture talked about the question of confidence during a losing streak:

For a lot of us, we’ve done some really really good things in this league, we’ve been successful players in this league for a long time. I think we need to get that swagger, that confidence back that we’ve had here for so many years. You know, it’s tough when you’re losing, it is very very difficult to feel confident when you’ve got the puck to make that play when you’ve got the extra second.

Are the Sharks losing patience with each other in the midst of this lousy start? After the game, Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon warned that that was a danger, but then said: “It’s pretty easy to look at the guy next to you instead of looking at yourself. Again, we’ve got a lot of skill on this team, a lot of talent. Guys that have been here for a long time… know what it takes to win. I think everybody, if we can believe back in that and just get into that we’re going to be okay.”

Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter started the scoring at 4:17 of the first period. Josh Leivo took a shot from above the faceoff circle. Dell stopped that, but came out a ways to do so and then kicked out a rebound. Sutter picked up the rebound and got it in the net before Dell could get back in position. It was Sutter’s fourth of the season.

Elias Pettersson doubled up Vancover’s lead with a goal at 12:46. Brock Boeser’s pass came out to center above the hash marks, where Pettersson was ready for it. Dell and Brendand Dillon did not seem ready for it and Pettersson’s shot went right through them. It was Pettersson’s fifth of the season. Assists went to Boeser and Bo Horvat.

The Sharks’ penalty kill held the Canucks to one shot on their first period power play. Vancouver still outshot the Sharks 14-8.

Jake Virtanen added a third goal for the Canucks, just 45 seconds into the second period. His shot went right into Dell and then over his leg. Dell went down and had the puck in his legs, and the on ice official called it no goal. After an official review, the call was overturned. Assists went to Alexader Edler and Tyler Myers.

At 5:11, Adam Gaudette scored Vancouver’s fourth on a broken tic-tack-toe play that drew Aaron Dell and two defenders to the right side of the net, allowing the puck to get by on the left. The goal came during a delayed penalty against the Sharks. The puck seemed to be on its way to Troy Stecher as he closed on the net behind the mass of bodies to one side. Instead, it went off of one of those bodies and into the net.

The Sharks had two power plays in the second period, and got six shots with the man advantage. the teams were tied for shots in the second period at eight apiece.

At the end of the second, Joe Thorton was called for cross-checking Jay Beagle, putting Vancouver on the power play to start the third period. The Canucks did not get a shot during that power play. The Sharks had their own power play chance at 2:38, in which they got two shots, but no goal.

The Sharks finally got on the board with a short-handed goal from Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Barclay Goodrow. They broke away and were able to go in two-on-one and score at 10:51.

The Canucks power play turned into a two-man advantage not long after that, when Joe Thornton was boxed for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Sharks survived that, but after the first penalty expired, they gave up a fifth goal. It was Pettersson’s second of the night, with an assist to JT Miller.

Evander Kane added the Sharks’ second goal with just 22 seconds left in regulation. He skated into the zone with Tomas Hertl and went around the Canucks defense to shoot. His first shot came back as a rebound, but he picked it up and put it away. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Erik Karlsson.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7:00 PM PT in San Jose.

Lukas Radil was in Saturday, with Jonny Brodzinsky back out of the lineup.

Jets Sink Sharks 3-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell to the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose. Jets goals came from Gabriel Bourque, Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers, with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck making a heroic 51 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Barclay Goodrow and Tomas Hertl with Martin Jones making 16 saves in the loss.

“It’s probably up there with our best game of the season. Disappointing to lose,” said Sharks captain Logan Couture, after a game in which the Sharks grossly outshot the Jets, 53-19.

The game might have gone to overtime with the teams tied 3-3 but for a disallowed goal in the second period.

“At the same time, we had a lot of other opportunities to put the puck in the net and we didn’t,” said Sharks forward Evander Kane, who had 7 shots on goal in the game and scored the disallowed goal.

Winnipeg struck first with a goal at 13:34 of the first period. Kyle Connor took advantage of a bouncing puck that eluded Brent Burns in the Sharks’ zone. He got control of it along the boards and then found Gabriel Bourque coming into the zone. Bourque skated up the middle and beat Jones on the glove side. Connor got the assist.

The Sharks too the first penalty of the game, an interference minor to Logan Couture at 19:06. The Sharks successfully killed the penalty for the rest of the first and the beginning of the second period. The Jets got three shots on goal during the power play.

They followed that up with a goal at 3:18 of the second. A pass from Marc-Edouard Vlasic found Jonny Brodzinsky in the neutral zone. He made a pass at the Jets’ blue line, finding Barclay Goodrow in the slot. Goodrow skated to the net and shot the puck by Hellebuyck on the short side. Assists went to Brodzinsky and Vlasic.

The Sharks’ first power play came just over a minute later. They got credit for two shots on goal

Evander Kane put the puck in the net at 7:22 of the second. He started by carrying the puck into the zone and around behind the net. He gave it to a defender, who sent it back around and to the point. the puck came back to Kane behind the net and he got it out in front for Labanc and Hertl to shoot, but Labanc was taken down in the crease and the puck came back to Kane as he emerged form behind the net. He quickly lifted it over the now-prone Hellebuyck and into the net.

The Jets challenged for goaltender interference and the goal was overturned.

Moments later, Blake Wheeler scored off a pass from Mark Scheifele at 7:53. Scheifele and Kyle Connor got the assists.

The Jets had a second power play at 9:41, in which they got one shot on goal.

The Sharks had a second power play starting at 17:11 when Mathieu Perrault was called for tripping Erik Karlsson. The Sharks tallied eight shots on goal and still could not score.

During the second period, the Sharks outshot the Jets 28-9.

The Sharks did finally tie it with a deflection from Tomas Hertl 49 seconds into the third period. Kane took the initial shot with a second assist going to Kevin Labanc.

With three minutes left in the third, the Jets only had 3 shots to the Sharks’ 12. The shot count for the game was 51-18 Sharks.

Nevertheless, the Jets scored next, taking a 3-2 lead at 18:36. Nikolaj Ehlers . Assists went to Jack Roslovic and Bryan Little.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender right after that, but couldn’t get by Hellebuyck again.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:00 PM PT against the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose.

Jonny Brodzinsky was in the lineup for the first time since October 8, with Dylan Gambrell and Lukas Radil out as healthy scratches.

Sharks Lose Again, Fall 5-2 to Sens

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday. Ottawa goals came from Nick Paul (2), Connor Brown, Brady Tkachuk, and Anthony DuClair. Sens goaltender Craig Anderson made 34 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Evander Kane and Kevin Labanc. Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell made 18 saves in the first two periods. Martin Jones made 7 saves in the third period.

The Sharks scored on one of six power play chances, and killed off all four penalties they took. Their shot count showed major improvement over Friday’s game, with 36 shots registered. Evander Kane generated six of those shots, with Timo Meier adding five.

“We gave up too many odd-man [rushes] again,” Sharks captain Logan Couture told NHL.com. “I don’t think we spent long enough shifts in their end. We had some shots, but we didn’t get enough traffic around their goaltender and second opportunities that were there, we just weren’t in the right spots.”

Couture also told NHL.com, “I thought we created some good looks. We didn’t finish around the net like we’re capable of. I mean, that’s also been a story this season: we’re not finishing. I can’t be sitting at one goal right now. [Tomas Hertl’s] at three, [Timo Meier’s] at two. We’ve got to score some more goals.”

Here are the final stats.

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

“We’re 12 games in and there’s a handful of key guys for us that haven’t played well yet,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer told NHL.com. “So that’s on me to get them back to the level they need to be at.”

“We’re playing from behind in a lot of these games and instead of sticking with it and trusting the group and the system, everyone wants to step out and fix it themselves, but it doesn’t work that way. So eventually you have to learn that lesson.”

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 4:00 PM PT, in Boston against the Bruins.

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Maple Leafs

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena Friday. Toronto goals came from Jake Muzzin, Morgan Reilly, Ilya Mikheyev and Auston Matthews. Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 15 saves for the win. The lone Sharks goal was scored by Kevin Labanc, while goaltender Martin Jones made 24 saves in the loss. It was Patrick Marleau’s 1500th game as a Shark.

The Sharks had to kill five penalties in the game, and only had one power play. Captain Logan Couture talked about how the team handled this second game in two nights, and third in four days:

I thought we put ourselves in a position to win a game. Obviously too many penalties, but the kill was great, kept us in it. Joner made big saves when we had breakdowns on it. You’re gonna have nights like tonight when, you know, you’re not feeling it and you’re not getting much offensively. We were close to pulling out a point there. It’s tough we couldn’t get one but I liked our kill and I liked our defensive, I guess, desperation.

The penalty problem was something the Sharks had discussed before the game. Head Coach Peter DeBoer said:

I think we talked coming in, in 3 in 4 and a back-to-back, that we needed to do a few things and one of them was stay out of the penalty box. You know, you can’t, you got a little bit of a tired team, we took, what, five minors? It’s hard and I thought we ran out of gas in the third killing all those penalties. Made it tough on ourselves with the penalties.

Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon was asked about a hit he made on Auston Matthews during the game: “Obviously you want to be physical on the good players but I never want to see a guy get injured like that. I saw him leave, I was happy to see him come back in the third. Kinda said, you know, didn’t mean to catch him like that but at the same time, you know, you gotta be hard on those guys, they’re such good players.”

The Sharks started the scoring midway through the first period. Tomas Hertl made a quick play up the boards to Brent Burns at the blue line and Burns took a shot at the net. Kevin Labanc got a piece of it as it went in the net for his fourth of the season. Burns and Hertl got the assists.

Through the second period, the Sharks successfully killed two penalties but only managed three shots on goal. The score stayed 1-0 until the final minute of the second.

Jake Muzzin scored for Toronto with just 3 seconds left in the period. As Muzzin skated to the net, the puck came to him from the corner off of Jason Spezza’s stick. Assists went to Spezza and Ilya Mikheyev.

Toronto took the lead in the third period with a goal from Morgan Reilly at 14:31. William Nylander, Alexander Kerfoot and Cody Ceci entered the zone at speed, drawing the attention of the Sharks defense. Morgan Reilly trailed and Nylander found him as he came across the line. Reilly had also started the play with the first pass in the defensive zone.

Two more goals came from Ilya Mikheyev and Auston Matthews in the final minute of the third. Mikheyev’s goal was into an empty net, with and assist to Mitch Marner. Marner also got an assist on the Matthews goal.

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

Sharks Lose 4-3 to Red Hot Sabres

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: Buffalo Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark, right, reaches for the puck next to San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The Buffalo Sabres continued their hot start to the season with a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks Saturday. The win brings the Sabres record to 7-1-1. Buffalo goals came from Marcus Johansson, Casey Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner and Zemgus Girgensons. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Marcus Sorensen. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 31 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Timo Meier said:

I think it was a good team game. We took some penalties that we probably shouldn’t have taken. It kind of took the rhythm out of our game, to kill off some penalties, and you know at the end, some energy that might miss. But overall, I think we played a pretty solid game. Like I said, too bad we didn’t come up on top but overall some stuff we can take out of this game.

Sharks Head Coach Peter DeBoer also thought the team played pretty well:

I liked their resiliency, I thought we battled all night. I thought our game was pretty good tonight. When I look at the seven or eight games we’ve played, that’s probably one of the better sixty minute efforts we got. Penalty kill did a good job, we got a power play goal. I thought we passed up some opportunities to shoot, you know, got a little cute around the net a few times. That might have been the difference.

The Sabres scored first at 12:10 of the first period. Henri Jokiharju carried the puck into the zone and made a drop pass to Marcus Johansson in the slot. Johansson took a shot just as Jokiharju passed in front of him. The puck went off of Jones and trickled across the line Assists went to Jokiharju and Marco Scandella.

The Sharks tied it on a power play at 16:00. With Marleau screening the goaltender, Timo Meier took a pass from Joe Thornton below the goal line. Meier’s quick shot went into the top corner for his second of the season. Assists went to Thornton and Erik Karlsson.

The Sabres took the lead back near the end of the second period when Casey Mittelstadt scored on a shot that was initially called a goal, then disallowed by the on-ice officials as being scored with a high stick. An official review reversed that reversal and called it a good goal. Assists went to Jokiharju and Jimmy Vesey.

The Sharks tied the game again 44 seconds into the third period on another power play. Erik Karlsson took a shot that went off of Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen. Tomas Hertl had taken a shot that rebounded out to Karlsson. Hertl and Evander Kane we both nearby when the puck went in but it did appear that Karlsson was the last Shark to touch it. Nevertheless, the goal went to Hertl with assists to Karlsson and Logan Couture.

Buffalo took their third lead of the game at 2:28 of the third with a goal from Jeff Skinner. Marcus Johansson tried to take a shot as he skated to the net but he didn’t get all of it and instead the puck slid slowly toward Martin Jones. Jones kicked it away but had come out too far to properly recover when puck went to his right. Skinner skated in behind him and was able to backhand the puck into the net for his fifth of the season. Assists went to Jake McCabe and Johansson.

The Sharks tied it again just 22 seconds later when Brent Burns’ blue line shot went off of Marcus Sorensen’s skate. The puck bounced over Ullmark’s leg and under his blocker.

Zemgus Girgensons scored the game winner at 12:15 of the period. Johan Larsson took a shot from above the face off circle. Martin Jones was set to stop it but it hit Kyle Okposo in the back instead of getting through to Jones. That created a rebound that Girgensons was able to pick up and shoot back in before Jones could find the puck. Assists went to Okposo and Larsson.

The Sharks will play the Sabres again in Buffalo on Tuesday at 3:30 PM PT.