Author: Matthew Harrington

Rosco Allen’s Lay Up Upends ASU

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Stanford’s Rosco Allen is hugged by Marcus Allen (15) and Josh Sharma Saturday night at Maples Pavilion

STANFORD, Calif. – Rosco Allen’s lay-up with 3 seconds left handed Stanford a 75-73 victory over the visiting Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal led its guests for the majority of the game, but despite holding numerous double-digit leads in the 2nd half, couldn’t put the game completely out of reach.

“That’s probably his first basket of that magnitude,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins on Allen’s bucket. “That’s a great thing for any player. Lots of guys can play their whole career and not make a play like that.”

With the Sun Devils in a full-court press to try to stymie Stanford’s chance at breaking a 73-73 deadlock with just over a dozen seconds remaining, the Cardinal (11-7, 4-3 Pac-12) managed to feed Allen across the center court line. From there, Allen drove to the hoop through 3 Arizona State defenders, finishing with a right-handed finger roll for the game-winner before tumbling to the court and sliding out of bounds.

“Full court you have more space,” said Allen. “You have more time to see where defenders are.”

The Hungarian forward, one of three captains for the Cardinal, led his team throughout the night. He scored 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting over his 37 minutes of play. The senior also hit 5 of 6 free throws in rebounding back from a 4-point performance in Thursday’s loss to Arizona.

“I’m just happy we got the win,” said Allen. “The Arizona game was a struggle. I happy to bounce back strong.”

Allen received some support from an unlikely source. Senior Grant Verhoeven pitched in 9 points off the bench in just 17 minutes off the bench. The center also hit the first three-pointer of his collegiate career.

“That was my first one in college,” said Verhoeven. “But as a team you can’t count on the three. Sometimes we’re awesome, sometimes we’re not.”

Verhoeven has seen his role increase with Reid Travis still out with an injury and Verhoeven’s health improving from injuries of his own.

“I’m finally getting healthy,” said Verhoeven. “I’m still not there. I’ve struggled with injuries the last couple years. Being healthy helps out a lot.”

Marcus Allen pitched in 13 points for the Cardinal while Michael Humphrey netted 11 points and 11 rebounds. Arizona State’s Tra Holder had a team-high 18 points, while Willie Atwood added 16.

Holder had an opportunity to but ASU on top late, but his three-pointer with 15 seconds left was off the mark. Rosco Allen dove in for the loose ball that went out of bounds and, following a lengthy review by the officials, possession was awarded to Stanford for the fateful final play.

“I couldn’t tell you who touched it last,” said Allen. “It was bang-bang.”

Stanford led 66-56 with 4:50 left to play, but Arizona State went on a 15-4 run to take a 71-70 lead with 1:41 left to play. Stanford took the lead back at 72-71, then Dorian Pickens hit one of two free throws but Savon Goodman nailed a jumper with 36 seconds left to tie the game at 73.

The Cardinal led 40-34 at the half, but couldn’t build its edge by more than 10 points in the 2nd half against a resilient ASU(11-9, 1-6) squad looking for its 2nd Pac-12 win.

“That’s something we have to work on,” said Verhoeven. “We have to have the cutthroat mentality. When we get ahead we have to hold it. We let them have some easy buckets they shouldn’t have had. As a team, going forward, we need to work on that.”

After three-straight at home, the Cardinal hits the road for three. They’ll face a trio of teams they are familiar with, heading to Utah and Colorado before heading into Haas Pavilion for the second round of the Big Game.

“With the league as balanced as it is, I think any team can beat any other team any night,” said Dawkins. “You have to be prepared, you have to be focused, you have to play 40 minutes of really good basketball to win in this league.”

Big Second Half Lifts No.12 Arizona Over Stanford

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: gostanford.com Stanford’s Marcus Sheffield drives the ball as the Cardinal are denied by Arizona on Thursday night

The Stanford Cardinal appeared poised to take the 12th-ranked Arizona Wildcats to the limit Thursday night at Maples Pavilion, but a one-point halftime deficit turned into a 71-57 loss for the Cardinal.

Arizona guard Gabe York scored a game-high 19 points while teammate Ryan Anderson pitched in 18 at starting forward. Stanford’s stellar freshman guard Marcus Sheffield continued his meteoric rise to become one of the Cardinal’s most potent scoring threats, netting 17 points for his third double-digit scoring output over his last 6 games.

The Cardinal (10-7, 3-3 Pac-12) struggled from the field, shooting 30 percent from the field while only hitting 4 of a total 21 threes attempted. Arizona (16-3, 4-2) went 8 for 18 from downtown while hitting nearly half (48 percent) of their shots from the floor.  Stanford only turned the ball over 9 times and managed 7 steals but a 42-29 rebounding margin in favor of Arizona spoiled the host team’s night.

The Cardinal trailed by as much as 8 points at 12-4 five minutes into the first half, but outscored the Cats 26-19 to head to the locker room at the half down 31-30. Stanford took its only lead of the game 5:43 into the 2nd when Grant Verhoeven hit a free throw to make it 40-39 for the home side. Arizona would go on to score the next 12 points unanswered to build an insurmountable 51-40 lead with 8 minutes left. They would outscore Stanford 20-17 over the final minutes of regulation.

Stanford gets an opportunity to avenge its loss when they host Arizona State Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. The Sun Devils are currently 1-5 in Pac-12 play. Arizona State fell to Cal 75-70 Thursday night.

Donskoi’s Deke Spoils SAP Homecoming for McLellan, Oilers

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: The Sharks Joonas Donskoi tries to get one past Oilers goalie Cam Talbot in the first period

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Former San Jose Sharks Todd McLellan made it difficult for his former charges Thursday night in his first trip to the Shark Tank at the helm of the Edmonton Oilers. McLellan’s youthful Oilers gave his replacement Peter DeBoer and San Jose all they could handle, but the Sharks (22-18-2) pulled out the 2-1 shootout victory to extend their win-streak to 4 games after playing their first home game into overtime on the year

“It’s been a long time,” said DeBoer on his team’s regulation streak at home. “I can’t believe we’re halfway through the season and it’s the first time we’ve had one.”

After leading San Jose to 311 wins from 2008-15, McLellan was familiar with the majority of the Sharks roster, but it was a pair of players not as his disposal during his tenure in Silicon Valley that made an impact in the upheaval of the Oilers (17-23-4).

Offseason trade acquisition Martin Jones made 24 saves in regulation for the Sharks, then managed to stop the potent duo of Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the skills competition for his 19th win of the year. Joonas Donskoi scored the deciding goal in the shootout on a masterful deke of an otherwise solid Oilers goalie Cam Talbot.

“It was an up-and-down game,” said DeBoer on the game’s pace. “Goaltending was excellent at both ends. It was a great hockey game.”

Donskoi, a known commodity to European Hockey aficionados and Youtube browsers, remains a mystery to North American scouts and coaches. Thursday was his first attempt at a shootout, and it produced a dandy.

“It was a no-brainer to throw him out there,” said DeBoer. “You don’t know how guys are going to react to the pressure but he delivered.”

The Finnish import forced Talbot to his right after pulling the puck to his backhand then transferred it back to his forehand in the blink of an eye to deposit it in the 72×48-inch vacancy.

“He’s got a few moves,” said Captain Joe Pavelski. “They can’t just be prepared for that one. It’s a situation he’s very strong at.”

“He’s got some nice hands on him to say the least,” added Sharks forward Joe Thornton.”

San Jose outshot the Oilers 37-25, but could only solve Talbot once in regulation, then had all 4 shots turned aside in sudden death overtime. Pavelski also scored in the first round of the shootout to help extend Team Teal’s winning ways after playing a quartet of contests in just 6 days.

“It hasn’t been too bad,” said Jones. “We’ve taken advantage of some days off and gotten ready to play for games. Everybody goes through the same thing.”

The Sharks all but guaranteed two points by hitting the score sheet first 11:29 into the game on a Marc-Edouard Vlasic goal. They entered play Thursday night 17-2 when scoring first, while Edmonton was just 4-15-2 when after going down 1-0.

Center Joe Thornton initiated the play after he flipped a puck on his backhand from the Sharks defensive end up to the neutral zone. From there, a waiting Melker Karlsson corralled the puck before tapping it to a rushing Vlasic. Vlasic slid into the slot to Talbot’s right and ripped a wrist shot over the netminder’s blocker for his 5th goal of the season.

“We had a day off yesterday, we have a day off tomorrow,” said Vlasic. “You get your rest and keep your energy for the game. We want to play tight defensively, but if the chance is there to join the rush, join the rush.”

Vlasic nearly netted his second of the game 8 minutes into the 2nd period, but the exchange would result in a 1-1 tie instead of a 2-0 lead. Vlasic’s shot at a gaping net on a one-timer missed the mark, allowing Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz to shovel the puck to a pair of rushing Edmonton forwards with a lone Sharks defenseman playing back.

The puck was slowed in linesman Trent Knorr’s skate, but Lauri Korpikoski still managed to pick the puck up for a 2-on-1 chance. Korpikoski managed to slide the puck just under Justin Braun’s stick to connect with Nail Yakupov. The top pick in the 2012 Entry Level Draft converted for just his 3rd goal of the year amidst a campaign marred by struggles.

“It was an unlucky bounce,” said Pavelski. “It was nice to see the guys keep working. We didn’t let them beat us.”

The Sharks get to continue to build momentum at home, a place where they’ve struggled this season to a 7-12-0 record. They welcome the Dallas Stars to town Saturday night then host the Ottawa Senators Monday evening.

“You just understand how hard it is,” said Pavelski of playing at home in the NHL for any team. “Teams are good on the road. We know what we can do on the road, so we have to expect teams to do the same.”

The Sharks feel like they are finally hitting stride with a relatively healthy roster. It appears Logan Couture may finally be fully back after peppering Talbot with 11 shots on goal Thursday. His presence has allowed for comfortability amongst the San Jose forward lines.

“I think it’s no secret that as Couture comes back and starts to get back to a good place,” said DeBoer. “When he does, our game starts to come around again.”

“It helps being healthy,” added Jones. “The last 6, 7 games, even ones we didn’t win, I thought we were taking steps in the right direction. We’re starting to get some results now.”

Barracuda Win 5th Straight With 6 Goal Outburst

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit San Jose Barracuda: SJ Barracuda take to the net in 6-4 win over San Antonio Rampage Saturday night

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The goal judges at the SAP Center deserve a raise after Saturday. They were kept busy turning on the San Jose Barracuda’s goal lamp 6 times in a late game 2 of a double-header at the Shark Tank. Their trigger fingers must have been sore after flicking the switch 7 times for the parent club in a 7-0 Sharks win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in an afternoon matinee as part of game one.

“It makes you want to have a night like that,” said Barracuda forward Ryan Carpenter. “It looks fun when you score seven goals and don’t give up any. We were getting close but gave up a few too many. It was fun to play tonight.”

“It was a good night for the organization,” added Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. “We pulled 4 points out of the SAP center.”

The Barracuda (16-10-2-3) beat the San Antonio Rampage 6-4 to run the team’s season-high win streak to 5 games while holding down 2nd place in the Pacific Division. Michael Haley netted two goals and contributed an assist while Barclay Goodrow and Nikolai Goldobin continued 4-game point streaks. Ryan Carpenter joined Goodrow and Goldobin as Barracuda players with a goal and an assist while John McCarthy and Trevor Parkes had a pair of assists each in the blowout victory.

“When you have winning streaks it’s not just one line every night,” said Haley. “It’s just not realistic. We’ve been doing a great job of all lines going. It’s great spreading the wealth.”

Despite playing last night in Bakersfield the Rampage (15-14-7-0) looked like the fresher team out the gate. They tested netminder Troy Grosenick early, with Mat Clark firing a shot from the right boards that found its way into the back of the net 3:26 into play.

Clark’s odd angle goal, as well as a raucous crowd of over 6,000 including San Jose Earthquakes rowdy supporters the Ultras, gave the Barracuda just the motivation they needed. San Jose responded with three unanswered goals to close out the period. Captain Bryan Lerg and AHL All-star Barclay Goodrow scored 22 seconds apart in the 6th minute of the period while Michael Haley added a goal of his own late in the frame.

“It was a great atmosphere, especially for a late game,” said Haley. “The boys fed off it. Especially after they got the first goal. We fed off the fans and got a quick 3 to answer.”

Lerg’s goal at the 6:20 mark came on the breakaway after Jeremy Langlois drew a San Antonio defender at the Rampage’s blue line. Langlois flicked a pass to Lerg who drove to the net, faking a slap shot before pushing the puck to his backhand to beat goalie Roman Will. Trevor Parkes also picked up an assist on the captain’s 8th goal of the year.

While Lerg’s finish looked effortless, Goodrow’s strike took an act of will power. The team’s leading scorer withstood a check to the back to wrist in a rebound of a Julius Bergman point shot for his 14th of the year. He now has 3 goals and an assist over the last four games.

The Barracuda controlled the game for the remainder of the period, finally adding a power play goal on perfect passing by San Jose’s assist leader Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter circled the corner boards to Will’s right, shaking a defender before firing the puck cross-ice to a waiting Haley for his 21st helper of the year. Haley slipped his 10th goal of the campaign into the open net for a 3-1 lead.

Haley tallied the Barracuda’s first goal of the second on a sequence of passing to set up a perfect shot that the Golden State Warriors would be proud off. Nikolai Goldobin, protecting a 3-game point streak, passed up a shot to Will’s right, feeding a streaking John McCarthy up the win. McCarthy passed on a shot while being marked by a defender in the slot, instead shoveling the puck up to Haley for the finish 1:53 into the third.

“With Goldobin, he likes to do the fancy plays behind the net,” said Haley on his linemate. “John and I try to stick more North-South. It worked out well today. (McCarthy) and I were talking about how we weren’t chasing as much, we were making plays. Hopefully we can continue like that tomorrow.”

The Rampage wouldn’t be denied though, answering back just 1:07 later. Steve Henley managed to poke a puck past Grosenick in a netfront scramble to make it 4-2.

The Barracuda would restore the 3 goal lead at 5-2 6:17 into the period after a blue collar effort by Goldobin. The first-round pick fired a shot on Will from the left faceoff circle, then emerged from a six-man scrum with the puck behind the goal line. The Russian forward skated the puck behind San Antonio’s net before dipping below the goal line and turning to face the net. From there, he ripped the puck to his left to tie Haley with 11 goals this season.

McCarthy picked up his second assist of the night on the goal while Haley made it a three-point night with the primary helper.

While the game seemed out-of-hand entering the 3rd, a quick strike from the Rampage gave the visitors new life. 48 seconds into the final period of regulation Nikita Zadorov blasted a point shot that managed to find its way into the back of the Barracuda net to pull San Antonio within two at 5-3.

“You’ve got to put a team away,” said Carpenter. “When you score 6 you shouldn’t let a team hang around. Maybe it’s natural to let off the gas.”

Normally the assister, Carpenter became the assisted 4:28 into the period. The Barracuda’s leading point-getter managed to beat Will for his 6th goal of the season after receiving a pass from Trevor Parkes. Carpenter’s shot trickled past Will and skidded into the net with Parkes camped out in the crease. Goodrow also assisted for his 5th multi-point game this season.

“The goalie was standing still,” said Carpenter. “It slowly creeped behind him. It helps having a big body go to the net. I’m sure the goalie saw it out of the corner of his vision. I’m sure that had something to do with it.”

The Rampage would get a goal late in the 3rd after Langlois was checked out of the play near the San Antonio blue line. Lerg would confront the Rampage checker but while referees tried to split up the altercation at one end, play advanced to the Barracuda end. Defenseman Chris Bigras took advantage, scoring his 6th of the year with 4:33 left in regulation.

The Barracuda nearly matched the parent club with 7 goals, but an unselfish act by Goodrow resulted in an opportunity missed. With the Rampage net vacated, Goodrow streaked up the right side with Petter Emanuelsson a step behind. Instead of sliding the puck into the net, Goodrow dropped the puck to his linemate who was returning to action after missing the last three games with an injury. Emanuelsson’s shot clanked off the outside of the goal post. San Jose would fail to score into the empty net, settling for the 6-4 win.

“That shows you the unselfishness of Barclay,” said Sommer. “He was alone, by himself. All he had to do was tap it in. That’s real unselfish of him, but there’s a time and place for that stuff. Finish a team off when you can.”

After meeting for the first time this year, the two teams will meet again tomorrow. It doesn’t give the Barracuda much time to enjoy their winning ways.

“We’re feeling good, but this is the minors,” said Haley. “You go home, get something to eat, have a nap or have a sleep and you’re right back at it tomorrow. You can’t ride the wave too high. You have to keep an even keel.”

When the Barracuda take the ice Sunday against the Rampage, they’ll be looking to continue their streak but also push their coach to history. Sommer currently sits in second place all-time in wins as an AHL coach with 633, 3 behind Fred “Bun” Cook’s total. After tomorrow, the Barracuda hit the road for 3 contests.

“It’s around the corner,” said Sommer. “We’re probably going to be on the road, but that’s how it goes.”

Red Wings Top Sharks 2-1 for San Jose’s 12th Home Loss of Year

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: Detroit Free Press San Jose Sharks Joel Ward and Sharks scrum in front of the net with Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at SAP

SAN JOSE, Calif, — The struggles at home continued for the San Jose Sharks Thursday night, with the team in teal falling to the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on a late goal from Justin Abdelkader despite outshooting the opponent 36-25. Joel Ward scored his first goal in 11 games, but Danny Dekeyser also scored for Detroit to hand San Jose its 12th loss in 17 home games this season. Petr Mrazek made 35 saves in net for Detroit (21-13-7).

“You can’t take moral victories from games,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture. “I’m sure we’ll look at the video and see some things we did well but we still lost the game. This is a result-driven business. It’s all about winning games and right now we’re not doing it at home.”

The Sharks (18-18-2) surrendered the first goal of the game after Red Wings defenseman Danny Dekeyser took the puck streaking down his left hand lane. The blue-liner burned around Sharks rearguard Justin Braun, gaining an open look from the left circle. He wouldn’t miss from that close, beating goaltender Martin Jones over the glove hand for a 1-0 Motown lead 9:16 into the game.

A scoring slump-buster proved the equalizer for San Jose, with Joel Ward tipping home his first goal since December 5th 1:41 later. The Sharks all-star defenseman Brent Burns fire a rocket from the point that Ward connected with while flying by the goal for his 11th tally of the season. Marc-Eduoard Vlasic also assisted on the Sharks first goal.

Despite three power plays (counting a carryover penalty from the 1st) in the 2nd, the Sharks couldn’t crack the Wings defense, settling for 10 shots on Detroit netminder Petr Mrazek and no goals.

“They’re responsible in the neutral zone,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. “They deflected some of our speed outward. Once we got on the forecheck could play down there but it wasn’t enough.”

On the flipside, Jones wasn’t tested often in the frame. The Sharks defense held the visitors to only 6 shots on goal in the frame.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” said Jones. “We just needed a little bit more.”

Neither team generated much offense in the 3rd period until there were about 8 minutes left in the game. The Sharks nearly beat Mrazek at one end. Ward’s bid for a 2nd goal appeared to beat Mrazek, but the Czech goalie was able to paddle the puck away in mid-air while sliding the other way to preserve the tie.

“That’s the way things are going right now,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “We’ve just got to be resilient and know that if we play that way in the long term we’ll be alright.”

On the ensuing rush at the other end resulted in a Detroit goal. After Pavel Datsyuk’s shot hit the end boards, Justin Abdelkader pounced on a rebound that landed in the slot. His laser beat Jones glove side to give Detroit the lead with 6:52 left in regulation.

“It was a flukey bounce out to the slot,” said Pavelski. “The guy wires one in there. You’ve just got to fight through this.”

“That save was a game-changer,” said Couture of the turn of events. “They go down and score ten seconds later. That one hurt.”

San Jose didn’t get much of an opportunity down the stretch to find an offensive rhythm. Joe Pavelski was whistled for interference on a face-off with Luke Glendenning with only 2:53 left in the game. With the team shorthanded San Jose wasn’t able to pull Jones until there was less than a minute remaining.

“I thought (the call) was a little marginal considering all the interference that was going on all night,” said DeBoer. “But that wasn’t the reason we lost.”

After the final whistle both teams met in the corner for a scrum. Joe Thornton was assessed 14 penalties minutes for his involvement in the altercation.

“There was a little frustration, absolutely,” said DeBoer. “We expect that. Guys are pissed off. I think they deserved better tonight and we didn’t get it.”

The Sharks hope that, if the effort continues to trend up the result will be better Saturday night at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Hard work, that’s all it takes when you’re struggling,” said Jones. “I thought we had a good couple days of practice. We just have to continue that.”

 

 

Kings Lose in Double OT on Williams Buzzer Beater

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Dallas Mavericks needed all 58 minutes Tuesday night to beat the Sacramento Kings 117-116. No, that’s not a typo. Deron Williams hit a three-pointer as time expired in a second overtime period to give the Mavs the win at the buzzer.

The Kings (14-21) looked like they’d pull out the win after leading by 7 in the closing minutes of the game. Dallas (20-15) scored the final 8 points of the contest to spoil Sacramento’s night and instead pile upon the game-winner Williams.

Sacramento was trailing Dallas 78-70 heading into the fourth quarter but outscored the Mavericks 28-20 to force the tie. Each team was held to only 6 points in the first overtime to end the extra session tied at 104.

DeMarcus Cousins played nearly 49 minutes, producing a game-high 35 points on 15 of 30 from the field. The Kings center hauled in 14 rebounds for the double-double. Rudy Gay added 31 points in the defeat. Rajon Rondo did not play in his return to the team he played for last season before being unceremoniously benched. Starting guard Darren Collison, another former Mav, also picked up a double-double with 14 points and a game-best 12 assists.

Williams led all Mavs in scoring with 25 points while Dirk Nowitzki produced 23 despite going 8-for-19 from the field. JaVale McGee produced the double-double coming off the bench with 13 points and 11 points.

The Kings will be happy to leave Dallas considering they haven’t won there in 22-straight games. They’ll head back to the Capitol to host the lowly Los Angeles Lakers fresh of a drubbing by the Warriors.

Stanford Trips Up Ranked Runnin’ Utes in OT

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: AP photo Utah Kyle Kuzma tried to stop a Stanford forward Rosco Allen shot on Friday night

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford has a habit of making New Year’s Day memorable whenever they take the court. Prior to Friday night’s contest, in its lone January 1st appearance in 1938 Hank Luisetti set single-game school records in points (50) and field goals (23). Nobody scored 50 points at Maples Pavilion Friday, but the game was a standout showing in its own right.

The Stanford Cardinal came from behind to upset no. 21/22 Utah 70-68 in overtime, opening the New Year and Pac-12 play with a 1-0 record.

“Our guys have a big heart,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “It’s not always pretty but they seem to find a way to give us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for from a group.”

Rosco Allen and Marcus Sheffield scored 17 points for Stanford (8-4, 1-0) to give the Cardinal its 5th win in game 6 of a season-long 7 game homestand.

The freshman Sheffield stepped up big for the Cardinal in his first exposure to conference play. He was the only bench player to hit a field goal, going 7-for-13 from the floor.

“Growing up as a kid, I always dreamed of this,” said Sheffield. “Now that it’s coming to fruition it feels good.”

While Sheffield’s dreams are unfolding in front of him, for his coach and teammates visions of the forward’s potential are shining through.

“I think that will do wonders for his confidence,” said Dawkins. “To have that type of game on that type of stage. We believe in Marcus, it’s why we had him in there. I think he’s starting to realize some of the things he’s capable of doing. I still don’t think he’s fully realized how good he can be. He’s starting to figure it out.”

“He’s a super smooth player,” said Rosco Allen of Sheffield. “He’s really talented offensively. He has all the skills, all the moves in the books. He has the ability to take on guys one-on-one.”

While Sheffield wowed in regulation, Allen had an average regulation contest. The Hungarian-born baller battled foul trouble to produce just 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting. The senior turned it on in overtime however, scoring 5 of the Cardinal’s 7 points in the extra session.

“Rosco’s grown into that role,” said Dawkins. “He’s someone that everybody is confident in down the stretch.”

“I knew I had to come up clutch” said Allen. “We’ve done it before as a team, we did it against Arkansas so we had some experience with that.”

Stanford held Utah (11-3, 0-1) to 5 points in OT. But the Cardinal nearly didn’t make it to overtime.

Utah’s Brandon Taylor stepped up to the free throw line with 2 seconds left and the game tied 63-63. Taylor missed both shots from the charity stripe though and Stanford’s Dorian Pickens missed a heave at the buzzer to keep both teams knotted at 68-68 after 40 minutes.

Both Dawkins and Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak had to entrust major minutes to their reserves, with both teams finding their top players in danger of fouling out. Both team’s starting centers, Stanford’s Michael Humphrey and Utah’s Jakob Poeltl fouled out in the first 40 minutes. Poeltl was Utah’s leading scorer with 16 points but made himself unavailable for overtime after fouling out.

7 players in total, 3 from Stanford and 4 from Utah had 3 or more personal fouls in regulation. Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with Stanford going 14-for-25 and Utah hitting 11 of their 24 from the stripe.

“Maybe a little hangover from the Holidays,” said Dawkins with a chuckle.

The two teams engaged in a defensive dogfight in the first half, with Stanford hitting only 7 of 29 field goals. Utah was more successful from the field, hitting 12 of 23 would-be buckets but the Cardinal forced 10 Runnin’ Utes turnovers.

“Both teams defensively played exceptionally well,” said Dawkins. “They average 82 points a game. I thought our guys did a great job with their effort and energy to slow them down a bit.”

Despite forcing the visitors to mismanage the rock, Stanford still found itself down 30-21 at the half. The two teams were tied 10-10 halfway through the period, but Utah went on a 9-0 run to break the stalemate 19-10 with just under 7 minutes left in the half. The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch, each scoring 11 points to draw the half to an end.

“It was a match-up zone,” said Allen on the Utes defense. “We haven’t seen a lot of that this year. Give credit to them, we haven’t really seen it and we were stumped by it in the first half.”

The second half started much the way the first half ended, with the two teams trading baskets to maintain a double-digit Utes lead at 44-34 with 13:22 left in the game. The Cardinal roared back, scoring 11 of the next 12 points to tie the game at 45-all.

“Our defense was much more active in the second,” said Allen. “We got a lot more deflections. That gave us easier shots on the offensive end.”

Utah would regain the lead, but only get as far ahead as 5 points. With Stanford trailing by 4 in the final 34 seconds, Rosco Allen slammed home a dunk. After Jordon Loveridge missed a pair of free throws, Allen hit a floater over a pair of Utah defenders to tie the game up with 13 seconds. Marcus Allen was called for a foul on Utah’s next possession, and with both teams in the bonus, Brandon Taylor went to the line for his fateful free throw attempts.

With a close win in hand to open Pac-12 play, the Cardinal now turns its focus to a Sunday afternoon match-up with Colorado, another conference showdown.

Our conference is one of the toughest in the country,” said Dawkins. “We expect a battle every single night.”

For now though, Stanford knows it can hang with some of the tougher teams in the Nation.

“When you win a game like that I think it shows the possibilities,” said Dawkins. “As a coach we can always say ‘We believe in ourselves. We can win games like that.’ Until you do, kids will look at you like ‘I hear you coach’. But when you win one you have a reference point.”

 

Couture Returns, Sharks Ground Flyers 4-2

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: leadercall.com SJ Sharks Logan Courture

SAN JOSE, Calif. – When the schedule makers at the NBC Sports Network put Wednesday’s San Jose Sharks-Philadelphia Flyers match-up on the channel’s “Rivalry Night” there must have been some clairvoyants in the room. The midweek heavyweight tilt at the SAP Center had the type of snarl usually reserved for the Battle of California or the Keystone State Showdown.

Despite the distant between Silicon Valley and the City of Brotherly Love there was no, well, love lost between the two teams on the ice. San Jose (18-16-2) skated away with a 4-2 win in a heavy contest loaded with 53 hits, 46 penalty minutes and a few goals as well. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns lit the lamp for the Sharks, while Joe Pavelski scored a pair. In total, San Jose scored 3 power play tallies. Logan Couture had a pair of assists in his return to the Sharks lineup.

Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier tallied Philadelphia’s markers. Martin Jones made 17 saves on 19 shots to give the Sharks their 16th win in the last 19 games against Philly since 2002.

“Our special teams was the difference,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “That was a desperate team that came in here. They tried to be physical to the point of taking some bad penalties and we made them pay for that.”

Ever the cagey veteran, Joe Thornton inserted himself into the fray almost immediately Wednesday. The 36-year-old center was engaged from the drop of the puck, levying a pair of hits and nearly dropping the gloves with Radko Gudas after a heated discussion in the first period.

It was only a matter of time before no. 19 found his way onto the scoresheet, be it by roughing minor, fighting major, his usual assist or a goal. Luckily for Jumbo, it proved to be the latter at the 9:53 mark of the second period after the alternate captain flipped the puck over Mason’s shoulder on a San Jose power play.

“I was just enjoying the game,” said Thornton. “That’s why you play the game, the fun moments.”

Thornton started the play, taking the puck behind the visitors’ net. He swung the puck to Mason’s left, connecting with Patrick Marleau at the faceoff circle. Marleau went back up the wing to Thornton, who had now positioned himself just outside the crease. From there, Thornton slapped the puck up and over Mason’s left shoulder for his 7th goal of the season.

Logan Couture, returning to the ice after missing 7 games with an arterial bleed in his right leg, also assisted on Thornton’s goal. It was Couture’s 3rd point of the season (all assists) in just his 6th game after missing 24 of the first 26 games with a leg injury.

“It’s great,” said Burns when asked how it feels to have Couture back. “It’s tough when you see a guy out for a while. You see how hard he’s working and the bad bounce when he came back. IT’s great to see. IT’s going to be a little while for him to eventually feel comfortable, but it’s good to see him back.

“You could see it in the lineup right away,” added Pavelski. “That’s another big time player. What he brings to the team, the energy he brings and the confidence definitely helps.”

He looked comfortable in his return, playing 15:22 minutes with a -1 rating. He would also assist on Burns’ game-tying strike in the 3rd.

“It was a great crowd,” said Couture. “We need to build on this, but it feels good to come back and win the game.”

In total, Couture saw 5:43 of power play time.

“On the power play I felt comfortable,” said Couture “I had the puck. It was lucky that we had some many power plays. I was able to establish that game, feel the puck, get some chances, build my confidence up that way.”

“It comes naturally to him,” said DeBoer of Couture’s work on the power play. “Those guys have a special chemistry. We just have to keep that up.”

The Flyers (15-14-7) responded with a Claude Giroux score with 4:11 left in the 2nd after the centerman won the faceoff from Thornton and flung the puck into Jones’ midsection. While Jones made the initial save, the puck’s momentum carried it down to the ice and between the netminder’s pads for the Flyers captain’s 12th goal of the campaign.

“I’ve had Claude on a couple teams I coached,” said DeBoer. “I had him on the Canadian team. He’s a special guy. He’s the best in the world at different things. The goal surprised me, but not who did it.”

Philadelphia took the 2-1 lead on a defensive lapse by the Sharks early in the 3rd. Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier were sprung on a 2-on-0. Couturier took Simmonds’ feed and put it on his backhand to best Jones for his 6th of the year 4:19 into the 3rd.

Though the Sharks haven’t had many power play opportunities at home (their 44 man advantages entering Wednesday ranks dead last in the NHL), they also haven’t taken advantage of the special teams edge either. They have the 8th worst power play percentage at home this year, a mere 15.9 percent. Despite those figures, San Jose managed to get it down a man up not once, but twice, Wednesday night with Brent Burns finding the equalizer 5:54 into the final period of regulation.

“In the past few games a bounce buried us at times,” said Pavelski. “We got that feeling on the bench tonight where it wasn’t going to get us down. We got a big power play goal from Burns to get us back in there. It felt good.

With RJ Umberger in the sin bin for slashing Brenden Dillon, the Sharks newly potent power play set up in the Flyers’ end. Joe Thornton took the puck from the right faceoff dot and slid it to Couture in the front right crease. Couture’s no-look backhand pass missed Marleau’s stick, but landed on a crashing Burns’ tape in the slot. Burns ripped the shot over Mason’s blocker to knot the contest up 2-2 with just under 14 minutes to play.

“We have certain sets we work on,” said Couture. “Burns’ goal is a set that we’ve had for a while. You have Marleau in the slot and he usually comes down the side which opens the backdoor for Burns.”

The power play nearly was the culprit of the game-winner for San Jose, but a matter of seconds changed the Sharks special teams night. Captain Joe Pavelski netted his 19th of the year just 3 seconds after Shane Gostisbehere exited the box at the 13:45 mark on a cross-ice one-timer from Justin Braun.

Pavelski, who missed Tuesday’s practice with the flu, earned his power play goal almost 5 ½ minutes later to ice the contest. The forward took a pass from Marleau on the boards and ripped a backhander past Mason for his second of the night after Marc-Eduoard Vlasic held the puck in at the blue line.

“You can see his importance to us,” said DeBoer. “All the big guys were great though, Thornton, Vlasic Braun, (Paul) Martin.”

The Sharks ended the night converting half of their power plays, going 3-for-6 with a Flyer in the box.

“Our power play unit does well when we’re moving and reading off each other,” said Burns.

When asked about how it felt for the NHL’s worst home team to get a win in front of a sold-out, the Sharks captain was frank.

“It’s what we expect,” said Pavelski. “Obviously now that’s the template we have to copy and play with. It was a good win tonight. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”

The Sharks get another stab a wowing the home crowd when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the Shark Tank January. After that, they’ll continue the homestand with contests against Eastern Conference foes the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Notes:

Tommy Wingels dropped the gloves twice, once in the second against Chris VandeVelde and again in the 3rd against Jakub Vorachek. Because only a punch or two was thrown, the 2nd altercation was ruled a minor for roughing, not a five minute fighting major. DeBoer on Wingels: “I thought Tommy Wingels had one of his best games all year. He was in the middle of it. He jumped in and fought for a teammate.” …Brent Burns leveled VandeVelde with a hit in the offensive zone that injured the Flyers Forward. Said Burns: “Most of the time I turn around and hit with my butt. I felt pretty strongly that I hit him in the midsection strongly. It’s tough to see someone get hurt. I hit him in the midsection, I don’t know if he hits his head on the ice or what but it’s tough to see.”

Poor Penalty Killing Slays Sharks in 6-3 Loss to Avs

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: zimbio.com Colorado Avalanche vs. SJ Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks must have wished they were anywhere but home for the Holidays this year. After teams took a few days off for the Christmas break, the Sharks woes at the SAP Center continued Monday night in a penalty-filled 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. San Jose (17-16-2) is now 13-6-2 on the road but a dismal 4-10-0 within the Santa Clara County borders.

“It was the penalties,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “But also everything ended up in the back of our net.”

“Our penalty kill lacked an attention to detail,” added Sharks forward Tommy Wingels. “A couple days off will do that , but that’s not an excuse.”

The Colorado Avalanche (18-15-2) scored 4 of 6 goals on the power play, with forward Nate MacKinnon collecting a hat trick for the visitors from the Rocky Mountains. Carl Soderberg had a goal and two assists to join MacKinnon with three points. Patrick Marleau, Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl all scored for San Jose. Colorado netminder Calvin Picard made 35 saves for his first win of the season.

Colorado picked up its first goal of the night with Joe Thornton in the penalty box for a trip after killing off a Tomas Hertl infraction earlier in the period. MacKinnon took a perfect feed from Carl Soderberg and put the one-timer past Martin Jones for a 1-0 8:46 into the game. Before the goal San Jose had controlled most of the possession.

“When you’re taking hooking, tripping, holding penalties, you’re not moving your feet,” said DeBoer. “I liked our start. Our penalty kill took us out of the game”

The Sharks would again take control of the possession game and found the equalizer just 1:21 later in the period on a Joel Ward rush. Ward hit the trailing Marleau with a drop pass down the center lane that Marleau easily ripped over Pickard’s glove for his 14th goal of the season.

The Sharks found themselves down a man once again 24 seconds after their goal, but managed to kill off Brendan Dillon’s minor penalty. They wouldn’t be so lucky when Paul Martin was caught with a blatant hook to Jack Skille at the 13:31 mark for San Jose’s 4th penalty of the period.

Working into the slot 47 seconds into the power play, the Swedish Soderberg managed to position himself perfectly to tip a Francois Beauchemin shot past Jones for his 6th goal of the year. Soderberg’s strike, assisted by John Mitchell as well, put Colorado up 2-1.

The calls going against San Jose started to fall for them in the 2nd period. A Blake Comeau hook and a bench minor for too many men gave the Sharks their first two of three power plays of the game in the first 10 minutes of the frame. Despite peppering Pickard with shot after shot, they couldn’t find the equalizer. Instead it was Matt Duchene scoring on a no-look back-hander that gave the Avalanche a 3-1 edge with 8:41 left in the period.

After starting the game on the fourth line, Melker Karlsson earned his way up to the top line, joining Joe Pavelski on Joe Thornton’s wing. The European export lit the lamp for the 4th time this season after taking one of Thornton’s patented passes from behind the net, burying the shot glove-side at the 13:58 mark of the frame.

“Five on five we were really good,” said San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. “We had a lot a of chances. Now we have to bear down on some of our chances.”

Before the Sharks could carry over the momentum of the goal and a 17-9 2nd period shot advantage, they found themselves facing another penalty kill in the 3rd. Despite boasting the 6th best penalty kill unit in the NHL, the Sharks showed why they ware 21st in the league on the PK at home. Blake Comeau blasted a shot past Jones for the 4-2 advantage 7:09 into the period with Brent Burns in the sin bin.

Hertl pulled San Jose within one after curling around the Avs net and fire a turnaround wrister that through Pickard’s pads under a minute later. Again though, penalties turned the tide for the Sharks.

“It’s the flow of the game,” said WIngels. “I thought we did some good things but ultimately when you take too many penalties, when your attention to detail slips on the penalty kill, you get burned.”

Just 16 seconds after the Sharks’ third goal, Tommy Wingels would get the gate for hooking Duchene. MacKinnon punished the Sharks for their 6th infraction of the game, roofing a cross-ice feed from Soderberg for his second goal of the game 8:44 into the third. He would add an empty net goal to complete the hat trick.

“You’re playing with fire any time you take that many penalties,” said DeBoer. “Obviously they had 4 power play goals. That was the difference of the game.”

When the Sharks welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to the SAP Center Wednesday they’ll be hoping to find what has eluded them so far at home this season.

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be dominant at home,” said Wingels. “Your schedule is the same. There’s no excuses. We’ve tried some things. We’ve got to change it up. Ultimately it’s a mindset of getting it done.”

“If we knew what was wrong, we’d fix it,” stated Vlasic. “We’ve got to do it soon before we drop down even more.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cardinal Crushes Carroll College 83-38 in Pac-12 Tune-up

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

by Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: gostanford.com

STANFORD, Calif.– If Stanford was using Sunday’s contest as a barometer for where they stand heading into the important stretch of the season, Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins has to be pleased with where his team is at.

The Cardinal (7-4) trounced the NAIA’s Carroll College 83-38 Sunday at Maples Pavilion in its non-conference play finale. Dorian Pickens came a pair of points shy of his third-straight 20 point game, freshman Marcus Sheffield hit double-digits for the first time in his collegiate career and Rosco and Marcus Allen both netted 15 points apiece in Stanford’s tune-up for the Pac-12 opener against Utah Friday night.

“We didn’t want to look past this one,” said Pickens. “All the credit to Carroll College, they’re a great school, they fought hard all night. We didn’t want to take them lightly.”

Despite playing without Reid Travis for the second-straight game, the Cardinal outrebounded Carroll College 49-27 led by center Michael Humphrey’s 12 boards. As a team, Stanford shot 30 for 61 while holding the Fighting Saints to just 14 field goals on 57 shots. Carroll College managed only 18 points in the first half, and a mere 5 over the first ten minutes of the game.

“It affords us an opportunity to look at some different line-ups,” said Dawkins. “Some chemistry issues, making connecting plays, sharing the ball. Those are things you can work on no matter the competition. We knew Carroll College was going to compete. We got off to such a good start I think it changed the game right away.”

Pickens went 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-5 from beyond the 3 point line. He hit 3 of 4 free throws for his 18 points over 26 minutes.

“We have a lot of belief in Dorian,” said Dawkins. “We have a lot of belief in what he’s capable of. I still think he’s not where he’s going to be as a player. I think he’s going to be a heck of a scorer. He’s not just a shooter. If you’ve watched him play enough you can see he’s driving to the basket, he’s got a midrange game.”

Sheffield went 4 of 8 from the field with a pair of treys to give the blue-chip recruit 10 points.

“I’m feeling good about it,” said Sheffield. “I played pretty well thanks to my coaches and teammates putting me in the right position to score.”

Marcus Allen scored his 15 on 7 field goals out of 13 attempts while Rosco Allen scored his on just 5 field goals. The Hungarian hit 4 of Stanford’s 15 free throws in 22 trips to the charity stripe.

“You can never have too many guys doing that,” said Dawkins when asked about his four players cracking double-digits despite not having Travis. “What we talk about is what you do through adversity. Most teams are going to face it, you’re going to go through it. We’ve faced quite a bit of it this year. I‘ve been asked who is going to step up, who is next. We’re fortunate that we’ve had guys fill the void there.”

With early season injuries to Robert Cartwright, Reid Travis and Marcus Allen sidelining the team out the gate, Dawkins is still pleased with how his team has handled the early adversity.

“We’ve had a heck of a preseason,” said Dawkins. “We’ve played a lot of tough teams throughout the preseason. That was good for us. We didn’t finish with the record we wanted but we’re moving in the right direction.”

The right direction would mean wins over Utah and Colorado at home to wrap up the current 7-game homestand with a 6-1 record and two conference wins. That will be no small task for the Cardinal in a tough Pac-12.

“The conference had a great preseason,” said Dawkins of the Pac-12’s non-conference slate. “I’ve been here 8 years and I think this is the best start our conference has had in the preseason. We’ve always been a good conference. We’ve had parity, I think you’ll see that again this season. We’ve had some teams with some marquee wins out of conference, Utah being one of them. We expect a team to come in with a lot of confidence.”

Matt also does Stanford podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com