Author: Matthew Harrington

Wiggins double-double Downs Kings

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo Timberwolves Andrew Wiggins passes past Kings Ben McLemore

The Sacramento Kings nearly overcame a dominant performance by the NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year, but instead Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves took the 99-95 victory at home Friday night.

Despite holding the Timberwolves to only one basket on their first 10 shots in the fourth, the Kings (10-16) couldn’t complete the comeback in the fourth quarter. They trailed 83-77 but held Minnesota to only one basket in the first 7 minutes of the final quarter then pulled ahead 90-89 with 3:03 left to play. Wiggins and Spaniard Ricky Rubio combined for 10 points down the stretch on one field goal and 8 free throws. The Kings only scored 5 points to end up on the losing end and give Minnesota (10-16) just its second win in the last 10 games.

Wiggins collected a game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds to notch the double-double while passing out 6 assists. Kings center DeMarcus Cousins grabbed a double-double of his own with 24 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo returned from his suspension for using a gay slur against referee Bill Kennedy, who later announced he is gay. The Kings guard scored 11 points with 13 assists for his double-double.

Things don’t get any easier for the Kings. They face the Toronto Raptors Sunday afternoon in the North.

Cardinal Exorcises Blue Demons, Avenges Last Season’s Loss to DePaul

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: AP photo of Stanford’s Marcus Sheffield taking a shot against DePaul Tuesday night

STANFORD, Calif. –It was about as perfect as it could get for Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins and the Cardinal Tuesday night at Maples Pavilion. In beating the visiting DePaul Blue Demons 79-60, the Cardinal checked off a number of boxes on its holiday list.

First there was stout defense, then there was scoring from someone without the last name Allen. Mix in some steals and a couple three-pointers and Stanford (5-3) had its best victory of the year heading into a Saturday match-up with a Texas Longhorn team fresh off an upset over North Carolina.

“A big thing for us this year is ‘together’,” said sophomore Dorian Pickens on his team’s scoring depth Tuesday. “We have a really deep team. Everybody comes into the game ready to make contributions offensively and defensively.”

The Cardinal never trailed in the contest, scoring the game’s first basket 23 seconds into the contest and rode 7 made treys and 8 steals in the first half, both breaking single-game highs this year in just 20 mins. Stanford outscored DePaul 39-24 in first half after limiting the Blue Devils to just 36 percent shooting.

“I thought our first half defense was as good as it’s been all year,” said Dawkins. “Our guys did a really good job of making it difficult. We were playing as one out there on the floor.

Stanford stumbled a bit in the second half, allowing the visitors to hit 51.7 percent of their shots but still built as much as a 23-point lead. Senior guard Aaron Simpson scored a team-high 16 points DePaul (5-5).

“There’s always room for improvement,” said junior guard Marcus Allen. “We played well on defensive in the first half. We had a small let-off in the second half. It can always improve.”

Veterans Marcus Allen (17 points, season-high three three-pointers) and Rosco Allen (14 points) got revenge for last season’s 87-72 loss to DePaul in Rosemont on November 30th by leading a Cardinal offense that hit 25-51 field goals. Fellow starter Reid Travis pitched in 12 points and 7 rebounds.

“I am happy that we played a lot better than we played last year,” said Dawkins. “Last year was one of our worst performances. Give them credit, they made us play that way. This year our guys were really focused. They remembered that game. They wanted to do better, and they did.”

Stanford received a boost from reserve Pickens who contributed 16 points off the bench, coming just 4 points shy of his career-high set against Charleston earlier this season. Pickens hit 3 of Stanford’s season-best 10 threes.

“Dorian came in and gave us a lift,” said Dawkins. “Not just because he was scoring, but defensively. He got a lot of deflections that we got steals off of.”

One face that wasn’t a part of last season’s loss was guard hybrid Marcus Sheffield. The freshman scored 9 points over his 12 minutes of play to add to Stanford’s 27 bench points.

“We recruited ‘Sheff’ to be a scorer for us,” said Dawkins. “I think you saw glimpses of what he can do tonight. He can score around the basket, he can step outside and knock down shots. He’s just like any other freshman, he has to get a little stronger. He’s a little bean right now. He needs to get stronger but as he does he’s going to be a terrific player for us.”

Another freshman, Cameron Walker played 11 minutes at point guard.

“The thing I learned about watching Cameron in high school and at practice,” said Dawkins. “He has a unique ability to find guys and get guys the ball. He finds guys very well. He enjoys it more than he enjoys scoring.”

The guard-forward hybrid will get his share of point guard minutes with Robert Cartwright out for the season.

“We looked at it during the summer, during the fall,” said Dawkins of playing Walker at the point. “With Robert going down we look at it as a must now. Putting him there is one of the options. He’s very versatile. He can give you a lot of different positions.”

While the scoring was crucial, so too was Stanford’s ability to force the turnover. The Cardinal managed their best steal total of the season with 13 swipes and 20 turnovers.

“It’s not what we’re known for,” said Dawkins of his team’s double-digit pilfer total. “We’re going to defend you hard but we don’t turn teams over as much. I’ve talked to my guys about being more active, getting hands in the lanes, getting deflections. Tonight it all came together.”

Stanford wasn’t only aggressive on the defensive end, they charged to the basket on offense as well. The Cardinal drew 21 personal fouls and went 19 for 24 from the free throw line.

“We’re a pretty aggressive team, a physical team,” said Dawkins. “I think that combination means there are going to be collisions, there are going to be fouls. Tonight we capitalized on it.”

About the only thing Stanford didn’t capitalize on was turning in a great performance in front of a packed house. While the listed attendance was 4,912, the actual count was much lower. That was due in large part to Stanford having wrapped up the quarter this past week.

“We’re playing a Big East team like DePaul, just like Texas is coming in here,” said Dawkins. “You want to have a great crowd for these games. Our kids work hard. They want people there. We always know Christmas break is tough. Once our students leave campus it becomes harder for us. Hopefully we’ll have a terrific crowd for Texas.”

Sluggish Start Costs Barracuda in 5-0 Loss to Gulls

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: by San Jose Barracuda of Gulls and Barracuda on 12-12-15

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Despite having the advantage of fresh legs, the San Jose Barracuda’s flat start Saturday afternoon against the San Diego Gulls led to a 5-0 loss at the SAP Center. San Diego’s Max Friberg and Mike Sgarbossa had a goal and assist each and Matt Hackett made 32 saves for his first shutout since the 2011-12 season. Barracuda starter Aaron Dell was pulled after allowing 3 goals in the first 6 shots he faced.

“It’s the same (expletive),” said Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. “I don’t know how many out of our first 19, 20 games the first or second shot is going in. Now we’re sitting back going whoa. We’ve got to be better and have better starts.”

“We need some key saves from our goalies,” said Lerg. “It’s not just on them, it’s on us. But that’s one thing, we live or die by our goalies. You’ve seen that in games where we’ve let up a (bad) goal early on and it sucks the life from us.”

Playing in their first game since last Saturday’s 7-6 overtime thriller, the Barracuda (9-9-0-3) found themselves down 3-0 in the opening minutes of play and never recovered. Despite being blanked by Bakersfield 3-0 last night, the Gulls (12-10-0-1) found plenty of offense to distance themselves from San Jose in the standings. San Jose outshot the Gulls 32-26.

“Here’s a team we’re trying to catch,” said Barracuda Roy Sommer. “They played last night. They looked like the fresher team to me.”

Bad puck luck but the Barracuda on their heels early after a harmless play turned into a fluke goal 33 seconds into the game. Gulls forward Max Friberg took a puck from behind the San Jose net and banked it in off Aaron Dell’s body for his 5th goal of the season.

Renowned enforcer Brian McGrattan netted his 4th goal of the season 1:40 later to extend the Gulls lead to 2-0. The Gulls faced little opposition position themselves in the offensive end after Matt Bailey’s drop pass to Shea Theodore from the right face-off dot. Theodore fired a shot that Dell turned aside, but the netfront presence of Kyle Bonis and McGrattan overwhelmed the Barracuda defense. Bonis chipped the rebound to McGrattan for the tap-in tally.

The scuffling start went from bad to worse for the Barracuda 5:42 into the 1st period when again they failed to protect the blue paint. With Barclay Goodrow in the box for tripping, a Gull shot off the crossbar from Nick Ritchie deflect off Dell and into a scrum in front. From there Michael Sgarbossa was able to convert on his 4th goal of the season.  Dell was replaced by Troy Grosenick following the third Gulls goal after just 3 saves on 6 shots.

“You can say it’s on him and it’s on us,” said Sommer of his starter. “One of these guys needs to step up.”

After a listless 1st period, the Barracuda upped the energy level in the second period. They managed to maintain possession more frequently in the 2nd, resulting in the better of the scoring opportunities. San Jose did just about everything but score in the period, peppering Gulls netminder Matt Hackett with 14 shots.

“We had some good zone time,” said Sommer. “But we didn’t get anything out of it. We needed to bury them. We had a couple where we had second, third chances and didn’t get it done.”

After replacing Dell with Grosenick, the Barracuda outshot San Diego 22-13. San Diego was also held scoreless in the 2nd.

“I don’t even know if they played in our end that period,” said Lerg. “(Grosenick) made two saves. Other than that, we were all over them. We had some really good chances. It’s frustrating. They’re not going in. That’s part of the game though.”

A quick strike in the 3rd period zapped the momentum from San Jose. On just the second shot of the period, Stefan Noesen netted his first goal of the season, beating Grosenick 59 seconds into the final period. Sgarbossa assisted on the goal. Jiri Sekac, loaned by the Anaheim Ducks to the Gulls on a conditioning stint, added a goal with 7:55 left.

The Gulls weren’t the only team with a skater on a conditioning stint from the parent club. Sharks forward Ben Smith skated with the Barracuda Saturday, forming a line with one-time Shark Bryan Lerg and Jeremy Langlois. Smith was a -3 and managed 2 shots on goal.

“It was nice to be back in a game,” said Smith, who hasn’t played in a game since October 16th. “It was nice to warm up and go out and play. That’s not the way I wanted it to go but that’s my first game in 6 or 7 weeks. I definitely left a lot there to build on.”

Smith’s arrival and a promotion for Ryan Carpenter forced the Barracuda to juggle lines one game after Sommer found magic with a grouping of Barclay Goodrow, Petter Emanuelssson and Carpenter. Micheal Haley took Carpenter’s spot on the line to let Smith skate with Lerg’s line.

“They had a couple bang-bang plays,” said Sommer on his captain’s line. “They had a couple point blankers he stopped.”

“They’re all fast and they all make plays,” added Sommer. “They should be able to get something done at this level.”

San Jose will hope to find some chemistry on the road with a game Sunday afternoon against the Ontario Reign. After that, they’ll travel to San Diego for a tilt with the Gulls Friday night.

“We don’t have a lot of time to think about it,” said Sommer. “We’re facing the best team in the league tomorrow. We better start better than we did tonight.”

Goodrow Completes Hat Trick in OT, Barracuda Best Condors 7-6

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks woes early in the season were based off their poor starts, allowing the first goal in a majority of games to fall behind early. For their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, the problem seems to be in a reverse.

“I don’t think we play well with the lead,” said Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg. “That’s something that needs to be addressed.”

One night after taking a 3-1 lead in the first period then having to guard a one-goal lead down the final minutes of the contest, the Barracuda again found themselves up big early but barely holding on for a 7-6 win against Bakersfield (9-9-1-1) in overtime Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

“It’s nice to see the team find a way to win,” said Lerg. “We need the points. Yesterday wasn’t very good but we found a way to win. It was the same today.”

Barclay Goodrow scored a hat trick and Petter Emanuelsson netted a pair of goals to move San Jose (9-8-0-3) a game over the .500 win percentage. Mark Cundari and Daniel Doremus each had a goal and assist each, but the Barracuda allowed 3 consecutive goals to the Condors in the 2nd period. The Barracuda scored to take the lead late heading into the 3rd, but twice Bakersfield tied the contest up.

“We had one line that was good tonight,” said Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. “It basically won us the hockey game.”

With the Barracuda’s first period salvo of goals, it was hard to believe the Condors ever led in the contest, but Bakersfield nabbed the first goal of the game short-handed.

Working to set up the umbrella in the offensive end, Mark Cundari fumbled the puck in his skates which allowed Condors forward Josh Currie to skate the other way on a breakaway. Currie, playing with Bakersfield on a professional try-out contract, beat Barracuda netminder Troy Grosenick for the first of many goals 3:29 into the game.

“For a team that scored first, we shrugged it off and went after them,” said Sommer. “We hung in there.”

Emanuelsson’s first goal of the game and first goal since last October tied the score up 8:14 into the 1st period on a heady play in the offensive end. A Condor forward looking to break the puck out of his own end dropped the puck along the half-wall to what he thought was his defenseman. Instead, the Swedish import plucked the puck off the wall and beat Ben Scrivens for his first goal of the season.

“He’s a good player,” said Goodrow of his linemate. “He’s got a great shot. It wasn’t like he wasn’t getting chances. He’s getting shots, sometimes you just don’t get those bounces. The tide has turned for him. I’m looking forward to him getting on a roll these next few games.”

After Doremus potted a rebound past Scrivens’ toe flick 1:15 later for a 2-1 lead, Emanuelsson would step up again on the forecheck. This time Emanuelsson was able to fight through the Condors defense and work himself behind Scrivens’ net. From Gretzky’s office Emanuelsson skated to the netminders blocker side, jamming the puck home for his first career two-goal game in North America. Linemate Ryan Carpenter picked up the assist on Emanuelsson’s strike 11:25 into the period.

“Our line kept at it again,” Said Goodrow. “Once Petter got that first one, he kept on rolling. I told him after he got that first one that the flood gates are open. Then he got another one. We we’re rolling.”

Emanuelsson missed most of last season with a shoulder injury and now looks more comfortable on the ice.

“Last year was tough,” said Emanuelsson. “I had two big surgeries. So I still have to be patient and go day-to-day at practice and give it time.”

“He’s been out over a year,” said Sommer. “I don’t think he really trusted his shoulders yet to see if they’d hold up. Now that he knows that they do good things are going to happen for him. This is the way he’s capable of playing.”

Cundari atoned for his flub in the first period to cap the 1st period barrage and chase Scrivens from the contest. The offensive defenseman ripped a shot from below the face-off circle that hit just inside the top right corner of the goal before flying back out. After a brief official review, the Barracuda were awarded the 4-1 lead with 3:42 left in the period.

After holding an 11-10 shooting edge in the 1st frame, the Barracuda slipped into an offensive funk in the 2nd. The Condors outshot San Jose 13-6 and scored three-straight goals from Matthew Ford, Bogdan Yakimov and Currie’s 2nd of the game to tie the contest 4-4.

“They kept coming,” said Lerg of Bakersfield, who played last night then bused up to San Jose overnight. “Give them credit. They didn’t let back. When it was 4-1 they could have rolled over.”

Barclay Goodrow mustered a response for the Barracuda, scoring just 2:03 from the 2nd intermission for his 5th point in two days. Cundari was rushing up the ice and dropped the puck to Goodrow. The puck was intercepted on a Condor poke check, but Goodrow was able to chip the puck towards the net and the juggle it before positing it behind new Condor goalie Laurent Brossoit for a 5-4 lead.

Bakersfield tied the game 7:53 into the third after Ford’s rebound redirection found the back of the net, but Goodrow again had the response 3:56 away from the end of regulation. Goodrow took a bounce off Brossoit’s pad on a Carpenter shot from the right side and ripped it under the goalie’s armpit to take the 6-5 lead.

Bakersfield again responded though, with Andrew Miller scoring as Brossoit was skating to the Condor bench for the extra attacker with 1:26 left. Neither team scored in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.

“It’s great to be up in these games, but you can’t sit back,” said Lerg. “Everyone has to keep pushing. Don’t play to hang on, play to win.”

From there, Goodrow stepped up. Just 27 seconds into overtime, the 22 year-old delivered, beating Brossoit for the hat trick goal and the two points.

“It’s nice to contribute, said Goodrow. “It’s good to help the team win and be one of the guys the team looks towards to score some goals and be counted on defensively.”

Since being demoted from the Sharks almost one month to the game, Goodrow has scored 8 goals and picked up 14 points in 13 games. In the two wins this weekend, he collected 7 total points on 4 goals and 3 assist.

“That’s what they saw in him,” said Sommer on why the Sharks signed the undrafted Goodrow. “That’s why he was so sought after in juniors. It’s taken him a while to get his feet under him with the whole thing of getting sent down. But it’s how you respond.”

The two-win weekend comes at an opportune time for the Barracuda. They have the week off before facing the San Diego Gulls next Saturday afternoon at home.

“We’re a resilient group,” said Goodrow. “We knew how important these last two games were standings wise. We don’t play again till Saturday. You don’t want a sour taste in your mouth for the next 5 or 6 days of practice. You want to go out on a winning note.”

 

Early Goals, Dell’s 43 Saves Give Barracuda 5-3 Win over Heat

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: SJ Barracuda-Barracuda celebrate win over heat Fri 12-4-15

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Barracuda managed to collect a point in a third-straight contest against their Northern California rivals the Stockton Heat Friday night at the SAP Center. Both teams pummeled each other on the ice in a feisty showdown, but the Barracuda hit Stockton where it hurts most; the scoreboard.

“We did what we needed to do,” said Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. “We got the start we wanted, we got some goals.”

San Jose rode a three-goal first period to douse the Heat 5-3 at home. Barclay Goodrow had a goal and three assists, Ryan Carpenter added to his team-leading 12 assists with a pair of assists and a goal and linemate Petter Emanuelsson added a pair of helpers to give San Jose (8-8-0-3) 5 of a total 6 points against the AHL opponent closest in proximity to San Jose. Barracuda goalie Aaron Dell made 43 saves in a stellar outing that saw Stockton (6-8-0-2) outshoot the home team 46-18.

“You feel it early,” said Dell. “You get a couple good shots, you get comfortable. There’s not a lot of time where you’re just sitting there. You get in a rhythm. It’s a comfort level. I felt good. I had a lot of help tonight, got some goals and some blocked shots at the end where we needed them.”

The play skewed towards the physical early and often, as evidenced by a pair of fights in the opening period by San Jose defenseman Gus Young and Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg. While cooler heads prevailed after the first pair of donnybrooks, the two still combined for 38 penalty minutes.

San Jose alternate captain John McCarthy got some sweet revenge to open the game, scoring right as a penalty he drew expired. The Andover, MA native was chasing a loose puck but was ridden into the boards by Stockton’s Pat Sieloff a step before the puck, sending the Heat forward to the box for two minutes for interference. While San Jose didn’t score on the man advantage, nine seconds later McCarthy flicked a backhander in the crease over Heat netminder Joni Ortio to give the Barracuda a 1-0 lead 3:09 into the game.

“I didn’t think (Nikita Jevpalov and Nikolai Goldobin) played very well tonight,” said Sommers on McCarthy’s linemates. “McCarthy was very good. He was basically bailing them out.”

The second Barracuda goal of the period, a rebound tip-in by Carpenter, did come with a Heat player in the box. With defenseman Oliver Kylington in the box for holding, Carpenter worked himself into the perfect position to knock home a rebound from a Mirco Mueller shot just under five minutes into the game for his second point of the night.

“He was on the puck, around the puck,” said Sommer of Carpenter. “That line played like they were supposed to. They played pretty heavy.”

Despite mustering only 9 shots on goal in the first, San Jose found itself up 3-0 after Julius Bergman netted his second goal of the season 3:09 away from the first intermission. Bergman again scored on a rebound after Barclay Goodrow fed the perfect cross-ice pass to Petter Emanuelsson. Emanuelsson’s one-timer landed in Bergman’s lap for the rebound goal.

“It was nice to take the pressure off,” said Dell on the early goal support. “I got to ease into the game. It’s nice to have a lead to start off.”

“Getting those two early on was big for us,” said Goodrow. “After that we worked down low, worked on getting pucks to the net and we were rewarded for it tonight.”

Stockton answered back 14 seconds later after Kenny Agostino beat Dell for his second goal of the season, with both coming against the Barracuda. The Heat nearly added another in the waning moments of the period but Dell made a skidding save from his belly to hold Stockton to 1 goal on 12 shots.

Goodrow picked up his third point of the game in the second period. After assisting on McCarthy and Bergman’s tallies, the 22 year-old netted a goal of his own. Goodrow camped out in the crease, tucking home a loose puck off a Carpenter shot. Goodrow has scored 5 goals in 12 games since being demoted to the Barracuda from the Sharks November 4th.

“It’s at the point where I’m passed the adjustment phase,” said Goodrow, who played for the first time on a line with Emanuelsson and Carpenter. “It got to a point where I realized I wasn’t playing to how I wanted. In the last couple games I’ve played better. I’m looking forward to getting better going forward.”

Agostino tortured the Barracuda again with 28 seconds left in the 2nd. Like a number of San Jose’s goals, Agostino’s was the result of crashing the net and positioning himself in the crease.  He guided a Garnet Hathaway shot back Dell to cut the lead in half 4-2 heading into the 2nd intermission. Former Shark Freddie Hamilton picked up assists on both Agostino goals.

Dell appeared to have the game on lock in the final period despite seeing 21 shots, but Aaron Johnson managed to sneak one past Dell with 3:37 left in regulation to set up a tense final moments. The Barracuda iced the game with an empty net goal by Jeremy Langlois with 13 seconds left.

“It’s always good to get a win,” said Carpenter. “But I don’t think we were too happy with how we finished the game. They took it to us in the second half. You could see it from the shots on goal. We want to have a good start. You have to play 60 minutes.

While San Jose still has 9 games remaining with Stockton, the rivalry will be put on hold until the next meeting between both teams. For now, the Barracuda will turn their attention to the Bakersfield Condors. The Condors roll into town for a Saturday matinee at SAP which will see the Barracuda don their ugly sweater jerseys.

“We’ll hopefully bring the start we had tomorrow and keep it through all 60,” said Carpenter.

Pens Puck Luck Bounces Sharks 5-1

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Despite a woeful record, the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that boasts an offense that can hurt you if they get the right bounces. Tuesday night at the SAP Center, San Jose Sharks netminder Martin Jones and company had their share of bad luck in a 5-1 loss to the Pens. The Penguins picked up their first win in NorCal since 1997.

“You earn your puck luck,” said Sharks winger Tommy Wingels. “Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re not. It happens. We’ve gotten our fair share of the bounces this year so we’ll look to create more opportunities for ourselves.”

“I thought we played pretty well at some times,” said Jones. “We did some good things. It didn’t feel like a 5-1 hockey game.”

While Patrick Marleau scored a power play goal for the surging Sharks special teams unit, the Penguins (14-8-2) countered with goals from every member of their top line. 2003 first round pick Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves to hand the Eastern Conference squad a win over their Western Conference opponents.

“Pittsburgh was hungry tonight,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “You have to give them credit for coming into here and getting the job done.”

Jones surrendered a trio of goals on the unlucky side to put the Sharks (14-10-0) down 3-0 starting with a quick strike just 2:30 into the game.

Pittsburgh left wing Phil Kessel circled behind the net looking for a centering pass. Instead, the puck bounced off Paul Martin’s skate and changed direction to the near post. Jones moved off the right post, having the puck graze off his right pad and in for Kessel’s 8th goal of the season.

“That first one was tough, off my skate,” said Martin. “No excuses, we made some of our own opportunities for chances to score some goals.”

Matt Cullen netted his second goal of the season and the second goal of the game 4:40 into the second period. Defenseman Brian Dumolin fired a slap shot on Jones that the net minder saved away to his right side. Cullen picked up the loose puck right outside the crease, sneaking it past Jones as he switched off his right leg a little early preparing to push to his left.

“It was a couple tough bounces,” said Jones. “That’s the way it goes. In the games sometimes we’ve had some good bounces sometimes. They tend to even out after a while.”

All-World talent Evgeni Malkin made Jones, as he has many a goalie, pay for his over-commitment just under two minutes later. The Russian rocket came skating down the left side of the ice, forcing Jones wide out of his crease. Malkin then circled back to his right, sneaking a puck into the vacant net for his 12th goal of the year.

“I overplayed the shot a little bit,” said Jones. “And he’s a good player that made a nice play to take it out in front of the net.”

While Jones had his share of struggles at one end of the ice, Marc-Andre Fleury continued his season of dominance with a near-perfect performance at the other end. Despite seeing 34 shots, the man known as “Flower” wilted only once. Fleury yielded his share of rebounds, but the Penguins managed to clear out any loose pucks.

The Sharks beat Fleury with their recently red-hot power play. After not scoring a power play marker in the first 8 home games of the season, San Jose has found the back of the net 4 times  with the man advantage over its last 3 games at SAP. Tuesday night it was Patrick Marleau scoring his 10th goal of the season.

With California native Beau Bennett sitting for a roughing penalty, Marleau fired a snap shot past Fleury 4:25 from the second intermission to get San Jose on the board. The Sharks nearly struck twice, after Tommy Wingels crashed the net and poked a loose puck past the Penguins keeper. The referee positioned behind the cage gave the “wash-out” gesture signifying no goal.

“That was a big shift there,” said Wingels. “You think you have a goal, then you don’t. These guys make the calls that they think are right.”

DeBoer challenged the play, but after review it was deemed that there was enough contact by Wingels for the call on the ice to stand.

“That was a critical turning point,” said DeBoer. “We could have gotten rolling there 3-2. We’re still unsure how the decision was made based on my views of it but that’s all part of it.”

“It’s tough,” said Jones. “On video replay it looks different than what the refs see in the game. I don’t think it’s been an issue. We’ve had calls go both ways.”

David Perron iced the game in the third period after San Jose was caught with too many men on the ice. The Pittsburgh forward notched the power play strike 8:42 into the final period. Kessel then potted the empty netter with 4:06 left to play. In total Jones made 24 saves on 28 shots.

“We kept working, we kept battling,” said DeBoer. “The feeling on the bench was, right up until they got the empty netter, we could still get back into the game.”

The Sharks will hope for a rebound by Jones and when they travel to the friendly of the road in Anaheim Friday night then welcome Stanley Cup Finalists Tampa Bay on Saturday hoping for more power plays.

 

Goldobin’s Pair, Bergman’s Late Shoot Down Stars 5-4

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A wild second period pushed the San Jose Barracuda past the Texas Stars Saturday afternoon at the SAP Center. Barracuda forward Nikolai Goldobin scored two of four Barracuda goals in the frame and Ryan Carpenter, John McCarthy and Nikitia Jevpalovs all had a pair of assists to help the Barracuda overcome a 3-1 lead and win 5-4.

“He could have had four or five tonight,” said Barracuda coach Roy Sommer on his star wing’s performance.

“It’s nice to score two goals,” added Goldobin. “I hoped I could score a hat trick. I had a couple chances.”

Julius Bergman answered a late Stars goal with a score of his own in the final minute to give San Jose (7-7-0-3) a win in its first game back after 7-game road trip that saw the Barracuda go 3-2-0-2 and pick up 8 points.

“I think it’s a good sign that our team didn’t fold after they scored with two minutes left,” said McCarthy. “We dug deep and got that last one. That’s a good sign for us.”

Texas (11-8-0-1) landed the first and only strike of the first period on Matej Stransky’s 5th goal of the season with 8:24 left in the opening period, then built a two goal lead on Devin Shore’s Western Conference-leading 14th goal of the season just under 5 minutes into the 2nd.

Barracuda defenseman Joakim Ryan scored his first career professional goal on a point blast past Stars netminder Maxime Lagace at the 9:38 mark of the period, but Texas answered back with a Shore’s second goal of the period just two and a half minutes later to make it 3-1 visitors. Shore took a near end-to-end rush and ripped a backhander around Troy Grosenick to reestablish a two-goal advantage on the power play.

“We talked about it, we didn’t want to get into a footrace with that team,” said Sommer. “They’re one of the highest scoring teams in the league, we’re not. I don’t think very often you come out ahead on those kinds of games.”

While the early going of the 2nd was all Shore and the Stars, Goldobin took over late. The San Jose Sharks 2014 first-round draft pick showed glimmers of his potential as a pure NHL goal scorer, ripping a wrist shot from Lagace’s left hand faceoff circle that beat the Stars goalie on the far post clean with 5:50 left in the second.

“The skill has been there the whole time,” said McCarthy. “It was on display tonight. That’s the biggest thing for him, playing on both sides of the rink. He’s getting there.”

After Shore was sent to the box for delay of game, Goldobin again found the back of the net on a play that displayed his offensive arsenal. Nikita Jevpalovs fired the initial shot that bounced of Lagace’s pads and into a crowd in the crease. From there, alternate captain John McCarthy was able to scoop the puck out of his skates and nudge it to a waiting Goldobin behind the net. Goldobin wrapped the puck around the net for his second of the night and fourth of the season. The Russian’s tally tied the game 2:30 from the second intermission.

“You don’t want to take away his creativity,” said Sommer on what the expectations are from his star winger following a demotion from the Sharks to work on his defensive game. “He’s going to try things other guys won’t. When you try things other guys won’t you’re going to turn pucks over. If you told Joe Thornton to not try to pass through sticks, you’re not going to get much from him. He’s one of those guys that you have to let play and not put too many restrictions on him.”

“I think I just need to score goals and coach will be happy,” said Goldobin. “If I’m going to play in their zone, I don’t have to play defense in their zone.”

Barclay Goodrow gave fans of the parent club confidence, scoring his 4th goal of the season to take the lead with just 10 seconds left in the six-goal second. Petter Emanuelsson wasn’t able to muster the full-strength shot, but his whiff slid right to Goodrow on the far post for the easy tap-in for the goal.

“That was the backbreaker,” said Sommer. “Scoring with ten seconds left. More power to him.”

San Jose appeared poised for the victory in the third period after heading to the 5-on-3 man advantage, but game up empty on both go-arounds. Texas managed to make San Jose pay, finding the back of the net with just under two minutes to play. Esa Lindell picked the puck out of a scrum and lifted a backhander over a prone Grosenick to tie the game.

The resiliency of the Barracuda won out though, with Julius Bergman scoring the game-winner exactly one minute later on a point shot that deflected off a Stars defender.

“We weren’t getting any production on the back end,” said Sommer on Ryan and Bergman both contributing on the blue line. “So I thought it was really good to see.”

McCarthy and Jevpalovs assisted on Bergman’s first career AHL goal.

“It’s not usually three guys you get working together,” said Sommer on the chemistry Jevpalovs, McCarthy and Goldobin have shown over the past three games since forming a line. “It’s usually two guys and an outsider but that line seems to be going well together.”

The Barracuda continue the second game of a two-game set against the Stars tomorrow at SAP looking for the top line to continue to contribute at the pace it is. After that, they’ll continue the five-game homestand with contests against Stockton, Bakersfield and San Diego.

 

Sacramento Kings Monday night game recap: Cousins Sits as Kings Fall Late

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: thebeast980.com Sac Kings DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings had a memorable regulation performance Monday night in Charlotte, but the good feelings evaporated in the overtime period. With DeMarcus Cousins on the bench with back stiffness in the final minutes of regulation, Rajon Rondo connected with Rudy Gay on a buzzer beating inbounds alley-oop to tie the contest at 112-all. Bay Area native Jeremy Lin scored 8 of 15 Hornet points in overtime, while the Cousins-less Kings (5-10) only scored 10 to fall to Charlotte 127-122. T

The Kings led by 11 at 108-97 with just over 5 minutes left in the game after Cousins hit a free throw. That would be the last point the Kings star would score in the contest, exiting the game with 30 points and back pain. From there Hornets guard Kemba Walker performed his trademark clutch run to lead Charlotte (8-6) to the win.

Walker and Nicolas Batum scored 13 of the remaining 15 Hornets points while the Kings managed only two field goals capped by Walker driving to the hoop for a 110-108 lead with .7 seconds left in the game. The Hornets scored 38 points in the fourth quarter to erase a 91-74 deficit after three quarters.

Despite the early exit, Cousins still pieced together a monster effort. The Kings talent notched a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds over 30 minutes of play. Rondo collected his 7th 20 assist game of the season for the league lead and came a pair of rebounds short of the triple-double with 14 points. Gay had 28 points for the Kings, including the game-tying jam with .7 seconds left in the game.

The Kings continue their five-game roadtrip with a stop in Milwaukee for a showdown with the Bucks on the eve of Thanksgiving. By then they’ll know if they’ll be without the services of Cousins as the season progresses, though for the moment it appears Cousins won’t miss significant time. A win against the Bucks would be Sacramento 2-3 since last playing at Sleep Train Arena.

 

Hawks Trump Kings Despite Rondo Triple-Double

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Rajon Rondo notched a triple-double, but the Sacramento Kings couldn’t complete a fourth quarter comeback in Atlanta Wednesday night to snap a three-game win streak. Rondo scored 12 points and DeMarcus Cousins netted a game-high 24 points but the Hawks (9-5) came away with the 103-97 victory at Phillips Arena to put coach George Karl even further under the microscope amidst talk of his disma.

The Hawks led by 11 points with 2:49 left in the game, but the Kings (4-8) went on a 9-0 run capped by Darren Collison’s three to bring the visitors down 99-97. The Hawks closed the game out with the final four points and the W in the win-loss column.

The Kings led 30-27 after the first quarter, but were manhandled by a Hawks offense led by Paul Millsap (23 points, 16 rebounds) and Al Horford (17 points) in the second quarter. At half-time, the Kings trailed 62-52. A strong third period (27 points for, 19 against) helped the Kings pull within two points 81-79 heading into the final 12 minutes.

As a team, the Kings went 38-for-86 from the floor, in line with their season average of 44.2 percent shooting. Led by point guard Rondo’s 12 rebounds and another 12 from Cousins, the Kings out rebounded their hosts 52-45. Sacramento turned the ball over 20 times, while Atlanta coughed the rock up only 11 times.

Rondo went 6 of 9 from the field for his 12 points, dropping 10 times to complete the triple-double. Kostos Koufos pitched in 13 points off the bench and starter Rudy Gay added 14 points of his own.

Sacramento travels further south for game two of a back-to-back to face the Miami Heat Thursday night in South Beach.

Early Deficit Undoes Sharks in Homestand Finale with Islanders

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. –True to recent form, a poor start once again took a bite out of the San Jose Sharks chances for a win Tuesday night at SAP Center. The Sharks (7-8-0) allowed two goals to the New York Islanders in the opening five minutes and never managed to dig themselves out of the quick hole they found themselves in, falling 4-2. Joel Ward and Brent Burns tallied the Sharks goals, while Alex Stalock made 20 saves in a relief appearance. Perennial Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares netted a pair of goals to lead the Islanders (8-5-3) to victory.

“We wanted to get a better start and it just didn’t happen,” said Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski after the game. “A bad bounce or bad change, it happens. You’ve got to fight through it.”

San Jose has now lost 7 of 9 games this season when allowing the opponent to score first. The Sharks scored first in their first 5 games of the season, but have yet to score first in consecutive games since. Over the last 10 games, the Sharks netted the first goal only twice. Their record over the last ten games now stands at 3-7-0.

Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones’ night ended after facing just three shots. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer had seen enough from Jones and opted to pull his netminder for Alex Stalock after goals from John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski in the first 3:30 of play.

“We need a momentum change,” said Jones. “Alex stepped in the last couple games and played great. It’s no fun being pulled but I’m not surprised.”

“You’ve always got to be ready,” said Stalock. “That’s the job of a back-up, injury or change of pace.”

The Islanders captain Tavares struck the opening blow on a rebound of a Brock Nelson shot, the first two shots of the game, at the 36 second mark. Three minutes later, Grabovski managed to turn a defensive zone faceoff into a rush up ice and a wrist shot for his third goal of the season.

“You can give up a bad goal in this league and recover,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “You can’t give up two goals and expect to win.”

Joel Ward regained a stake of the team lead in goals in the second period on a piece of strong forechecking against Travis Hamonic. Ward lifted Hamonic’s stick along the boards, picking the Islander’s pocket before power to the net. The veteran beat former Shark Thomas Greiss in the crease for his 8th goal of the season at the 10:14 mark of the period.

“We got within one, which gives us a chance,” said Pavelski. “But we want to be playing with the lead.”

Despite only cutting the deficit in half, the Sharks second period performance gave plenty of hope to fans and coaches alike. San Jose outshot the Islanders 14-6 in the frame, drawing the 16,558 fans in attendance to a standing ovation following one specific spectacular shift.

All the momentum built up from a strong second was zapped from the building with another quick strike to open the third. Isles defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored his second goal in as many games, rocketing one of his patented slap shots past Stalock clean for a 3-1 lead 45 seconds into the final frame of regulation.

“I thought it was going to hit my pads,” said Stalock. “It’s a bad feeling when you have no sensation of a puck.”

Brent Burns made the game interesting late, taking a Thomas Hertl pass from behind Greiss and slicing it past Greiss pad for his 5th goal of the season with 5:11 left to play. Despite an offensive surge for the Sharks, Greiss managed to hold on for the win following his 34 save effort. John Tavares added an empty net goal to ice the win for New York.

With the Sharks going 1-3 on a recent homestand, they’ll be looking forward to the road. They’ve fared much better away from SAP (4-3) than at home. They’ll open a six-game road trip with back-to-back contests in Detroit Friday night and a meeting with Jack Eichel’s Buffalo Sabres Saturday afternoon. The six city trip will also make stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Notes: The Sharks had one power play on Tuesday and failed to score, running the streak to 21 straight power plays at home without a goal. They have yet to score on the man advantage at home this season…Melker Karlsson returned to action with the Sharks, playing almost 16 minutes and registering 3 shots on goal while primarily playing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. On having Karlsson return to the line-up DeBoer said: “I thought he was good. First game in a long time. You can see that he’s an NHL player. He can help us”.…The loss puts the Sharks below .500 for the first time all season.