Author: Matthew Harrington

Milestones Galore for Marleau in Sharks 4-2 Win Over Ducks

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sfgate.com photo: The San Jose Sharks Patrick Marleau gets congratulations after scoring in the second period of Monday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center in San Jose

By Jerry Feitelberg

It’s a shame Patrick Marleau didn’t pick a song for the first game the San Jose Sharks decided to use individual player songs, because he’d have a nice personal soundtrack to a few NHL milestones. Marleau scored a pair of goals in the Sharks 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in a return to action following the All-star break, moving into the top 25 all-time in goals and top-50 in points.

Stefan Noesen scored a pair of goals for the Sharks as well, and Erik Karlsson dished his 600th career point on an assist, but the night belonged to Marleau. He became just the 4th player all time with 22 consecutive 10+ goal seasons, joining Gordie Howe, Mark Messier and Alex Delvecchio. He also netted his 1,100th and 1,101st points in San Jose teal and picked up career game-winning goal 101 as a Shark (109 in total).

It was Stefan Noesen who opened the scoring for the Sharks on a deflection 1:55 into the game but Marleau’s veteran savvy led to the Sharks’ next strike. Marleau picked off an errant Ducks pass in the slot before beating John Gibson for his 9th goal of the year.

It was also Marleau’s 650th career goal, moving him into a tie with Guy LaFleur for 26th place all time in goal scoring. The goal was also Marleau’s 1,100th as a Shark and tied him with Rod Brind’Amour for 50th all-time in points with 1,184.

Ondrej Kase scored the first of the Ducks goals short-handed 9:04 into the second, but Marleau responded on a wrist shot with 4:28 left in the 2nd to move past LaFleur and Brind’Amour for his place in history. By edging past LaFleur. Marleau found himself moving further up the ladder. His second goal places him in 25th place, tied with Mike Modano’s 651 career tucks.

It also put him in the company of the aforementioned Hall of Famers by having 22 double-digit goal total seasons.

Noesen scored his 2nd goal of the game 2:28 into the third, with Erik Karlsson assisting for his 600th career point. A late power play goal by the Nick Ritchie of the Ducks soured an otherwise strong showing from Aaron Dell who made 26 saves on the night.

The Sharks look to continue the second half push against the team that smoked them heading into the All-star break when the Vancouver Canucks come to the Bay Area Wednesday night.

 

Without Couture Sharks Beat Blazing Blue Jackets 3-1

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sfgate.com photo: San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) skates with the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (44) and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE–Despite missing their captain and top line center, the San Jose Sharks (20-22-4) managed to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 Thursday night at the SAP center.

Joe Thornton scored a power play goal and Kevin Labanc and Brent Burns tallied even-strength markers for San Jose. Aaron Dell made 30 saves to pick up his 7th win of the season, only giving up a goal to Sonny Milano off a turnover in an otherwise stellar showing.

Columbus (21-16-8) has only lost two games in regulation over their last 16 games, but both the losses in regular time are at the hands of the Sharks. San Jose also beat the Blue Jackets 3-2 in Columbus last Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the Sharks announced Logan Couture would be out for at least 6 weeks after fracturing his ankle in a game against the St. Louis Blues. For all the doom and gloom that came with the Sharks looking at substantial time without their lone All-Star this year, Thursday didn’t feel like the beginning of the end. Instead, San Jose looked energized to try to build momentum while awaiting his return.

The Sharks fired 33 shots on netminder Elvis Merzlikins and even managed to pick up a power play goal despite missing Couture from the top power play unit. Kevin Labanc, one of the forwards who will be expected to step up and help shoulder the offensive load, started his two-point night by scoring off a rebound 1:01 into the 2nd period.

Later in the period, Joe Thornton scored a very un-Jumbo goal on the power play. With the umbrella shifting, Thornton found himself at the point with the puck. Barclay Goodrow was providing the perfect screen, so the model of the paradigm of pass-first decided instead to shoot the puck. Thornton’s shot beat Merzlikins up high for a 2-0 Sharks lead with 6:32 left in the middle period.

Late in the second, Brent Burns was dogged by Gustav Nyquist and chose to clear the puck out of his corner by wheeling it back up the middle. He didn’t feel the pressure from Milano crashing in while being dogged by his former teammate, so he turned the puck over to Milano right in the slot. Milano dodged the Dell poke check and slipped the puck in the net to ruin Dell’s shutout.

Burns atoned later in the game, scoring a backhand goal of his own off a rebound of a Kevin Labanc shot 2:09 into the 3rd. Labanc picked up an assist for a two-point night and the Sharks held the Blue Jackets scoreless over the remainder of the game to win their first game without their team leader in points.

Saturday night the Sharks welcome back a familiar face to the Shark Tank, with another former captain Joe Pavelski making his first appearance in San Jose since signing with the Dallas Stars in the offseason. Patrick Marleau will be appearing in career game 1,700.

Missed Opportunity Costly in Sharks 3-2 Loss to Coyotes, Hall has Game-Winning Assist in Arizona Debut

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Photo credit: @ArizonaCoyotes

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — Despite fresh faces behind the bench drawing up the plays, the San Jose Sharks power play remains dismal. On Tuesday night, it hit the low point of the season against the Arizona Coyotes. Trailing 3-2 at home, the Sharks were gifted a 6-on-3 for 43 seconds after a pair Coyotes penalties and the goalie pull but failed to generate a single shot on goal. San Jose is now 1 for 15 on the man-advantage over their last five games, going 0-for-4 Tuesday with three shots on goal. Tomas Hertl scored the two Sharks goals and Taylor Hall netted a point in his Coyotes debut. Darcy Keumper was named first star with 26 saves.

In a night where officiating was spotty, enforcement of a rule new to the NHL in 2019 that is fairly black-and-white led to the first Arizona penalty in crunch time. Coyotes defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin had his helmet knocked off in a scrum along the boards, but continued to play on after the puck left the corner. In a new rule this season, since he was not directly involved in the play he needed to grab his helmet or exit the ice but he chose to play on. Brad Richardson would cross-check Tomas Hertl in the back during a scrum for a loose rebound to set up the fatal 6-on-3 that ultimately amounted to nothing.

The Coyotes set up a tense final minutes of the game after Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored with 2:37 left in regulation after his shot ricocheted off Brenden Dillon’s shinpad wide of the far post and went in. Before that, Dillon was beat out on a race to a loose puck by Hall whose effort led to a game-winning assist in his first game since being traded to Arizona Monday afternoon.

The Sharks erased Arizona leads twice, once in the first two periods each. Carl Soderberg scored 4:57 into the contest, but Tomas Hertl answered back on a snapshot that rattled around the net behind Keumper with 2:34 left in the first.

Derek Stepan scored his sixth goal of the year and second against the Sharks this year 9:11 into the second, but Hertl again answered, going bar down on Kuemper from the left face-off dot to the blocker side with 6:05 left in the period. Hertl now has four of the seven goals the Sharks have scored since interim head coach Bob Boughner took over three games ago.

Aaron Dell started in his second game in a row after winning against Vancouver Saturday. He made just 16 saves on 19 shots, though he was hardly at fault on any of the goals. The Sharks now have lost 7 of their last 8 and are six points back of Calgary for the final wild card spot.

The Sharks play host to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at 7:30 pm PST.

Sharks Lose Boughner’s Debut 6-3; Make that six consecutive winless games

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

Meet the new Sharks, same as the old Sharks. In their first game since the firing of Peter DeBoer and a number of other coaching staff moves, the San Jose Sharks still ran into familiar problems of an ineffective power play and subpar goaltending in a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers.

Artemi Panarin scored a hat trick for the Blue Shirts, Mika Zibanejad added a pair and the Rangers had 30 shots to just 18 for San Jose in Bob Boughner’s debut behind the San Jose bench. Tomas Hertl scored playing a hybrid wing-center position, Logan Couture netted a goal and Brenden DIllon scored his first goal in over a year, but the Sharks fell to 0-5-1 over their last six games and now sit five points out of a playoff spot. Joachim Blichfield made his NHL debut and Joe Thornton appeared in NHL career game 1,6000.

Dillon’s goal broke a 2-2 tie 4:12 into the third period and felt like it would be the deciding goal that would spark a Sharks turnaround, but Zibanejad used a Chris Kreider screen on a Rangers power play to tie the game 8:49 into the period. A lackluster defensive effort that saw two Rangers slip behind Sharks defenders for a gigantic screen on Sharks goalie Martin Jones led to another Zibanedjad strike about five minutes later for a 4-3 Rangers lead.

Jones would most likely want the Rangers next goal back as he pulled off his left post with Panarin nearly on the goal line to that side. An all-world sniper, Panarin made Jones pay for the early release from the post with 3:11 left in regulation. He scored on the empty net as well for his 18th of the year and the hat trick to complete a four-goal Rangers third period.

The early response from the Sharks seemed to be a change for the better. Tomas Hertl opened the game scoring first 9:13 into the first period, something the Sharks were having trouble with this season. Jesper Fast and Panarin (another goal Jones would want back after leaving his five-hole unguarded on a lateral push) would score in the second period, but Logan Couture answered back with his 10th goal of the year. San Jose didn’t capitalize though on two power plays, and only mustered 18 shots on the Rangers backup goalie, spelling doom in Boughner’s home debut as Sharks head coach.

The picture of how the Sharks will respond to their coach’s firing may get more clear Saturday night when they take on the Vancouver Canucks. By then, the team should be adjusted to life under four new coaches and systems might be better installed. For now, though, Sharks fans have to continue to settle for a night of unmatched expectations.

Sharks Stumble Against NHL-Best Caps, Lose 5-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE–After a torrid stretch of November, the San Jose Sharks December has been a good reminder of how difficult it is to win in the NHL. Tuesday night, the Sharks were visited by the NHL leaders the Washington Capitals (20-4-5) and despite Alexander Ovechkin being held pointless, the Caps still crushed the Sharks 5-2.

San Jose (15-13-1) opened the scoring, but three Washington goals in three minutes swung momentum in a hurry. The Caps added two more goals before the Sharks could add another for a decisive victory for the 2018 Stanley Cup champs. Norris Trophy frontrunner John Carlson had three points (1g, 2a) and Garnet Hathaway and Jakub Vrana each scored a pair of goals. Martin Jones made 18 saves on 23 shots before being pulled in favor of Aaron Dell. Melker Karlsson had a two point night, scoring and assisting on Evander Kane’s third period goal.

Karlsson beat Braden Holtby for his third goal of the season just 2:33 into play, but Garnet Hathaway scored with 6:29 left in the first to tie the game. No more than 55 seconds later, Vrana found the back of the net for his 13th of the year. Just about two minutes later, Carlson scored his ninth of the year to have the Sharks reeling. Carlson now has 37 points on the season, leading all defensemen and putting him 14 points behind Connor McDavid, the scoring race leader.

Hathaway and Vrana scored again in the second, and Evander Kane scored his team-leading 13th goal in the 13th minute of the third period, but any hopes at a comeback stopped there. In total, Braden Holtby made 23 saves on 25 shots.

The Sharks head to Raleigh Thursday night looking to bounce back against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes will also be trying to rebound after getting shut out by the Boston Bruins in Beantown Tuesday night.

Power Play Power Outage Problematic in Sharks 5-1 Loss to Jets

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photo from sfgate.com: Winnipeg Jets right wing Patrik Laine (29) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks felt the absence of Tomas Hertl especially hard Wednesday night, losing to the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 at home while going 0-for-6 on the power play. Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in a spectacular performance, with only Melker Karlsson solving the one-time Vezina trophy winner. Aaron Dell wasn’t sharp in net, allowing 4 goals on 25 shots, but his defense didn’t do him many favors either, with Winnipeg scoring 5 unanswered goals. Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler all had multi-point nights for the victors.

Melker Karlsson opened the scoring 9:28 into the game, netting his second goal of the year after taking a Joe Thornton feed and beating Hellebuyck for the 1-0 lead, but the Sharks would take their foot off the gas pedal after that.

Patrik Laine (1g, 2a) evened things up on a one-timer with a Shark in the penalty box with 6:45 left to play in the period, then Dell (and Erik Karlsson) were victimized by rookie David Gustafsson. Gustafsson skated right past Karlsson then beat Dell on what could be considered a soft goal 1:51 from the first intermission. Gustafsson’s first NHL goal pulled the Jets ahead 2-1.

San Jose didn’t do itself any favors early in the 2nd period when Mark Scheifele was left unmarked in the slot. Kyle Connor connected with him for the point-blank chance, which Scheifele buried for his 9th goal of the year. Jack Roslovic chipped a rebound home with 4:59 left in the second to give Winnipeg the 4-1 edge and Kyle Connor scored the empty-netter with 5:13 left in the game for the 5-1 final.

The Sharks power play, despite a number of opportunities without linchpin Tomas Hertl in the lineup still recovering from a lower body injury. They barely generated any shots on goal, accounting for 8 over the 6 man advantages. Even dressing 7 defensemen, a tactic that had been successful in some of the previous games, didn’t help things click. The Sharks will hope to have Hertl back for the Black Friday matinee against the Los Angeles Kings, a team the Sharks had beat Monday night in LA after originally blowing a 3-0 lead.

 

 

Sharks’ Six-Game Win Streak Snapped, Oilers Top San Jose 5-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks six-game win streak was snapped Tuesday night, and done so in emphatic fashion by the Pacific Division leaders. The Edmonton Oilers came in to the SAP Center and outclassed the Sharks in almost every aspect of the game, rolling to a 5-2 victory and gaining a bit of revenge for a defeat against the Sharks in San Jose last Tuesday.

Mikael Granlund scored his first goal as an Oiler, Connor McDavid scored and racked up two assists and Leon Draisaitl added to his league-leading 44 points with an apple Kevin Labanc and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks, who failed to move into a winning record for the first time all season.

Granlund put the Sharks on their heels early when he scored on a wrister just 3:34 into the first period, and just under eight minutes in Kassian picked up his eighth goal of a year where he has the greatest job in hockey on a line with McDavid and Draisaitl. McDavid Assisted on the play.

Kevin Labanc continued his strong stretch of play, picking up his fourth point over the last two games. He beat Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen 1:24 after Kassian’s marker to pull the Sharks within one. Logan Couture and Evander Kane assisted on the goal.

The Sharks peppered Koskinen in the first, putting 18 pucks on the keeper, but couldn’t crack the Oilers 1B option in net. Add in a Jujhar Khaira goal with 15 seconds left in the period and the Sharks hole to climb out of seemed pretty deep.

They largely weathered the storm of the 2nd until a Oilers powper play with just under three minutes left in the middle stanza. James Neal continued his resurgence, tipping a puck through Martin Jones for a 4-1 Oilers lead with McDavid picking up his 28th assist of the year. McDavid would add his 15th goal of the year 6:34 into the third.

Barclay Goodrow continued his strong season, scoring his 6th goal of the year with 10:17 left in regulation. He’s now one goal away from matching a career-high in seven, a feat he accomplished twice in his career including doing it in 47 games in 2017-18. He’s currently played in 22. While he didn’t make the save here, Koskinen did end the night with 33 denials. Though Martin Jones’ save percentage (.828) and goal total don’t look good for this one, he was hardly at fault for the Oilers offensive outburst.

The Sharks three-game home stand comes to an end, and the real test on if the team has turned a corner awaits. San Jose heads to Vegas to face the Golden Knights Thursday in the Fortress, with Vegas and San Jose jockeying for sixth place in the Pacific.

Sharks Pass Another Test, Win 4th Straight Over Division Leading Oilers 6-3

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mercurynews.com photo: San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) fights against Edmonton Oilers’ Brandon Manning (26) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019

By Jerry Feitelberg

If you’re looking for a definitive statement that the San Jose Sharks have officially hit their stride after an abysmal start, Tuesday night was perfect proof. The Sharks manhandled the Pacific Division leading Edmonton Oilers 6-3. 13 different Sharks had a point, with  goals coming from six different players. Martin Jones made 21 saves, but was beaten by Western Conference scoring leader Leon Draisaitl, linemate Zack Kassian and Sam Gagner. Connor McDavid was held to just one assist. Barclay Goodrow had a Gordie Howe hat trick for San Jose. 

The Sharks started the year 4-10-1 through 15 games, but have won four-straight. Each win in the Streak has been an improvement on the last,with the Sharks beating a Blackhawks team that had an equally difficult start, then barely hung on to win 6-5 against a bad Minnesota Wild squad. The shootout win against Nashville Saturday was impressive, with the Preds firmly in playoff position but the win Tuesday solidified the Sharks as being able to beat good teams handedly, a calling card of past successful iterations of the team teal.

Brent Burns opened the scoring after his shot rang around the inside of the crossbar 4:01 into play, then Evander Kane tapped a rebound home from a Logan Couture shot for his team-leading 11th goal 7:27 in.

Patrick Marleau buzzed by goalie Mike Smith, tipping a Tim Heed shot past the goalie for a 3-0 lead and his first goal of the season not against the Chicago Blackhawks (fourth overall) at the 11:12 mark.

Barclay Goodrow got the toughest leg of the Gordie Howe, scoring his fifth goal of the year 1:26 into the second period. Draisaitl broke up the shutout just under halfway through the game, but the real excitement came later in the middle period.

With a little over five minutes left in the second,Tomas Hertl collided with Oilers wunderkind Connor McDavid, causing the wires to cross in linemate Zack Kassian. Kassian went after Hertl, a scrum ensued and in the aftermath Goodrow wound up dropping the mitts with Matt Benning. Benning also received a game misconduct for not having his fight strap tethered down and Hertl and Kassian got a penalty each.

When Hertl exited the box, he struck gold though. Erik Karlsson found him rushing to the Oilers net front and fired a perfect pass diagonally to Hertl at the goal mouth. While Hertl didn’t get all of the puck, he did get enough of it to slip it through Smith for a 5-1 Sharks lead 17:34 into the period.

Kassian and Sam Gagner scored goals in garbage time in the third, but sandwiched in between Timo Meier scored his fifth goal of the year. Goodrow picked up the secondary assist, netting him his Gordie Howe. 

San Jose hits the road to face the Anaheim Ducks. After that, they’ll return to face the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night at home.

Sharks Hang On In Wild 6-5 Win Over Minnesota

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

First, the positives for the San Jose Sharks after Thursday night’s game at home against the Minnesota Wild: With a 6-5 win, San Jose now has its second multi-game win streak of the season. The negative; it wasn’t all that convincing.

After two periods of play, the Sharks held a commanding lead, but if not for a miraculous toe-save by Martin Jones on Zach Paries the game would have gone to overtime. Lowly Minnesota scored three unanswered goals to make Sharks fans sweat the third period out. Martin Jones made 21 saves on 26 shots and Logan Couture appears to be shaking off an early season funk with just his second goal of the campaign and a confidence building four-point night. Tomas Hertl had three points and Radim Simek picked up his first goal since returning to the Sharks in their previous game.

Eric Staal had a goal and an assist for the Wild and Luke Kunin had two points. Former Shark Alex Stalock made just eight saves on 12 Sharks goals before being pulled after a four-goal first period.

Couture, in the longest scoring slump of his career, opened the scoring 52 seconds into the game, then Timo Meier made the Sharks lead 2-0 just under six minutes in. Marcus Sorensen notched his third goal of the year and Radim Simek scored on a slap shot, all in the final five minutes of the period to run the score up  4-0 after 20 minutes.

Kunin  would score late in the second at the 15:51 mark, but Tomas Hertl’s sixth goal of the season would seemingly give San Jose breathing room on the power play. The second closed out with a flurry though as Staal and Evander Kane traded power play goals in the final 2+ minutes for the 6-2 Sharks edge.

Brad Hunt’s wrist shot 8:07 into the third cut the Sharks lead in half, then 1:13 later Ryan Donato’s 1st goal of the year made it 6-4. Jason Zucker’s 5th goal of the season with 4:35 left in regulation cut the lead to just one, and a turnover that led to a Zach Parise one-on-zero seemed like it’d tie the game.

A down but not out Jones made the save and his defenders cleared the puck and a mad dash with the extra attacker for Minnesota proved for naught as the Sharks held on for the win. They’ll look to match a season-high win streak of three games when they take the ice Saturday at home against the Nashville Predators.

Sharks Snap Five Game Skid, Beat Hawks 4-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Sports Radio Service Staff writers 

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks snapped their five-game losing skid Tuesday night, largely dominating the Chicago Blackhawks in a 4-2 win at SAP Center. Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier had a goal and an assist apiece. Patrick Marleau scored in his 800th consecutive regular season game played and Evander Kane potted his team-leading 9th goal short-handed and San Jose limited Chicago to just 21 shots on goal (8 through 40 minutes). Barclay Goodrow had a pair of assist for the Sharks and Brandon Saad and Duncan Keith scored for Chicago.

The Sharks were shut out by the reigning Vezina trophy winner Robin Lehner after firing 14 shots on net in the first, though the defense was stout in only yielding three shots that Martin Jones turned aside handily. Then San Jose got on the board early in the 2nd period. Marleau tipped a Puck past Lehner 1:39 into the middle frame, deflecting a Timo Meier shot in net for his 554th career goal. Joe Thornton also assisted on the Iron man’s marker.

Evander Kane would take advantage of a lax Chicago power play unit after Brenden Dillon fed him the puck. The power forward finished off the play, scoring his team-leading 9th goal 12:05 into the frame.

Tomas Hertl made it 3-0 in the third, taking a Barclay Goodrow pass and wristing it past Lehner 4:39 into the period.

Brandon Saad and Duncan Keith beat Jones within minutes of each other, turning a 3-0 deficit to a one-goal margin with 1:54 in regulation, but Meier found the empty net to ice the game at the 18:34 mark.

Defenseman Radim Simek skated in his first NHL game since suffering a lower body injury March 12th of last season in Winnipeg. He didn’t register a point but made an impact, including a thunderous hit on Kirby Dach in the first period. The Sharks hope he has the same impact he had upon joining the lineup last year. The Sharks went 16-3-2 over his first 21 games of his rookie season. He’ll get another crack when the Sharks host the Minnesota Wild Thursday night at 7:30 PM PST.