Author: smallforce

Panthers score two power-play goals in nine seconds, blowout Sharks 6-2

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks lost for the third time in a row as the Florida Panthers scored six against them as well, in a 6-2 win at BB&T Center Monday.

The Sharks have given up multiple goals on special teams during their skid, this time scoring their fewest on net since December 22.

San Jose also used two goalies for the first time in the stretch. Aaron Dell was brought in for relief of Martin Jones after Frank Vatrano made it 5-2 at 7:22.

Meanwhile, Florida goes into their All-Star break on a three-game upswing.

The Panthers tallied in all three periods, breaking the game open with three goals in the third. San Jose’s Evander Kane commented, “I don’t think we did a good enough job of thinking shot first…nothing was really clean…”

Teammate Joe Pavelski added, “That was the difference, their power play…it just kind of snowballed.” San Jose gave up three to the Florida advantage.

Six different Panthers scored. The top line of Vatrano (three), Aleksander Barkov (three) and Evgenii Dadonov (two) went heavy on the assists.

Timo Meier and Logan Couture provided the main offense for the Sharks. Meier’s goal broke a 17-game goalless drought. Kane replied, “Good for him to go to the dirty areas to get out of that slump.”

Aaron Ekblad scored at 17:21 of the first to put Florida on the board.

Couture tied it up at 4:21 of the second.

San Jose’s lead lasted less than two minutes, as Mike Matheson made it 2-1 at 6:07.

Meier then re-tied the game at 13:20.

The Sharks outshot the Panthers 14-7 in the second, but were outshot 17-8 in the third.

Kane took his second penalty of the night 1:56 into the second, resulting in an extremely costly double minor.

Keith Yandle continued the back-and-forth scoring with the last lead of the game at 2:27.

It was all Florida after that, as Vincent Trocheck scored just nine seconds later. Trocheck continued his successful return from a broken ankle with his second goal in two games and fourth point in the three games since he has been back.

Tension flared as the Panthers’ Josh Brown and San Jose’s Brenden Dillon engaged in a fight at 15:02 and Kane received a game misconduct and roughing minor at 19:14.

The Panthers did not stop, as they scored their final goal, at 19:22, also on the power play.

Pavelski noted, “Nothing’s easy, but we got to stick together and to find ways to get the job done…we got a job to do.”   

Up Next: The Sharks will have to push through the final game of a back-to-back versus the Washington Capitals Tuesday at 4 pm, before they host the All-Star game on Saturday.

Warriors win 112-94, despite Cousins fouling out in team debut

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES — Amidst a plethora of fouls, including technicals, DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins was one of the ones who did not receive a technical, as the Golden State Warriors moved to 1-1 on the Los Angeles Clippers floor this season Friday.

After chemistry issues emerged after the last time they were on this court, the Warriors added a new player into the mix in the form of DeMarcus Cousins, who made his first return to NBA game play since tearing his Achilles tendon almost a year ago, on January 26th. Golden State had just played his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, at Oracle prior to traveling down.

On how Cousins felt being back, he exclaimed, “felt like a kid on Christmas.”

Regarding team chemistry, “The first three minutes were weird,” noted the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Cousins mentioned “…this was our first time playing together. Steve (Kerr) just kind of threw us out there into the fire…We haven’t even really practiced together.”   

Cousins received a foul in each quarter, two in the first and fouled out with 8:51 left in the game. He played a total of 15 minutes, scored 14 points including three threes, had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one turnover. There were a total of 54 personal fouls, 30 for Los Angeles and 24 for Golden State. For technicals, the Warriors’ Draymond Green led with two, other recipients being teammate Kevin Durant, opposing Coach Doc Rivers and the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley. Beverley also fouled out with 5:43 left.

Los Angeles continued on a now five-game losing streak. It was their lowest scoring total since December 13. Meanwhile, Golden State held onto a now seven-game winning streak, their lowest scoring total since December 27.

The Clippers were without guard Lou Williams, who had a sore right hamstring, and forward Danilo Galinari. who only played eight minutes after being hit in the bag.   

The first half was close, with the Warriors’ biggest lead of six points and Los Angeles’ four points.

The first quarter saw five ties and three lead changes.

Cousin’s first bucket was a dunk of authority off a pass from Durant over a minute into the game. “I’m just glad to know I can still dunk, remarked Cousins.” Cousins then scored a rebound off a missed three from Curry, but was called for a loose ball foul instead.

With 1:17 left in the opening quarter, Beverly committed a foul, after which Durant threw the ball at him. The leading scorers after the first were Tobias Harris for the Clippers with 13 and Durant with 10. The first quarter ended with a technical on Rivers with Durant taking and missing the technical free throw.

Golden State held onto the lead with 1:38 left in the first until Los Angeles moved ahead with 5:47 left in the second with the 37-36 score, but the lead only lasted one possession.

Back in the game in the second, Cousins missed a three before receiving his third foul. Green received his first technical with 8:10 left. Cousins got to the free throw line for the first time with 7:45 left and went 1-for-2.

Beverley received his technical with 14.6 seconds left and with the game reaching a 50-50 tie, Green broke the tie with an emphatic dunk as he swung in the air, received his second technical with 3.2 seconds left.

In the third, the Warriors built up their biggest lead yet, 66-53, as they went on a14-2 run with Green, Durant, Curry, Thompson and Cousins all scoring.

Durant received his tech with 6:35 to go and Curry scored 14 points in the third quarter, all made without a three.

Cousins got his fifth foul 30 seconds into the fourth.  Later Cousins hit a three and flashed the three point sign towards the Clippers bench before hitting another three in a row the next time he was in front of them. He then had a steal, assist and rebound later before fouling out completely with 8:51 left.

Durant broke the 100-point mark for Golden State with a three and also helped them reach their biggest lead of the game, at 22 with the 102-80 score with 3:58 left.

Up Next: The Warriors will stay in town to face the Los Angeles Lakers Monday at 7:30 pm.

Sharks win 1,000th game by cooling off Knights in Vegas 3-2

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Credit: AP Photo/John Locher

By: Pearl Allison Lo

It took until the third stanza for the San Jose Sharks to get a lead, but they came back to stop the Vegas Golden Knights’ 12-game home point streak and seven-game overall point streak with a 3-2 win at T-Mobile Arena Thursday night.

The Sharks became the third fastest team to hit 1,000 wins.

Birthday boy goalie Martin Jones (29) made 36 saves to support his team. “We just stuck with it,” said Jones before his birthday song broke out. “Our game got better each period,” echoed captain Joe Pavelski.

Vegas had early goals to start the first and third and outshot the Sharks heavily to begin the first and second, but San Jose scored the only goal of the second on five shots and grinded it out in the third.

Win-wise, it was a four-game streak versus a seven-game streak and the shorter one won. If the Knights had won, they would have tied their franchise record for eight straight wins. Vegas’ longer streak had last been broken November 16, in terms of regulation wins at home.

In terms of the contest (last year the Knights won 6-0), it was a different story, but in 2019, the beginning was similarly written. San Jose fell behind early again. It started with a turnover and the rebound from Ryan Reaves’ shot from the left faceoff circle went right to Tomas Nosek on the other side at 1:34.

The Sharks also went shotless from 2:35 to 12:26, versus nine shots for the Knights, until Tomas Hertl broke out with two shots in four seconds. During the shotless time though, San Jose kept Vegas shotless on their power play.

Marcus Sorensen had a wide open net for the Sharks, but missed and was then tripped by Brayden McNabb at 15:11.  

The second period started similarly as the Knights had a 7-0 shot advantage (three on the power play) until Evander Kane got San Jose’s first with 12:22 left. Three of those shots though, did come on the power play. The Sharks’ Brent Burns hit the goal post with 10:53 left and Vegas’s shot advantage stretched to 11-1 until Hertl things turned around with San Jose’s second shot of the period at 14:04.

#48 then went far side to make it 1-1 as he used Nate Schmidt to block Marc-Andre Fleury’s point of view.

Jon Merrill moved the Knights back up 2:16 into the third. It was his first goal in 54 games, since two years ago.

The Sharks re-tied the game when Burns blasted the puck before the blue line, and kind of like Vegas’s first goal, Melker Karlsson picked up the puck and potted it in net at 7:24.

Not too long after, Hertl corralled the puck behind the net before shooting and then there was a scramble that went on with the loose puck finding its way back to Hertl. He shot again and the puck went off Joonas Donskoi to give San Jose their first lead. That was Donskoi’s fourth goal in three games.

The Knights hit the goal post with 10:30 left.

With a tight contest, both teams did not help their cause, with Fleury creating a delay of game penalty at 13:54, during which Vegas utilized the empty net and shortly after, Brenden Dillon committing a slashing penalty. 

Logan Couture hit the goal post of the empty net right as time expired. There was some discussion after about clock time, but then the game was confirmed over.  

Up Next: The Sharks now head back home for two games, starting with Erik Karlsson’s former team, the Ottawa Senators, Saturday night at 7:00 pm.

Sharks add drama to their cruise in 5-4 win over the Avalanche

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks were clicking on all cylinders, but the slumping Colorado Avalanche (0-4-2 in last six) added bite to their game in a close match at the end at the Pepsi Center Wednesday.

The Sharks kept up their four goals apiece in their last four games and held Colorado to just one goal until 16:49 of the third. San Jose also scored twice on the power play and kept Colorado scoreless in three chances until 16:36 of the third.

However, in the morning, the Sharks announced that Radim Simek was diagnosed with a concussion following the hit he incurred Monday night. San Jose went down another defenseman in the first when Justin Braun fell and went to the lockers with what looked like a hurt right leg. There might be hope though, as Paul Gackle, @GackleReport on Twitter, tweeted: ‘…Braun walked out of #SJSharks room without help. Says he tweaked his right knee. Doesn’t think it’s serious, will get it looked at tomorrow.’  

The 2019 NHL All-Star Game participants were released before the game and the home team will be represented by Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski.

Getting back to Wednesday night’s game, San Jose spread out the scoring between five players. Pavelski and Burns each had one goal and two assists, giving them points in four straight games, Joonas Donskoi’s goal earned him a four-game points streak, Evander Kane a three-game and Lukas Radil scored his second goal in as many games. For the Avalanche, Tyson Jost had two goals.

Just over one minute into the game, the Sharks received a power play. Colorado blocked two shots before Pavelski went top left corner from the middle of the right circle to kick off the scoring.

After, the Avalanche outshot the Sharks 5-0 before racking up a goal themselves. Matt Calvert went top right corner from the inner left circle at 8:20.

It would be four goals later though, until Colorado scored again.

 With San Jose already on the power play again at 15:52 of the first, the advantage moved to 5-on-3 with 3:27 left when Pavelski drew a high stick. The Sharks eventually capitalized. After a pass from Karlsson on his right, Burns struck net to push San Jose ahead.

Carl Soderberg had a shorthanded breakaway chance with seconds left, but was denied.

In the second, Tyson Barrie was first to the puck but missed the touch. Kane retrieved the disk as he joined the party at 4:15.

Just over two minutes later, Donskoi made it 4-1 with a wraparound goal and also retired goalie Phillip Grubauer, bringing in a fresh opposing goalie in the form of Pavel Francouz. It was his second NHL game. His last time in net was December 22.

The Sharks got their biggest lead when Radil put in his second goal in as many games at 16:33, but Jost took it back just 16 seconds later.

The Avalanche’s momentum continued when Karlsson took a tripping call in less than 30 seconds, but San Jose was able to keep them at lengths. The tension did not end there though, as Barclay Goodrow also took a penalty when the horn blew, to give a boost starting out in the third frame.

A Joakim Ryan turnover led to Barrie’s goal at 12:12 of the third and Jost redirected a shot from the point on the power play at 16:36 to pull the game to within one. With the extra attacker from an empty net, Nathan MacKinnon made a last ditch effort right at the buzzer.   

Up Next: The Sharks fly back home for three contests, beginning with a later than normal start 8:00 pm game on Saturday versus the Tampa Bay Lightning.  

Flames ring in the New Year with goals to beat the Sharks 8-5

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo: (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

By: Pearl Allison Lo

Both teams combined for 13 goals as the Flames Calgary was the victor in an 8-5 match versus the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Saddledome Monday on New Year’s Eve.

The Flames started and ended the game the same way with three goals in the opening and closing periods. Except for San Jose’s one goal in the first, both teams had multiple goals in each period.

Calgary maintained their lead atop the Pacific Division, now separating themselves from the Vegas Golden Knights in points with 52.

For the Flames, Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau each had two goals and two assists, Mikael Backlund had two goals, Elias Lindholm had a goal and two assists and Sean Monahan led all with a whopping five assists. Joonas Donskoi had two goals for the Sharks.

Each team had at least one power play goal and traded goals except for two straight to end the first period and three straight in the third.

Backlund started the party early at home, just 1:10 into the game, finding goalie Aaron Dell’s open left side. Michael Frolik got the second assist after the puck hit him when Brent Burns was trying to clear.

Lukas Radil tied it up at 6:53.

However, Backlund, Frolik and Tkachuk struck again at 10:55, with Backlund at the helm once more to make it 2-1. Frolik and Tkachuk switched places with the assists.

Calgary created their first two-goal lead when Tkachuk scored off the game’s first power play at 17:24.

Burns tallied the match at 3-2 with Joe Pavelski, also on the power play, at 3:55 of the second.

Tkachuk played spoiler though at 10:47 with his second of the game.

The last two goals of the second came with under two minutes. Donskoi earned his first goal at 18:22 and in return, Lindholm potted the puck at 19:33.

Both sides saved the most goals for last with a total of five in the third period.

Donskoi’s second goal 48 seconds in marked the beginning.

The Flames then scored three straight goals in just under 3:30. James Neal scored at three minutes and then Gaudreau scored his 20th and 21st goals at 5:48 and 6:29.

Joe Thornton made sure to at least end the game with a San Jose goal, as he put the puck past goalie David Rittich at 13:15. This was the Sharks’ second power-play goal.

That was not all however. With less than 30 seconds in the game, Calgary’s Sam Bennett committed a controversial hit on Radim Simek before fighting Barclay Goodrow.  

Up Next: The Sharks’ first game of the New Year will come January 2 versus the Colorado Avalanche at 6:30 pm.

Rams get first-round bye, 49ers get No. 2 draft pick in 48-32 finale

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES — Both teams received gifts of differing quality as the Los Angeles Rams trounced the San Francisco 49ers 48-17 Sunday at Memorial Coliseum to close out 2018 and the regular season.

After stumbling with two straight losses, Los Angeles recovered with two straight wins of increased points. Compared to last year’s December game between the NFC West California rivals, the Rams did not rest their players and star running back Todd Gurley was still absent, this time with his knee injury. Last year, the 49ers won 34-13.

On treating this week like the Wild Card weekend last year and what it was like, Rams quarterback Jared Goff replied, “…Just a little bit more urgency, more intensity…Treating it like a playoff game which, in our case, it really was, getting us this week off now.”

San Francisco fell behind in this contest, due to two interceptions and one fumble that led to Los Angeles scores. Cory Littleton was key, with two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. The 49ers were 27% in third down efficiency, while the Rams were 63%. Los Angeles scored at least two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters. However, San Francisco ended the game with nice showings on offense and defense, outscoring the Rams 15-3 in the final quarter.

On the performance of the defense the last four games, head coach Sean McVay remarked, “…they did a great job today. Their ability to take the ball away was what allowed us to gain control of that early on…We took better care of the football today…If you’re able to win those turnover battles…other than the points, there’s no greater indicator of wins and losses in this league…”

San Francisco tight end George Kittle broke a NFL record in the fourth quarter, with the most receiving yards in a single season by a tight end. On breaking the record, Kittle said…”It definitely wasn’t just me. You had three quarterbacks throwing me the ball, you had O-line, just ups and downs throughout the whole year, guys in and out…” On him trading his jersey with someone else, Kittle voiced, “I refuse to. That’s mine, that one is mine. I actually hid that so no one can take it at all. I don’t want that Tom Brady thing happening when he got his jersey stolen, so yeah that’s mine.”

For the quarterbacks, the 49ers’ Nick Mullens was 23-for-33 with 282 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Goff was 15-for-26 with 199 yards and four touchdowns.

Rushing-wise, Alfred Morris led San Francisco with 111 yards and a score and C.J. Anderson led Los Angeles  with 132 yards and a score.

Receiving-wise, San Francisco was led by Kittle with 149 yards and a score and Los Angeles was led by Brandin Cooks with 62 yards and two scores.

The Rams’ Josh Reynolds also had two scores and for the 49ers, Kendrick Bourne and Richie James Jr. had a score apiece.

San Francisco’s first three drives consisted of a fumble and two interceptions. Meanwhile, Los Angeles’s first two drives were touchdowns via a pass to Cooks and a run by C.J. Anderson. That set the tone for the first half. In the first quarter, net yards rushing and passing were 76 and 60 for San Francisco versus 16 apiece for the Rams. The 49ers were 0-for-5 on third down. Morris ran for 58 yards and Anderson 29.

The fumble occurred on on third down with 13:19 left. Los Angeles’s Mark Barron caused Kyle Juszczyk to fumble and Aqib Talib recovered it at the Rams’ 46 yard line. Goff made a three-yard pass to Cooks with 12:03 left for the first tally of the afternoon.

San Francisco’s second miscue also came on third down, but was a lot more interesting. With 11:10 left, Littleton intercepted Mullens’ pass to Richie James Jr., but the call was negated after replay reviewed James Jr. was not down by contact. Then the same exact thing happened, but this time Littleton ran for 22 yards. Jeff Wilson Jr. was injured during the play with a shoulder injury.

Starting on the 49ers’ 13-yard line, Los Angeles only needed a 2-yard run by Anderson, a defensive holding penalty by Ronald Blair III and one more yard by Anderson to make it 14-0 with 10:46 left. This was the second shortest drive of the game at 19 seconds.

San Francisco’s longest drive so far ended in an interception by Blake Countess intended for Kittle with 6:28 left.  

The 49ers then put up points in the first quarter when Alfred Morris started with his long of the day, a 51-yard run with 4:40 left. It ended in a 30-yard field goal by Robbie Gould, 14-3. Aaron Donald sacked Mullens during the drive. On the last play, Countess was injured and evaluated for a concussion.  

The Rams were forced to punt again to start off the second quarter. They would have had a 15-yard gain by Reynolds but Antone Exum Jr. pushed him out of bounds and in turn was injured.  

Los Angeles however, made it 21-3 with another Littleton interception of Mullen trying to target James Jr.. Littleton converted this one himself with a 19-yard touchdown run.

The Rams lost a challenge, which was ruled an incomplete pass instead of another fumble with 12:01 left.

Their following drive took 11 plays and 5:10 and Los Angeles ran up the score in the second as well. The longest play was a 21-yard pass to Cooks and he ended with the scoring play as well, an 18 yard pass, as he spun into the end zone with 6:09 left to make it 28-3. Teammate Andrew Whitworth suffered a knee injury during the drive.

San Francisco followed suit with their first touchdown drive of the match. The longest play was a 22-yard pass to James Jr.. The Rams committed two penalties. The first was when Barron took a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty with a clothesline knockdown of Mullen.

In between, the worst injury of the game came when the truck had to be taken out for the 49ers’ Laken Tomlinson’s right knee.

Los Angeles’s second penalty came when Littleton had a defensive holding after the Rams stopped a third down. The 49ers capitalized and Mullens made a 9-yard pass to James Jr. in the end zone with 2:10 left, for the 28-10 tally.

The Rams’ Greg Zuerlein capped the second half with a 28-yard field goal with three seconds left to make it 31-10.  

Los Angeles came out in the third to establish their biggest lead so far. San Francisco had them at third down but Goff made a long 36-yard pass to Tyler Higbee, followed by a 29-yard touchdown pass to Reynolds to make it 38-10. It was the first consecutive scores of the game for the Rams.

The 49ers scored as well with the help of another 15-yard penalty. Mullens made a 14-yard pass to Bourne and then Samson Ebukam was charged with lowering the head to initiate contact. Kittle caught a 25-yard shotgun pass, Trent Taylor made it to the 1-yard line and Morris scored his first touchdown of the game with 8:28 left. Morris’s score ended a seven-game drought.

San Francisco then committed their own 15-yard penalty with unnecessary roughness on Exum Jr. that knocked the ball out of the receiver’s hands. This also ended in a score for the opposing team with six runs by Anderson and two runs by John Kelly. Reynolds caught his first score of the game with a two-yard pass by Goff, as Los Angeles re-established a 28-point lead, 45-17.

A 10-yard sack of Mullens by Barron with 1:14 in the third left helped end the three exchanges of back-and-forth scoring as the 49ers were forced to punt.

Zuerlein’s 51-yard field goal with 11:49 in the fourth marked the Rams’ biggest lead of the game at 48-17.

This is when San Francisco ended the game on a good offensive and defensive effort, scoring their first two straight scores of the night. Mullens said after the game, “Obviously, the start wasn’t what we wanted. But, to finish the way we did shows the toughness and the grit of this team.”

The 49ers started by capping off a 9 play, 75 yard and 4:50 drive with a 24-48 touchdown. Morris had a 20-yard run, Kittle caught a 25-yard pass and after James Jr. was stopped at the one-yard line, on third down, Mullens made a two-yard pass to Bourne. Nickell Robey-Coleman was called for defensive pass interference on the play. Kittle had a total 46 yards during the drive.  On the last play before Kittle broke the record, Mullens narrated, “Yeah, so he was 9-yards away…Pre-snap, they threw a backer out there so…they’re not going to let him get the record. But..screw it, we’re throwing it to him…So, then he caught it and finished his season with a touchdown. So, it’s a storybook finish for George and we’re really excited to be working with him.”

On the other end, San Francisco kept stuffing Los Angeles, which led to a turnover on downs. Mullens passed six yards to Kittle and then 43 yards to him in the end zone. The 49ers were also successful on a bonus two-point conversion attempt from Mullens to Taylor.

Littleton remarked on what it means to be 13-3 and clinch a first round bye, “Truly amazing…the top teams who’ve won the Super Bowl the past five years have had a bye. Something we wanted to make sure that we got and we’ve done it.”

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan’s opening remarks consisted of “Injuries: (49ers RB Jeff) Wilson (Jr.) – shoulder, did not return; (49ers OL) Laken (Tomlinson) – knee, didn’t return; (49ers RB Alfred) Morris – shoulder, no return; and (49ers NB) K’Waun (Williams) was ribs.”

On how close the 49ers are to being in the playoff race next year, cornerback Richard Sherman stated, “..It’s hard to tell without your guys out there. Without (49ers QB) Jimmy ‘G’ (Garoppolo), you’ve got your franchise quarterback you lose, what? — three games into the season. You lose the running back you just paid no games into the season. Your starting receivers get banged up. You lose a safety a game almost every game all the way up until the tenth, eleventh game. I think it’ll be touch to know how good we’ll be till we have a consistent unit out there and show some continuity.”

Game Notes: San Francisco finished 4-12.

Sharks silence the Wild 4-0

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: AP Photo/Stacy Bengs

By Pearl Allison Lo

After being relieved early in the San Jose Sharks’ last game, goalie Martin Jones replied by keeping the Minnesota Wild at bay 4-0 at the Xcel Energy Center Tuesday with his first shutout of the season.

Jones made 26 saves including a crazy stick block against Mikko Koivu in the third.

The Sharks are now amidst a season-high five-game winning streak as they clicked on all cylinders. San Jose is 6-1 in their previous seven games, with an average of three goals each game.

Logan Couture was a game-high +3 (Brent Burns too) with two goals. Couture also had a goal last game, with a total of six points in his last three games. Playing in his ninth game, rookie Lukas Radil had a goal and assist. “Ever shift and every game, pretty excited to be here,” he commented.

The Sharks had their only penalty in the first period, when Timo Meier got into his first fight.

In a span of about half a minute during the second, the 0-0 game quickly swung in favor of San Jose.

Radil took the pass from Radim Simek off the end boards and parallel to the goal line, Radil barely looked as he made a perfectly timed pass to Couture, who went top shelf at 9:49.

Tomas Hertl soon after made a long pass to set up Joe Pavelski’s breakaway goal versus goalie Devan Dubnyk. Hertl had two assists and has nine points in his last six games.  

Five seconds after the last second period penalty expired, which was 51 seconds into the third, Couture tallied again. It started with a pass from Erik Karlsson, described by Couture after as “nasty.” Karlsson made a no-look backwards pass between his legs to Hertl, who then found Couture in front of the defenders, as Couture buried the puck short side.

The Wild hit the post at least twice.

With under five minutes left in the game, Koivu had a clear look at the net, but Jones was able to get his stick out in time for the crucial block.

Up Next: With their 2-0 road trip in the books, the Sharks head back home for four games, starting with the Winnipeg Jets Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 pm.

Sharks’ hopes cut short as Sabres win 10th in a row 3-2 in OT

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: AP

By Pearl Allison Lo

Red-hot Jeff Skinner kept Buffalo’s perfect streak alive in regulation when scoring first with the final say in their third 3-2 victory in a row, defeating the San Jose Sharks at First Niagara Center on Tuesday.

Goalie Martin Jones went out to poke the puck away from Rasmus Dahlin and Skinner pounced on the puck afterward. Jones swung his arm to the right and Skinner scored short side before Jones could move back all the way. Skinner’s goal came at 1:41. In his last 10 games, he has scored 10 goals and one assist, pointless in only one of those games.

The Sabres’ 10th straight win matched a franchise record as they remained on top of the NHL.

San Jose fell to 3-5 in overtime, while Buffalo moved to 7-2.

Meanwhile, the Sharks worked hard to secure a point after they were down 2-0 in the third.

San Jose outshot Buffalo 13-7 in the first and 17-11 in the third. The Sabres had all three shots in overtime.

The goal scorers in regulation were Sabres’ defensemen and Joe Pavelski.

After a scoreless first period, Rasmus Ristolainen struck at 14:42 of the second. Casey Nelson and Sam Reinhart strung the puck together smoothly to get it to Ristolainen, who moved the puck between his legs from right to left versus Brent Burns and buried the puck after moving across Jones. Ristolainen finished with a swaggy cowboy riding a horse celebration.

The Sharks kicked off the third (1:35) with a power play, during which they made three shots. Almost 40 seconds after it ended though, things went the other way as Nathan Beaulieu found himself free and fired a perfect pass from Reinhart top center.

San Jose, not to be counted out, got things going in the second half.

With a 4-versus-4 formation on ice, Pavelski won the faceoff, with the puck going to Timo Meier and then Burns. Burns this time passed between Vladimir Sobotka’s legs to find Pavelski, who rocketed the puck in at 11:20.

Pavelski’s second goal came after a minute on the power play. Kevin Labanc made a shot, and Pavelski followed the puck movement after Logan Couture recovered the puck from the boards. The Sharks’ captain then fished the puck behind the net and made a swift wraparound before goalie Carter Hutton was aware at 16:42. Pavelski led all players with seven shots on goal.

San Jose’s Evander Kane had a chance to win the match before overtime, which he described as a “tough one not to finish.”

Regarding the contest, Burns said, we ”had our chances. They ended up with one more.”

Up Next: During the game, a two minute high sticking penalty to the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon got taken back. San Jose’s five-game road trip rubber match arrives quickly in the form of the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday at 4:30 pm PT.

Shore takes game full circle as Stars top Sharks 4-3

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: Jeffrey McWhorter/Associated Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

Devin Shore scored the first and final goal for the Dallas Stars as he broke the third period tie at American Airlines Center on Thursday versus the San Jose Sharks.

Both teams scored in each period and went scoreless on the power play, the Stars 0-for-1 and the Sharks 0-for-3.

Dallas’ Tyler Seguin broke a 12-game goalless drought and San Jose’s Evander Kane ended an 11-game scoreless drought.

The Stars outhit the Sharks 24-9 and San Jose in turn outshot Dallas, 36-22. The Sharks had double-digit shots in each period, while the Stars were held to under 10 per period.

San Jose’s Joe Thornton became the 19th player to play in his 1500th NHL game and nearly re-tied the game with time winding down in the third period.

Sharks’ coach Peter DeBoer called it “a strange game” and captain Joe Pavelski commented on “shot blocking. We can be more desperate about our d-zone. There’s no question about our goaltending.”

Valeri Nichushkin passed back to his right, Seguin across and Shore shot up to his right to form somewhat of a triangle, as Dallas made it 1-0 at 8:57 of the first.

The red hot Timo Meier later tied the game up with his 12th NHL-leading goal. He shares this statistic with three others. Logan Couture made a short pass up ice in the left faceoff circle to Kevin Labanc, who made a sharp pass to Meier in the crease. Meier converted in the open spot to the right of goalie Anton Khudobin at 14:18.

In the second, the Stars turned the game into a 3-1 game with goals under a minute apart.

Seguin’s goal came when he intercepted Brenden Dillon’s pass to Erik Karlsson in the defensive zone at the top of the faceoff circles. Seguin followed by racing down the slot to score past goalie Martin Jones at 6:57.

Dallas’s third goal came when Jason Dickinson traded passes with Miro Heiskanen before passing to Gemel Smith, who tapped the puck over Jones’s right leg.

The Sharks got one goal closer at 11:17. Thornton made a sweet pass to Brent Burns who shot from the point. A kneeling Joe Pavelski then redirected the puck to make it 3-2.

30 seconds later, Radek Faksa received a four minute high sticking minor. San Jose had three shots on goal. Former Shark Roman Polak also blocked a shot.

San Jose broke even with the Stars for the second time at 7:46 of the third. Antti Suomela won the faceoff, sending the puck to Burns. Burns also made a sweet pass to Kane, whose shoulders dropped in relief after tallying.

For the final goal, Blake Comeau passed down ice to Dillon Heatherington. Karlsson blocked Heatherington’s shot, the puck rebounding to Shore, as he potted the puck at 14:13.

As the Sharks chased the game again, there were several close chances which Jones avoided, including a Mattias Janmar breakaway with 3:10 left.

With 1:03 left, Thornton got alone in front of Khudobin, but Khudobin closed the five hole as Thornton shot to make a crucial save.

Up Next: San Jose has scored three goals apiece in their last three games and are 2-1-0. All have been 4-3 games. The Sharks conclude their two-game road trip versus the Saint Louis Blues on Friday at 5 pm PT.

Sharks spark turnaround win with short-handed goal to defeat top Predators 5-4

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: sjsharks.com

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks’ Brenden Dillon, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns completed the comeback Tuesday to break the Nashville Predators’ five-game winning streak at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night.

Things were looking grim with the Sharks down two in the third. as they encountered their second penalty of the period at 9:57. However, Dillon scored San Jose’s fourth short-handed goal as he went from one end of the ice to the other solo, shooting from the left faceoff circle to score from the left faceoff circle under Juuse Saros’s right arm at 11:40. It was a grand goal for Dillon’s first of the season. Burns Tomas Hertl gave the assists.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer issued a statement regarding Dillon: “Obviously he got us back in the game. Couldn’t be a more deserving guy. Probably the best teammate we have in there from a do anything for the group (standpoint).”

36 seconds later, Pavelski replied in kind. Evander Kane made a strong move from the other end and when reaching the offensive zone, passed to Logan Couture, who passed to Pavelski. It was a similar goal to Dillon’s that went far side to tie the game again since the first half of the second.

The piece of resistance was then set in play when Viktor Arvidsson was called for a high stick. Seven seconds before the power play expired, Burns one-timed the game-winner. He was helped by fellow defensemen Kane and Erik Karlsson.

It was a long time coming for Burns and the Sharks in Nashville regarding the regular season. Burns had not scored a goal a similar goal since November 16, 2006 and San Jose had not won since October 25, 2011.

The Sharks now have won three straight, their highest win streak of the season.

It was Saros’s first loss of the season as he made 27 saves. Saros finished playing his second full game since starter Pekka Rinne left Friday’s game and was placed on injured reserve Saturday.

The Predators scored consecutive goals twice in the game. Each of their goals featured at least one player from their top line of Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen.

Arvidsson received the second star of the game with a game-high three points, two goals and an assist.

Each team scored in the first period.

San Jose’s Timo Meier started things off with his second goal in as many games at 6:58, aided by Joonas Donskoi and Burns on the power play. Meier’s points streak is now at a career-high six.

Arvidsson tied the game at one apiece at 11:14.

In the second, each team started off trading goals.

Nashville got their first lead just 21 seconds in when Forsberg scored, helped by Johansen and Ryan Ellis. It was Forsberg’s sixth goal and Johansen and Ellis’s sixth assists.

Hertl re-tied the game at 7:51, assisted by Couture and Meier.

Arvidsson struck again at 10:45 though, as the Predators regained the lead. He was aided by his fellow linemates this time, Forsberg and Johansen.

Nashville then built a two-goal lead with 15 seconds left in the period. It was a case of 2-on-1 crossbars having different results with Barclay Goodrow missing off the crossbar and after at the other end, Craig Smith scoring off it to make it 4-2.   

Up Next: The Sharks will play the middle game of their three-game road trip Friday at 4:30 pm PT versus the Carolina Hurricanes.