Author: smallforce

Team LeBron defeats Team Stephen with late 148-145 victory

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~ Photo credit: @YahooSportsNBA

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ It came to the final shot at Staples Center as Team LeBron came back for a 148-145 victory in the premier of non-conference teams in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday.

Stephen Curry and then DeMar DeRozan had the ball looking for a three to tie, but due to tough defense, were unable to put up a shot before the buzzer.

The underdog Team Stephen led for the majority of the game. For the most part, when Team LeBron did get the lead, it was short-lived.

James tied the game at 144 apiece with 1:30 left and that score held until 40.2 seconds left. DeRozan put Team Stephen up by one when he made one of two free throws.

After a Team LeBron timeout, James gave his team the lead for good with 34.5 seconds left. Russell Westbrook put the final points up when he took a long pass by James to the basket. Westbook commented, “We got stops when we needed to.”

Captain LeBron James won his third All-Star Game MVP title, with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He won $350K for his charity After School All Stars and Team Stephen earned $150K for Brotherhood Crusade.

DeRozan and Damian Lillard led Team Steph with 21 points apiece. Stephen Curry finished with 11 points.

Jimmy Butler was the only All-Star not to play.

After the second, Team LeBron shot above 50% from the field and Team Steph above 40%.

The first quarter saw a bit of a rough start or nervous energy, with five bad passes from the teams in just over a minute.  Team Steph had two 7-0 runs, the latter run part of an 11-2 run to close the first.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the only double-digit scorer, with 11 points.

Team Steph’s heat continued in the second until Team LeBron made their way back from beyond the arc with three straight three’s, two from the Captain and one from Kemba Walker. Kevin Durant pulled Team LeBron to within one 51-52 with 7:15 left. James followed with a reverse dunk over a minute later to give his team their first lead since 7:48 left in the first. It was short-lived though, as Joel Embiid reasserted Team Stephen’s lead.

Team Steph put together an 11-0 run with four minutes left. This included Curry’s first field goal and one of Klay Thompson’s threes. Team LeBron then went on a 7-0 run and chipped at Team Steph’s lead. Team Steph was stopped from crossing half court twice in the waning seconds as the teams headed to the lockers with a two-point difference, 76-78.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a block with 9:53 left that was called for goaltending. Thompson scored 12 points in the second, all off three’s, with three consecutive when he had the ball.

Durant started off the third with a three that gave Team Lebron a short-lived 79-78 lead. Team Stephen replied with a 9-0 run.

Durant took to the free throw line for Team LeBron’s first free throws with 8:17 left.  

Team LeBron finally saw their lead last for more than one possession when Kemba Walker made it 109-105. Then Team Steph responded with a 7-0 run to close out the third, two threes by Curry.

Team Steph continued with a 6-2 run to start the fourth. They went on a 9-0 run with 8:28 left. Kyle Lowry had two points and two assists, DeRozan two free throws and Lillard five points.

Team LeBron kept in it with an 8-0 run with 5:06 left. James had a layup, free throw and Westbrook two free throws.

The game also had some instant replay action after James’ 144-144 score when the ball went out of bounds and the referee was checking to see if the ball went off Embiid or Durant.  

Game notes: Team Steph outrebounded Team LeBron 68-49. Thompson finished with 15 points and Golden State Warriors teammates Draymond Green had three points off free throws and a game-high tying two blocks, Durant with 19 points and a game-high tying three steals. Embiid also had two blocks. Towns matched James with a game-high 10 rebounds. Lowry and Victor Oladipo also had three steals. Lillard finished +18. Bradley Beal, Paul George and James led with four threes apiece.

Thompson, Quakes outduel Kamar, Galaxy in 4-2 win

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ IRVINE — Both San Jose Earthquakes’ Tommy Thompson and Los Angeles Galaxy’s Ola Kamara scored braces, but the Earthquakes prevailed with a 4-2 California Clasico win over the Galaxy at Orange County Great Park Saturday.

It was a new location for the preseason exhibition between the teams.

Thompson scored his first two goals of the preseason in the 54th and 90th minutes, while Kamara scored his second and third goal of the preseason in the 36th and 74th minutes.

San Jose saw familiar faces at the opposite end of the field, in former goalie David Bingham and trialist Cordell Cato. Thompson replied, “Bingham and Cordell are my good friends. They’re great players, so it’s always fun to line up against somebody you have history with, so I enjoyed it out there.”

The four goals for the Quakes were a preseason high for this year, their previous being two. The Galaxy had scored three goals apiece in all their preseason games up until this one.

Los Angeles outshot San Jose in both halves, 10-8 and 12-7 for a total of 22-15.

Quakes’ head coach Mikael Stahre commented, “I’m happy to score four away goals for sure. I think the performance, especially in the second half was good, but in general, I think we conceded too many chances actually. It was an equal game. We were a little bit more effective obviously…I’m okay with this performance, but we have to be better in defense.”

San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell made five saves in the first half.

One of them included a head on chest save against Romain Alessandrini right before Alessandrini had to jump over Tarbell, followed by another Galaxy attempt off the rebound. Tarbell got his hands on it before the ball went back and was cleared by Shea Salinas in the 31st minute.

Pressure versus the Quakes continued to mount and finally paid dividends. Kamara took a pass from Emmanuel Boateng in front of the San Jose defenders and struck first in the game between Tarbell’s right leg and the near post.

The Quakes came up with a quick response though. After a throw-in to Giovani dos Santos, his pass was intercepted and the kick went to Chris Wondolowski who made a bit of a straightaway shot past a diving Bingham. Ashley Cole tried going into the net to save the ball, but it was too late.

San Jose continued scoring with two swift goals when the first half players combined with second half substitutes, those two being Alashe and Thompson who entered at halftime.  

First, Bingham made an initial save as he slid to stop Wondolowski, but the rebound went to Thompson who headed the ball into the net to give their first lead in the 54th minute.

The Quakes then extended their advantage in the 55th minute. Thompson had the initial run to get into Los Angeles’ zone.  Danny Hoesen made the shot and the ensuing rebounds ended off Faita Alashe’s head into the net to make it 4-2.

The Galaxy edged closer when G. dos Santos crossed the ball to Ashley Cole and Tarbell followed to defend Cole. With the net open, Cole kicked the ball across the net, San Jose’s Yeferson Quintana got a touch on it and Kamara found net at the right side for his brace.

Alessandrini nearly tied the game up as he went just wide in the 87th minute.

Thompson tallied his second when Chris Wehan, who entered in the 78th minute, slid the ball from the left as Thompson received and moved the ball forward for the 4-2 score, followed by a celebration. Thompson laughed, “I saw they danced a little bit when they scored, so after I scored the first one I thought ‘man why didn’t I dance’ and so once I got the second one I’m like, ‘Alright. I guess I have to now.’”

Up Next: San Jose conclude their preseason with a closed-door matchup versus their Reno USL affiliate again on February 22 at Avaya Stadium.

Sharks end dad’s trip on positive note with 3-2 win over Ducks

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~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ ANAHEIM — The San Jose Sharks won both back-to-back weekend games with a 3-2 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center Sunday.

The Sharks showcased their resiliency after relinquishing four straight goals Saturday and earning full points Sunday after they were scoreless with 10 minutes left in regulation.

San Jose was rewarded with second place in the Pacific for now instead of a three-way tie for second, which would have been the case had they not gone to extra periods.

Logan Couture notched the game-winner versus goalie John Gibson in the second round. It was Couture’s fourth point in three games.

This match clinched a 3-1 regular season series between the teams. It was the third time they had gone to a shootout .

Anaheim started with a 2-0 lead for the second game in a row. They had a number of close chances in the first.

The Sharks went almost seven minutes without a shot on net, starting with Chris Tierney’s shot at 2:16.

Ondrej Kase raced past Brenden Dillon and shot past goaltender Martin Jones from the left faceoff circle. It looked like an initial save, but the puck squeezed through five-hole at 2:39.

Before Marc-Edouard Vlasic had San Jose’s next shot on goal at 8:58, the Ducks had four shots on goal and the Sharks blocked four shots.

Instead of 1-0 after the first, the score could have been 3-0 in favor of Anaheim.

San Jose got lucky when a strong shot went off the boards and the rebound went to Andrew Cogliano short side near a clear part of the net, as he missed with his shot in the opposite direction. Cogliano led with three shots in the period.  

With 18 seconds left, Corey Perry made it 2-0 on the Ducks’ second power play of the period, but it was negated for offsides.\

After 13 shots in the first, the Ducks’ sole two shots on goal in the second sandwiched the Sharks’ first power play of the game.  

Nick Ritchie had a shot at 3:48, San Jose had three shots during their man advantage and Rickard Rakell had Anaheim’s last shot of the period at 6:54.

The game’s first fight occurred at 15:11.

Joonas Donskoi had four and Jannik Hansen had three of the Sharks’ 14 shots in the period. San Jose also had 11 missed shots.

On allowing the Sharks to get back into the game, Ryan Getzlaf replied, “It started in the second period…at that point, you’re receiving the game a little bit.”

The Ducks went up 2-0 legitimately when Cam Fowler won and got to the puck before Jones at 6:28 of the third.

San Jose Captain Joe Pavelski relayed, “…guys show character and there was no reason for us to panic. We were playing good…Staring at it down 2-0, guys stepped up.”

Coach Pete DeBoer concurred, “Despite being down in the third, we had played well enough that we should have either been tied or up. So, the fact that we stuck with it, it took us 59 minutes…I liked our game tonight.”

Couture prevented the shutout and started the Sharks’ comeback when he shot from the top of the right faceoff circle through the slot at 10:56.

When San Jose started with the man advantage after Jones was pulled, the puck was cleared three times. The Sharks even had to bring Jones in to take a faceoff in their own zone. However after that, San Jose went around the horn and Timo Meier redirected Couture’s feed to tie the game with 53.7 seconds left.

Pavelski explained, “We are here to win, obviously. We went out on that last shift and the chatter was, we are scoring. We are not going to give up an empty net goal.”’

Fowler recounted, “That last goal is a tough one to give up. I kind of left my man in front, so personally I feel a little responsible for that one.”

Both sides had three shots apiece in overtime.

In the shootout, Adam Henrique’s shot was saved. Pavelski scored after corralling his shot around a spread out Gibson. Rakell hit the post after Couture’s winner.

Game notes: Anaheim’s Kevin Bieska played in his 800th NHL game.

Up Next: The Sharks head back to SAP Center for a three-game road trip, featuring the Arizona Coyotes first Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Earthquakes earn a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake

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~ Photo credit – rsl.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The San Jose Earthquakes finished their two games in Tucson, Arizona with another draw Wednesday, this one 1-1 against Real Salt Lake.

Both teams had two different lineups for each half, except goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell played the whole game.

Real Salt Lake and San Jose scored five minutes apart in the second half.

Alfredo Ortuno had strength in numbers when he struck first for Real Salt Lake in the 55th minute.

Quincy Amarikwa then evened the score in the 60th minute with a leaping header. It started from one side of the goal box to the other with a kick from Joel Qwiberg to Tommy Thompson, who in turn headed the ball to Amarikwa.  

The Quakes also had chances in the 5th minute (Chris Wondolowski – deflected), 7th minute (Vako – Nick Rimando save), 27th minute (Danny Hoesen – blocked by Rimando), 58th minute (Jahmir Hyka – save) and 75th minute (Chris Wehan – high).

San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell made a body save (Brooks Lennon) in the 16th minute and a hand save in the 19th minute (Albert Rusnak).  

The Quakes’ Shea Salinas got a yellow card in the 43rd minute.

Game notes: San Jose (first half): Tarbell; Shea Salinas, Yeferson Quintana, Harold Cummings, Nick Lima; Vako, Anibal Godoy, Jackson Yueill, Magnus Eriksson; Wondolowski, Hoesen. Earthquakes (second half): Tarbell; Qwiberg, Francois Affolter, Jimmy Ockford, Paul Marie; Hyka, Luis Felipe, Fatai Alashe, Thompson; Amarikwa, Mohamed Thiaw (Wehan 72) San Jose will face its younger sibling Reno 1868 FC at Avaya for the first 2018 home preseason matchup open to all, Saturday at 2pm.

 

 

 

Sharks can’t get enough offense; Bernier stops 39 shots for 3-1 Avs win

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~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The Colorado Avalanche’s Jonathan Bernier posted his best save percentage since January 4 as the San Jose Sharks fell 3-1 Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.

Bernier earned the first star of the game with a .974 save percentage, while the Sharks’ Martin Jones fired 39 shots.

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer joked, “Bernier’d be making $20 million a year if he was playing us every night.”

It was the least amount of shots Jones has faced since January 13 when he was pulled from the game.

With one game left between the teams, the Avalanche clinched the season series with another two-goal win versus San Jose.

Gabriel Bourque, J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost were the Avalanche’s scorers and Joel Ward put the Sharks on the board.

San Jose out-peppered the Avalanche 39-20 and 14-3 in the first period.

Things were looking good as Colorado was held shotless for ¾ of the opening period. The Sharks won faceoffs 72% to 28%, but the Avalanche blocked 11 shots. Four of those blocks came during the Sharks’ power play. San Jose’s Joonas Donskoi and Joe Pavelski each had three shots. Colorado’s Nikita Zadorov had five hits.

The Avalanche swiftly recovered in the second, though, creating an uphill battle for the Sharks.  

Brenden Dillon was on his way out to clear, but fell. Jost recovered the puck at the blue line before passing it to Compher. The swift pass helped enable a 2-on-1, which Compher used to his advantage. With Jones situated near him, Compher passed far side to Bourque, who sent the puck over Jones’ right pad to make it 1-0 at 2:31.

Colorado doubled their lead just over two minutes later using a pretty pass. The puck traveled from Girard at the far faceoff circle to Yakupov at the far blue line to Jost at the near blue line. Jost sped up before shooting past Jones.

San Jose slashed the lead in half at 13:29. Ward scored after the puck went off a defender as Ward hit the goal cam, but the tally was initially waved off. It was Ward’s first goal since November 22.

In the third period, Justin Braun and Jones helped prevent a 3-on-1 attempt. The Sharks’ Timo Meier also fished the puck off the tape to stop a goal.

Compher made it 3-1 with four seconds left with an empty-net goal.

Some of San Jose’s Logan Couture’s comments were, “some mental lapses, they’re a quick team, they’re quick in transition.”

Game notes: The Avalanche were without Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon this time.

The Sharks completed their five-game road trip with a 2-2-1 record.  They will now hold a two-game homestand. First up, the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights Thursday at 7:30pm.

Sharks battle, but end up taking a 2-1 loss after seven-round shootout vs. Red Wings

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~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks endured being outshot 7-0 when they were outnumbered in overtime until the Detroit Red Wings were victorious in the seven-round shootout 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena Wednesday.

After the second of a back-to-back, the Sharks now have a season-high four-game losing streak, but it could be worse (0-2-2).

It was the first time these two teams met this season and the Sharks’ first visit to the Little Caesar Arena.

The last time the Sharks scored only one goal was January 7.

San Jose’s Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored the first two goals in the shootout and then Detroit followed suit with two goals of their own by Gustav Nyquist and Andreas Athanasiou. Athanasiou’s goal held the same in a 2-2 deadlock until Chris Tierney scored in the sixth round. Tomas Tatar then scored, Tomas Hertl missed and Justin Abdelkader finished the game.  

Kevin Labanc scored in his 100th game and Trevor Daley scored for the Red Wings in his first game back from a lower-body injury.

Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones now has a three-game losing streak, but it was his best save percentage since December 23 as he faced a season-high 44 shots. NHL statistician Darin Stephens noted Jones’ 43 saves were the most by a San Jose goalie in a loss of any kind since Antti Niemi’s same 43 on Oct. 30, 2014. Jones was also playing the second of a back-to-back.  

Both teams each had scoreless power plays in each of the first two periods.

Sharks’ Brent Burns passed to Hertl in the first on a 2-on-1. Unfortunately, Hertl was without a stick as it had been kicked away by a defender swooping in to stop the play. Jones made a second save using his glove with 2:33 left in the second. Vlasic also prevented a power play goal with 24 seconds left.

Both goals came in the third.

Logan Couture reportedly tripped. Once Couture got back up, Daley took the pass from Frans Nielsen and trickled the puck past Jones on a one-on-one to break the stalemate at 6:48.

The Sharks matched Detroit at 15:01 in a mock power play since Danny DeKeyser was without his stick. Brenden Dillon passed near the stick to Labanc, who moved near the stick to make it from the high slot. Hertl also earned an assist.

Vlasic could have drawn a hooking penalty in overtime, but it was not called. The Red Wings had three shots before Burns was called for hooking with 2:43 left. If not for the hook though, the speedy Dylan Larkin might have scored. Jones fought off for more shots during the 4-on-3.

Game notes: Burns had a season-high nine shots on goal. San Jose was outhit 32-19 and had 16 giveaways as opposed to Detroit’s five.

Up next: The Sharks aim to win without Joe Thornton on their third game of their road trip Friday, facing the Colombus Blue Jackets at 4 pm PT.

Sharks’ glitches lead to Penguins’ gifts, wins 5-2

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~ Photo credit – NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The San Jose Sharks’s two turnovers tilted the game as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a split in the season series with a 5-2 win at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday.

The Sharks had a 2-1 lead after a hard-fought period, but inadvertently gave the Penguins a hand to cancel the advantage they had as the momentum turned.

Evgeni Malkin earned a hat trick and fellow teammate Bryan Rust had two goals for Pittsburgh. Brent Burns and Logan Couture tallied for San Jose.

Both teams’ main goalies returned after extended absences, Martin Jones (physical) and Matt Murray (personal). Murray emerged the winner this time, as he made 40 saves.

Pittsburgh scored first. Chris Tierney tried to clear, but Ian Cole poked the puck away and Rust was the first to recover it. After he exchanged passes with Riley Sheahan, Rust charged the net and was able to avoid Justin Braun’s stick as Rust put the Penguins on the board at 11:09.

The second period was more of a mixed bag. San Jose was all business as they outshot 23-10 and scored two power play goals.

Burns continued where he left off, with points in eight straight now, 10 if you continue the two All-Star games. The shot from Burns went down the slot as players on both sides flinched at 10 minutes.

After a 5-on-3, the Sharks capitalized on the 5-on-4. when the puck traveled to Couture as he struck from the left faceoff circle. It was Couture’s 200th career goal.

Nearing the end of the period, Burns made a no-look pass, unfortunately to Phil Kessel. Kessel then sent the puck to Malkin, who made it 2-2 in front of Jones at 19:55.

The mishaps continued in the third.

Jones went to retrieve the puck and his pass was intercepted by a swiftly moving Patric Hornqvist. Hornqvist then made a slick pass to a wide open Malkin for the eventual game-winner.

Pittsburgh made it 4-2 at 13:58 and 5-2 at 18:47.

Kris Letang’s shot went off Jones’ pad and Tom Kuhnhackl shot the puck back between his legs to Rust who earned his second by lifting the puck into the net.

The last goal came on an empty-netter. Rust hit iron in his bid at a hat trick after a cross from Sidney Crosby before Rust passed to Malkin for a successful goal.  

Game notes: San Jose’s Dylan DeMelo played in his 100th NHL game. The Sharks held the Penguins scoreless on the power play (0 for 3).

Up next: San Jose will look to get back on track versus the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday at 5 pm PT.

Kucherov scores first 3-on-3 hat trick, Pacific wins 5-2 after loss in 2017 All-Star Game

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~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Nikita Kucherov, one of four Tampa Bay Lightning players represented, scored the first hat trick of the new format, and the Pacific Division beat the Atlantic 5-2 Sunday.

Kucherov, who came into the game with a regular season slump, ended the second semifinal game to hats on the ice in front of his home fans.

The Pacific Division lost to the Metropolitan Division in 2017 by a score of 4-3. This time, they got the $1 million dollar prize as they won both of their games 5-2.  All three games were decided by three.

Neon colors connected the four teams. The jerseys described as futuristic, the Central and the Pacific wore orange and the Metropolitan and the Atlantic going with yellow.

First-time rookie All-Star Brock Boeser from the Vancouver Canucks won the MVP and a Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. He scored in both his games, with the game-winner in the first and added an assist in the second.

The All-Star players hit a lot metal throughout the games, but most in the first game.

In the final, the Pacific scored all three of their goals in the first half and never trailed.

Rickard Rakell (Pacific) had two goals and an assist, Mike Green (Atlantic) had two goals, the Pacific’s Johnny Gaudreau and Drew Doughty scored and Brad Marchand (Atlantic) and Anze Kopitar (Pacific) each had two assists.

All three games’ first goal came with less than two minutes of start time, Rakell’s the fastest at 50 seconds into a wide-open left side.

Boeser made it 2-0 with the rebound off Gaudreau’s shot at 5:05.

Green, in his first All-Star appearance since 2011, got the Atlantic on the board at 6:08 when he scored from the faceoff circle.

Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was able to fend off a Pacific Captain Connor McDavid breakaway.

Doughty got a direct assist from Los Angeles Kings teammate Kopitar as he scored down the slot with the help of Auston Matthews’ screen at 8:35.

The Pacific got their biggest lead when Gaudreau got his own goal to make it 4-1.

The Atlantic went without a shot on goal from Green’s first goal to right before Green’s second goal when Atlantic Captain Steven Stamkos from Tampa had a shot on goal. Green scored right above Mike Smith’s glove at 3:26.

Rakell brought the game full circle when he scored his second with a patient shot to the top right of the net against Carey Price at 7:24.

Game #1
The first game pitted Team Black (Central) versus White (Pacific). Although the Central had a 7-2 shot advantage at one point, the Pacific won for the third time in as many years, by a 5-2 advantage.

Team Pacific scored all five of their goals in the second half.

James Neal (Central) had two goals, Nathan MacKinnon (Central) and San Jose Sharks’ Brent Burns (Pacific) had a goal and assist, Doughty, Central Captain P.K. Subban and Boeser also scored and McDavid had four assists along with a game-high +4 and four takeaways.

MacKinnon had the game’s first shot and first goal for the Central as he scored almost straightaway at 1:47. His goal was aided by Blake Wheeler against Marc-Andre Fleury.

Burns had two missed shots off the goalpost one second away.

Nearing first half end, McDavid picked up a turnover and missed the net, followed by a shot two seconds later. Less than 20 seconds later, Pekka Rinne made a save with McDavid’s shot going over his back.

Doughty tied the game on a breakaway at 4:13. His goal was helped by McDavid against Connor Hellebuyck.

The Pacific started outshooting the Central after and Neal gave the Pacific their first lead at 6:57. Burns got the takeaway and passed across to McDavid.

All the following goals came in quick succession, under a minute of each other.

Subban scored the Central’s last goal, on a breakaway against Smith to retie the game.

Boeser and Burns’ goals were the quickest of Game #1, coming within 24 seconds of each other. Burns’ was the first of two empty netters.  Regarding his goal, Burns commented, “I was trying to make a move, lost the puck and it went in.”

Neal scored the last goal of the game at 9:18 to seal the win.

Game #2
Team Metropolitan (gray) faced off versus Team Atlantic (dark blue), with the Atlantic taking the game in the second half, 7-4, with four straight goals, the first one establishing the matchup’s third tie.

The Atlantic’s Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists. Matthews, Brayden Point (Tampa) and Marchand each had a goal and assist. Erik Karlsson had three assists.

The Metropolitan’s Sidney Crosby, Captain Alex Ovechkin, Claude Giroux and Kris Letang scored.

Game #2 had a more active first half in terms of scoring than Game #1. Each team traded goals for the most part.

Crosby scored with help from Ovechkin at 1:09. Crosby replied, “Right after that goal, emotions start.”

The shot advantage started out more even until the Metropolitan shot advantage got to 8-2. Crosby then had two shots followed by Noah Hanifin.

Henrik Lundquist missed the second shot as Matthews scored at 5:30. Two seconds before the goal, Lundqvist saved Eichel’s wrist shot. Matthews was helped by Eichel and Aleksander Barkov.

Giroux gave the Metropolitan back a 2-1 lead on another breakaway after faking a pass to Brian Boyle.

Ovechkin then broke the back-and-forth between the teams with his own goal at 8:16.

The Atlantic was quick to respond. 11 seconds later, Kucherov got his first as the puck slid next to Lundqvist’s jersey.

Kucherov got his second in a row at 2:12 of the second half, stringing together the Atlantic’s first two goals. It came by way of a spin-o-rama pass from Kucherov to Eichel and then a behind-the-back pass back to Kucherov.

Kris Letang made it 4-3 at 3:17 and then the Atlantic went off to the races with their four straight goals, starting with Point at 4:33 off Braden Holtby.

Actually, if it was not for an offsides challenge that the Atlantic won, the Metropolitan would have had another goal from Erik Karlsson.

Eichel scored at 6:40, Marchand received initial cheers for his goal at 7:41 and Kucherov finished at 7:56.  

Game notes: Burns also had an assist in the Final.

Boedker breaks out two; Sharks rock the Duck Pond 6-2 Sunday

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~ Photo credit: sjsharks.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose Sharks’ Mikkel Boeder’s goals included the apt game-winner as San Jose overpowered the Anaheim Ducks, 6-2 Sunday.

Boedker’s tallies, career #100 and #101, were a season-high two goals and his first multi-point game since November 1st. He now has four goals in five games.

The further the game went on, the more the Sharks scored, scoring once, twice and three times in each period respectively. San Jose started and ended the game with three straight goals. It was their biggest margin of victory since December 9.

For the Ducks, it was their biggest loss since November 27, also when they last gave up at least six goals.

Sharks’ netminder Aaron Dell, in net for consecutive nights for the first time because of starter Martin Jones’ injury, was fine with now a four-game win streak, as he made 33 saves. The 35 shots faced was the most in his last four games as he earned the first star of the game.  

Anaheim is now behind Los Angeles and Calgary in the standings.

For San Jose, Boedker had two goals and an assist, Melker Karlsson, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Thornton had a goal and assist apiece, Kevin Labanc had a goal and Tierney had two assists.

Rickard Rakell and Getzlaf had a goal and assist and a game-high four shots apiece for the Ducks.

Vlasic, Labanc and Boedker all scored within a period’s worth of time.

The opening goal came after a save by Dell and a kick by Timo Meier to clear the puck. Vlasic brought the puck into the zone, passed the puck to Hertl and then received the puck back before he scored at 13:53. It was Vlasic’s second goal in three games.

Labanc then scored for the first time since December 21 at 3:38.

Boedker’s goal came after more good work in the other end. Meier screened Gibson and Boedker scored on the opposite side of the way Gibson was leaning in order to see around Meier. The goal came with four seconds left in the slashing penalty to Brandon Montour.

Rakell then had a power play goal at 19:33. His previous game he came up empty off six shots on net.

Getzlaf followed to bring the game to within one at 1:47 of the third.

Thornton scored though a minute later with another power play goal for the Sharks, as he got back on the scoring train, not finding the net last game. The centerman has five goals in his last six.

Boedker scored his second at 9:49 and netminder John Gibson was pulled after 52:08 of ice time.

 It was the end of a three-game win streak for Gibson, who gave up five goals for the first time since October 26. He was replaced by Ryan Miller.

Karlsson scored San Jose’s sixth goal at 15:06.  

Game notes: Vlasic had a game-high eight blocked shots. Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie had a game-high nine hits. San Jose is now 2-0 with Make-A-Wish kid Hayden Bradley on the team.

Up next: The Sharks kick off a two-game homestand Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT versus the Winnipeg Jets.

Bernier spoils Sharks’ comeback; Avalanche top Sharks 5-3 for eighth win in a row

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~ Photo credit: Colorado Avalanche

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The San Jose Sharks came to within one from three goals down, but the Colorado Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier stymied power play attempts and what not to preserve a 5-3 win at Pepsi Center on Thursday.

San Jose made it 4-3 at 4:53 of the second and had two power plays after that, but former Shark Matt Nieto gave Colorado extra change at 16:46. Blake Comeau gathered the loose puck in the neutral zone, turned around along the boards and passed to Nieto. Nieto’s shot went in and off the post before Martin Jones’ right pad could get back.

With an empty net, San Jose got their seventh power play at 19:01, but ran out of time.

Bernier finished with 45 saves in helping his team to an eight-game winning streak. He withstood the Sharks’ shot advantages of 17-7 in the second and 21-6 in the third. San Jose’s ineffectual power play went 1-for-7.

The Avalanche’s speedy Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, teammate Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, Nieto had an assist, and Comeau had two assists.

The Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic had a goal and assist and teammates Joe Thornton had a goal and Kevin Labanc had two assists. MacKinnon now has 17 points during Colorado’s win streak with seven goals and 10 assists.

San Jose, winners of three in a row, trailed 3-0 as Colorado continued their leading trend with a barrage of goals in the first.

MacKinnon scored two goals in under a minute–the second on a power play–to make it 2-0 by 8:01. The first came when he scored through Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s legs, Gabriel Landeskog then Rantanen touching the puck first in the opposite end. The second came around the horn from Rantanen and then Samuel Girard, as MacKinnon rocketed the puck between Jones’ left arm and left pad.

Carl Soderberg made it 3-0 at 18:14. Comeau zipped the puck longside the boards to Nieto. With Tomas Hertl and Dylan DeMelo’s sticks nearby and approaching, Nieto was then able to transfer the puck over DeMelo’s stick to Soderberg up front. From the edge of the faceoff circle,  Carl Soderberg tallied through a narrow space between Jones’ glove and pad.

The Sharks were unable to score during the power plays at 11:47 and 18:47.

The Avalanche resumed their push in the second, though not before San Jose had five more shots on the power play.

After the pass from Mark Barberio, MacKinnon shot down the slot through a line of traffic and Rantanen made sure the count was 4-0 at 1:34.

San Jose’s Joonas Donskoi hit the post at 9:01.

43 seconds later, the Sharks finally broke through Bernier and their goose eggs on the power play with one second left on special teams. Vlasic set up Labanc, who fired and Timo Meier swept the puck after it dropped past Bernier.

San Jose had another power play at 17:26, during which they attacked the net five more times.

The Sharks remained undaunted, leading off the third with a goal 29 seconds in, to make it 4-2.

Labanc aimed at net, Hertl touched the puck and Vlasic finished the play.

San Jose’s 4-3 goal came off a 2-on-1. Pavelski passed over the far blue line to Burns who crossed the pass to Thornton in front of Bernier and made a swick goal to score. It was Thornton’s fourth game with a goal in each.

The Sharks’ two power plays after that came at 7:35 (seven shots) and 10:24. They also took a penalty at 13:59 which shifted momentum.

Game notes: In the second, Pavelski tripped over Soderberg’s stick to the left of Jones and Soderberg got cut by Pavelski’s skate.

Colorado’s Patrik Nemeth blocked a game-high seven shots.

Labanc and Burns had a game-high seven shots apiece.

Up next: San Jose will head home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins for one game Saturday at 5pm.