Category: NHL

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: NHL players get blessing from Bettman to compete in Beijing Olympics; Avalanche of goals Aves score 7 in three straight games; plus more

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NHL players are welcome to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics the league and the Olympic Committee are working out details of an agreement and Covid 19 protocols (file photo from Desert News)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says that NHL players are welcome to participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Bettman says the league is waiting for an agreement from the Beijing Olympic Committee and also waiting to receive Covid 19 protocols.

#2 The Colorado Avalanche (15-7-2) can’t be stopped as they have scored three consecutive seven goal games. Most recently Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings (13-12-3). The Aves Andre Burakovsky scored twice and has eight goals for the season among some of the hottest scorers on the team.

#3 The Pittsburgh Penguins Syd Crosby picked up two assists on Friday night against the Washington Capitals. Crosby has scored points in seven consecutive games and is looking like his old self again.

#4 The Vancouver Canucks (11-15-2) won their third straight game on Friday night defeating the Winnipeg Jets (13-9-5) in a 4-3 shootout in Vancouver. The Canucks Nils Hoglander scored two goals and two points to contribute towards the Canucks win. The Canucks have won four of their last five games.

#5 Alexander Georgiev the New York Rangers (8-15-3) goaltender stopped 36 shots and stood on his head stopping 17 shots in the third period as the Rangers just edged the Buffalo Sabers (8-15-3) 2-1 in Buffalo. The Rangers have won eight of their last nine games.

Join Matt for the NHL podcast each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks Hertl stays hot goal scoring is the difference in 2-1 win over Stars; Goaltender Reimer stops 34 shots for Sharks

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San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer, rear, defends against a shot by Dallas Stars center Luke Glendening (11) at SAP Center in San Jose Sat Dec 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (15-12-1) Tomas Hertl scored for the fourth consecutive game as long as he stays on a roll he’s going to make a difference like he did in the one goal decider against the Dallas Stars (13-10-2) on Saturday night.

#2 Defenseman Erik Karlsson scored a late goal in the second period and has scored five goals in his last seven games.

#3 The Stars Michael Raffl got the only goal for Dallas. The Stars who won seven in a row have now dropped three in a row.

#4 The Sharks goaltender James Reimer (9-4) had a great game between the pipes with 34 saves he was the difference in the Sharks one goal win.

#5 The Sharks face off against the Seattle Kraken (9-15-3) Tuesday. The Kraken eighth in the Pacific. The Kraken have lost four of their last five and lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-11-1) tonight 5-4 in overtime. The Kraken have had a couple players who were in Covid 19 protocols.

Join Len for the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Beat Stars 2-1, Reimer Returns, Hertl scores

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) scores on Dallas Stars right wing Alexander Radulov (47) and goaltender Braden Holtby (70) at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Dec 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson scored for San Jose. That goal tied Karlsson for third in the NHL among defensemen. James Reimer made 34 saves for the win. Michael Raffl scored for Dallas and Braden Holtby made 23 saves in the loss.

The Stars’ power play is ranked fourth in the NHL right now, so it was a good sign for the Sharks that their penalty kill was perfect Saturday. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Our penalty kill has been sort of our backbone all year and we take a lot of pride in that. It was nice to respond. This is a good power play here in Dallas. I thought we did a really good job of coming up with sort of a game plan to nullify that shot Klingberg has at the top.”

Tomas Hertl deflected Timo Meier’s shot to start the scoring at 8:30. Meier spun on the face-off dot before taking the shot. The puck ramped off of Hertl’s stick and went off the top bar and in. Assists went to Timo Meier and Alexander Barabanov. That was Hertl’s 14th goal of the season, and he has now scored in four games in a row.

The Sharks took two penalties in the first period, and allowed five shots to the Dallas power play. The Stars out-shot the Sharks 14-6, and beat them in the face-off circle 61% of the time.

Erik Karlsson scored with a hard shot from the blue line at 16:28. The Stars challenged it for goaltender interference as Tomas Hertl was in the blue paint behind Braden Holtby. Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell helped Hertl get into that spot. Assists went to Timo Meier and Alexander Barabanov. That was Karlsson’s eighth of the season.

The goal held up and the Sharks earned a power play from the failed challenge. The Stars killed the penalty, spending much of the penalty time in the Sharks zone.

The Sharks took one penalty in the second period and gave up two shots to the Stars power play. The Stars took two penalties. The Dallas penalty kill gave up one shot to the Sharks power play, and got one short-handed shot on goal. The second period shot count was 11-10 Sharks, and in the face-off circle, 54% to the Stars.

Michael Raffl cut the lead in half by deflecting Radek Faksa’s shot over James Reimer at 8:26 of the third period. Assists went to Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa. It was Raffl’s third goal of the season.

At the time the goal was scored, the shot count was 6-2 Dallas. After the goal, the Sharks reasserted themselves on offense and balanced out the shot disparity. Noah Gregor and Jonathan Dahlen in particular had some good shifts in the o-zone. The final shot count was 35-25 Stars, with the face-off wins also going to Dallas at 53%.

Kevin Labanc was injured on his first shift of the game and did not return. After the game, Boughner had no specific updates on Labanc’s condition but he said it was some type of upper body injury.

Timo Meier had two assists in the game but he is still chasing his 100th NHL goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT. They will host the Seattle Kraken for their first meeting ever.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Wild, Wild Win Streak at Eight

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Minnesota Wild center Victor Rask (49) tries to get control of the puck against San Jose Sharks center Noah Gregor (73) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Sharks fell 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild Thursday. It was the Wild’s eight win in a row. Wild goals were scored by Kevin Fiala, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway (2) and Kirill Kaprizov. Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the win. Sharks goals were scored by Jonathan Dahlen and Tomas Hertl. Adin Hill made 22 saves in the loss.

To start the third period, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner juggled his lines a bit. The result was positive but not enough, as he explained after the game:

“We switched up the lines a little bit, sometimes it’s good to put them in the blender when things aren’t going your way. We did that and the team reacted but, it’s just, you know, it’s a good team and in order to beat those good teams you have to be good for sixty minutes, especially our team and it I think that it took too long to find our game tonight.”

Minnesota’s Kevin Fiala scored the lone goal of the first period, 6:22 in. Jon Merrill’s shot was blocked by Mario Ferraro right in front of the net. The puck dropped in front of an open net for Fiala’s shot. Assists went to Merrill and Brandon Duhaime.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored the the Wild’s first power play goal at 7:04 of the second period. Jacob Middleton was in the box for tripping Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello sent the puck into a crowd in front of the net and it went off of Eriksson Ek’s stick for a perfect deflection past Hill. Assists went to Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov.

Jordan Greenway scored Minnesota’s second power play goal at 15:20. Jacob Middleton was in the box for holding Nick Bjugstad. Kevin Fiala brought the puck into the slot, then made a pass out to Greenway in the face-off circle. Greenway took a quick shot and beat Hill on the far side. Assists went to Fiala and Alex Goligoski.

Jonathan Dahlen scored for San Jose 3:29 into the third period. Tomas Hertl won an offensive zone face-off and sent the puck up to Erik Karlsson at the point. Karlsson brought the puck down the boards a bit before taking a shot that went off of Dahlen in front of the net. Assists went to Karlsson and Hertl.

Tomas Hertl cut the Wild lead to one with a power play goal at 13:26. Jonathan Dahlen took a shot that created a rebound. The puck fell to Hertl at the side of the net and he lifted it in behind Talbot. Jonathan Dahlen and Logan Couture got the assists.

The Sharks pulled Adin Hill for the extra skater with more than to minutes left. The Wild got the puck out and Jordan Greenway raced Brent Burns for the puck. As they reached the net, Greenway was able to nudge the puck in to make it 4-2. Moments later, with the net still empty, Kirill Kaprizov broke away to make it 5-2.

The Sharks had a good night in the face-off circle, winning 57% of them. The shots were close in the first to periods, but in the third, the Sharks outshot the Wild 19-9. the Sharks penalty kill gave up four shots along with the two goals, and the Wild penalty kill gave up four shots and one goal. Jacob Middleton took three penalties in the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT, against the visiting Dallas Stars.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks blow past Flames 5-3; Three goal third period put SJ on top

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48), is congratulated for scoring his third goal in the third period against the Calgary Flames with defenseman Brent Burns (88), defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) and center Logan Couture (39) at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Dec 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (14-11-1) Tomas Hertl’s hat trick made the difference in the Sharks two goal win over the Calgary Flames (15-6-5) on Tuesday night at SAP Center in San Jose.

#2 Flames center Adam Ruzika said that he was pretty upset to lose a game like this after having a 3-1 lead collapse. The Flames have now lost two in a row.

#3 Hertl shot with lazor beam accuracy there are some nights your fired up and Hertl made all his shots count to surpass the Flames who held the lead at one time 3-1.

#4 Hertl said that coming back from the long five game road trip and to win the first game to start the five game homestand is huge and important.

#5 After losing their last two games on the road in New York and Columbus the Sharks come back with the 5-3 win over Calgary get ready to host the Minnesota Wild (18-6-1) who beat the Edmonton Oilers (16-8-0) 4-1. How do you see this match up Thursday night with the Wild and Sharks at SAP?

Join Mary Lisa for the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Beat Back Flames 5-3, Hertl Scores Hat Trick

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San Jose Sharks left wing Jasper Weatherby (26) screens Calgary Flames goaltender Dan Vladar (80) to allow a goal by center Tomas Hertl to score in the first period at SAP Center on Tue Dec 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks came back from a two goal defecit to win 5-3 against the Calgary Flames Tuesday. The Sharks got goals from Erik Karlsson and Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick. Logan Couture passed the 600 point mark in his NHL career. Adin Hill, making his fourth start in a row, made 40 saves for the win. Dillon Dube, Johnny Gaudreau and Adam Ruzicka scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar made 22 saves in the loss.

Tomas Hertl’s three goals and one in the previous game signal a shift from a 10 game dry spell, during which he had just two goals. Of this sudden productivity, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Yeah, he was frustrated for a couple weeks, a few weeks getting chances but not putting it in. We had a talk the other day and he just, good players do that. He’s a heck of a player in this league I think. You knew it was going to come, just like [Bonino] a few weeks ago, we were talking about it. You don’t play that long in the league and have that much success and the switch goes off.”

Calgary’s Dillon Dube started the scoring just 97 seconds into the game. Milan Lucic made a quick pass from the outside to the slot and the puck went off of Dube and also Mario Ferraro right in front of the net. Lucic got the assist.

Tomas Hertl tied the game with his tenth of the season, on a power play at 8:58. Alexander Barabanov made a pass from one face-off circle to Hertl in the other. Hertl took the shot off the pass and put it in the top corner on the short side. Barabanov and Brent Burns got the assists.

Johnny Gaudreau scored his tenth of the season, giving Calgary the lead back at 11:55. Matthew Tkachuk made a nifty between-the legs pass from almost behind the net. The pass found Gaudreau on the doorstepTkachuk and Elias Lindholm got the assists.

Adam Ruzicka scored the first of his career at 4:31 of the second period. Christopher Tanev’s shot created a rebound and Ruzicka kept after it until he could push it around Hill’s skate and in. Tanev and Brad Richardson got the assists.

Erik Karlsson cut the lead down with a break-away goal as he came out of the penalty box. Logan Couture spotted him and got the puck up to him as the penalty expired. Assists went to Couture and Jasper Weatherby.

Logan Couture tipped an Erik Karlsson shot, tying the game again on the power play at 14:27. Jonathan Dahlen got the secondary assist.

Tomas Hertl gave the Sharks a lead with his second of the night at 18:10. Alexander Barabanov’s shot created a rebound close to the goal line. Hertl was there to lift it in.

At 6:29 of the third period, Lane Pederson went into the boards by the bench, head-first, with some help from Milan Lucic. Pederson returned from the dressing room very quickly and no penalty was assessed.

Calgary pulled their goaltender for the extra skater with a little under two minutes left in the third. Tomas Hertl scored his third of the night into the empty net at 18:10.

With just under ten seconds left in the game, Ferraro’s clearing attempt hit referee Michael Markovic in the face and he needed help to leave the ice.

The Flames beat the Sharks in the face-off circle in 59% of the draws. They out-shot the Sharks 43-27. The Sharks power play had two chances and scored on both. Their penalty kill gave up three shots and produced three short-handed shots.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in San Jose against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Blue Jackets 6-4, Give up Lead Twice

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Columbus Blue Jackets’ Max Domi, right, takes a leap over San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (left) stick during the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sun Dec 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-4 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Columbus got goals from Sean Kuraly, Cole Sillinger, Jack Roslovic, Alexandre Texier and two from Adam Boqvist. Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Nick Bonino, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl. Adin Hill made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “I think that it was a tale of two games. I thought I liked our start even though we got out of period one 1-1. The second period, you know, we did some good things but we didn’t manage our game properly.” He went on in some detail:

“Mario fanned on the one, but then we’re all over them and we let them come back on the two-on-one goal. Roslovic got behind us, you know, break away. You know, just, dumb plays, and they come back to haunt you. Again, you score four goals on the road and you feel like you should come away with at least a point.”

Adam Boqvist scored the first goal for Columbus at 16:16 of the first period. Justin Danforth had the puck knocked off of his stick but it went across the ice to Boqvist in the opposite face-off circle. Hill got across to face the shot but it slipped by him. Danforth got the assist.

Nick Bonino tied it up for the Sharks with three seconds left in the period. Matt Nieto pushed the puck out from behind the net and Bonino jumped on it at the crease. Matt Nieto and Andrew Cogliano got the assists.

Erik Karlsson gave the Sharks a lead 21 seconds into the second period. Alexander Barabanov carried the puck out of the defensive zone and into the o-zone. He found Karlsson with a pass just as Karlsson crossed the blue line. Karlsson took the shot right away and beat Merzlikins. Barabanov got the assist.

Sean Kuraly tied it back up less than 30 seconds later, off a two-on one with Andrew Peeke against Brent Burns. Assists went to Peeke and Alexander Texler.

Brent Burns grabbed the lead back for San Jose at 8:44, with a blast from the blue line that flew by three Blue Jackets, hit Merzlikins in the sleeve and went into the net. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Timo Meier.

Cole Sillinger tied it back up at 17:48, off another two-on-one, this time with Mario Ferraro back. Sillinger took the shot from the hash marks and beat Hill on the blocker side.

Jack Roslovic gave the Blue Jackets the lead again 1:57 into the third period. Roslovic beat three Sharks defenders to the net for a back-hand shot around Hill’s outstretched glove. Assists went to Max Domi and Andrew Peeke.

Adam Boqvist scored his second of the night at 5:34, giving the Blue Jackets a two goal lead. Gabriel Carlsson caught a pass from Jakub Voracek on the boards. As he skated to the net, he made a back-hand pass across to Boqvist who was just arriving above the blue paint. Assists went to Carlsson and Voracek.

Tomas Hertl cut the Columbus lead back down to one at 10:11 of the period. Timo Meier dug a puck out of the corner ad Jonathan Dahlen pushed it up to Hertl in the face-off circle. Assists went to Dahlen and Meier.

Gustav Nyqvist scored scored a sixth goal for Columbus at 16:42. The Sharks challenged it as an offside play and it was disallowed.

Alexandre Texier scored into the empty net at 18:53 to make it officially 6-4. Assists went to Gustav Nyqvist and Eric Robinson.

The Sharks just barely won the face-off battle, winning 51% of the draws. They won 71% of the second period draws but were beaten in the first and the third. The Sharks outshot the Blue Jackets in the first, 19-9, but were out-shot in the third 12-5, for a total shot count of 34-30 San Jose. The Sharks had no power plays, and the Blue Jackets had just one. The Sharks penalty kill gave up no shots.

The Sharks return home now, to face the Calgary Flames in San Jose on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Jets score lots beat Devils 8-4; Ranger goalies combine for shutout over Sharks; plus more

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Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele (55) and Kyle Connor (81) celebrate Scheifele’s first period goal at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Fri Dec 3, 2021 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Huge night for the Winnipeg Jets (11-8-4) Mark Schiefele who scored a hat trick against the visiting New Jersey Devils (9-9-4) on Friday night at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg in a 8-4 win. The Jets never let up on the Devils scoring three goals in the first and second periods and two in the thrid.

#2 The New York Rangers (15-4-3) goaltenders Igor Shesterkin and Alexander Georgiev combined for 28 saved goals. Shesterkin had to leave after injuring his right leg in the third period and was replace by Georgiev as the Rangers ended up getting a 1-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks (13-10-1) .

#3 Max Pacioretty of the Vegas Golden Knights (13-10-0) scored two goals in the second period and the Knights scored four goals in the second stanza which led to a crushing 7-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes (5-17-2).

#4 The Calgary Flames (15-4-5) just got by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (13-8-4) in a 4-3 shootout. The Flames scored two unanswered shootout goals scored by Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk for the win.

#5 The Seattle Kraken’s (9-13-2) early goals two in each of the first and second periods were just enough to get by the Edmonton Oilers (16-6-0) 4-3. Kraken goals by Alex Wennberg, Yanni Gourde, Colin Blackwell, and Adam Larsson.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks snap three game win streak come up short at MSG

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New York Rangers’ Mike Zibanejad (93) and San Jose Sharks’ Mario Ferraro (38) in a mad scramble for the biscuit during first period action at Madison Square Garden in New York on Fri Dec 3, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (13-10-1) couldn’t solve two New York Rangers (15-4-3) goaltenders Igor Shesterkin who stopped all 19 shots and Alexander Georgiev who stopped all nine shots for the shutout 1-0.

#2 Shesterkin had to leave at 5:08 in the third period for a right leg injury who went face down in the crease and had to be removed for Georgiev.

#3 Ryan Strome scored the game’s only goal of the game early in the first period and made it count as they came away with the 1-0 win

#4 On the Sharks behalf goaltender Adin Hill stopped 25 shots allowed Strome’s goal a good outing for Hill but a disappointing loss.

#5 The Sharks continue this road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets (12-9-0). The Jackets have lost three straight games. Their most recent loss coming against the Dallas Stars (12-7-2) 3-2. How do you see this match up between these two teams this Sunday?

Join Len for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rangers Shesterkin and Georgiev combine for 1-0 shutout against Sharks

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New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) gets a stick save on a shot by San Jose Sharks’ Mick Bonino (13) in the second period at Madison Square Garden in New York Fri Dec 3, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK, N.Y.—The Sharks had their three-game road trip winning streak snapped at Madison Square Garden on Friday night after failing to get their offense going and losing 1-0 to the New York Rangers.

Rangers center Ryan Strome scored on a power play past Sharks goalie Adin Hill at 6:03 in the first period to give New York a 1-0 lead.

San Jose was unable to get past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin in the first 48 minutes before he was injured and got off the ice with 14:52 to go in the third period. Shesterkin made 19 saves and his relief, Alexandar Georgiev, made nine saves.

Halfway through the third period, the Sharks had a power play on a penalty from New York’s K’Andre Miller. But Georgiev stopped Logan Couture from capitalizing on their best opportunity to score.

“I had a few good looks to score. Yeah, finish was lacking around the end. But I thought we moved the puck alright, could’ve been better though,” Couture said.

On the power play, the Sharks’ leading scorer TImo Meier said, “We didn’t do enough to get that goal to get inside on the net.”

Hill stopped 15 of 16 shots in the first two periods and finished with 26 saves.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner. “Like I said, we couldn’t find any offense and defensively we gave up a few chances at the end.”

San Jose was pursuing their first-ever sweep of teams in the New York area, after beating the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Tuesday and the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime on Thursday. Their road trip started with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Sharks (13-10-1) have lost for the second time in seven games and finish their road trip facing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at Nationwide Arena. The puck drops at 3 p.m.

“There’s still one game left and we either go 4-1 or 3-2 so it’s a good swing game for us,” Couture said. “I think tomorrow is an important day to get some rest. It feels like we’ve played a lot of games lately and I think a lot of guys are tired right now so we’ll get some rest tomorrow and regroup.”