Category: NHL

2019 NHL All-Star Game News and Commentary

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Pearl Allison Lo

SAN JOSE — The “hub of innovation,” as proclaimed by Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier in the day to media, kicked off 2019 NHL All-Star weekend for the first time since 1997, with the Skills Competition Friday.

Players who did not make Media Day on Wednesday were made available to the press before the Skills showcase. These participants included Braden Holtby (WSH), John Carlson (WSH), Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK), Kris Letang (PIT), Drew Doughty (LAK) and Nathan MacKinnon (COL). Sidney Crosby was absent due to illness and did not play in the competition.

Doughty, set to play in Accuracy Shooting, on his chances, replied, “I doubt I’ll win. Yeah, I don’t know. I have a decent shot, but I can say I’ve never just stood in front of the net and shots pucks at targets before, so this’ll be my first time, and I’m sure the crowd will probably be booing me, so I’ll probably be super nervous, and embararssed a little bit…Hopefully the shoot goes well.” Doughty ended up in third out of eighth place with a time of 14.423 seconds.   

First time NHL All-Star Carlson’s game was the hardest shot. Before, he said, “I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I haven’t ever been registered before, so I think we all have a chance this year with some of the guys that are in here…I like watching all of them (the competitions). I think they all showcase the talent of these great players in the league and that’s what it’s about and I like seeing some of the ways that our guys can handle the puck.” Carlson was the $25,000 winner, finishing with the top two quickest shots at 102.8mph and 100.6mph.

MacKinnon, an All-Star Captain for the first time, was on the shelf as well for the contest. HE responded, “I was forced, but I love coming here. It’s still fun. I’m still the captain…It’s just a bruise on the inside of my foot…we know it’s not broken…I’ll be good to go against Vancouver (February 2). Regarding not participating in the fastest skater competition, McKinnon replied, “I get killed every year…Connor’s so fast…McDavid won his third straight fastest skater contest with a time of 13.378 seconds.

The replacement for MacKinnon was the first woman to ever compete in the Skills match. Kendall Coyne from the U.S. Women’s National Team skated first and beat out Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes. With chants of “USA,” Coyne gushed she was “super, super excited, super, super honored. Thanks for the NHL’s support.” Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames commented, “She was fast. I didn’t expect that…It’s pretty impressive, obviously…she’s American, which is even better.”

Going back to MacKinnon on his favorite skill, he said, “probably the shooting. I always have to do the skating, but I’d love to do the shooting one year for sure.”

Regarding his teammates’ chances in the skills competition, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, MacKinnon analyzed, “Gabe has to do puck handling, so I don’t know. I don’t like his chances. He’s more of a forechecker.” For Mikko, he verified, “He’s got over 50 assists, so I think he’ll do pretty good at passing.”  Landeskog finished fifth out of eighth in puck control with 33.425 seconds and Rantanen got second out of eighth with 2 minutes and 17.379 seconds.

Sharks’ defenseman Erik Karlsson did participate in the All-Star Skills, despite his status being questionable due to recent injury. On being able to participate, he replied, “It’s great, especially being here in San Jose, I think it’s a great thing for this fan base and for this organization and community, so I’m happy I can be here.”  He finished seventh out of eighth in Premier Passer with 1 minute and 58.824 seconds. Teammate Joe Pavelski described the event well, “It seems like one of those events where you need a little momentum going in, and if you get a couple early, that’s good, if not, it’s pretty tough.”

An especially great moment of the competition for the hometown crowd, was when Toronto Maple Leaf’s Auston Matthews, playing in the last event of Accuracy Shooting, removed his jersey to reveal that of his now teammate and former Sharks’ legend Patrick Marleau, which he wore while partaking in the event.” Afterwards, he, along with San Jose’s representative of Karlsson, Pavelski and Brent Burns, took a picture with Burns’ and Pavelski’s boys.

2019 NHL All-Star Skills Competition Results

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Photo credit: @ScoutingTheRefs

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The 2019 NHL All Star Skills Competition featured six events in front of a big crowd at SAP Center Friday evening. In the first event, the Fastest Skater, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won for the third time in a row, this time with a time of 13.378. In second place, Buffalo’s Jack Eichel completed the course in 13.582, with the Islanders’ Matthew Barzal third at 13.778. The first skater in the competition was Kendall Coyne Schofield of the US Women’s National Team. Her time was 14.346.

The second event was demonstrated by Rebecca Johnston of the Canadian Women’s team. The Puck Control race started with a stick handling test, followed by a puck carrying exercise though cones. The third test was to put the puck through three variable gates. One of three gates in each pillar would light up as the skater finished the preceding test. At the end, they had to put the puck in a regular net. Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau took the prize with a time of 27.045. Chicago’s Patrick Kane skated first but came in second with a time of 28.611. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux finished third with a time of 30.270.

In the Save Streak competition, each goaltender would face a shot from each skater on an opposing team, with the order of go to repeat if the goalie stopped a shot by a Divisional Captain. If he did not stop that shot, his turn was up. Henrik Lundqvist went last and won with 12 saves against the Atlantic Division.

Pekka Rinne was in the net first, making two saves in a row but no longer streak than that against the Pacific Division. Andrei Vasilevsky made 8 saves before Seth Jones scored from the Metro Division. John Gibson made 3 saves against the Central Division. Devan Dubnyk made 7 saves against the Pacific Division. Braden Holtby defended against the Atlantic Division but did not make more than 2 saves in a row. Jimmy Howard made 2 saves against the Metropolitan Division. Marc-Andre Fleury got the extra shots by making a save on the Central Dvivision captain, but he let in the very next shot and did not reach the eight-save threshold set by Vasilevsky.

Briana Decker of the USA Women’s National Team demonstrated the Premier Passer race. Contestants had to hit the sticks of three cutout skaters with a pass, then put pucks in four mini nets with a saucer pass over a low barrier. Finally, the skater had to hit five of six targets which would light up, signalling him to shoot at that one. If he did not hit the target before the light changed, it did not count. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl won it with a time of 1:09.088. The second best time was 1:18.530 from Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, and the third best was St. Louis’s Ryan O’Reilly with 1:25.897.

Washington’s John Carlson won the Hardest Shot contest with a 102.8 mph shot. San Jose’s Brent Burns came next with a 100.6 mph shot, while Columbus’s Seth Jones was third with a 99 mph shot. Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos was the only other shooter and his best was 96.2 mph. San Jose’s Sharky won the mascot hardest shot with 85.2 mph.

The Final Event was Accuracy Shooting. Renata Fast from the Canadian Women’s National Team demonstrated the new setup. Instead of plates that break, the targets were LED lit and they only stayed lit for 3 seconds before going dark. Of course, they had to be hit while lit or it did not count. The standing record for five-target accuracy shooting is 11.1. Boston’s David Pastrnak won it this year with a time of 11:309. Kris Letang and Drew Doughty came in second and third with times of 12.693 and 13.591 respectively. San Jose’s Joe Pavelski finished with a respectable 14.423.

The NHL All-Star Game will start at 5:00 PM PT Saturday.

NHL All-Star game podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks have three players in All-Star game, who are all building up anticipation

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the NHL podcast with Joe:

#1 The NHL All-Star Game is on Saturday, January 26th at SAP Center is one of the most exciting things about the game is the three-on-three.

#2 What’s this All-Star Game going to be like without the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin?

#3 The Sharks have three All-Stars. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Karlsson says he’s anxious to get in front of the San Jose crowd and show his All-Star ability.

#4 What’s been the difference from the West vs. East format to the division teams format in the All-Star Game?

#5 Joe takes a look at how special it is to attend and cover an All-Star Game.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks glad to get the win before hosting the NHL All-Star Game Saturday

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks played to a victory just before the NHL All-Star break this Saturday with a win over the Washington Capitals 7-6 on Tuesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.

#2 The Sharks didn’t want to host the NHL All-Star game in San Jose with a fourgame losing streak. That could have been another incentive to take it to the Caps in the overtime win.

#3 Lots of goals in for a 7-6 game, lots of offense, as the Sharks’ Logan Couture got the game-winning goal in overtime.

#4 There’s nothing like hosting an NHL-All Star game in your own rink. This has to be something special for the Sharks.

#5 It’s the skill competition Friday night and the NHL All-Star game Saturday night. Mary Lisa is covering both events and talks about how special this one will be.

Mary Lisa does the San Jose Sharks podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sharks Come Back for 7-6 OT Win Over Capitals in Washington

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks ended a three-game losing streak with a 7-6 overtime win against the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at the Capital One Arena. Sharks goals came from Tomas Hertl (3), Evander Kane (2), Joe Pavelski, and Logan Couture. It was Hertl’s third career hat trick, and the first in Sharks history to include an overtime goal. Capitals goals came from Alex Ovechkin (3), Andre Burakovsky, T. J. Oshie, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Sharks’ power play went 2-6 while the Capitals scored one power play goal in three tries. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 33 saves on 39 shots, while the Capitals’ Braden Holtby made 36 saves on 43 shots.

After the game, Sharks forward Logan Couture talked about their defensive lapses: “We shouldn’t have checked out defensively like we did tonight. We weren’t there in our own end, leaving our goaltender out to dry on many occasions and in overtime there he made some big time saves for us to win that game.”

Asked about the team’s ability to bounce back despite all that, he said: “We’re in a difficult spot here. You’re in the third period, you’re down a few goals on the back to back on a long travel day. All the guys in here could have easily looked forward to tomorrow and our break, but we decided to play hard for the third and found a way to tie it up and win it.”

Joe Pavelski started the scoring just 12 seconds into the game Tuesday. An early icing call gave the Sharks an offensive zone draw, which Pavelski won, getting the puck up to Burns at the point. Burns shot the puck, it bounced off of Timo Meier in front of the net, and landed in front of an open net for Pavelski to knock it in. Meier and Burns got the assists.

The Capitals tied it up at 10:41 of the period with a power play goal. Tim Heed was in the box for hooking. Martin Jones made two stops before the puck trickled out to the side of the net, where Alex Ovechkin was tracking it down. He popped the puck in before Jones could get back for the stop. Assists went to Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie.

Andre Burakovzky gave the Capitals the lead less than two minutes later, at 12:11. Burakovsky took a shot off the rush, beating Jones on the glove side through some traffic. Assists went to Chandler Stephenson and Travis Boyd.

Tomas Hertl tied the game back up with a power play goal at 14:27, while T.J. Oshie was in the box for tripping Timo Meier. The Sharks gave up a short-handed chance early in the power play but, once back in the Capitals’ zone, executed a nice tic-tac-toe play. Hertl found Thornton at the mid boards, Thornton passed to Pavelski below the goal line, and Pavelski sent it back to Hertl, who was low in the slot. Hertl’s one-timer went right over Braden Holtby’s shoulder. It was Hertl’s 20th goal of the season, with the assists going to Pavelski and Thornton.

T.J. Oshie exited the box and in less than a minute got the lead back for Washington. Ovechkin carried the puck into the zone and then fed Oshie with a pass that escaped the pursuing Sharks. Oshie drew Jones to the left, then shot to the right side of the net. Assists went to Ovechkin and John Carlson.

Less than a minute into the second period, Evander Kane tied the game again. Timo Meier retrieved the puck behind the net, then reversed direction and got the puck to Kane on the left side of the net. Kane’s first shot did not go in, but by the time the puck bounced up and across the goal mouth, Kane was in position to shoot it back in. Assists went to Meier and Brent Burns.

Washington grabbed the lead back again at 2:53. Martin Jones had just stopped a shot from Jakub Vrana, but the rebound went to the goal line where Evgeny Kuznetsov pulled it in and shot it past Jones. The Sharks defense was not very helpful for Jones on that goal. Assists went to Vrana and Tom Wilson.

Alex Ovechkin extended the lead to 5-3 at 5:41. Backstrom made a drop pass to Ovechkin at the top of the faceoff circle, while drawing Justin Braun away and creating a moving screen. Ovechkin’s shot went by Jones’ glove side. Assists went to Backstrom and Oshie.

Logan Couture got one back at 14:39. The Sharks had just killed a penalty when Logan Couture followed a puck through John Carlson at the Sharks blue line. He headed through the neutral zone with Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns trailing him, three on none. Couture slipped the puck under Holtby with a backhand shot for his 19th goal of the season.

The teams traded penalties to start the third period, before Ovechkin completed his hat trick at 5:52. The Capitals drove through the neutral zone, ending up 4-on-2, then 4-on-3 against the Sharks’ defenders. Kuznetsov passed the puck to Vrana on the right, who passed it back across the ice to the trailing Ovechkin. He took the shot from the slot for his 36th of the season. Vrana and Kuznetsov got the assists.

Tomas Hertl scored his second, another power play goal, at 10:02 of the third. John Carlson was in the box for holding Joonas Donskoi. This play was like Hertl’s first goal, in that Couture’s pass found Pavelski below the goal line, and Pavelski found Hertl open for the shot in the slot. It looked a little faster than the first one, but very similar. Assists went to Pavelski and Couture.

Evander Kane sent the teams to overtime with his second of the game at 19:59. Martin Jones left the net with just over 1:30 left, giving the Sharks a sixth skater. The Capitals cleared the puck three times, but did not hit the empty net. Pavelski took a shot from the boards, it slowed down when it hit Hertl’s stick, then bounced in front of Kane and an open net.

Hertl completed his hat trick with the overtime game winner 1:48 into the extra period. Hertl carried the puck through the neutral zone and then gave it to Couture at center. Couture hesitated a moment, then gave it back to Hertl, who took the shot from just below the hash marks.

The Sharks will resume after the All-Star Game on February 2 against the Arizona Coyotes in San Jose. Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns will join the other All-Stars in San Jose, starting Thursday. Erik Karlsson’s participation is less certain.

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

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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.

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum: Yotes got a big win against SJ; Sharks lost two in a row; Concussion issues addressed in the NHL; plus more

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Photo credit: @SiriusXMNHL

On the NHL podcast with Daniel:

1 Big win for Coyotes over the Sharks; tough road trip for San Jose.

2 Concussion lawsuit settlement deadline extended.

3 Caps give former coach Barry Trotz classy tribute in return to DC.

4 NHL ends bid to hold 2020 World Cup of Hockey.

5 Brad Marchand sort of wishes he hadn’t licked Ryan Callahan’s nose in last year’s playoffs.

Catch Daniel each Sunday for the NHL podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall to Lightning 6-3

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Saturday’s road game at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay got goals from Steven Stamkos (2), Yanni Gourde, Mathieu Joseph, Alex Killorn, and Victor Hedman. Two Sharks goals came from Evander Kane and one from Marcus Sorensen. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for the win, while Martin Jones made 20 saves in the Sharks’ loss. The Sharks power play went 1-3, while their penalty kill was 2-4.

The Sharks were once again missing some significant players from their blue line. Erik Karlsson skated during warm-ups, but then there was a last minute scratch Saturday. Marc-Edouard Vlasic continues to be out, missing his eighth game since January 2. It is not certain whether either player will return before the NHL All Star Game.

After the game, Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski was asked about these roster challenges, and he said: “We were all right at times, we had a lot of chances. You can’t give up six, but it gets a little bit away from us there at the end. And five on three goal and a couple of those things. We definitely had a chance in this game I think.”

Of Erik Karlsson’s absence in particular, Sharks forward Evander Kane said: “No matter who it is, it’s always next man up. We’ve played without a lot of our top D through the course of the season, played well. I mean we played with three guys that are normally out of the lineup against these guys at home and beat them. So obviously it’s a loss but it’s not an excuse.”

The Lightning struck first, 3:32 into the game. Mathieu Joseph dumped the puck in from just over the center line and then followed the puck to the corner. JT Miller sped into the corner as well and centered the puck on net. Anthoney Cirelli was in front of the net to take the shot, but Jones kicked the puck back out. He did not kick it far enough, as Joseph was right there to put the rebound in the net. It was Joseph’s 12th of the season, with assists to Cirelli and Miller.

Tampa Bay doubled their lead at 17:51. In a flurry of activity at the Sharks net, Marcus Sorensen poked the puck away from Brayden Point. unfortunately, Alex Killorn was coming down the slot and the puck came right to him with traffic to screen Jones’s view. It was Killorn’s 11th of the season.

Evander Kane got one back for the Sharks on the power play at 19:39 of the period. With 44 seconds left in the power play and less time left in the period, Joe Thornton made a pass to Timo Meier at the side of the net. Instead of taking the shot, Meier found Kane arriving on the other side of the blue paint and sent the puck to him. Kane had an open net as Andrei Vasilevskiy was coming across. It was Kane’s 18th of the season, with assists going to Meier and Thornton.

The Sharks led the period in shots 16-7, while Tampa Bay led in faceoff wins 59%-41%.

Evander Kane added another goal to tie the score just 58 seconds into the second period. Kane caught a pass from Joonas Donskoi just as Kane reached the Lightning blue line. He skated into the slot and took a shot that went wide of the net and came off the backboards. It came off the boards just so that as Kane reached the net, the puck slid by the post and was in position to be knocked in. Assists went to Donskoi and Radim Simek.

It took the Lightning some time to retake the lead, but they did at 7:29 with a goal from Yanni Gourde. Steven Stamkos shot the puck behind the net and off the boards, where it found Gourde skating, then diving to reach it and put it in the net. It was Gourde’s 12th of the season, with assists going to Stamkos and Ondrej Palat.

Tampa Bay got their lead back to two at 12:01, on a power play caused by a tripping penalty to Logan Couture. That penalty was taken in the final seconds of a penalty to Kevin Labanc, so the Sharks were just finishing a 3-on-5 kill. Victor Hedman skated by three Sharks to get the shot under Jones and into the net. It was Hedman’s seventh of the season. An assist went to Nikita Kucherov.

The shot count was even in the second period at 13. By the end of the second, the Sharks had improved their faceoff percentage to 50%.

Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 5-2 lead at 5:08 of the third period. Kucherov skated around Simek along the boards, then passed the puck to Stamkos in the middle of the ice. Stamkos got around Donskoi and took a shot through traffic for his 25th goal of the season. Kucherov and Ryan McDonough had the assists.

Stamkos scored again at 14:15, this time from his usual spot high on the faceoff circle, and on the power play. Evander Kane was in the box for roughing against Erik Cernak. Asists went to Hedman and Point.

Marcus Sorensen scored to make it 6-3 with a slap shot in the final minute of the game. Assists went to Tim Heed and Kevin Labanc. Despite the score, Vasilevskiy was very agitated about giving up that goal and took it out on his stick and blocker.

The final shot count was 39-26 Sharks, and the Sharks won 53% of the faceoffs.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Florida against the Panthers at 4:00 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Isles get third period help to defeat Caps 2-0; Flames continue to dominate in Pacific; PP goal wins it for Pens in OT; plus more

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Photo credit: @NYIslanders

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck of the New York Islanders each scored in the third period of Friday night’s game and Isles goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 19 shots against the Washington Capitals for a 2-0 win.

#2 The Calgary Flames’ Sam Bennett couldn’t be contained, scoring two goals as well as the go-ahead goal as the Flames took a two-goal win past the Detroit Red Wings 6-4 on Friday.

#3 Phil Kessel got a power play goal at 4:09 in overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. The Pens won it on a 4-3 power play after slashing was called on the Coyotes’ Richard Panik.

#4 Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks got a goal and an assist and Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko stopped 36 shots, beating the visiting Buffalo Sabers at Rogers Center in Vancouver.

#5 The Ottawa Senators’ Bobby Ryan and Mark Stone didn’t waste anytime in the second period, scoring 13 seconds apart to win their fourth straight game, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in Ottawa 4-1.

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: What went wrong on the night that the Sharks’ 7-game win streak ended?

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On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The San Jose Sharks’ seven-game win streak came to an end on Wednesday night in Glendale to the tune of 6-3. What happened to the Sharks’ defense that night?

#2 The Sharks couldn’t get in front of a lot of shots and there were some bad bounces including one that was a ricochet that misdirected and got past Sharks goalie Aaron Dell for one of the Yotes’ goals.

#3 The Coyotes kept it going scoring in deuces with goals in the first, second, and third–a real reflection of a breakdown in defense throughout the game.

#4 The Sharks’ Logan Couture said: “We’re fine. You never want to go crazy when you lose, but it’s difficult when you lose a division game, one that’s winnable. (The Coyotes) knew we played last night and jumped on us right away.”

#5 The Sharks will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who just lost a tough one to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. This one should be a real battle as both teams will grind this one out for a win.

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com