Category: NHL

Sharks fall to Golden Knights 5-4 in a shootout

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks were back to business at the SAP Center versus the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. In case you need a refresher, San Jose was knocked out by Vegas in the second round of the 2018 NHL Playoffs after sweeping the Ducks in the first round that postseason.

The official introduction of star defenseman Erik Karlsson broke the internet this week. The Karlsson trade changed the Sharks’ defensive pairings, as Karlsson will likely join a fifth in 2018. Karlsson also made headlines for not speaking to the Ottawa Senators’ management since last November when they asked for his no-trade clause. And, of course, the fact the CBA could derail Karlsson’s future in San Jose.

But, let’s focus on what happened on Saturday night inside the SAP Center.

Both teams picked up where they left off. The Sharks and Golden Knights played with a lot of grit, and at times, physicality. Vegas drew first blood as Max Pacioretty scored the opening goal just 43 seconds into the first period. Assists were handed to Erik Haula and Paul Statsny. San Jose, however, tied the score 1-1 just 40 seconds later. Brent Burns scored the game-tying goal. Assists were handed to Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with 5:45 left in the first period. Meier’s goal helped put the Sharks in front. A lone assist was handed to Hertl.

Both teams played fairly rough, but the Sharks led the Golden Knights 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were tied 10-10. But the score wasn’t the only positive for San Jose, who got their first in-game sighting of Karlsson, who spoke to in-game host Jon Root for an entertaining interview.

Sharks fans gave a standing ovation as soon as Joe Thornton made his first appearance since January 23rd to open the second period. Thornton was happy to be back on the rink.

Barclay Goodrow scored a penalty shot goal to extend the Sharks’ lead to 3-1 at the 13:27 mark of the second period. The Golden Knights quickly made it a one-goal game as Oscar Lindberg made a top corner shot. A lone assist was handed to Alex Tuch.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones made a noteworthy glove save to fend off a potential Golden Knights goal with 2:11 left in the second period.

The Golden Knights’ Erik Brannstrom was called for holding, and as a result, the Sharks went on the power play. Logan Couture then worked his magic with a short-handed goal with just 58 seconds left in the second period. A lone assist was handed to Hertl.

The Sharks carried a 4-2 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 18-16 in favor of San Jose.

The remaining 17 seconds of Joe Pavelski’s slashing penalty was carried over into the third period. The Sharks killed off their captain’s penalty, but the Golden Knights gave the home team a hard time as they pulled within one again. Lindberg earned credit for the goal, which was his second of the night, 5:05 into the third period.

The Golden Knights weren’t far from quitters, as Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored a short-handed, game-tying goal to tie the score 4-4 (and his team killed their penalty, too) with less than two minutes left in the third period.

The score remained in a 4-4 tie, and both teams went to overtime for the first time this preseason.

Neither team was able to score in overtime, so the game had to be decided by a shootout.

In round one, Pavelski was the first shooter, but Golden Knights goalie Maxime Lagace made a notable save to prevent a potential Sharks point. In round two, both Couture and Tuch scored. In round three, neither Pacioretty or Evander Kane scored. In round four, neither Hertl or Brandon Pirri scored. In round five, neither Burns or Lindberg scored. In round six, Thornton missed his shot, while Brannstorm scored the shootout winner to lift the Golden Knights to a 5-4 win over the Sharks.

Notes
Sharks’ starters: Brenden Dillon, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Joe Thornton and Justin Braun.

Sharks’ scratches: Ryan Merkley and Sasha Chmelevski.

Tonight’s featured player was Logan Couture.

Tonight’s attendance was 15,496.

Sharks Fan Fest will be held on Sunday, September 23 from 1-7 pm PDT. More information can be found at sjsharks.com/fanfest.

The San Jose Barracuda will begin the 2018-19 AHL season on Friday, October 5. More information can be found at www.sjbarracuda.com/news/detail/barracuda-home-opener-two-weeks-away-oct-5.

Up Next 
The Sharks head to Calgary to take on the Flames in a preseason tilt on Tuesday, September 25 at 6:00 pm PDT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: A look how Karlsson will impact the Sharks in 2018-19

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @theScore

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The acquisition of  Erik Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators is all the rage in San Jose. What will Karlsson add to the Sharks’ lineup?

#2 Karlsson says he’s worth an eight-year contract. Talk about the deal–Karlsson got to come to San Jose!

#3 Karlsson spent nine years in Ottawa and helped the Sens get close to the Stanley Cup in 2017. The reason why Karlsson left is that he was asking for more than what small market Ottawa could afford.

#4 The Sharks trimmed their roster after Thursday’s game in Anaheim, sending 16 players to juniors and 12 players going to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.

#5 Ivan Chekhovich scored twice against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Chekhovich was sent down. Looks like they want Chekhovich to get more experience in the AHL first.

Len does the Sharks podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks feast on the Ducks to ultimately get 7-3 win

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM — The San Jose Sharks fell behind three times, but came up on top for their second straight victory over the Anaheim Ducks, 7-3, at the Honda Center Thursday night.

Anaheim came looking to even things up as they met San Jose for the second time in a row.  It was the first home game for the Ducks and first road game for the Sharks. Moreover, the Ducks kicked off their 25th anniversary on their turf.

On Tuesday, the Sharks were the 4-1 victors.

San Jose scored at least four goals for the second game in a row and have scored in each of their last five periods. Anaheim picked up their scoring since the previous game, but stalled after 7:01 of the second period. The Sharks followed with a five-goal streak. All of their goals on the night except the last one were scored by different players.

Antti Suomela scored the first and the last goal, playing in his second game straight out of Finland. He also had an assist during Kevin Labanc’s goal.

Suomela commented, “Last game was the first game in about four months so it’s always difficult, but tonight’s game was a little easier.”

Head coach Peter DeBoer commented on Suomela, “He makes plays and I know that sounds simple, but it is hard to create offense in this league and he finds a way to do that.”

Joonas Donskoi had a goal and two assists, Rourke Chartier had three straight assists, Labanc and Lukas Radil each had a goal and an assist, and 11 Sharks had at least a point.

For the Ducks, Ondrej Kase had two goals and Adam Henrique had two assists, both on Kase’s goals.

The two teams went scoreless on the power play. The Sharks were 0-for-3 and the Ducks were 0-for-1.

San Jose got the first power play at 2:18, but Anaheim got the first goal.

Henrique started the play on the other end by winning a faceoff and ended up feeding Kase from the boards as Kase found one of Aaron Dell’s holes at 4:53.

Just over a minute later, the Sharks evened the score in a bit of a similar fashion. Suomela won the faceoff and ended up tipping in Joakim Ryan’s shot from the blue line as the puck soared just above Ryan Miller’s left glove.

The next goal took a while. After several near chances which elicited gasps from the crowd, the Ducks finally broke through again when Jakob Silfverberg scored from the left faceoff circle at 16:57 to give Anaheim the 2-1 lead.

In the second, Labanc added a goal to his night’s repertoire at 4:53. Donskoi used nifty stick work and a slick pass to the right as Labanc took the puck inside the goalpost for the 2-2 tie.

A turnover cost the Sharks though. Giovanni Fiore intercepted the puck after it left Ryan’s stick and Kase again took the puck to their bank to take back the lead at 7:01.

The Sharks got another power play at 9:08, but were unable to convert.

San Jose scored the game’s first consecutive goals though when Radim Simek’s end line goal wormed its way under Miller and Jacob Middleton scored from in between the blue line and the right faceoff circle. It was Simek and Middleton’s first goals for the team, coming at 12:08 and 13:45 to give their first lead. Goodrow got his third assist during Middleton’s goal, which made the score 4-3.

The Sharks kicked off their three-goal third period at 11:31. Miller was unable to control the rebound off Chartier’s shot and it eventually found its way to Radil.

Donskoi and Suomela scored less than 30 seconds apart, starting at 16:27 to cap off the scoring.

On executing early on in preseason, the Ducks’ Josh Manson relayed, “At the end of the day, it comes down to structure and work ethic. They played a better structure than we did. That’s why they won the game.”

Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle pointed out, “San Jose did a good job of tracking and winning their fair share of battles…The score wasn’t indicative of the game. I think it was more like a one-goal hockey game than what actually happened out there.”

Up Next: The Sharks (2-0-0) and Vegas Golden Knights (2-0-0) will pit their perfect records against each other in a playoff rematch Saturday at 7 pm PST. Both teams scored seven goals apiece Thursday night.

Sharks rout the Ducks 4-1 in preseason game No. 1

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SiriusXMNHL

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — No, the regular season hasn’t started yet, but the San Jose Sharks opened up the preseason at SAP Center versus the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

For the Sharks, the recent acquisition of Ottawa Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson might signal the dawn of a new era in San Jose. The Sharks welcomed Karlsson to San Jose with a full page color ad in Monday’s edition of The Mercury News. The Sharks reportedly will offer Karlsson an eight-year contract extension.

Karlsson revealed that he never wanted to leave Ottawa after a season full of controversy, but I’m almost certain that he’ll get comfortable with California now that he’s expected to practice with the Sharks on Wednesday.

In other news, Mike Hoffman’s fiancee, Monika Caryk, said she won’t sue Karlsson’s wife, Melinda Currey, over allegations of cyberbullying.

For the Ducks, there has been a lot of debating over questions surrounding their training camp. The Ducks’ recent trades may or may not change the balance of power in the Pacific Division, but I’ll wait for the regular season to start before commenting on that.

Anyhow, let’s get to the Sharks vs. Ducks preseason game.

Despite an action-packed first period, the game was in a scoreless tie. Shots were 14-6 in favor of San Jose.

Just moments after Gibson’s penalty expired, Brenden Dillon was called for tripping at the 16:30 mark of the second period. And, to make things worse, Anton Rodin gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with his first power play goal of the preseason at the 15:31 mark of the second period. Assists were handed to Corey Tropp and Brandon Montour.

But the Sharks bounced back nicely. Rourke Chartier scored the game-tying goal at the 12:23 mark of the second period. A lone assist was handed to Ivan Chekhovich.

The Ducks pulled Jared Coreau in favor of Kevin Boyle with 8:06 left in the second period. However, the Ducks’ decision didn’t work in their favor.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with 4:35 left in the second period. Chekhovich scored his first goal of the preseason. A lone assist was handed to Barclay Goodrow.

The Sharks brought a 2-1 lead to the locker room following a gutsy second period. Shots were 29-15 in favor of San Jose.

The Sharks were feisty late in the third period. Barclay Goodrow tallied a goal–his first to extend the Sharks’ lead to 3-1 with 1:49 left in regulation. Assists were handed to Tim Heed and Radim Simek. Shortly after, Chekhovich scored his second goal of the game (and preseason) to expand the Sharks’ lead to 4-1. Assists were handed to Goodrow and Dylan Gambrell.

The Sharks defeated the Ducks 4-1 in their first preseason game of 2018.

Notes
Tonight’s attendance was 13,926.

Sharks’ roster 
Forwards: Dylan Gambrell, Marcus Sorensen, Barclay Goodrow, Joonas Donskoi, Antti Suomela, Vincent Praplan, Tomas Hertl, Lukas Radio, Sasha Chmelevski, Rourke Chartier, Kevin Labanc, Ivan Chekhovich and Maxim Letunov.

Defensemen: Brenden Dillon, Ryan Merkley, Joakim Ryan, Radim Simek, Nick DeSimone, Tim Heed and Jeremy Roy.

Goalies: Antoine Bibeau and Zachary Emond.

Up Next
The Sharks head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks in a preseason rematch on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 pm PDT.

Sportstalk Podcast at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in downtown San Jose on Monday, September 17, 2018

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Cast: Marko Ukalovic (host), Jeremy Harness (SF Giants beat writer), Amaury Pi Gonzalez (Oakland A’s Spanish radio), Joe Lami (SF 49ers/NHL analyst), Joey Friedman (Oakland A’s podcast) and Lee Leonard (producer).

Our thanks to Scott’s Seafood at 185 Park Avenue in downtown San Jose for their warm hospitality and great opportunity to allow Sportstalk to podcast from the top of the greatest Seafood restaurant in the South Bay.

Our thanks to our hosts–general manager Mark Buhagiar and manager David Buhagiar, Scott’s fine wait staff and great help.  Thanks to these talented gentlemen for helping making Sportstalk a success for our podcast at Scotts.

Also, our favorite choices from the Scott’s Seafood dinner menu: oyster, prawns, crabs, seared ahi tuna, also try some our favorite soups the Boston Clam Chowder, Tomato Soup tonight’s soup du jour. or the soup of the day. In addition, try Scott’s Classics, sautéed prawns, scallops, Dungeness crab, grilled petrale soul, and Scott Cioppino. Scott’s also has a famous selection of fine steaks and meats.

Scott’s Seafood is a Bay Area tradition in the heart of downtown San Jose. Our American regional cuisine features the freshest seafood, pasta, chicken dishes and USDA prime steaks. Relax with a drink from our full bar or let our professional wait staff help you choose the perfect wine to complement your meal. Enjoy views of San Jose and the surrounding hills of silicon Valley from the sixth floor.

On the Sportstalk discussion: The opening of the NHL preseason. The San Jose Sharks as covered by our very own Matt Harrington, Joe Lami, Len Shapiro, Mary Lisa Walsh, Ana Kieu and Amaury Pi Gonzalez will be discussing this week’s games on Tuesday, September 18th at SAP Center the Anaheim Ducks, Thursday, September 20th at Anaheim and on Saturday, September 22 battle when the Vegas Golden Knights come to San Jose.

2018 NHL Draft: San Jose Sharks Version (Part 2)

Published on by Sports Radio Service1 Comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

Saturday marked the second (and final) day of the 2018 NHL Draft at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson commented on this year’s Sharks draft, saying that his team got a mixture of different things and that they felt pretty good about it.

Here’s a brief recap of rounds two through seven:

Round two
Note: The Sharks’ second-round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 22, 2016 that sent Roman Polak and Nick Spaling to San Jose in exchange for Raffi Torres, a second-round pick in 2017 and this pick.

Round three
The Sharks selected Swedish center Linus Karlsson, who previously played for SuperElit’s Karlskrona HK J20, with the 87th overall pick.

Note: The Sharks’ third-round pick went to the Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 27, 2016 that sent James Reimer and Jeremy Morin to San Jose in exchange for Alex Stalock, Ben Smith and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Toronto will receive a third-round pick in 2018 if the Sharks qualify for the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals – was converted on May 25, 2016.

Round four
The Sharks selected American center Jasper Weatherby, who previously played for the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild, with the 102nd overall pick.

Note: The Vegas Golden Knights’ fourth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018 that sent Mike Hoffman and a seventh round pick in 2018 to Florida in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2018, a second round pick in 2019 and this pick. Florida previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent Reilly Smith to Vegas in exchange for this pick.

Round five
Note: The Panthers’ fifth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018, that sent Mike Hoffman and a seventh round pick in 2018 to Florida in exchange for Vegas’ fourth round pick in 2018, a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick.

Round six
The Sharks selected Canadian goaltender, Zachary Emond, with the 176th overall pick, and American left winger, John Leonard, with the 182nd overall pick.

Note: The Predators’ sixth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on February 25, 2018, that sent Brandon Bollig and Troy Grosenick to Nashville in exchange for this pick.

Round seven
Note: The Sharks’ seventh-round pick went to the the Panthers as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018, that sent Vegas’ fourth round pick in 2018, a fifth round pick in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019 to San Jose in exchange for Mike Hoffman and this pick.

2018 NHL Draft: San Jose Sharks Version (Part 1)

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

This Friday night marked the first day (and round) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

For the second time in franchise history, the Buffalo Sabres had the first overall pick in  the draft. As expected, the Sabres got the top prospect, Rasmus Dahlin, a Swedish defenseman who previously played for Frolunda HC in Gothenburg, Sweden. Dahlin is an exceptionally talented player who is often described as a smart, two-way defenseman that would be able to positively impact his team’s future.

And, of course, the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Detroit Red Wings all held many first round picks.

The first 31 players were selected in the first round, and the San Jose Sharks had the 21st overall pick. The Sharks selected Ryan Merkley, a Canadian defenseman who last played for the Guelph Storm of the OHL.

Merkley then spoke to the media members in attendance for this year’s draft.

Catch rounds two through seven on Saturday morning at 8:00 am PDT on NHL Network and Sportsnet.

NHL Stanley Cup review podcast with Len Shapiro: In the final analysis for the Knights, the Caps just shut their game plans down

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

@Golden Knights photo: The Vegas Golden Knights’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare bags his equipment for the summer saying before leaving, “probably the best experience of my life.”

On the NHL Stanley Cup podcast review with Len:

Len goes over the takeaways from this season’s NHL Stanley Cup Finals first-year franchise team the Vegas Golden Knights and the season they had. The Knights were just out-gunned and out-played in game 5.

The Knights and the Capitals tied up the game twice on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but in the end the Knights were just no match for the Caps, who won four straight games to win the Stanley Cup. Len also talks about playoff MVP Alex Ovechkin. Also, how the Caps just simply shut down the Knights’ game plan to take them out of the finals.

Len Shapiro did the NHL podcast reports throughout the 2017-18 NHL season for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Finals Vegas Knights podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: It could be Good Knight for Vegas if they don’t get a Game 5 win

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nhl.com/goldenknights

On the Vegas Golden Knights podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

For the Vegas Golden Knights, who won Game 1 and then lost three straight games, they are now facing elimination on Thursday night at the T-Mobile Center in Vegas for Game 5 as they’re down 3-1 in the series to the Washington Capitals.

We’ll take a look at some of the things the Caps have done to shutdown the Knights in this series. Also, we’ll discuss what Washington head coach Barry Trotz has done to keep the Caps charging. In addition, we’ll talk about some of the Knights’ key players who have been shut down by the Caps like Alex Tuch, Jonathan Marchessault, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Game 5 is on the horizon Thursday night in Vegas. Can the Knights do it? The Knights will need this one to stay alive and force a Game 6.

Historical note: No NHL team has ever come back down 3-1 since 1942. The Toronto Maple Leafs did it against the Detroit Red Wings to win 4-3.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the Vegas Golden Knights podcasts in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Finals Washington Capitals podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Caps can wrap it up in Game 5 in Vegas on Thursday night at the T-Mobile Center

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nhl.com/capitals

On the Washington Capitals podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

The Washington Capitals can come away with their first NHL Finals championship in 20 years Thursday night if they can take out the Vegas Golden Knights on their home ice. The Caps have the talent to get the job done with Evgeny Kuznetsov, who got four assists on Monday night against the Knights in Game 4.

“I’ve never been there,” said Kuznetsov in the postgame presser. “And I don’t really care about that yet, so it’s kind of easy for me.” Kuznetsov got help from his teammates T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, and Devante Smith-Pelly, who all scored in the first period. It was a matter of attack early because if the Knights can get an opening, they will take it to you with their great speed. Caps goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 28 shots on Monday.

Vegas hit the post with several shots, but it was for not they got two goals on Monday and lost by four goals 6-2. Fleury called losing Game 4 “frustrating and demoralizing.” The Knights will have to try and repeat what they did in game one and take it to the Caps early and quickly and they will have to do it in three games straight if they want this Cinderella season to continue.

Historical note: No NHL team has ever come back down 3-1 since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs did it against the Detroit Red Wings to win 4-3.

Marko Ukalovic does the Washington Capitals podcasts in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com