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

Published on January 28, 2018January 29, 2018 by smallforceLeave a comment

~ 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.

NHL All-Star Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Skills Competition in Tampa Bay; Talks at the All Star game Thornton out; No NHL players at the Olympics and more

Published on January 28, 2018January 28, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

nhl.com photo: The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid wins the fastest skater in the NHL skills competition on Sunday before the All Star game in Tampa Bay

On the NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 All-Star Game Weekend – Skills Competition

2 Joe Thornton is still engine that drives Sharks, and they will miss him

3 Bettman on Olympics, goalie interference calls, expanding playoffs

4 NHL wants in Seattle, but is the Emerald City a hockey town?

Daniel Dullum does the NHL Podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Without Thornton, Sharks feel his pain; Oilers’ McDavid gets gamer in shootout; Knights get rare loss to Isles 2-1; plus NHL news

Published on January 26, 2018January 26, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo file from goldengatesports.com: San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton shown in victory lap after goal score against the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale on January 16th

On the NHL Podcast with Joe Lami:

1 The San Jose Sharks lost their second straight game at home to the New York Rangers 6-5 last night. The third period the Sharks tried to break through scoring two goals, but coming up one goal short to tie it.

2 The Edmonton Oilers got one goal in a win past the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night 4-3. Connor McDavid scored in the third round of the shootout for the win.

3 The Vegas Golden Knights dropped a 2-1 game to the visiting New York Islanders. The Islanders’ Jordan Eberle scored for the Isles for the win. The Knights are carrying an amazing 32-12-4 record.

4 The Buffalo Sabers goalie Robin Lehner stopped all three shots on Wednesday for his second shutout of the season as the Sabers blanked the Vancouver Canucks 4-0.

5 The Washington Caps got a 4-2 win past the Florida Panthers. The Caps’ Alex Ovechkin scored his 30th goal and got his 500th assist in the win.

Joe Lami does the NHL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Defense, Not Offense Issue for Jumbo-Less Sharks in 6-5 Loss to Rangers; Second Straight Loss at Home for SJ

Published on January 25, 2018January 26, 2018 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

photo by sjsharks.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

When news broke that Joe Thornton would miss an undisclosed amount of time with a knee injury, San Jose Sharks fans immediately were concerned about how the team would continue scoring without its future Hall of Famer. Thursday night, the Sharks offense did just fine, putting up five goals against the visiting New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the defense was the letdown, with the Sharks falling 6-5 to the Blueshirts.

Logan Couture scored two goals, Kevin Labanc picked up three assists and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl and Barclay Goodrow all scored for San Jose. Aaron Dell, starting in place of the injured Martin Jones once again, made 23 saves but allowed 4+ goals in back-to-back game for the first time ever in his career. Rangers Captain Ryan McDonagh scored his first two goals of the season, Brady Skjei netted a short-handed goal and J.T. Miller scored the game-winner with 1:50 left on the clock.

Kevin Hayes staked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead 5:45 into the first period, but a goal from Barclay Goodrow and Logan Couture’s first of the game gave San Jose a 2-1 just over halfway through the first period. Jesper Fast beat Dell with 2:07 left in the period to tie the game.

Couture wrested back the lead in the opening moments of the second period, slipping the puck past backup netminder Ondrej Pavelec 2:36 into the middle period. The Rangers fired back with three unanswered goals in the period, with Ryan McDonagh scoring on a two-on-one with Kevin Hayes then a point shot and Brady Skjei knocking a clearing attempt into the Sharks net off his shinpad with San Jose on the power play for a 5-3 lead after 40 minutes.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic beat a vulnerable Pavelec for his eighth goal of the year, one shy of his career-high, 10:51 into the third, but Miller extended the cushion with his 11th goal of the year late in the frame. Hertl, who missed a number of grade-A opportunities, finally converted with 50 seconds left in regulation.

The Sharks head into the NHL All-Star break looking at the possibility of Jones rejoining the team for their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night on the road.

San Jose beat the Pens 2-1 at home on January 20th, with Aaron Dell making 31 saves in the win.

While #19 is out, the Sharks will count on players like Jones and team leaders like Vlasic and Couture to continue to step up if the team wants to hold on to its second place spot in the Pacific Division, two points away from being on the outside of the playoff picture.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks show their will against one of the NHL’s best the Jets despite loss

Published on January 24, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

Despite Tuesday’s overtime loss 5-4 at SAP Center the San Jose Sharks gave it their all something that lacked earlier this season. The Sharks taking on one of the NHL’s best the Winnipeg Jets. The game that kind was a high point was the game the Sharks won in Anaheim 6-2 last Sunday at the Honda Center. The Sharks are definitely getting stronger.

Defensively their working things out they’re finding a balance on defense and offense at least to win these games. If your going to lose it’s better to lose in overtime to one of the NHL’s elite teams like the Jets. The Sharks captain Joe Thornton got injured a right knee injury towards the end of the game on Tuesday night it was not disclosed when he would be returning but Thornton has been a huge piece of the Sharks recent resurgence.

Catch the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday with Mary Lisa and on Mondays with Len Shapiro at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Rally to Earn a Point, But Jets Win 5-4 in Overtime

Published on January 23, 2018January 24, 2018 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE–Things could have gone worse for the San Jose Sharks during Tuesday night’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center, but then again, things could have gone a lot better. The Sharks managed to erase 3-0 and 4-3 deficits, but fell in overtime 5-4.

Joe Thornton was injured in the final moments of the contest and his status is currently unknown.

Winnipeg’s Bryan Little scored easily 18 seconds (remember that amount of time for later) into overtime, his second goal of the game, to hand Sharks goalie Aaron Dell his first loss in five games. Dustin Byfuglien circled the Sharks net, then passed from the goal line cross-crease to Little on the backdoor for his 10th goal of the year.

It almost looked like the Sharks wouldn’t need overtime to pick up a point (possibly two) in this game after a huge momentum swing in the final five minutes of the game. Timo Meier did an excellent job staying strong on his stick in the slot to find a rebound of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot to score with 4:20 left in regulation and tie the game at 4-4.

Byfuglien, known for his antics after the whistle, clipped Meier with his stick in the celebration and was sent off for a penalty. The Sharks would get caught with too many men on the ice 1:07 into the man-advantage though, and then had to kill off a Jets power play to hold on for overtime.

If the first few moments of the game were any indication, the Sharks should be satisfied with just the loser point. The Jets sucked any energy out of the SAP Center crowd after Mathieu Perreault scored just 18 seconds into play, then just over four minutes later Joel Armia really silenced the hometown fans after his backhand toss ricocheted past Aaron Dell for a 2-0 Winnipeg lead.

The situation went from bad to worse for the Sharks after Tomas Hertl found himself making his way to the showers after being handed a game misconduct for his hit on Dmitry Kulikov 8:13 into the period. The Czech forward was also assessed a five-minute major, putting his team on the shorthand for five minutes.

The Sharks were “fortunate” to survive the penalty kill only yielding one goal to the second best power play in the NHL. Bryan Little beat Dell for a 3-0 lead just 11:56 into play.

Leaders step up when times get toughest, so it was Sharks captain Joe Pavelski who changed the morale of team teal in the waning seconds of the first. After a flurry of shots on Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck couldn’t find the back of the net, Pavelski crossed the blue line into the slot to pick up a turnover and rifle the puck into the net.

With believability back in the Sharks locker room trailing 3-1 heading into the first intermission, San Jose still had its work cut out for them. Perhaps inspired by Kristi Yamaguchi’s presence at the Shark Tank, Logan Couture followed up a perfect pirouette with a shot to Hellebuyck’s right for his 18th goal of the season with half the game in the books. Joel Ward and Brendan Dillon assisted on the goal to bring San Jose within one at 3-2.

Chris Tierney, pressed into power play placement following Hertl’s ejection, ran with his opportunity. Tierney slipped into the slot in perfect one-timer position with the perfect one-time assister Joe Thornton holding onto the puck on the other side of the ice. Thornton threaded the puck through the Jets penalty killing box, Tierney dug in for a full-power one-timer and with 6:35 left in the second period, suddenly San Jose was tied 3-3.

Joel Armia would pot his second goal of the game 11:38 into the third to give Winnipeg their 4-3 lead, which set up Meier’s game-tying strike and the overtime period. A collision in front of the Sharks bench in the final seconds cost the Sharks their top center in the three-on-three skate.

Up Next: San Jose continues its home stand, welcoming the New York Rangers to the SAP Center Thursday night.

The Sharks topped the Rangers 4-1 October 23rd at Madison Square Garden behind stellar play of Martin Jones, who’s currently out with a lower body injury.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: Burns turn around helps Sharks turn around; team has won four of their last five

Published on January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Podcast with Len Shapiro:

1 San Jose Sharks had 18 points in the last 18 games

2 Burns has rebounded and has been a scoring machine

3 Secondary scoring–Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, and Mikkel Boedker–were effective against the Pittsburgh Penguins

4 Sharks get a whopping 6-2 victory past the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night

5 Sharks get ready to host Winnipeg Tuesday and Vancouver Thursday with the All-Star game in Tampa Bay this coming Sunday

Len does the Sharks Podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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

Published on January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 by smallforceLeave a comment

~ 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.

Sharks Use Speed and Defense to Beat Penguins 2-1

Published on January 20, 2018January 20, 2018 by M WalshLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Saturday, in a close, fast contest. The Sharks’ goals came from Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl. The Penguins’ lone goal came from Conor Sheary.

Aaron Dell made 31 saves for the Sharks. Dell has been stellar as backup this season, but due to an injury to regular starter Martin Jones, Dell will start again tomorrow in Anaheim. “That’s what I’m here for, ” Dell said during his postgame interview. “If they need me for three more games, they need me for one game, I’ve just got to take it as it comes.”

Casey DeSmith made 34 saves in a losing effort to Pittsburgh.

Two days ago in Colorado, the Sharks lost 5-3 after a slow start that put them in a hole they fought to get out of.

Taking the positives from that game into Saturday was vital. After Saturday’s win, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

I thought we played a real solid game. That’s a real good team, obviously and we picked up where we left off at the end of the Colorado game. I thought we really got on our toes and battled and played a real solid sixty minutes.

The Penguins started the scoring early with a Conor Sheary goal at 3:31. He caught Dominik Simon’s pass from behind the net and had a clear shot at the net. Assists went to Simon and Sidney Crosby.

It took the Sharks most of the period to get that goal back but Timo Meier tied it up at 17:44. Brent Burns made a pass from the Sharks’ zone that Joe Pavelski caught near the opposite blue line. Pavelski pulled up just across the line and sent the puck across the ice to Timo Meier, getting by three Pittsburgh defenders. Meier took a quick shot and beat DeSmith over the left pad. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

The Sharks outshot the Penguins 14-8 in the first.

Burns went to the box for tripping, giving the Pens a second power play at 2:12 of the second. The Sharks cleared the puck four times while killing the penalty. They came out of it and earned their own power play less than two minutes later. The Sharks were unable to get through the neutral zone for the first 50 seconds, but once they got through, they were there to stay and created a couple of chances. The power play was cut short when Dylan Demelo was called for hooking.

As the teams transitioned from a 4-on-4 to a Penguins power play, Chris Tierney and Joonas Donskoi held the puck in the Penguins’ zone, taking a bite out of the Penguins’ power play time. As the Demelo penalty wound down, the Penguins did make a good push and Dell had to make few stops, including a point-blank shot from Evgeni Malkin.

Kevin Labanc had a very good chance near the 10-minute mark when he scooped up a rebound and took a shot before DeSmith could reset. He tried to push it under DeSmith’s pads, but the Penguins goaltender closed the gap with a glove and made the save.

Sheary caught a Burns shot in his forearm and left the ice with 5:08 left in the second.

Through the second period, the Penguins had the advantage in shots, 16-11.

Joonas Donskoi drew a cross-checking penalty to give the Sharks a power play at 1:49 of the third. In the offensive zone, Pavelski won the first faceoff of the power play and Burns took the puck to the point. Pavelski redirected Burns’ shot, but it did not get through. Tomas Hertl was on the doorstep to grab the loose puck and push it through at 1:53. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

The Sharks kept the pressure on for the next several minutes. Labanc had a nice breakaway chance at the 11:39 mark, but DeSmith was up to the challenge.

The next dozen minutes of play looked like a track meet with nearly constant movement up and down the ice, pausing only for one-and-done’s at both ends. Hardly a whistle blew and the puck rarely stopped. In all that, the Sharks were outshooting the Pens 11-6, with only one of those coming on that very short power play.

The speed of that stretch and most of the third period was remarkable. “They’re a fast team,” said DeBoer. “They play fast and I thought we did too tonight. It was a good hockey game, I thought it had a playoff feel to it.”

The game did not slow down much after the television break. Tensions erupted after Patric Hornqvist cross-checked Hertl. Hertl reciprocated and that led to more jostling, and finally, a cross-check from Malkin put him in the box. Hertl also sat with just over three minutes left. The Penguins pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker.

The Sharks had several chances at the open net, but had to settle for the 2-1 win.

Hertl was very happy after the game, saying that it was “was a really good game for all three periods, all four lines. Deller he played really great in net, you know he saved a lot of chances and it’s a huge point against a team that is really hot now.”

Up Next: The Sharks next play on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 6:00 pm PT.