Category: NHL

~ (Picture from The Mercury News by Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~The Edmonton Oilers scored two shorthanded as San Jose was shutout 2-0 Friday in Game 2. Zack Kassian got his first goal of the playoffs at 42 seconds in the first period short-handed with an assist by Mark Letestu his first of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. At 10:31 in the third period Connor McDavid scored the short-handed goal which was good enough for the evening’s scoring for the Oilers with assists from Darnell Nurse and Cam Talbot.

This was a 2-0 game in which the Sharks would not come back.

Edmonton scored on one third of the San Jose power plays in the game as they tied the series at one apiece. The pandemonious crowd celebrated their first playoff win since 2006.

The Oiler’s Cam Talbot made 16 saves in his first playoff shutout.

The Sharks got on the power play for the second time late in the first period. It went the wrong way when Zack Kassian scored 42 seconds into the second.

In the third, Edmonton outhit San Jose 15-4. Their 4-1 shot advantage became 8-1 after Edmonton emerged from their first power play of the game.

A Sharks’ Brent Burns’ shot hit Oscar Klefbom, who had to leave the game later.

Things went awry again with 21 seconds left in the Sharks’ second power play of the period. Connor McDavid, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic to his right, scored past goalie Martin Jones to make it 2-0.

San Jose had a close opportunity when Talbot was forced to make a save with 2:10 left to go in the game.

Game notes: The Oilers outhit the Sharks 41-21. San Jose outblocked Edmonton 25-16. The Sharks’ Justin Braun had six blocks. Kassian and Adam Larson had six hits apiece. Quotes from San Jose after the game included, “We’ve got to work hard and help each other out,” by Burns and “We’ve got to get back to #SJSharks hockey” by Brenden Dillon. San Jose will look to do just that when they head back to SAP Center, Game 3 on Sunday at 7pm.

San Jose Sharks’ Joel Ward (42) and Martin Jones (31) celebrate the team’s overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Wednesday, April 12, 2017, Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks needed their depth players to step up big time with Joe Thornton missing from game 1 of their opening round Stanley Cup Playoff matchup against the Edmonton Oilers and Logan Couture in a full cage to protect his injured jaw. They received that in spades, with Melker Karlsson scoring the overtime goal 3:22 into the extra session to help cap a comeback from being down 2-0. Joel Ward and Paul Martin also scored for the Sharks who found themselves trailing 2-0 after first period goals from Oskar Klefbom and Milan Lucic.

It was the tail of two different Sharks teams on the ice Wednesday, as the squad that took the ice in the first period allowed 10 shots and two goals on netminder Martin Jones for the Oilers. San Jose’s defensive strength shined through in the final 40-plus minutes, allowing only 9 shots on goal over the final two periods and overtime. San Jose also peppered Edmonton netminder Cam Talbot to the tune of 18 shots in the third period to give the Oilers a playoff loss in the first postseason contest at Rogers Place.

Karlsson’s goal came after a fortuitous break. The fore-checking Benoit Pouliot’s stick snapped while rushing Marc-Edouard Vlasic behind the Sharks net. The broken twig allowed Vlasic to rim the puck up the boards to Joe Pavelksi just past center ice. Pavelski had a wide open lane to pass to Karlsson on the opposite wing with the Swede burying a laser over Talbot’s glove for the win.

The Sharks tied the game with just over 5 minutes left in regulation on the 4-on-4 after a bit of work in the space Edmonton’s own, Wayne Gretzky, made so popular. After Mark Letestu failed to clear the puck from his own end, Hertl worked the puck behind the Edmonton net before swinging in front of Talbot. His initial shot didn’t go in, but Martin had crashed the net and was able to cash in on the tying goal.

Despite going 1-for-6 on the power play and not easing the woes of a dismal regular season power play San Jose’s first goal from Ward came on the man-advantage. Just 1:43 into the second, Joonas Donskoi fired a back-hander on Talbot after working his way from behind the net. His shot didn’t go in, but the author of a number of big playoff goals Ward was waiting to tap it in to cut Edmonton’s lead to 2-1.

The Oilers twice scored in the first period after the Sharks decided to lax up on defense. Klefbom was able to walk in without pressure to open the scoring with 6:46 into the first. The Sharks found themselves in a bigger hole after allowing a Lucic power play goal with 2:53 left in the period. After looking lackluster on their first kill, the Sharks short-handed unit rebounded to kill off 2 of 3 penalties.

The Sharks have a chance to take a 2-0 lead without touching home ice when they play Edmonton Friday night at Rogers Place. Joe Thornton could rejoin the team after skating in practice again Wednesday morning. He would be a huge help to the Sharks power play looking to bump the Oilers from the playoffs in their first appearance since 2006.

AP file photo: Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan looks on as his team takes on the Minnesota Wild during the first period of an NHL preseason hockey game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press via AP)

by Len Shapiro

SAN JOSE–The NHL scheduling went right down the wire on Sunday night with the league awaiting the results from the Anaheim-Calgary game. The schedules came out at 10:00PM PDT that’s late back east. Anaheim won that game in over time to lock up the top position for their fifth straight division title. The Sharks are making their plans to head out to Edmonton to face their former coach Todd McClellan and the Oilers for the first game of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Center on Wednesday night for game one and Friday night for game two. Then they’ll come down to play game three in San Jose Sunday 16th and game four Tuesday 18th  at SAP Center. Then it’s back to Edmonton Thursday 20th for game five, game six in San Jose Sat 22, and game seven at Edmonton on Mon 24th.

The Oilers won their last two games against the Sharks on San Jose ice one of the two of those loses came last Thursday back in third period with the Oilers Milan Lucic who started off the game in the first period with a huge fight and a game misconduct in battling the Sharks Michael Healy. No doubt these two will exchange pleasantries in this first round of the upcoming playoffs. Lucic was a one man band he ended up scoring a hat trick in the third period to help the Oilers come back from 2-1 to win it 4-2.

Len Shapiro is the former Sr Media Relations Director for the former California Golden Seals the Bay Area’s first NHL team and does  the Sharks podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

 

San Jose Sharks’ Daniel O’Regan (65) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Calgary Flames during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, April 8, 2017. The Sharks won 3-1. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the NHL podcast with Daniel:

1 Playoff pairings set – San Jose opens with Edmonton.

2 Maple Leafs make playoffs for the first time since 2013. Canada has five teams in the playoffs, and one of them could possibly win the Cup.

3 Red Wings fans say goodbye to The Joe

4 Coyotes’ Craig Cunningham skates before finale with Wild with aid of a prosthetic leg; drops ceremonial first puck.

5 Denver University beats Minn.-Duluth to win NCAA championship. Jarid Lukosevicius hat trick accounts for Pioneers goals

Daniel does the NHL podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks goalie Aaron Dell (30) and defenseman Paul Martin (7) celebrate after the Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 3-1 in an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, April 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

San Jose Finishes 2016-17 Season On A Winning Note

By Barbara Mason

SAN JOSE–Well we’ve made through another regular season, riding the highs and lows that those 82 games brought. It was a thrill a minute at times and downright disheartening at others but the bottom line is that the San Jose Sharks are heading into another post-season. Less than a month ago the Sharks could do no wrong leading their Pacific division by as many as 9 points and showing no signs of slowing down. Were the signs there? Was there something that was missed because when it all seemed to be going so beautifully, the team came to a crashing roadblock with less than stellar defense, an offensive letdown and a power play that went down the drain along with the power kill. The shoe-in Sharks dropped into 3rd place in the division bidding adieu to home ice advantage. They have been having a terrible time with Anaheim, Edmonton and the Flames of late; not a good thing.

Saturday night’s game against the Flames could prove to be a real ho hum affair. A win or loss will not affect the final pairings–it’s just nice to win and there could be some momentum to build off of. More than likely Coach DeBoer will sit some of his players avoiding any possible injury heading into he playoffs and the Flames will likely do exactly the same.

The one Superstar that did take the ice was probable defensive player of the year Brent Burns. The near capacity crowd were the happy recipients of a Brent Burns bobble head along with more prizes than you could shake a stick on this fan appreciation night. Despite missing the likes of Thornton, Couture, Pavelski, Ward, Braun, Hertl and Jones, fans had a great time at this final regular game of the 2016-17 season. The lucky winners of the player jerseys will no doubt never forget meeting and greeting the players after the game as they were presented with their prizes.

There would be no goals in the first period and San Jose was able to kill three penalties having a nice defensive game. Shots on goal were few and far between; San Jose with 5 and the Flames with 6. Shark goalie Aaron Dell had some great saves.

At 4:38 in the second period the Sharks would light up the night with a goal off the stick of Chris Tierney for a 1-0 lead and his 11th goal of the season. He was assisted by Jannik Hansen. At 9:15 San Jose would go on the power play, their first of the game. Although they were unable to cash in on the power play, San Jose would take a 2-0 lead when Mikkel Boedker scored his 10th goal of the season at 18:07. He was assisted by Barclay Goodrow and Chris Tierney. The Sharks came very close to taking that 2-0 lead into the locker room at the break. With 6 seconds left on the clock the Flames would score to pull within one goal. Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season. Shots on goal had picked up; San Jose with 17 and Calgary with 15. Again both goalies were having a nice game with some incredible saves.

The third period opened with some tremendous saves by San Jose goalie Aaron Dell. The Sharks are indeed fortunate to have two goalies of such a high caliber. The score would remain 2-1 until mid-way through the period at 11:25 when Daniel O’Regan would celebrate his first NHL goal, a power play goal. The final was 3-1.

The Sharks will now have to wait for the outcome of the Anaheim/Los Angeles to be played Sunday to learn who they will play first round in the post season. San Jose finishes the 2016-17 season with a better record than they did last year. It looks to be another exciting post-season as San Jose awaits their first round opponent next week.

 

Edmonton Oilers’ Milan Lucic (27) after getting into a big throw down with the San Sharks Michael Haley earlier in the game Lucic ends up scoring three goals here he celebrates after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 6, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The news that both Logan Couture and Joe Thornton will be ready for game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is welcome to the San Jose Sharks after taking a beating from Milan Lucic and the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers, a potential first-round opponent, topped the Sharks 4-2 thanks to a natural hattrick in the third period from Milan Lucic and 4 assists from Oscar Klefbom. Connor McDavid, the league’s leading point-getter, picked up a goal and assist for the victors, while Cam Talbot made 13 saves in net for Edmonton.

Joel Ward continued his hot streak, scoring in back-to-back games while Brent Burns scored his second goal in just 18 games. The Sharks power play went 0-for-4 while killing off just 3 of 5 penalties, allowing 32 shots from Edmonton. Martin Jones made 28 saves in net for San Jose.

While a slashing minor to David Desharnais had just wrapped up 6 minutes into period 1, Ward took advantage of the Oilers in the vulnerable minute. David Schlemko ripped a point shot that Ward, stationed on the mouth of the crease, redirected past Talbot for his 10^th goal of the year and second goal in as many games. The veteran winger was without a goal in his previous 10 games, drawing a healthy scratch to refocus his efforts.

After being stymied for most of the 1^st period, the Oilers increased their efforts down the stretch of the 1st and into the 2^nd by firing 21 shots on net after only owning 3 through the first 10 minutes of play. The Oilers’ biggest shot came 4:40 into the 2^nd when Connor McDavid netted his 30^th goal of the season (and league-leading 96^th point) to tie the game.

McDavid initiated a cycle on the blue line, passing the puck to Adam Larsson who was stationed in the middle of the blue line. From there, Larsson fed the puck to Oscar Klefbom on the opposite side of McDavid. Klefbom ripped the point shot that pin-balled off Tomas Hertl and Justin Braun, landing on the sure-fire MVP’s stick. With Jones down in position to make a save on the original shot, McDavid had the open net to knot the game up.

Despite struggling to generate much offense (10 shots through two periods) San Jose found itself up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. Brent Burns netted his 29^th goal of the season with 7:30 left in the middle period. After Mikkel Boedker couldn’t win the face-off against Desharnais, Hertl swooped in to flick the puck to Burns on the point. Burns’ shot worked its way around the screens of a number of players to beat Talbot for a 2-1 lead.

While the Sharks power play failed to score on four attempts and Marcus Sorensen couldn’t cash in on a penalty shot chance early in the third, Edmonton’s power play tied the game 4:26 into the final period. The Sharks mental mistake, a too many men penalty, lead to Milan Lucic beating Jones just 6 seconds into the man-advantage. Oscar Klefbom picked up his second assist, while McDavid added to his league-best 67 assist total.

Lucic struck again 7:53 into the third for his 22^nd goal of the year, scoring it in quintessential Lucic fashion. Jones made a magnificent save on Klefbom streaking down the left wing aiming for the blocker side. While Jones made the save, his blocker shrug popped the puck back to Klefbom who was quickly approaching the goal line. Jones came out of his butterfly to reset his positioning, but in that time Klefbom snuck the puck between Jones’ skates parallel to the goal line. As he has many times before in his career, Lucic was waiting in the blue paint to tap the game-winning goal into the vacant net.

Lucic scored another rebound goal from the goal mouth, collecting the third-period hattrick on an Oilers power play with 3:29 left in regulation. Klefbom added his fourth assist of the night and Letestu picked up his first point of the night.

With the loss, the Sharks have all but guaranteed themselves the third spot in the Pacific Division. The Oilers have two more points than San Jose with two games left to play to San Jose’s one. The Sharks do hold the ROW advantage 43 to 41 though, making the Sharks regular season finale critical. If the Sharks were to beat the Calgary Flames Saturday night at SAP and Edmonton loses its final two games, the Sharks would earn home ice during the opening round of the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks center Chris Tierney (50) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 4, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE–Blink and you might have missed two-thirds of the San Jose Sharks goals Tuesday night at SAP Center. San Jose beat the visiting Vancouver Canucks 3-1, scoring twice in the opening 30 seconds for the win and a franchise record for fastest two goals.

Kevin Labanc, Joel Ward and Chris Tierney scored for San Jose, while Joonas Donskoi picked up a pair of assists. Martin Jones was stellar in net, making 33 saves in the Sharks’ first game without Joe Thornton. Thornton was injured in the Sharks last game, a win in Vancouver against the same Canucks.

Labanc opened the scoring 18 seconds in by beating Richard Bachmann in Vancouver’s net on a spin-around shot after Joe Pavelski tied up the puck on the faceoff. Ward added another goal just 12 seconds later, his 9^th of the year.

Vancouver pulled within a goal early in the third period after defenseman Christopher Tanev finally beat Jones for his 2^nd goal of the season 3:30 into the third. San Jose would answer back with another goal from a depth player, with Chris Tierney tipping a Brent Burns point shot for his 10^th goal of the year almost halfway through the third period.

By virtue of the Kings beating the Oilers Tuesday, the Sharks hopes for home ice in the opening round remain intact. The Sharks appear to be on a collision course with the Edmonton Oilers, the team tied with them in the standings with 97 points. The two teams meet Thursday night at SAP with a chance for one team or the other to create some distance.

San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton skates to the bench with an injury during the first period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

by Len Shapiro

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks in recent weeks have been lacking and have been all over the ice and have lost eight of the last ten games. The Sharks had an eight game losing streak going until they were able to defeat the New York Rangers on Tuesday Mar 28th game at SAP Center. The Sharks are looking at mass rebuilding over the summer. The Sharks after losing 5-2 in Calgary on Friday night did play a better game in Vancouver on Sunday with a two goal 3-1 win. The Canucks are a weaker competitor and the Flames just took it to San Jose on Friday.

The Canucks just didn’t have any zip in their step and they couldn’t catch up to the Sharks and couldn’t give the Sharks a real competition. The Canucks tried to come back late in the game but it was way late to say least. Another problem with that game for San Jose was all the injuries, Logan Couture missed his fourth game with that facial reconstruction possibility with the puck to the mouth. Then the end of the first period the big blow the Thornton injury we haven’t heard the latest with Jumbo Joe Thornton with a possible left knee hyper extension twisted it could be worse were waiting for word from the Sharks.

Len Shapiro has a whole lot more on the Sharks podcast as the plot thickens in the Sharks up and down situation as they close out  their last three home games starting Tuesday night with Vancouver. Listen to the podcast each Monday with Len at http://www.sportsradioservice.com