Category: NHL

Sportstalk @ Olla Cocina Restaurant in downtown San Jose Thu Nov 10, 2016

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo by ollacocina.com: You’ll be in the chips at Olla Cocina Fine Mexican Cuisine their food is a can’t miss and look for them to stay at San Pedro Square for years to come

Cast: Matt Harrington (host) Joe Lami (49ers reporter), Len Shapiro (Sharks commentary), Amaury Pi Gonzalez (That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary), Barbara Mason (Sharks beat reporter), Jeremy Harness (Stanford Cardinal basketball), and Lee Leonard (producer) extends our thanks and gratitude to the fantastic taste at Olla Cocina Mexican Cusine Fine Food at 17 North San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose. This historic location has seen a change in restaurant ownerships over the years like Blake’s Steakhouse, Picassos Tapas, and La Pinata but trust us Olla Cocina is a keeper. This franchise will stay put at the 17 North San Pedro location for many years to come.

The food was top of the line in it’s taste, texture and presentation. Amongst the cast’s recommendations from the Olla menu we started with some of Olla’s homemade chips salsa and guacamole the guacamole had a unbelievable taste with small tomatoes and the Wild Salad was a popular item, the squash soup had bacon bits in it and was also a favorite, of the course recommendations please try, ceviche verde, chilaquiles verde, sopes, roasted chicken, the salmon plate, or the grilled hanger steak. With these selections our panelists loved them all.

Our special thanks to our hosts at Olla Cocina general manager Sal Martinez, event manager Janey Hawley, assistant manager Miguel Gonzalez, and our server for the night Lilly. Their warm hospitality was on point and the service was everything you would expect from a fine Mexican restaurant their timing and efficiency was what the customer would be more than satisfied with. Also location, location, location, in the heart of downtown San Jose just down the street from SAP Center the home of the Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks and their minor league affiliate the San Jose Barracuda make sure to stop in for lunch or dinner before all Sharks and Cuda games.

On the program: Discussions on the San Jose Sharks current road trip, latest NHL headline news, transactions and possible moves, and a review of the Sharks visit to Miami against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Also the panel discussed San Francisco Giants Golden Glove winners Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford, and Buster Posey, where will former New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes end up, and broadcasters of the San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow and former Oakland A’s announcer Bill King are on the Ford C Frick Hall of Fame ballot for possible induction.

Download below to hear the podcast from Olla Cocina from downtown San Jose

 

Sharks complete comeback win

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

~ Photo: Wilfredo Lee/AP

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose scored four answered goals to go back on a win streak, in a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers and former Sharks Thursday.

It was the second straight game San Jose scored at least three goals as they scored in each period.

Former Shark Jason Demers gave the Panthers their offense as San Jose faced their former backup goalie in the opposing net. Current goalie Martin Jones stopped 22 shots as he faced 24 shots for the second straight game.

Demers scored his first two goals of the season in under three minutes at 5:09 and 7:26.

His first goal with Florida came off an inadvertent redirect off defender Tommy Wingels’ stick. Demers’ teammate Jared McCann got his first assist on the play.  

Demers’ second goal came as he found the puck up front. He was aided by Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr.

The Sharks started climbing back in the opening period at 16:18.  Burns, with his second goal in as many games, got on a break and then made his move unassisted with a defender right against him. Before the play, the Panthers had two chances on net at the other end.

Joe Pavelski made it 2-2 just 1:53 into the second period. Teammate Joel Ward found him quickly and Pavelski made the ensuing shot look effortless as he went top shelf. It was Ward’s second assist in as many games.

San Jose got their first lead and the game winner in the third. Wingels scored off the faceoff and Chris Tierney got the assist at 8:53.

At one point, Florida almost scored when San Jose missed a clear and Jones had to go far out to the side of his net.

Logan Couture however moved the game further away, with the Sharks’ second empty netter in as many nights. He also broke a 10-game goal drought and Justin Braun got his first point of the season with the assist.

Game notes: Pregame, four Navy Seals dropped from the rafters for Military Appreciation Night. San Jose’s Kevin Labanc had two shots in his second game. The Sharks face the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday at 4pm.

Sharks earn emphatic win in Nation’s Capital

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

~AP Photo/Nick Wass

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ If their Election Day performance is a sign of things to come, San Jose is headed in the right direction, as they shutout the Washington Capitals Tuesday, 3-0.

The Sharks not only ended their three-game losing streak, during which they experienced their most lopsided loss of the season. They ended Washington’s five-game win streak, during which the Capitals averaged three goals.

San Jose goalie Martin Jones recovered from Sunday’s 5-0 loss with his first shutout and Washington’s first blanking. Jones made 24 saves, with two of them against Alex Ovechkin in the third with the Sharks a man down.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic had the game winner, breaking a five-game goal drought. Initially credited to former Capital Joel Ward, Vlasic’s second goal of the season gave Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton their ninth assist at 12:23 of the second.

Just over five minutes later, Brent Burns added an insurance goal with a shot from the left faceoff circle. Logan Couture and Paul Martin helped on the play.

10 of San Jose’s 21 blocks occurred in the third as the Sharks killed off two penalties. During the latter penalty, Jones stopped two other shots besides Ovechkin’s two shots.

With 1:32 left, Thornton got his second empty netter with his second goal and Ward got his first assist.

Game notes: San Jose’s Matt Nieto and Michael Haley were absent from the lineup as Kevin Labanc made his NHL debut. He had a snap shot almost five minutes into the game. Ovechkin had a game-high six shots while Ovechkin, teammate Justin Williams and the Sharks’ Logan Couture each had a game-high four shots. San Jose will now go to Florida Thursday at 5:30pm.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks Thornton struggling on offense needs to show up tonight against Washington

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

AP file photo: San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton (19) skates against the Arizona Coyotes in file photo last Tuesday Nov 1st at Glendale

On the San Jose Sharks podcast the Sharks last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was not the home cooking Stanley Cup Final rematch that everyone was expecting at SAP Center in San Jose in their 5-0 loss. The Pens came in and were on a mission as they were at full strength with Sid Crosby back in the line up. That second period start was rough on the Sharks inside the first three minutes the Pens scored two goals and pretty much excelled from there.

With the Sharks at home last Saturday they wanted this one badly after losing to the Pens in the finals last season but what matters worse they were shutout to add insult upon injury. The offense struggled and Len takes a look at what went wrong. The Sharks Joe Thornton hasn’t been himself and hasn’t shown the offensive prowess that he has in the past and he’ll need to show up against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night for the beginning of this road trip.

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

 

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum: Pens do it to Sharks again; Rangers beat Boston’s best goalie; Caps Oshie gets two in third

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

AP photo: Try as hard as he can San Jose Sharks goalie Aaron Dell (30) couldn’t stop World Championship like shooting by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at SAP Center

On the NHL podcast with Daniel:

#1 In a shocking result the Pittsburgh Penguins came back to the scene of the crime where they snatched the Stanley Cup away from the San Jose Sharks to shut them out in regular season play last Saturday 5-0. Daniel takes a look why the Sharks just couldn’t get an offense going.

#2 The NY Rangers beat an excellent goaltender for the Boston Bruins Tuukka Rask 5-2 on Saturday night. Rask made 19 saves but the Rangers also scored on him five times.

#3 The Washington Caps are rolling picking up their fifth consecutive win over the Florida Panthers. The Caps TJ Oshie scored twice in the third period to help contribute to the Caps 4-2 win.

#4 The Colorado Avalanche shutout the Minnesota Wild 1-0 when the Aves Gaberiel Landeskol scored the lone goal of the game with 9:37 left in the game. Aves goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots.

#5 What are the odds of Quebec City ever getting an NHL expansion team? Quebec City was named one of the cities have a shot at getting an NHL team when Las Vegas was named. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Quebec would have to wait a little bit longer until the league can make way for another team in the Eastern Conference which used to outnumber the West in clubs.

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

 

San Jose Sharks Saturday game wrap: San Jose suffers shellacking at the hand of Pittsburgh 5-0

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Barbara Mason

AP photo: The Pittsburgh Penguins team captain Sid Crosby (87) prepares to face off with the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday night

SAN JOSE–Saturday night the San Jose Sharks took on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins after suffering two losses in a row in front of their home crowd at SAP Center in San Jose Saturday night.  The Penguins are at full strength once again with their MVP veteran Sidney Crosby back in the line-up after he missed a number of games due to concussion.  After losing to Pittsburgh in the Cup finals last season San Jose would like to extend a little pay back.
The Penguins didn’t waste any time in the first period when Chris Kunitz scored his first goal of the season assisted by Ian Cole and Evgeni Malkin for the early lead 1-0.  As the period began to wind down Sidney Crosby found the back of the net assisted by Conor Sheary and Carl Hagelin for a 2-0 lead.  Time of the goal was 18:28.
The start of the second period was a tough one for San Jose.  Inside of three minutes the Penguins put two more goals up on the board.  Thirteen seconds into the period Crosby struck again assisted by Carl Hagelin and Brian Dumoulin and then at 2:33 Eric Fuhr scored his 2nd goal of the season assisted by Matt Cullin and Conor Sheary, his second assist.  Pittsburgh had taken a 4-0 lead.  To add insult to injury Pittsburgh would score a short-handed goal off the stick of Nick Bonino at 16:28.  He was assisted by Carl Hagelin and Trevor Daley for a 5-0 lead.  The period mercifully came to an end as the Sharks headed for the locker room to try to figure out a way to get into this game in the 5-0 loss.  The second period was a total disaster for the Black and Teal.
“We’ve got to get a little chemistry going and get back some of the things that we do well,” said Joe Pavelski.  It has been a very disappointing week for the Sharks realizing a three-game losing streak, their first this season.
Neither team scored in the third period in a real sleeper.  The Sharks could not get anything going all night long.  Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray had 32 saves playing a solid game in this one-sided affair.
The Sharks were outplayed and completely manhandled.  It was without a doubt the worst game they have played this season.  San Jose now heads out on the road for six games their first opponent the Washington Capitols on Tuesday.   They will return to SAP on November 21 to take on the New Jersey Devils.  The puck drops at 7:30.

Sharks’ slow start leads to first loss at home this season, 3-2 to Calgary

Published on by moepea1 Comment

tkachuk-scores

By Morris Phillips

Peter DeBoer wasn’t fooled.  The scoreless period-and-a-half of hockey at the SAP Center on Thursday night between the Flames and the Sharks wasn’t a mid-point draw.  To DeBoer, the scoreless tie meant one thing from his perspective, his Sharks were behind, symbolized by the lack of physicality he’s always pointed to as an integral component to winning NHL games.

“We lost because of a lack of a 60-minute commitment from everybody,” DeBoer said, no doubt pointing to the stat sheet that showed his Sharks registered just one hit in the first 20 minutes of play against Calgary.  “The desperation level of the teams we’re playing is really high, and we need to understand that.”

Two goals—93 seconds apart—late in the second period gave the Flames the implicit lead on the scoreboard as well, and they would go on to hand San Jose its first home loss of the season, 3-2.

Calgary rookie Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for the first time in his career, coming up with the game-winner on a nifty pass from Michael Frolik with less than five minutes remaining.  Frolik dropped a perfectly timed cross in front of the net, and Tkachuk did the rest, patiently maneuvering around goalie Martin Jones before lightly touching the puck into the net.

The Sharks answered Calgary’s second period goals with two of their own in the first half of the third period, only to see Tkachuk win it with his second goal.  Still the Sharks’ coach and his players pointed to the team’s slow start that failed to take advantage of Calgary’s leaky defense, which had surrendered 40 goals in 11 games to rank last in the Western Conference.

“Right now we’re a goal short, a shot short, and that’s on everybody,” Joe Pavelski said.  “The work ethic can go up.”

Pavelski, along with Joe Thornton, assisted on the Shark’s initial goal, a one-timer from the point off the stick of Brent Burns just 35 seconds into the third period.  Last than nine minutes later, the Sharks tied when Melker Karlsson willed the puck past Chad Johnson while operating in the Calgary goalie’s kitchen.

On a night where San Jose’s bigger names failed to make an impact, Karlsson may have been the Sharks’ best player, willing to mix it up inside despite seeing just over 12 minutes of ice time.

The Sharks committed a pair of third period penalties after scoring their initial goal, but the Flames failed to regain their two-goal lead before Karlsson tied it.  Chippy play in front of the net preceded Tkachuk’s game-winner, but the teams were skating at equal strength when the 18-year old rookie untied it.

Tkachuk is the son of Keith Tkachuk, best known for his stints with the Coyotes and Blues in a 19-year NHL career in which he played 1,201 games and scored 538 goals.  The 18-year old Tkachuk found out earlier in the day that he wouldn’t be demoted to the minors ostensibly to delay his free agency by one year.

“He’s getting better each night out,” Flames GM Brad Treliving said during the pre-game skate.  “And there’s always going to be bumps along the way with a young player.  But he belongs here.”

The Sharks resume their home stand on Saturday night meeting the defending Stanley Cup Champion Penguins who captured the trophy in June, winning game 6 in San Jose.

Coyotes’ Domingue slams door on Sharks

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, November 1, 2016

AP photo: Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue who turned away 39 shots on Tuesday night defends the net as the San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi tried to wrap one around at Glendale AZ

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Looking to extend its three-game winning streak, San Jose visited the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday and ran into an inspired backup goaltender.

Louis Domingue, filling in for the injured Mike Smith, turned away 39 shots and benefitted from a three-goal second period, as Arizona edged the Sharks 3-2 in their first NHL Pacific Division meeting of the season.

“Our penalty kill was great tonight,” Domingue said. “We were blocking shots; we were finishing on the forecheck. It was something we talked about before the game, and I thought we did a great job.”

“You have to give him credit,” Sharks right wing Joe Pavelski said. “He made some key saves, but we hit a couple of posts tonight, and we figured we had to keep coming. If we get those same looks on a normal night, we’ll get a few more goals.

“But we have to find a way to score with the chances that we had. That’s the bottom line.”

Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Coyotes (3-6-0, 6 points) scored three goals within an 8-minute, 17-second span that slowed down the high-flying Sharks for the last 40 minutes.

“We were going pretty good at the start of the game,” Sharks right wing Joe Pavelski said. “We might have got away from our game a little bit. When you’re feeling good and making plays, sometimes the easiest play is to just lay it in. We got away from our forecheck a little bit; they got some floaters up in traffic that found their way to the net.

“But when you get the chances we had tonight, something has to go in.”

“Usually I like our odds when we put that many shots up,” Patrick Marleau said of San Jose’s 41 shots on goal.

Marleau broke the scoreless deadlock at 14:07 of the first period, firing in his third goal of the season. Marleau took a headman pass from Melker Karlsson just outside the Arizona blue line and fired a wrister from inside the left circle, beating Domingue low on the stick side. A second assist went to Tomas Hertl on Marleau’s 484th career goal.

But that was all San Jose (6-4-0, 12 points) could get until the waning seconds of the game, as Domingue made one critical save after another, especially in the second period.

“Just read and react, that’s it,” Domingue said.

Brad Richardson got the equalizer for Arizona, his fourth goal of the season. Taking a pass from Tobias Rieder out of the left corner, Richardson slid a backhand shot past the extended left leg pad of Martin Jones.

Lawson Crouse put Arizona ahead 2-1 when he scored on a redirect near the crease off the initial shot by Kevin Connauton. Crouse’s first career NHL goal came at 4:50 of the second period.

At 11:59 of the second period, Jamie McGinn made it 3-1 for the Coyotes when he was spun around outside the left circle and fired a blind shot in between Jones and the Coyotes’ Anthony Duclair, beating Jones past his left shoulder and just inside the right post.

“There were some times when the momentum switched a little bit,” Pavelski said. “We were getting the penalty kills, we had some momentum and had our chances. We just had to find a way to score goals.”

Marleau added, “There were definitely some lapses that (Arizona) took advantage of. They threw some pucks at the net that seemed to have eyes on them and we couldn’t come back from that.”

Ex-Coyote Mikkel Boedker poked in an empty-net goal for San Jose with :10.5 remaining.

Boedker said getting the goal was nice, but “I would have rather taken the win, I think. We had some good opportunities, (Domingue) made some timely saves, and that’s the game-breaker.

“Maybe next time we put a few more in behind him. We have to keep things a little more simple, a little more straight ahead, and we’ll be good.”

Noting the ovation he received from the Gila River Arena crowd, Boedker said, “It’s nice to be appreciated. I was here for a lot of years and really enjoyed my time here. So it was a nice moment and one that I’ll cherish.”

The Sharks return home Wednesday to host Calgary, and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh visits SAP Pavilion on Friday.

“It’ll be good to get home for a little bit,” Boedker said. “We’ve been very good at home, so we have to keep that going.”

SHARK BITES: Sharks’ LW Michael Haley and Coyotes’ RW Ryan White squared off at 2:32 into the first period. Each received 5:00 for fighting. … Sharks return to the Valley on Nov. 18. … Announced attendance for the Coyotes’ third home game of the season was 11,046. … Following their season opening win against Philadelphia, the Coyotes went on a disastrous six-game eastern road trip, going 1-5-0. … San Jose’s pregame scratches were D Dylan DeMelo and LW Matt Nieto. …. Sharks C Joe Thornton has 80 career points against the Coyotes (21-60-80) in 76 games. He was held scoreless on Tuesday. … Sharks are 69-49-7-10 all-time vs. the Winnipeg/Arizona franchise.

TAGS: San Jose Sharks,Arizona Coyotes,Louis Domingue,Mikkel Boedker,NHL,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Jones key to Sharks season and Donskoi hasn’t missed a step

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

AP file photo: Joonas Donskoi second from right celebrates with teammates after scoring goal in the first period against the Nashville Predators at SAP Center on Saturday night

The San Jose Sharks are really starting to play well at home there’s a big difference from last year when they got off to that terrible home start but this season they decided to make a home a home and win some games at SAP Center and they looked real good against Nashville last Saturday and they may have caught Nashville when they were down a little bit when they were coming off a tough loss to Anaheim 6-1.

Sharks goaltender Martin Jones really looked good in goal last Saturday and if Jones keeps playing like this he’s going to be the key to the big picture here and having him between the pipes is the key and he’s really turned into a good goalie. Joonas Donskoi who scored the first goal against the Predators is a player that has all the tools you need and he has a good forecheck and has a great on ice presence and he knows where everybody is and he knows where the net is which is the most important thing.

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

 

San Jose Sharks Saturday game wrap: Sharks light the lamp with goals from Donskoi, Pavelski, and Wingels, in 4-1 win over Preds

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment
By Barbara Mason
AP Photo: San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski (8) and Brett Burns (88) take a victory skate in front of the Sharks bench after Pavelski’s goal in the second period against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at SAP Center
SAN JOSE–Saturday night the San Jose Sharks took on the Nashville Predators hoping to keep their home record spotless in this their 26th year of hockey.  The sell-out crowd at SAP suffered through a very very slow start for the team.  After more than ten minutes into the first period, the Sharks had only taken 2 shots on goal.  The Predators were taking more shots than the Black and Teal but at 15:28 #27 Joonas Donskoi assisted by #39 Logan Couture and #7 Paul Martin slipped one past the Nashville goalie Rinne to take the early lead 1-0.  San Jose had made up for lost ground by taking 10 shots on goal at the period’s end.  The Sharks would eventually run away with this game with a 4-1 win.
Although sitting in last place in the tough Central Division of the Western Conference, the Predators have a more than respectable record at 7-2 and was obviously giving San Jose a run for their money. The Sharks had squandered a number of scoring opportunities in the opening period that needed to be rectified in the second period if they were to get past this one,
San Jose wasted little time as the second period got underway when #8 Joe Pavelski scored unassisted on a power play at 2:47.  Seconds later at 3:04 San Jose struck again off the stick of #57 Tommy Wingels assisted by #5 David Schlemko and #38 Michael Haley to lead by the score of 3-0.  San Jose had entered this period looking very different than the team we saw in the first period.  
With 41.3 ticks left on the clock the Predators James Neal scored his first goal of the season, his team trailing 3-1.  Despite allowing that goal San Jose had clearly outplayed the Predators in the period.  San Jose had taken 21 shots on goal to Nashville’s 17.
Finishing the period on a high note would no doubt give the Predators a real boost going into the third period. 
The Sharks were struggling going into the third period.  They were playing not to lose rather than playing to win, a dangerous path.  The Predators were in control of the period through ten minutes.  As the game neared completion the Predators emptied their net as expected.  When #19 Joe Thornton took the puck with an apparent free shot into the empty net he was tripped.  He was awarded the goal and the Sharks would win the game 4-1.
The first star was given to goalie Martin Jones who was stellar stopping 27 of 28 shots.  The second went to captain Joe Pavelski who had 1 goal and 1 assist and the third star was Thomas Hertl who was 69% on face off.
Captain Joe Pavelski feels that the team is still not playing like themselves.  “We’ve come close a couple of times.”  He does feel that the team is constantly improving and will be there soon.  He also gave a lot of credit to his goalie in this evening’s game.  “He made some great saves for us,” he said.  There is no doubt that he deserved that first star.
 The Sharks will head out on the road to take on the Coyotes Tuesday November 1 at Glendale Arena Daniel Dullum has your exclusive Sharks coverage for SRS.  The puck drops at 7:00.