Category: NHL

By Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl skates past the Columbus Blue Jackets bench after scoring a third period goal his second of the contest on Thursday night at SAP Center

The San Jose Sharks continued their winning ways at home Thursday night, topping the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 for a third home win in as many tries this season. Tomas Hertl scored two goals, Joonas Donskoi netted his first and David Schlemko picked up two assists in the win. Martin Jones made 24 saves. San Jose was a perfect two-for-two on the power play.

Donskoi beat Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky 12:59 into the first, taking Schlemko’s cross-ice pass in the slot and roofing it over the goalie’s glove. The Sharks wouldn’t score again until the third period, but that doesn’t mean the contest wasn’t without its intrigue.

With 2:42 remaining in the second period, the lights at the SAP Center went out. The officials decided to call the period early, head to intermission and play the final 2:42 out before switching ends of the ice to start the third.

The start of the third also brought a delay with Brendan Dillon seemingly scoring his first goal of the year just over six minutes into the period. After a challenge and lengthy review, the play was ruled offsides and the goal nullified. The Sharks would ultimately get the goal back, with Hertl netting a power play strike at the 12:05 mark. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Schlemko assisted on the goal.

Columbus answered back after a mishap by the Sharks trying to exit the zone. Scott Hartnell beat Jones for his sixth goal of the year at the 17:10 mark. Hertl would score the empty netter with .8 seconds left for his 2^nd goal of the game and 4^th of the year.

The Sharks face the Nashville Predators in a rematch of last year’s second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The contest will be Saturday night, with the Sharks looking to pick up a fourth straight win at home.

By Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Marc-Edouard Vlasic scores sliding on is left knee on Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson on the glove side to break the deadlock for the OT game winner on Tuesday night at SAP Center

The San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in overtime Tuesday night at the Sap Center. Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored the game-winner 1:24 into overtime and Joe Pavelski scored the game’s first goal on the power play. Martin Jones 19 saves in the Sharks net.

Pavelski posted the first goal of the game on the man advantage 7:58 into the game. Patrick Marleau took a shot in the slot that bounced off starting netminder Jonathan Bernier, bouncing to Pavelski’s stick.

The Sharks captain tried tapping it in, with a Duck’s skate ultimately helping the puck over the line for a 1-0 lead. Joonas Donskoi also assisted on Pavelski’s third goal of the year. Anaheim answered with a late strike, with Chris Wagner scoring his second goal of the year with 2:11 left in the period.

The Ducks lost starting goalie Jonathan Bernier after the first period, with the offseason acquisition exiting the game with an upper body injury. John Gibson relieved him, making 24 saves, including helping to kill off three Sharks penalties. San Jose ended the night 1 for 5 on the power play. Anaheim was 0 for 4.

Vlasic scored the game-winner in the three-on-three sudden death session after receiving an outlet pass up the boards from Pavelski after Pavelski broke up a backdoor play. Vlasic had no Ducks in front of him except Gibson, managing to beat the netminder on a breakaway back-hand-to-forehand goal. It was Vlasic’s first goal of the year.

The Sharks take the ice Thursday looking to stay unbeaten at home. They face the Columbus Blue Jackets before welcoming the Nashville Predators, opponents in last season’s second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Saturday night.

AP file photo: Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) in goal as teammate Brendan Smith (2) checks the Nashville Predators Colin Wilson (33) the Wings defeated the Predators 5-3 on Fri Oct 21 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit

Now that the San Jose Sharks are going to be playing five of six at home starting on Tuesday night with the Anaheim Ducks you should see some of those things that happened on the road with the tough road trip where they went 1-3 corrected. The last game where the Sharks were shutout by the Detroit Red Wings and goaltender Jimmy Howard the Wings were missing center Pavel Datsyuk and an aging forward Henrik Zetterberg who will bring them down eventually this could be the year they could miss the playoffs.

Howard had a great game in goal and it was his 23rd career shutout and he’s trying desperately to try and fight for a job there in Detroit and he’s batting with goaltender and teammate Petr Mrazek for the goaltending job. On the Pittsburgh trip the Pens took advantage of the giveaways and turnovers by the Sharks as the Sharks crumbled in that one for the loss. Sharks look to turn it around Tuesday at SAP Center in San Jose.

Len Shapiro is the former California Golden Seals publicity director and does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By: Eric He

The San Jose Sharks responded to a rough loss on Monday to the Rangers with a clutch 3-2 win over the Islanders in the back-end of a back-to-back.

Joe Pavelski scored the game-winning goal with under three minutes to play, deflecting in a shot by Joe Thornton from the right point.

It was Thornton’s second assist of the night; he also set up the game-tying goal late in the second period, banking in a pass off Tomas Hertl to tie the game at 2-2.

The Sharks outshot the Islanders 27-23 in a pretty even game. San Jose jumped ahead 1-0 early in the first on a goal orchestrated by the fourth line, with Tommy Wingels setting up Melker Karlsson from behind the net to draw first blood.

But the Islanders controlled much of the second period and scored two goals to take the lead. Anthony Beauvillier netted his first career NHL goal, tapping the puck in from mid-air past Aaron Dell to tie the game midway through the period. Anders Lee scored two minutes later to give New York the lead.

Dell, who earned the victory in his debut, stopping 21 shots and standing tall late as the Islanders endeavored for a late equalizer.

The Sharks are 3-1 on the young season and their early-season East Coast road swing continues Thursday against the Penguins in Pittsburgh in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.

~ Photo: AP – Frank Franklin II

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Jimmy Vesey of the New York Rangers made a timely goal to contribute to his teams’ 7-4 win over the San Jose Sharks  in a late battle Monday.

In San Jose’s defensive zone, Mats Zuccarello stole the puck from Chris Tierney and passed to Derek Stepan who found Vesey up front at 12:37 of the third. Vesey scored through Justin Braun’s legs, who had his back towards Vesey. It was the second time Stepan and Zuccarello assisted on the night.

While the Rangers won their sixth of their last eight at home versus the Sharks, San Jose avoided a third straight shutout there emphatically, getting busy in the first of a five-game road trip.

New York scored goal pairs three times during the game. Both teams scored seven goals in the final frame, including two empty netters.

The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski got on the stat sheet for the first time this season, with a goal and three assists. Teammate Brent Burns’ shiner did not slow him down, as he scored two goals in his 800th NHL game. With his first goal, he has now scored against each NHL team.

The Rangers always led. Marc Staal opened the scoring at 12:16 of the first.

San Jose tied it in the final minute of the first. The 3-on-2 scoring play came from a 5-on-3 man advantage. Joe Thornton passed up ice to Pavelski, who crossed to Logan Couture, as he found the open left side of the net.

New York did not take too long to respond. Ryan McDonagh shot the puck off the boards and Rick Nash was able to just put the rebound under goalie Martin Jones’ left knee at 4:15 of the second. Chris Kreider also aided.

After Kreider was tripped, he put the Rangers up 3-1 when he made a difficult side angle shot. He was helped by McDonagh and Antti Raanta on the power play at 10:21.

Then came the third period.

Burns opened it up at 9:13 as he came into the slot after Pavelski worked his way around his defenders. Paul Martin also assisted.

Kevin Hayes then gave the Rangers their second two-goal lead at 12:16.

Down by three goals after Vesey’s, the Sharks were undaunted as Burns and Pavelski factored into the next two goals, making it a one-goal game again at 15:31.

However, that was all San Jose would get and  Zuccarello and Michael Grabner put in empty netters to close out the game.

Pavelski said, “We weren’t good enough. We were chasing it a little bit too much. Every time we fought back and got close, something just broke down.”

Game notes: The Sharks get back on the ice again Tuesday at 4pm, to face the other New York hockey team.

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Logan Courture (left) and Brett Burns (88) celebrate Burn’s third period goal against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center on Wednesday night

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks raised the franchise’s first Western Conference Championship banner Wednesday night then crowned the 2016-17 season with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Logan Couture tied the game in the first period and Brent Burns scored the game winner in the third period for the Sharks (1-0-0). Martin Jones made 21 saves while Kings net minder Jonathan Quick allowed one goal on 15 shots before departing the game with a lower body injury after just one period.

The Kings (0-1-0) scored the first goal on a power play in a bizarre sequence of events, with Tyler Toffoli scoring his first goal of the season after a break out campaign last season. The 31-goal scorer plucked a puck off the boards and fired it from a low percentage angle. The puck originally appeared to go out of play with the goal light not coming on. The Los Angeles skaters all celebrated the shot though, with the referees agreeing that Toffoli indeed picked Jones’ top corner for a 1-0 lead 1:22 into the game.

The lethal first power play unit (1 for 3 on the night) for the Sharks helped the hosts draw even after after Joe Pavelski’s pass into the slot landed on Logan Couture’s stick. Couture ripped the one-timer past Quick with 5:55 left in the first.

Pavelski, always playing until the whistle, made sure Couture’s shot went in. He tipped the puck back into the net, drawing the ire of Quick. The former Vezina Trophy winner bolted from his crease to confront Pavelski, injuring himself in the process. Backup Jeff Zatkoff opened the second period in net with Kings fans concerned about the long-term health of their workhorse goalie.

The Sharks, however, aren’t concerned about their masked man. Jones looked sterling in net to build of his phenomenal previous season. His performance allowed Burns, a Norris Trophy finalist last year, to net the game-winner off Zatkoff. In total Zatkoff faced 16 shots, turning aside 15.

Burns was the beneficiary of hard work from center Couture and a perfect feed from Joonas Donskoi 3:20 into the third. Couture dug the puck free along the boards, kicking it to Donskoi on the wing. Donskoi slid the puck cross-crease from Zatkoff’s right to Burns for the tap-in. Couture picked up his second point of the night, assisting on the goal.

After getting their first win at home, the Sharks hit the road for a five-game road trip beginning Saturday in Columbus. Last season, the Sharks won a league-high 28 road games while struggling at home with only 18 wins.

~ (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Radim Vrbata got the game winner and Shane Doan scored an empty netter, as Arizona won their preseason finale over the San Jose Sharks Friday, 3-1.

With both teams coming off a loss, San Jose was the first to have a preseason losing streak, as the Sharks put their regular season lineup on the ice for the first time.

Vrbata’s goal was the first of three shots in the second period. It came from the front of the right faceoff circle to go inside the right post. He was aided by Martin Hanzal and Luke Schenn at 8:48. Hanzal and Schenn had their second preseason assists, Hanzal’s in three games, Schenn’s in two straight games.

Both went scoreless on the power play, San Jose 0-for-5, the Coyotes 0-for-3. The Sharks could not get through goalie Mike Smith during a partial 5-on-3 man advantage and Arizona outblocked the Sharks 25-6.

All three periods started with a 4-1 shot advantage from one team.

San Jose got the early lead when Joonas Donskoi charged the net at 3:37. His goal went near the bottom left post from the low slot as he was helped by Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker.

Anthony DeAngelo scored his second goal in three games to tie the game midway during the period at 13:48. He was assisted by Anthony Duclair. The puck went top left corner from the right faceoff circle.

The first power play of the game went to the Sharks and came at 19:25.

The only players with multiple shots in the first period were Justin Braun, Brent Burns & Tomas Hertl, with two shots apiece.

Each team had a full power play during the second period.

Before that though, the Coyotes took the lead for the first time and for good with Vrbata’s goal.

Arizona had four straight shots during their power play, two by Vrbata.

San Jose’s Joe Thornton took a puck to the face, but was able to return to the game after leaving temporarily.

The penalties increased significantly in the third period and the Sharks eventually got to their 5-to-3 man advantage. San Jose got their first shot of the period in the power play right before that, at 9:39. Mike Smith also saved shots against Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Thornton during the power plays. The Coyotes had their greatest block margin during the period, 11-3.

Shane Doan capped the game at 19:49 with an empty netter. He was aided by Jordan Martinook and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Game notes: Arizona finished with 12 points and only one loss. They were perfect at home. Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Pavelski, Thornton and Couture had their first preseason action. Teammate Joel Ward (lower body injury) was absent. The Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks will play their preseason finale Sunday at 5p, with presumably more balanced lineups than in their previous meeting.

By Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonathan Bernier stops a shot from the San Jose Sharks left winger Mikkel Boedker in the first period of Wednesday night’s exhibition game at SAP Center

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks perfect preseason ended Wednesday night with a 2-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at the SAP Center. Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves for the shutout and Corey Perry netted a goal for the Ducks as part of a two-goal second period.

Twice the Ducks victimized the Sharks third defensive pairing of roster hopefuls Mirco Mueller and Tim Heed. Corey Perry was the first to do so, netting his first preseason goal 7:42 into the period. Joseph Cramarossa, looking to crack the Ducks roster after playing for their AHL affiliate the San Diego Gulls last season, scored his first exhibition goal just over 1:30 later for the 2-0 edge. In total, Sharks goalie Martin Jones made 20 saves on 22 Ducks shots.

As is expected, the game became rather chippy, with the California foes combined for 24 penalty minutes, including a fight between San Jose’s Micheal Haley and Anaheim’s scrapper Jared Boll. In total, San Jose went on the penalty kill four times, holding the Ducks scoreless each time. The Sharks failed to convert on their lone attempt.

The Sharks wrap up the games that don’t count with a contest Friday at the Arizona Coyotes then Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. After that, they open play next Wednesday at home against the Los Angeles Kings.