Category: NHL

by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski beats Montreal Canadiens goalie Mike Condon for a goal in the first period on Monday night at SAP Center

SAN JOSE–The Sharks played a great game Monday night against the fading Montreal Canadiens, beating them 6-2. Rest assure, fans, the Canadiens are not the team that dominated the NHL for years. This franchise was known as the New York Yankees of Hockey but they have not won a Stanley Cup since 1993. Many of the old-timers remember the great players such as Maurice Richard, Henri Richard, Jacques Lemaire, Boom-Boom Geoffreon, Jean Beliveau but that was long ago and faraway. These Canadiens are nowhere near thoise teams. The Canadiens signed former Shark Mike Brown just one day after being waived by the Sharks. That move showed how desparate they are for player. Brown played for Montreal and got a nice hand from the Sharks fans.

The Sharks played a terrific first period against the struggling Montreal Canadiens. They drew first blood with just 3:11 played in the first period. Joe Thornton scored his fifteenth goal of the year to give the Sharks an early 1-0. Tomas Hertl started the play as he passed the puck from behind the Montreal net to Justin Braun. Brown fed the puck to Joe Pavelski, who found Thornton open on the left side of the net. Joe put it past Montreal goalie Mike Condon for the tally. Pavelski and Braun earned assists on the play. The lead didn’t last long. The Canadiens Thomas Plekanec beat Martin Jones with 5:26 played to tie the game. P.K.Subban and Max Pacioretty assisted. The Sharks continued to play well and had several chances but could not light the lamp. Joe Pavelski scored with 15:55 played to put the Sharks in the lead 2-1. Joe Thornton and Brent Burnt assisted. For Burns, it was his 400th career point in the NHL. The Sharks led shots-on-goal 13-7.

The Sharks played well in the second period. They took a 3-1 lead with 3:11 played. Brent Burns notched his 21st goal of the year as he beat Condon from the right side of the net. Joe Thornton assisted on the play. So far in the game, Thornton has three points on a goal and two assists. The Canadiens refused to give up. they cut the deficit to one when former Shark, Torrey Mitchell, squeezed his way in between two defenders and, somehow, got a shot off that seemed to befuddle Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones. Paul Byron and Phillip Danault assisted. Danault was acquired by the Canadiens in a trade with the Blackhawks just before the trade deadline. The Canadiens led the Sharks in shots-on-goal in the period 10-9. Sharks lead 3-2 after forty minutes of action.

The Sharks poured in on in the third period, much to the delight of the 16,205 fans in attendance. They scored three times to ice the game as they won going away 6-2. Melker Karlsson scored with just 2:14 played. It was Karlsson’s eighth goal of the year..Chris Tierney and Dainius Zubrus assisted. the next goal came 83 seconds later. Recently acquired Nick Spaling scored his second goal as a member of the Sharks and his third goal of the season. Logan Couture and Paul Martin picked up points as they assisted on the play. Joe Pavelski scored the third goal of the period and the sixth and final goal of the game. It was the second goal of the night and twenty-ninth of the year for Pavelski. Chris Tierney  picked up his second point of the night on the assist and Brent Burns was credited with his second assist. Burns had three points in the game on a goal and two assists. Sharks win 6-2.

Game notes- with the win , the Sharks improve to 34-22-6 good for 74 points and improve their home record to 12-13-3. Brent Burns was awarded the third star of the night. The second star went to Joe Pavelski, who also had three points in the game. The first star went Joe Thornton.

The Sharks meet the Vancouver Canucks again Thursday night in Vancouver then return home to face the Canucks here in San Jose.

 

By Matthew T.F. Harrington and Joe Lami

AP photo: Lineman Brad Lazaowich left collides with the Vancouver Canucks Dan Hamhuis (2) as Linden Vey (7) digs for the puck against the San Jose Sharks Chris Tierney (50) and Roman Polak (56) Sunday in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia —  The San Jose Sharks offense ran into some trouble at crossing the border, but cleared customs with just enough time to pull off the comeback victory 4-1 against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena Sunday.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal in six games to tie the game with just over 15 minutes left in regulation to tie the game, then Tomas Hertl tipped in the game-winner a handful of seconds later. Patrick Marleau netted a 5-on-3 goal late in the 3^rd and Justin Braun scored an empty-netter to ice the contest and set the tone with San Jose playing two of the next three games against Vancouver (24-25-12).

Braun’s defensive partner Marc-Eduoard Vlasic set a new career-high season points total with 37 after picking up a pair of assists.

“Things are going well,” said Vlasic. “When it goes well as a team, it goes well individually. When you’re playing well with your partner as well creating offense, good things happen.

After 40 minutes of play, the Sharks (33-22-6) were facing what appeared to be an insurmountable challenge. They had fallen behind 1-0 in the 2^nd period and mustered only 4 shots on Canucks goalie Ryan Miller in the period for a game total of 14. A determined effort by Joe Pavelski 4:21 into the third sparked a San Jose outburst.

“We hadn’t really played a good game up to that point,” said Pavelski. “Jones gave us a chance.”

Vlasic, looking to get off the ice for fresh legs, dumped a backhand into the Canucks zone on what looked like a harmless dump-and-change. Pavelski took advantage of a slouching Vancouver defense to pry the puck loose as it rattled along the boards behind the net and past the faceoff dot. From there, the Sharks captain peeled off the half-wall and ripped a back-hander past Miller to tie the game 4:21 into the 3rd.

“Through the forecheck,” said Pavelski. “That’s where we have to score goals. A lot of goals come from the forecheck when we get up and make the D make a play. Hopefully get there face up against the glass.”

The rest of the team followed the captain’s example and played a fired-up final fifteen minutes starting first with Pavelski’s linemate Hertl. The Czech winger drove to the net, tipping a Justin Braun point shot past Miller for his 15^th strike of the season 2:28 later.

“When you play on the inside,” said Vlasic. “When you go to the net, normally you create scrums. Penalties happen when you play inside. Good things happen, usually a goal or a penalty.”

San Jose failed to convert on the first two power plays of the night, but converted on a golden opportunity after Vancouver’s Markus Granlund and Dan Hamhuis took slashing minors 27 seconds apart with just under 7 minutes to play. On the two-man advantage Patrick Marleau took a Joe Thornton pass in the slot and ripped it past Miller for his 18^th of the season with 5:51 to go to make it 3-1. Pavelski also assisted on the power play strike.

“The big guys took over in the 3^rd,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau, Couture, those guys found a way to crank it up in the 3^rd and win us the game.”

While the Sharks scored most, the Canucks jumped on the board first on Daniel Sedin’s 23^rd goal of the season 3:03 into the 2^nd period. The Swedish winger crashed the San Jose net, jamming a Martin Jones rebound through the San Jose keeper’s five-hole for a 1-0 lead.

The North Vancouver, B.C. native Jones was stellar aside from the lone goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots in his first contest at the NHL level in his home town.

“Today was more important than me coming home,” said Jones. “It was a big game for us with a team that’s chasing us. We had a good opportunity to put them at a pretty good distance.”

10 points separated San Jose from Vancouver for third place in the Pacific Division entering play Sunday afternoon. With San Jose facing Vancouver three times in the span of a week, it was important for the Sharks to set the tone in the first meeting.

“We didn’t want to give them any life in the standings,” said DeBoer. “We’re playing them another 4 times after this. It was an important 20 minutes for us.”

While the Sharks will look to add another strong 60 minutes against Vancouver Thursday, they’ll have to avoid focusing to match on the rematch. They head back to San Jose to face the Montreal Canadiens at the SAP center.

On the podcast Joe Lami and Matt Harrington review the latest NHL trades and acquisitions from Rogers Arena in Vancouver BC on their road trip coverage with the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks. The Florida Panthers picked up Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings get a last round pick for Kindl.

The Panthers kept busy getting Tedd Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers while the Oilers get a third round draft pick. The Panthers get an unrestricted free agent Jiri Hudler. The Panthers send their second round selection for 2016 and their 2018 fourth round draft pick to the Calgary Flames in the deal.

On Saturday the San Jose Sharks picked up goaltender James Reimer from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sharks also got Jeremy Morin who be assigned to the Sharks AHL affiliate the San Jose Barracuda. Morin has had a great year in the Leafs AHL affiliate going 28 points in 41 games.

The St Louis Blues needed a back up goalie due to an to upper body injury to Brian Elliott. Elliott was in a jumble pile defending in front of the net and went down to block a shot in the February 22nd game and is now on the shelf. The Blues picked up Andres Nilson from the Edmonton Oilers. Matt and Joe go over the needs of the Vancouver Canucks who are not likely going to the post season and are mailing it in as they are already talking off season draft. The Sharks in the meantime are shoring up with Reimer as their the back up goaltender the Sharks have Aaron Dell working back up to starter Martin Jones.

Joe and Matt return with remotes podcasts from Bridges Restaurant on Monday night  and the Sand Bar Restaurant on Tuesday night from Vancouver on the SJ Sharks road trip listen to all the latest on the NHL right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: hngn.com–incoming Sharks back up goaltender James Reimer who was traded to the team on Saturday from Toronto

 

by Joe Lami

photo credit: pinterest.com newest Florida Panther Jakub Kindl

Stay tuned as we get closer to the February 29 Noon-PT Deadline

February 27

Florida Still Not Done

With their third deal of the afternoon, the Panthers acquire Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings. Kindl has been on the waiver wire for half the season and is dealt after the Wings elect to eat part of his salary. It has yet to be determined the draft selection Detroit will get in the deal.

Flordia Gets:

Jakub Kindl

Detroit Gets:

Late Round Pick

Florida Not Done Yet

Shortly after the Panters acquired Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers for a 3rd Round pick. The year of the draft selection is still unknown.

Florida Gets:

Tedd Purcell

Edmonton Gets: 

3rd Round

Panthers Land Hudler

Jiri Hudler’s name has been in trade speculation half of the year, as the unrestricted free agent to be joins the Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Panthers sent a 2nd round selection in 2016 and a 4th round pick in 2018 to the Flames.

With Calgary being out of playoff contention, don’t expect this to be the last deal for the C of Red, as they have other UFAs to be that will most likely go.

Florida Gets:

Jiri Hudler

Calgary Gets:

2nd Round-2016

4th Round-2018

Sharks Deal with Leafs Again

News broke out late Saturday morning that the San Jose Sharks have acquired goaltender James Reimer from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The deal also sends minor league, Jeremy Morin to San Jose. Morin has been tearing up the AHL this year with 28 points in 41 games.

The deal gives Sharks’ GM, Doug Wilson, the backup goalie he’d been looking for in Reimer. It didn’t take too much to get him either, as the Sharks sent back goalie, Alex Stalock, center Ben Smith and a conditional 4th round pick in 2018.

Both Stalock and Smith have found themselves in a tough situation being out of the lineup so often, after falling out of favor of head coach Peter Deboer.

San Jose Gets:

James Reimer

Jeremy Morin

Toronto Gets:

Alex Stalock

Ben Smith

Conditional 4th Round-2018

Blues Trade for Backup Netminder

With an injury to Brian Elliot earlier in the week, St. Louis was desperate to find a backup goalie. They did on Saturday, as they acquired Andres Nilson from the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers receive AHL netminder Niklas Lundstrom and a 5th round pick in 2016.

The trade adds depth at goalie for the Blues, as they have someone reliable that can play in between the pipes in case anything happens to Jake Allen.

St. Louis Gets:

Andres Nilson

Edmonton Gets:

Niklas Lundstrom

5th Round-2016

February 26

Hawks Add a Pair of Wingers

In Chicago’s third trade in the past 24 hours, the Hawks acquired Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weiss from the Canadiens in exchange for a second-round selection in 2018 and Phillip Danault.

The trade adds, even more, depth to Chicago’s bottom six as they are clearly pushing for another Stanley Cup run.

Chicago Gets:

Tomas Fleischmann

Dale Weiss

Montreal Gets:

3rd Round Pick -2018

Phillip Danault

 

Chicago Continues to Wheel and Deal

On Friday, the Blackhawks traded with the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman, Christian Ehrhoff in exchange for Rob Scuderi. The deal clears up cap space for the Hawks, who are assumed to be after more forwards.

Both defensemen having been struggling this season and the trade marks the return to the Kings for Scuderi, who played 3.5 years for LA.

Chicago Gets:

Christian Ehrhoff

Los Angles Gets:

Rob Scuderi.

February 25

Chicago Lands Ladd

The Blackhawks bolstered their lineup on Thursday evening; trading for former Hawk left winger, Andrew Ladd. Ladd is expected to join the first line for Chicago and play to the left of Johnathan Towes. Chicago also receives minor leaguers, Jay Harrison and Matt Fraser.

The Jets return is huge as they pick up prospect Marko Dano and Chicago’s 1st round pick in 2016, as well as a conditional 3rd round selection in 2018. Dano has 23 points in 34 games for Rockford (AHL) this season. He was acquired by Chicago in the off-season deal that sent Brandon Saad to Columbus.

Chicago Gets:

Andrew Ladd

Jay Harrison

Matt Fraser

Winnipeg Gets:

Marko Dano

1st Round-2016

Conditional 3rd Round-2018

Photo credit: David Zalubowski AP Photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ With San Jose and the Colorado Avalanche’s tightest battle of the series, one could say they went a mile long in the mile high city, as Colorado edged San Jose 4-3 Wednesday.

The teams went the distance, both having recent shootout wins.

The Sharks’ Martin Jones suffered his first shootout loss of the season as he faced a season-high 41 shots, making 38 saves.

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon showed no sign of his recent malady as he looked to continue his recent success against San Jose. He scored the first shootout goal and had a season-high eight shots, four shots apiece in the first two periods, as he searched for his first point in six games.

The Avalanche continued a trend based on number of goals scored. They have won the last five games where they have scored at least three goals.

Newcomers from the Toronto Maple Leafs highlighted the first period, as former linemates scored a pair of goals.

First at 2:10, was one of San Jose’s newcomers, Nick Spaling, who lifted his team early from the faceoff circle. All for the Sharks, on his first shift, his first shot became his first goal.  

After San Jose’s penalty expired at 6:35, Colorado challenged with a sequence of shots.

The Avalanche’s newcomer, Shawn Matthias, also scored his first goal on his first shot, as he emulated Spaling with a singlehanded goal at 13:02.

The Sharks outblocked Colorado 11-3 in the first period.

It continued to be a tight game in a scoreless second.

With 13:04 left in the second, the goal light went on, but was waved off as a false alarm.

San Jose was the first to regroup from the second and score. They got their second early in the period advantage, 1:50 into the third period. Brent Burns got the bounce off Erik Johnson’s skate. Tomas Hertl and Paul Martin aided on the play. Burns now has three points in as many games.

The 2-1 lead lasted until the Avalanche made the Sharks pay for a penalty. 22 seconds into San Jose’s second hooking penalty of the night, 38-year old Jarome Iginla scored the game’s first power play goal. Tyson Barrie and captain Gabriel Landeskog helped at 5:35 as Iginla created a five game point streak.

Landeskog got another point when he got his own rebound to give Colorado their first lead of the game. Andrew Bodnarchuk and Alex Tanguay assisted at 11:45

With 2:10 left in the game, Jones was pulled and the extra attacker eventually paid off. Burns’ shot was blocked, followed by a shot on goal by Ward. After a faceoff win, Patrick Marleau had a shot on goal and after the next faceoff win, the Sharks finally broke through backup goalie Calvin Pickard.  With 1:31 left, Ward put together the game’s third tie and ensured San Jose had at least a point. He was aided by Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.

It was the Sharks’ Joonas Donskoi and in the second round, the two captains for each team in the shootout, but none got on the board. Matt Duchene scored after, to make MacKinnon’s shot count.

Game notes: The other newcomer for the Sharks, Roman Polak had two shots and three hits. San Jose welcomed back Brenden Dillon who had a shot, a hit and two block. Pickard was filling in for ill regular Semyon Varlamov. The Sharks return home to host the Buffalo Sabres Friday at 7:30pm

 

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh the Sharks will see what newest acquisition Roman Polak can do as he and Nick Spaling join the Sharks from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Polak brings a lot of experience to San Jose Polak is one of those guys who brings a lot of penalty minutes under his belt.

Polak is a big tough guy as he’s been described by a lot of people more importantly he does have that experience. The Sharks have been going with a third pairing of Matt Tennyson and Dylan DeMelo. Tennyson who took a big hit in Monday’s game in St Louis looks like he’ll be out for a bit.

photo credit: Toronto Sun–The San Jose Sharks Roman Polak

Listen to the complete coverage of Sharks hockey podcast with Mary Lisa click below right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Photo credit: Scott Kane AP Photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose went back to their goal scoring ways and ended Saint Louis’ longest win streak of the season, in a 6-3 win Monday.

After losing an 18-game streak of 2 goals or more Saturday, the Sharks scored six goals for the second time in less than a month and for the first time in February. Each goal scorer for San Jose scored a pair of goals.

Meanwhile, for the Blues, it was injury upon injury. Playing their first full game without a key player, Alexander Steen, hot backup goalie Brian Elliott was also injured in the first and did not return to the game. Saint Louis was unable to tie the Chicago Blackhawks atop the Central Division with the loss.

San Jose did not go injury free either. Matt Tennyson was knocked unconscious before Elliott, after a hit by Ryan Reaves. Tennyson was playing in only his sixth game with the team since December 8. He did not return to the game either, but afterwards, it was reported as likely a concussion and Tennyson will be traveling en route to the Sharks’ road trip finale.

With the win, San Jose is tied for most road wins with the Washington Capitals. most since November 12

The 17-7 shot margin in the first period was indicative of the way the scoring went.

The Sharks got off to a lead for the first time this road trip, when Tomas Hertl scored at 4:44, aided by his top linemates Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.

The hit by Reaves at 8:37 gave San Jose a long power play, as Reaves was given a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct as he left the game. Hertl made Tennyson’s exit sting a little less when he scored his second goal during that penalty, with a different pair of teammates, Joonas Donskoi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Logan Couture also capitalized on the long power play when he scored in the identical spot as Hertl, a 5-on-3 goal. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns helped at 12:59.

After Couture’s 3-0 goal, goalie Jake Allen, who was just activated from injured reserve yesterday, ended up going into net. It mostly seemed though it was because of Elliott’s injury.

Saint Louis managed to get a goal at 17:36. Captain David Backes scored, assisted by Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.

The teams took a little break from scoring until the Blues got to within one in the second. The power play went from the Sharks to Saint Louis when San Jose’s penalty cut it short. Tarasenko scored the Blues’ second power play goal of the night, aided by Kevin Shattenkirk and Jori Lehtera at 11:25.

20 seconds later, Couture and the Sharks did not lose their momentum, as Couture scored his second of the night, helped by Melker Karlsson and Vlasic.

Thornton singlehandedly scored San Jose’s fifth goal at 7:26 of the third. Teammate Patrick Marleau had hit the post during the second.

Jay Bouwmeester got the third period goal for St. Louis at 9:50, assisted by Tarasenko and Lehtera. Sharks’ coach Peter DeBoer challenged the score as goalie interference, but it remained 5-3.

Thornton then capped off the game, bringing it back to a three goal lead, with a no look empty netter. It was his first four point game in over two years, as mentioned by Darin Stephens.

Game notes: Couture had a game high eight shots. San Jose’s General Manager Doug Wilson announced before the game that Raffi Torres left, along with 2017 and 2018 second round selections, for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Nick Spaling and Roman Polak. The Sharks will look to make it a 4-1 road trip when they face the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday at 7pm.