Category: NHL

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo Calgary’s defenceman Mark Giordano does the victory lap at the Flames bench after scoring a first period goal against the Sharks on Thursday night

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The question for the San Jose Sharks Thursday night was which team would show up for their home tilt with the Calgary Flames. Would it be the meek outfit that suffered a 6-2 knockout against the Predators in Nashville Saturday night taking the ice? Or could Team Teal replicate the World-beater performance that resulted in a 2-0 shutout of the vaunted Blackhawks offense at the United Center Tuesday night?

The answer is both.

The Sharks stumbled in the 1st period, allowing 4 goals to the visiting team while netting only one of their own, but scored 4 unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead. Calgary forced overtime then rode a surprise appearance by Sharks nemesis Jonas Hiller to a 6-5 shootout victory. Sharks center Logan Couture picked up points (1g, 3a).

“I felt good,” said Couture who has missed significant time this year dealing with a leg injury and complications. “It was one of those games where the puck followed me around. It would have felt a lot nicer if we got the win.”

Wayne Gretzky said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Thursday the Flames (25-25-3) missed on just under half of the first period shots they took against Sharks netminder Alex Stalock. Sam Bennett, Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund all scored in the opening stanza on 4 of Calgary’s total 9 shots.

The Sharks mostly rode the man-advantage to make up the difference over the final two-thirds of play, scoring 3 power play goals over 7 opportunities down the stretch.

“We had a feeling going out that something was going to get done,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. “We battled all the way back. It was good to see some character.

Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau opened the scoring barrage in the 2^nd period with a Flame stewing in the box. Couture potted his 5^th of the season 48 seconds into the 2^nd off a cross-ice feed from Brent Burns. Patrick Marleau tipped in a Joe Thornton shot-pass 11:17 into the frame for his 17^th of the year. In total, the Sharks outshot the Flames 11-4 in a period in which Calgary picked up 6 penalty minutes.

San Jose completed the comeback 2:46 into the final period of regulation after Joonas Donskoi beat Kari Ramo for his 9^th goal of the season. Just over 3 minutes later, Dylan DeMelo netted his 2^nd career NHL goal on one of San Jose’s 9 power plays of the night to give the Sharks their first lead at 5-4 with just under 15 minutes to play.

The visitors would not be denied though, with defenseman Kris Russell taking a backdoor pass from Sam Bennett to tally his 4^th of the year and knot the game 8:08 into the third. San Jose would have one last gasp in regulation.

With 3 minutes left Jonas Donskoi drove hard to the net, being tripped by Mark Giordano on the way in. Giordano collided with Ramo, forcing the starting netminder out of the game. During the same exchange, Sam Bennett elbowed Paul Martin, forcing Jonas Hiller to enter the game off the bench. Hiller dominated during the Sharks’ 5-on-3 power play, keeping the Flames in contention for two points.

“He played unbelievable,” said Couture of Hiller. “Kudos to him. He stepped in to a very difficult situation with the 5-on-3 and had some unbelievable saves. He basically saved them a couple points.”

“We thought we were going to get them,” added Pavelski. “When you get a 5-on-3 for two minutes. We just didn’t get things done. We felt we let one slip away.”

Hiller was equally as stout in the 3-on-3 overtime, flashing an athletic kick save amongst the 8 saves he made to force the game into a shootout. The Sharks also missed some opportunities by hitting a post and missing an open net when Hiller was pulled out of position.

“It’s tough,” said Couture. “I could have put the game away there. That one is going to keep me up tonight.”

 The red hot Couture beat Hiller, the only Shark to do so in the skills competition. Joe Colborne answered, then Hiller stoned Donskoi , Joe Pavelski and Marleau. Jiri Hudler slid the puck past Stalock to take the contest for the Flames.

The Sharks next take the SAP ice facing Pacific Division rivals the Arizona Coyotes. That contest will be Saturday evening.

Photo credit: Charles Rex Arbogast AP Photo

~By Pearl Allison Lo

~San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones earned his first win against the Chicago Blackhawks  Tuesday, in a 2-0, 33-save win.

The last time Jones and San Jose had a shutout was January 9. On the other side, Chicago was shutout for the third time in seven games.

With the win, the Sharks remained in second place in the Pacific Division, as they halted the Blackhawks’ three-game win streak.

In the first, a goal by Chicago’s fourth line and former Shark Brandon Mashinter was waved off after a challenge based on goalie interference. San Jose is now 23-2-1 after scoring first. When leading or behind after two, respectively, the Sharks are now 20-0-2 and the Blackhawks 3-15-2.

San Jose outhit Chicago in the opening period 11-3. Five of the hits were made by Tommy Wingels. The Sharks also won the special teams battle overall, killing two of all three power plays in the first.

San Jose got their first power play opportunity at 8:30 into the second and were able to capitalize. Joe Thornton fished the puck from the boards, tossing it to Logan Couture, who passed the puck down the ice. Patrick Marleau then slapped the puck from the point, as it went off Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, off both posts and into the net.

The second did not end well for the Sharks, as Chicago caught up with shots on goal. Quick, slick passing set up Chris Tierney as the final link, but he was unable to seal the deal. Then with 21.2 seconds left, Tierney was called for tripping.  

San Jose killed off the last penalty to start the third.

The Sharks scored on their first attempt at the empty net at 18:18. Joe Thornon scored his third goal in as many games. The Sharks have now scored at least two goals in 14 straight games.  

The Blackhawks outshot San Jose 11-6 in the final stanza.

Game notes: Overall, the Sarks outhit Chicago 26-13 and San Jose lost faceoffs 22-34. Game leaders were the Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa with five shots, Wingels with six hits, San Jose’s Brent Burns with four blocks and the Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 30 minutes of ice time Chicago’s Artemi Panarin was a late scratch. San Jose’s Brenden Dillon did not come out for the second period. He suffered an upper body injury. With an even road trip trending up in the rear view mirror, the Sharks return home to host the Chicago Flames Thursday at 7:30pm.

On the San Jose Sharks podcast, the Sharks are coming off loses in Anaheim and Nashville their getting ready for Calgary on Thursday they would like to have a strong return home. Also was the Nashville loss an indication as to what’s happening with the Sharks or is Nashville just a good solid team.

In the 6-2 loss to Nashville the Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was pelted with 34 shots on goal and allowed five and there was one empty netter. Mary Lisa talks about if this was an off game for Martin or the Preds were just prepared and had a good game plan of attack for Martin.

photo credit: San Jose Mercury News–Sharks goaltender Martin Jones

Mary Lisa Walsh is the San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

 

Photo credit: Jeff Roberson AP Photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~San Jose got past St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott in a 3-1 win, as they moved back up in the Western Conference Thursday.

Elliott gave up three goals for the first time since January 16 as the Blues’ offense struggled again.

Joe Pavelski was the primary assist on the first two goals

Both teams were scoreless on the power play again, the Sharks 0-for-4 and St. Louis 0-for-2.

San Jose had an early turnover in the first, like in the game versus the Ducks. Vladimir Tarasenko then had a close chance, but goalie Martin Jones reacted with a nice save. Right after, Justin Braun was called for slashing at 1:06 as the Blues went on the penalty kill.

Alexander Steen led all with four shots.

Like last game, in the second, the shots dropped but the goals went up.

The Sharks started with another first shift turnover that led to a 2-on-1.

San Jose scored first at 3:55. Joonas Donskoi took a pass from Pavelski as Donskoi raced to the net. The puck hit the post before it went past Elliott, as Donskoi got his seventh point in eight games.

More penalties overlapped in the second. St. Louis’ Jori Lehtera was called for hooking at 5:09. Donskoi went in the air after a collision with Hertl. Teammate Brent Burns was then called for tripping at 6:33. 16 seconds later, Tarasenko was called for tripping too.

At 7:15, after losing his 10-game point streak versus Anaheim, Joe Thornton was back at it. Marc-Edouard Vlasic near the point, passed it to Pavelski in the faceoff circle, who passed it to Thornton in the other, as he went five hole. With the game winning goal, Thornton vaulted out of a three way team tie to second on the team.

A lot more puck possession in front of Martin Jones bore fruit for St. Louis, as Paul Stastny passed to Alex Pietrangelo, who passed cross ice to Jay Bouwmeester. It was Bouwmeester’s second goal, but initially it was credited to Tarasenko up front.  

In the third, the Sharks stayed hungry. While Joel Ward tied up a defender, Matt Nieto scored solo five hole at 16:44 to make it 3-1.

Game notes: San Jose remained perfect in regulation after leading after two (19-0-2). Both Stastny and Thornton, hot versus the other team, got another point. It was the second collision between Sharks’ teammates in as many games. San Jose plays game three of their four game road trip Saturday against the Nashville Predators at 4:30pm.

Photo credit: Alex Gallardo AP Photo 

~By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM– With both teams hot and mostly fresh from the All-Star break, the Ducks won first as they contained San Jose, 3-2.

Anaheim pulled into a tie for third place with the Arizona Coyotes in the Pacific with the win. It was the Ducks’ fourth straight win and their third straight versus the Sharks. San Jose had been perfect in regulation in their past 10 games. It was Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen’s second straight game with at least 30 saves.

It was the highest scoring game of the season between both teams as the Sharks trailed the whole game. San Jose outshot the Ducks 32-25 and Anaheim outblocked the Sharks 23-13. San Jose’s Brent Burns had six of his attempts blocked and led all with five shots.

A shorthanded goal by the Ducks Hampus Lindholm was probably the worst result from special teams. Lindholm replied, “They were pushing us a little bit [at the time], but we were confident on the penalty kill. We got a break and Getzy [Ryan Getzlaf] made a heck of a pass to me. That was a big goal for us.”

In the first period, the Ducks looked like they were dominating and had the closer chances.

San Jose’s Justin Braun had a turnover in front of Andersen early.

With a quick release, Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell scored with 3:51 left, aided by Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry.  The Sharks challenged the call for offsides, but the goal stood.San Jose’s Joe Pavelski had three giveaways in the period as the Sharks were outhit 14-6. He ended up with the most giveaways overall with four.

Though the shots went down, the goals amped up in the second period.

2:43 in, San Jose’s Dainius Zubrus tipped in Brent Burns’ shot for his second goal to tie the game. Zubrus went five hole, also helped by Paul Martin.

The Sharks had mixed results when it came to special teams.

17 seconds later after Zubrus’ goal, San Jose got a power play. However, midway in, the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf went behind the net and then reversed direction, before he passed the puck up front to Lindholm. Lindholm made another angled shot against Jones, like the first goal, to score shorthanded from inside the circle at 4:19. With the assist, Getzlaf now has 499 and four assists in as many games.

Anaheim then doubled their lead at 12:07. Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones blocked Chris Stewart’s shot and Ryan Garbut got the rebound to score his first goal with the Ducks. Josh Manson also got an assist.

San Jose quickly got the goal back just over a minute later. Joonas Donskoi passed the puck to Tommy Wingels, who shot out from behind the net before scoring. Marc-Edouard Vlasic also aided.

However, 23 seconds later, Vlasic was called for hi-sticking and just over a minute later, the Sharks were down another man. Tommy Wingels, racing hard to the net, was called for goalie interference. Fortunately for San Jose, they were able to kill off the two penalties.

In the third, the Sharks kept shooting themselves in the foot with another 5-on-3. Martin was called for delay of game at 5:10 and during the penalty kill, Matt Nieto was called for hi-sticking. However, San Jose ended up unscathed again.

With 2:07 left, San Jose had one last chance but were unable to capitalize.

By the end of the second, they were outhit 22-14, but outhit Anaheim 9-3 in the final stanza.

Game notes: The Ducks’ Cam Fowler played 20:16, had two giveaways, one takeaway and blocked two shots in his return. There were at least four broken or lost sticks during the game. The Sharks play the St. Louis Blues Thursday at 5pm in their second of a four game road trip.

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh the Sharks pay a visit to Anaheim to start off a four game road swing Tuesday night that continues through St.Louis, Nashville, and Chicago. Also on the Sharks leaderboard team captain Joe Pavelski is leading the way with team points at 45 and team goals at 25. Mary Lisa talks Joe Pavelski tonight on the podcast.

The Sharks have won four of their last six games at home and they’ve improved their home performance. What was the problem before, the penalty kill?, the power play?, short handed situations?, six on fives?, five on fours?, line changes?, line chemistry? Whatever the problem head coach Peter DeBoer and the Sharks seemed to have found the right recipe for their home cooking.

Catch Mary Lisa below and every week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: sharks.nhl.com Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer