Category: NHL

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Nylander scores game winner in OT for Leafs; Caps Ovechkin now 21 shy of Gretzky’s goal record; plus more NHL news

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Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander (88) scored the game winning goal against the New Jersey Devils, he is joined in the celebration with teammates Jake McCabe (22) and Phillipe Myers (88) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander scored the game winning overtime goal at 1:10 to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. Nylander on a Mitch Marner stretch pass and shot the puck for a goal past New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom glove side from the blue line.

#2 Alexander Ovechkin scored the game winner for the Washington Capitals for his 874th career goal at 3:07 in overtime to defeat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Ovechkin is now 21 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record at 894. Ovechkin took a pass from Ramus Sandin on a two on one and beat the Sens Leevi Merilainen with a snap shot.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel scored in the shootout to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning’s Brayden Point scored, Victor Hedman picked up his career 600th assist. The win puts the Lighting at 3-1-1 in their last five games. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 34 shots.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Cam Talbot stopped 41 shots on a busy night to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Talbot had the hot hand stopping 23 shots in the third period. The Wings Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist to keep the offense going.

#5 The Columbus Blue Jackets kept their win streak alive with a convincing 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Bank Arena in Columbus on Thursday. The Jackets James van Riemsdyk scored twice and Zach Werenski picked up his 18th consecutive home point.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah HC Surrenders 3 Goals In The Third In 5-3 Loss To Rangers

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New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) takes the puck against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Clayton Keller (9) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah loses 5-3 in back-to-back games as home struggles persist.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the New York Rangers to Delta Center on Thursday night for their second matchup of the season. Utah previously defeated the Rangers in New York 6-5 in overtime last October.

Mattias Maccelli lit the lamp just 61 seconds into the game for his 6th of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Ian Cole, to give Utah the early lead. Artemi Panarin netted his 18th of the season just a couple of minutes later to tie things up for the Rangers, assisted by Alexis Lafreniere. At 8:12 of the first it was Maccelli again, crashing the net to knock in a rebound for his 7th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to put Utah up 2-1. With just a few minutes remaining in the opening frame, New York forward Arthur Kaliyev evened things up again at 2-2 with his first goal in a Rangers uniform since coming to the Empire State from the Kings.

Utah opened the second period on the power play, courtesy of a high-sticking penalty to Arthur Kaliyev late in the first. Less than a minute into the period, Logan Cooley one-timed a perfect pass from captain Clayton Keller for his 13th goal of the season with the additional assist going to Nick Schmaltz, giving Utah its third one-goal lead of the game. New York threatened to even things up once again during a 74-second 5-on-3 power play, but goatender Karel Vejmelka and his defense held the Rangers off and finished the period holding on to a 3-2 edge.

A cross-checking penalty to Alexis Lafrenière at the end of the second period gave Utah another opportunity to begin a new period on the power play. This time, however, it was New York converting a short-handed goal by Reilly Smith to tie things up once again at 3-3. Midway through the frame, the Rangers gave Utah fans another case of déjà vu all over again when Chris Kreider put New York up 4-3 with his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Sam Carrick. With Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker, Artemi Panarin scored his 19th of the season into an empty net to put the game away 5-3.

The loss is Utah’s 7th of their last 8 at home where they have won just 6 out of 21 games this season.

After the game, Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny said, “I think that we did a lot of good things, to be honest. I’m disappointed; it’s another loss by one shot. I think that we played really good again in the first half of the game. I didn’t mind the way we played in the second half–don’t get me wrong. Against Montreal, I didn’t like some stuff…Same thing against the Islanders. Not tonight. I think we played hard. The way they scored their two goals in the third period–those things will happen, but I think we deserved better tonight.” When asked about not letting frustration boil over, Tourigny responded, “It does boil. That’s why I’m proud of the guys today–because we approached that game with an unbelievable mindset. They were tuned in, their body language was good, they were positive, they were picking up each other, we worked hard. I said before (that) the other team is a factor in the game. That’s a good team. At some point, whatever or how good you play, they will make good plays. The puck will bounce over your stick…something will happen. They will have good times on the other side. Even in those moments, we battled hard (and) we played well. A broken stick in our zone; there was no panic, we defended well, we kept them on the outside (and) they could not get anything going. I loved the approach. I loved the resilience of the guys. I loved the fight. I’m so disappointed for the players first, for everybody, for the team. But it’s frustrating to see not getting (rewarded) for playing well.”

Utah returns to the ice for their sixth game of the homestand on Saturday at 7:00pm against the St. Louis Blues. Utah won their previous matchup 4-2 in St. Louis in November.

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Blue Jackets in Vlasic’s 1300th Game; CBJs extend win streak to six

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Columbus Blue Jackets James van Riemsdyk (21) takes a shot on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) in the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday. Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves in the loss.

The game was Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1300th in the NHL. He had one shot, blocked two and played 14:49. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Quite the achievement, and to do it with one team is even more remarkable. True pro and he’s really helped our group since coming back from being hurt.” Sharks goaltender Georgiev said:

“You love playing with guys who are so solid, He hasn’t played for a while and then came back into the lineup. Just good patience, smart decisions every time. He’s in good positioning, from my point of view at least. So, it’s amazing the accomplishment he got. We’re very happy for him.”

The rest of the game left the Sharks with little to celebrate. Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli said: “I don’t think we were very good executing anything. You know, passes, we weren’t forechecking, we weren’t breaking pucks out and obviously turned some pucks over and they capitalized. And obviously we gave them too many chances.”

Zach Werenski intercepted the kind of pass that Toffoli mentioned, then carried the puck all the way down the ice with Adam Fantilli, two on one. Near the goal line, Werenski passed the puck to Fantilli in front of the blue paint for the goal. That was at 12:11 of the first period.

Sean Kuraly knocked the puck away from Mario Ferraro with a hit behind the net. He carried the puck up to the faceoff dot before passing it to Kent Johnson at the net so he could make it 2-0 with a snap shot. The time of that goal was 16:17.

The Sharks were outshot 13-6 n the first period, and had the only power play. The shot count got worse in the second period, ending 12-2 Columbus.

James van Riemsdyk scored the only goal of the second period. From just inside the faceoff circle, he redirected Damon Severson’s shot into the net. Assists went to Severson and Johnson.

The Sharks had two power plays in the second period and took one penalty.

The Sharks got on the board at 7:32 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini sent the puck to the net from the boards and Tyler Toffoli was there to put it away with a wrist shot. Assists went to Celebrini and William Eklund.

James van Riemsdyk scored his second of the night into an empty net from just below the blue line.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Elmont against the New York Islanders at 4:30 PM PT.

Utah HC Squanders Strong Start In 5-3 Loss To Canadiens 

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Utah Hockey Club center Alexander Kerfoot (15) takes a shot on net as Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeaut (35) and defenseman Arber Xhekaj (72) try to defend in the third period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Jan 14, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah’s home woes continue as 2-1 first period lead dissolves into 5-3 deficit against Montreal.

In the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby slippers three times while repeating the words, “There’s no place like home,” to be magically transported back to her family and loved ones in Kansas. For the Utah Hockey Club this season, they may prefer to click the heels of their skates while saying, “There’s no place like the road.”

For the first period of Tuesday night’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, Utah was clicking on all cylinders, taking an early lead on goals by recently recalled forward Josh Doan, a 5-on-3 power play goal, and center Nick Bjugstad. Utah overpowered the Canadiens on every front, outshooting Montreal 14-3 while finishing the opening frame with a 2-1 lead.

The second period was all Canadiens on the score sheet, as Patrick Laine and Kirby Dach each lit the lamp to give Montreal a 3-2 advantage heading into the final period of play.

Just three minutes into the third period, Utah center Logan Cooley energized the Delta Center with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and captain Clayton Keller to even things up at 3-3.

Canadiens winger Cole Caufield recaptured the lead for Montreal a few minutes later with his 24th goal of the season, but Utah continued to apply pressure to keep the game within reach.

Unfortunately for Utah, the struggles at home continued as Kirby Dach put the game away with his second goal of the night with just a few minutes remaining, for a final score of 5-3.

This was Utah’s 6th home loss over their past 7 games in Salt Lake City where they have won just 6 of 20 games so far this season as opposed to winning 12 of 23 on the road.

Defenseman John Marino, who was plus-one in the contest, made his Utah debut in his first game returning from injury. After the game, Marino talked about his first game in a Utah sweater. “Took a couple of shifts to get your legs under you and the rhythm and flow of the game with all the penalties and stuff, taking shifts off, but anything to step in the right direction.” Marino also addressed the challenge of finding chemistry with his new teammates. “It’s tough, missing out on training camp and everything. But you’re able to come in, have a couple of practices with everyone, be around the group as much as you can. (The) staff and organization, everyone in the room has been great helping me, so it’s just a learning process.”

Head coach André Tourigny gave his take on the game. “It’s frustrating. I think we played a really good first period, really good start. I liked our cohesion offensively in the first period. I didn’t like our second period, starting with getting in the box. When we came back from New Years, we talked about management of the second period, and we had, as a team, we struggled in the second period, and then the following three games we were excellent in the second period. We played our game the right way. We had the right mindset. When I say played our game the right way, we played more precise. We played really fast. And the opponent, we did not allow them to change. We were intense without the puck, so we didn’t have time and space, so we were able to get the energy on our side all the time, we had shot volume, and so on and so forth. Today we arrived in the second period, and we were so good in the first. I don’t know for which reason we thought the second period will not be a fight or whatever, I don’t know. Start getting the pucks right from the beginning, that confident rhythm. Even in the first, you know, they were going out there on the other side, there’s a few guys who had a tough time to get their rhythm, because it’s tough to get on the rhythm on your ice time and your next shift. So, long story short, it built up in the second period, and instead to recover, we got worse. And that was the game.”

Tourigny didn’t pull punches talking about the second period. “There’s no reason to have excuses. We had a great first period; you need to show up in the second. You know on the other side that they will push. They’re one of the best teams in the NHL in the last 12 games or so. They have two or three losses in their last 12 games. What do you expect? For 60 minutes, roll them over and they won’t push back? No, they will push back. You get three or four power plays in the first period, a 5-on-3. It’s time for all of us, coaches and players, to take our responsibility. We need to be better than that. That’s what I think.”

Utah hopes to reverse their home fortunes on Thursday at 7:00pm MST when they play host to the New York Rangers.

Sharks Beat Red Wings 6-3 end 3 game skid, Wings end 7 game win streak, SJ scores 4 in third period

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The San Jose Sharks defenseman Cody Ceci and defenseman Jan Rutta (84) celebrate a first period goal that put the Sharks up on the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Tue Jan 14, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 on Tuesday. Jan Rutta, Nico Sturm, William Eklund, Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves for the win. Vladimir Tarasenko and Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings. Ville Husso made 18 saves in the loss.

The Sharks have given up the lead in the third period in several recent games. After the game, Jan Rutta said: “We’ve been in this situation more than a few times this year. So, we got the job done today. Hopefully that’s just a sign of us taking steps in the right direction and that when we have the lead we can play like tonight.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky talked about Georgiev’s performance in the win: “He was tracking pucks, he was locked in, made some huge saves for us, so… You can see his game it’s been trending in the right direction. So happy that he got rewarded tonight with the win for sure.”

The Sharks took an early lead with a goal from Jan Rutta at 1:45. Alexander Wennberg stole the puck away from Detroit below the goal line, then centered it for Will Smith. Smith took the shot and then caught his own rebound. He passed it up to Rutta above the faceoff circles. Rutta took the shot from high in the slot through some traffic. Assists went to Smith and Wennberg.

The Sharks added to their lead with a short-handed goal at 17:41. William Eklund broke away into the neutral zone then lost the puck before he got to the Detroit blue line. He gathered the puck back up and passed it to Nico Sturm on the blue line. Sturm carried the puck in and took the shot from just above the goal line. Assists went to Eklund and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Sharks were badly outshot in the first period, 12-6 by the Red Wings. The Sharks took the only first period penalty. Their penalty kill allowed two shots but also took two shots and scored once.

Vladimir Tarasenko got the Red Wings on the board at 1:28 of the second period, catching a rebound from Simon Edvinsson’s shot for a snap shot. Assists went to Edvinsson and Jonatan Berggren.

The Sharks outshot the Red Wings in the second, 9-6. The Sharks also took the only second period penalty. The penalty kill got one short handed shot and did not allow any shots against.

William Eklund made it 3-1 28 seconds into the third period. Eklund passed the puck behind the net to Celebrini, who then passed it back through the blue paint to Eklund, who knocked it into the net. Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli got the assists.

Tarasenko trimmed the Sharks’ lead again, with his second of the night. Erik Gustafsson shot the puck off the backboards so that it centered just as Tarasenko arrived at the net to shoot it in. Gustafsson and Joe Veleno got the assists.

The Sharks took back their two goal lead at 7:43 with a power play goal. Mikael Granlund caught a pass from Macklin Celebrini at the top of the faceoff circle. Granlund carried the puck almost past the net before scoring with a backhand shot.

Lucas Raymond got one back for Detroit at 9:56 with a wrist shot. Going right to the net after a faceoff, he caught the pass from faceoff winner Dylan Larkin.

Tyler Toffoli made it 5-3 at 10:57. William Eklund gathered up a loose puck in front of the net and passed it ahead to Toffoli, who shot it in from a bad angle.

Mario Ferraro scored an empty net goal at 18:22 with a shot from just above the Sharks’ goal line.

The shots were almost even at 10-9 Sharks in the third period. The Red Wings took their first penalty of the game and the only one called in the third. The Sharks power play got two shots on goal and scored.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

Islanders Sink Utah HC 2-1 On Late Third Period Goal

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New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech (3) and goalie Marcus Hoberg (50) blocks the goal against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Klayton Keller (9) in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Jan 11, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah was unable to hold on to their 1-0 lead in the third period, losing 5 out of their past 6 home games.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the New York Islanders to Delta Center on Saturday night for the third game of a 7-game homestand. The last time the two squads faced off in New York, Utah bested the Islanders 5-4 in overtime. Utah split the previous two home matchups this week with a loss to the Florida Panthers and a victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Connor Ingram returned to the Utah net for the first time since November 18. The 2024 Masterton Trophy winner had been sidelined with an upper-body injury followed by a leave of absence while caring for his mother who passed away from cancer in December. Ingram stood tall in the opening frame, turning away 14 Islanders shots, while his counterpart Markus Hogberg stopped five.

Utah forward Nick Schmaltz put Utah on the board at 1:13 of the second period with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley, just 34 seconds after killing off the remainder of a first period penalty to Barrett Hayton for tripping. Ingram turned away New York’s five shots during the period which ended with a 1-0 home team lead.

At 3:36 of the third period, Islanders center Brock Nelson tied things up with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by linemates Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal. With time running out in the period, the Islanders swarmed the Utah net and Barzal put the puck past Ingram for his 4th of the season, assisted by Lee and Nelson, to give New York a 2-1 lead and the eventual victory.

After the game, Connor Ingram was asked how it felt to be back out on the ice. “It felt good. It was a long couple months off there. It felt good to be back out there. Lucky for me, I got a chance in Tucson during the week. So I got a little bit in game shape. It felt good.” Asked about the support of his team upon his return, Ingram said, “It’s been good. I can’t ask for anything else. The guys have been great, the team has been great, management has been great. I have no complaints.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed Ingram’s performance in his first game back. “He was really, really, good. All game long, he was solid (and) made key saves. He was, for sure, one of the bright sides of the game. (Jack McBain) had big blocked shots a few times in the game; paid a price a few times on the PK. Those are the highlights for me.” Describing the goal which cost Utah the game, Tourigny said, “Turnover in the neutral zone to get into our zone. We’re gapped out because of our puck decision in the neutral zone. Then from there, it’s a broken play; dirty puck. That’s the way you score in a tight game. It was tough for us to create clean chances, it was tough for them to create clean chances. I think they scored on one clean chance and the other they went for the broken play. I think we had a few clean chances as well; we hit the post twice. We could not bury our chances.”

Next up for Utah is a Tuesday tilt against the Montreal Canadiens.

Sharks Fall 3-1 Against Minnesota Mark Andre Fleury’s Final Dance at SAP Center.

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San Jose Sharks hosted Minnesota Wild on Pride Night Festivities at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Jan 11. 2025 (Sharks Media)

By: Fernando Abarca (San Jose Sharks Beat Writer)

After losing in Utah on Friday night, Our Teal had to get back on their feet quickly as they hosted the Minnesota Wild at home for Saturday action. This game was fueled by physicality, toughness, and experience. Minnesota comes into this game with five wins of their last six, knew they had control of the momentum while the Sharks made it a third loss in a row.

Despite the Sharks’ strong game, Marc Andre Fleury was the star player who recorded 36 shot saves, a milestone for the future Hall of Famer.

Minnesota got the first point when a defensive error by William Eklund gave the puck away for Minnesota. San Jose defensively failed to stop, leaving Askarov vulnerable and Marco Rossi would score the visitors’ first go-ahead point of the night.

Despite the Sharks’ good game, Marc Andre Fleury was the star player who recorded 36 shot saves, a milestone for the future Hall of Famer.

Minnesota got the first goal when a defensive error by William Eklund gave the puck away for Minnesota. San Jose defensively failed to stop leaving Askarov vulnerable and Marco Rossi would score the first go-ahead goal of the night for the visitors.

Matt Boldy then went into the neutral zone with a powerful wrist shot to make it 2-0 in the second period. Despite this 2-0 lead, the Sharks tried to close the gap with a goal by William Eklund in the final minutes of the second period assisted by Walman and Celebrini.

The goal tried to give some breathing room, but it just wouldn’t be enough.

In the late third, a turnover on Celebrini sealed the 3-1 lead with an empty netter by Mats Zucarrello to close out the series of games they had at home since late December.

Once again, poor decisions, carelessness, and technical errors cost the game, but it must be stressed that the Sharks played and tried to get the result but it just wasn’t their night.

Now, the Sharks will be on the road for a long time starting the trip in Detroit this coming Tuesday night.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks face Wild on second of back to back nights; Tough loss on Friday in Utah

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Utah Hockey Club’s center Barrett Hayton (27) takes control of the puck against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro defenseman (38) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Jan 10, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Utah Hockey Club’s Barrett Hayton scored a late goal that proved to be the gamer to defeat the San Jose Sharks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City for a 2-1 win on Friday night.

#2 Utah’s Nick Schmaltz scored and goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 shots and Utah picked up their third win in 12 games.

#3 Fabian Zetterlund scored the Sharks only goal of the night it was his 12th of the season. The Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev stopped 23 Utah shots. The loss was the Sharks second straight loss.

#4 Zetterlund scored a wrist shot for San Jose at 58 seconds in the first period. Utah turned around and tied the game at 6:57 in the second period when Schmaltz hit a snap shot from 30 feet away.

#5 Back to back night for the Sharks they face off against the Minnesota Wild Saturday night at SAP Center in San Jose. The Wild are second in the Central Division they have won six of their last ten games and are just three points behind the first place Winnipeg Jets this game could be a handful for San Jose?

Mary Lisa covers the San Jose Sharks for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 2-1 to Utah, Close Not Good Enough

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Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) moves the puck against San Jose Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun (3) in the first period at the Delta Center on Fri Jan 10, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 2-1 to the Utah Hockey Club on Friday. Nick Schaltz and Barrett Hayton scored for Utah and Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks and Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves in the loss.

Although the game was close, it was disappointing for the Sharks. “It wasn’t good enough tonight. Puck play was awful. It just wasn’t enough,” said Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky. Mikael Granlund said: “We weren’t really good with the puck. Didn’t really get anything going on offensively all night so… they defended well but we got to be better with the puck, we got to win some battles and sustain some o-zone time.”

Perhaps the only bright spot was that Sharks goalie Georgiev played well. Granlund said, of the goaltender: “He was great tonight. He gave us a chance to win this game and we were in it. So, too bad we couldn’t get it done.”

The first goal of the game came just 58 seconds in. Mikael Granlund took a shot from the face off circle. Vejmelka stopped that but Fabian Zetterlund jumped on the rebound and put it in the net. Assists went to Granlund and Cody Ceci.

Utah outshot the Sharks 10-8 in the first period. The Sharks took the only penalty of the period.

Nick Schmaltz tied the game at 5:57 of the second period. He skated with the puck most of the way around the Sharks’ zone before taking his shot from inside the faceoff circle. Assists went to Clayton Keller and Nick DeSimone.

The Sharks only had three shots on goal in the second period while Utah had six. Utah took the single penalty called in the second period. The Sharks got their first shot of the third period at the nine minute mark, by which time Utah had two shots.

At 3:22 of the third period, Keller put the puck in the net but the goal was called back after Warsofsky challenged it for goaltender interference. Schmaltz skated into the blue paint and bumped Georgiev from behind.

Barrett Hayton scored the tie-breaking game winner with just 32 seconds left in regulation. He took a snap shot while skating across the top of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Nick Bjugstad and Olli Maatta.

With just five seconds left in the game, William Eklund took a high stick to the face and earned the Sharks a four minute power play. That was the only penalty called in the third. By the end of the period, The Sharks had eight shots on goal and Utah had nine.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:00 PM PT in San Jose against the visiting Minnesota Wild.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Luukonen saves 35 in 4-0 Buffalo shutout over Ottawa; Lightning get some offense against Bruins in 4-1 win; plus more NHL news

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Ottawa Senators Brady Tkachuk (7) attempts to deflect a shot past Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukonen (1) in third period action at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thu Jan 9, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Ukko-Pekka Luukonen stopped 35 shots as the Buffalo Sabres shutout the Ottawa Senators 4-0 at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night. It was Luukonen’s second shutout of the season and his seven career. Luukonen has the hot hand he’s 5-1-1 in his last seven starts.

# 2 Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 11 of his 27 saves in third period action to help beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 at Amalie Arena. The Bolts Brandon Hagel had a goal and an assist and Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists as the Lightning have now won two in a row.

#3 The New York Rangers Sam Carrick scored in the overtime stanza help defeat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Jacob Markstrom robbed what could have been game winners in overtime for the Rangers Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. But it was Carrick who scored on a two on one with Reilly Smith and putting the puck on net for winner.

#4 The Dallas Stars have gone undefeated in their last six games including the win on home ice Thursday 4-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Stars Mavrik Bourque, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen all scored in the three goal winner.

#5 The Pittsburgh Penguins Syd Crosby passed Joe Sakic for ninth place on the all time points list with 1643 points (604 goals and 1039 assists) Crosby moves two points ahead of Sakic who has 1641 points. The Penguins also defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com