Category: NHL

Panthers Pounce On Utah HC In 4-1 Home Loss 

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The Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) takes the puck against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Nick Bjugstad (17) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Jan 8, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Meet the new year, same as the old year. Utah’s home struggles continue in 2025 opener at Delta Center in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.

The Utah Hockey Club returned to Salt Lake City on Wednesday night to kick off a season-high 7-game homestand against the visiting Florida Panthers. Utah went 1-2-1 on their recent road trip and hoped their home rink would be friendlier in 2025 than it was in 2024 when they won just 5 of 16 in the first three months of their inaugural season at Delta Center.

The two teams’ defenses held the line in the opening frame, with Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky turning away all five shots he faced, and Utah’s Karel Vejmelka turning away all six from the Panthers.

Just sixteen seconds into the second period, Utah forward Barrett Hayton went to the penalty box for high-sticking against Niko Mikkola, and Florida center Sam Reinhart cashed it in on the power play with his 23rd goal of the season, assisted by Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Jesper Boqvist put the Panthers up 2-0 with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell. At 12:56 of the third, Florida forward Sam Bennett went to the sin bin for slashing against Kevin Stenlund which opened the door for Logan Cooley to bring Utah back to within one on the power play with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev.

With Karel Vejmelka pulled from goal for an extra attacker in the waning minutes, the Panthers pounced twice with empty net strikes from Jesper Boqvist and Eetu Luostarinen to put the game away for good with a final score of 4-1.

After the game, Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny weighed in with his assessment. “We can be better in certain areas offensively. But defensively, I think we were solid. (Florida is) a good team; Stanley Cup Champion. I think defensively, we did a lot of good things. I liked the effort of the guys, I liked the passion, all of it. Offensively, we need to be more connected…I feel that we were pretty good defensively. I think offensively, we did not have the same speed, the same rhythm, the same puck movement coming from our breakouts to the offensive zone. Give (Florida) credit; they check hard. They’re No. 1 in a lot of areas defensively and they didn’t give us time and space. That said…I like our team. Even if we didn’t have time and space, we went at the net, put pucks on the net, we got rebounds, we got chances. We created chances–not by pretty play all the time, but by playing the right way and grinding. When you play against those kinds of teams–Dallas and (Florida) and other teams–you need to generate those. Because if not, the pretty play never comes. I think we scored a good goal on the power play. But we had a lot of grind to lead to that. There’s a lot of positives, obviously one goal short.”

Next up for Utah are the Sharks at 7:00pm MST on Friday, followed by the Islanders, Canadiens, Rangers, Blues, and Jets over a 13-day stretch.

Sharks Did Not Make it Three in a Row Against Golden Knights in 4-2 loss

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William Eklund celebrates the first goal of the night by the Sharks in front of 10,802 in attendance tonight at SAP Center on Tue Jan 7, 2025 (Sharks Media)

Golden Nights Snapped Shark’s Winning Streak at SAP Center Tuesday night with a 4-2 win.

Before the game even started, The men in teal knew it would not be easy. After two consecutive wins in a row, it seemed the team finally got some chemistry to start the year. The Golden Knights, a team that is a contender for the next Stanley Cup Playoffs showed the real dominance over the Sharks, a dominance that has been carried out for years.

Two goals, one by Mark Stone and one by Zach Whitecloud, were enough in the first period to turn the tide for the home team. There was still a lot of hockey left, but it looked like the victory would go to the visitors.

In the second period, a power-play goal by William Eklund raised hope for those in attendance at the SAP Center on Tuesday night. And so we went into the second intermission of the game with a slim 2-1 lead.

Things would start to get complicated in the third period when Victor Olofsson made it 3-1, a score that seemed to continue to advance. At minute 10:41 of the game, Timothy Liljegreen made it 3-2 over the Golden Knights. The game was about tying it.

Two goals, one by Mark Stone and Zach Whitecloud, were enough in the first period to turn the tide for the home team. There was still a lot of hockey left, but it looked like the victory would go to the visitors.

In the second period, a power-play goal by William Eklund raised hope for those in attendance at the SAP Center on Tuesday night. And so we went into the second intermission of the game with a slim 2-1 lead.

Things would start to get complicated in the third period, when Victor Olofsson made it 3-1, a score that seemed to continue to advance. At minute 10:41 of the game, Timothy Liljegreen made it 3-2 over the Golden Knights. The game was all about tying it

Time was ticking away and the opportunities to make it 3-3 were fading away, as the result of an empty net, the Golden Knights scored the fourth of the night with a slap-shot from Tomas Hertl, who wore the colors of the Sharks a while back.

With this result, San Jose has not recorded any wins against the Golden Knights in the current 2024-25 campaign.

Now the team will try to move on, and get another win this time on the road against Utah Hockey Club this Friday night.

Sharks Celebrate the win against New Jersey Devils

Sharks Win 3-2 over New Jersey Devils in San Jose

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Sharks Celebrate the Win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday Action at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Jan 4 (Sharks Media)

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE–Will they repeat it? That is the question for the Sharks as they host the Devils at SAP. They walked out with 3-2 a win.

The Sharks are back for an early afternoon showdown against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, coached by former Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe, did not have a great time in California as the team suffered defeats by the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Saturday, The Sharks will try to seal the Devils trip with another loss.

Conversely, the Sharks had a great start to 2025 as they hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan 2nd, where the Teal won for the first time in eight games. It was a needed victory as they sit last in the Western standings, they will try to replicate the same formula.

Throughout the period, the Devils dominated the period with many shots on goal. Again, Askarov has been a star for this team, as he recorded 11 saves and kept the net at zero.

The action took force towards the later minutes of the game as Nikolai Kovalenko (15) showed great effort with assistance from William Eklund and Luke Kunin. The Sharks went on intermission with the lead.

2nd Period

The Sharks had lots of chances to score as eight shots hit the post, and none hit the back of the net.

The Devils found ways to score, and so they did, at 15:41, Nico Hischier made it even at SAP Center with an assist by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. When the Devils scored, the pace of the game changed. The Teal showed aggressiveness and back-and-forth hockey.

The stars Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith got penalties during the second period, Celebrini for High-Sticking and Smith for too many men on the Ice.

Despite the goal, Askarov has been showing great skill with lots of saves, adding another amazing performance from the Rookie.

The period ended in a tie at the end.

3rd Period

The Cellies and the goals did not take that long to make an appearance again. Macklin Celebrini scored a beauty to give the sharks the lead to a 2-1 with a little bit of help of Will Smith, again showing how lethal this combination is because whenever they have the put, magic happens.

Soon after, Luke Hughes assisted Paul Cotter to put a second goal for the Devils and make it a tie game.

This did not prevent the Sharks from backing down and slowing down. The Team showed great resiliency and seemed they were on the try to find the formula to win games In the final seconds of the third, Cody Ceci sealed the win with a late goal assisted by Alexander Wennberg. In the last two games, the Sharks proved that the key to winning is to keep the puck in their possession.

With this win, the Sharks have started the second game of 2025 in great and outstanding shape and they will be back at SAP Center on Tuesday Night against Vegas.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks relieved to snap 8 game skid; Host New Jersey today

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San Jose Sharks Tyler Toffoli is mobbed by his teammates after scoring a first period goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Jan 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro scored a goal a piece that helped snap the Sharks eight game losing streak at SAP Center on Thursday night defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.

#2 Toffoli scored his 15th goal of the season in the middle of the first period and Ferraro’s goal proved to be the game winner. The Sharks picked up their first win since Nov 29th.

#3 The win also says a lot about the goaltending as Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 Tampa Bay shots which was good enough to hold off the Lightning to just one goal.

#4 The Sharks were 0-7-1 in their last eight games and had not won a game since Nov 29th and started their losing streak against these same Lightning which started on Dec 5th.

#5 The Sharks get after it again Saturday at 1pm against the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey are second in the Metropolitan Division. They have are on a three game losing streak and the Sharks would like to catch them off balanced.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Slavin gets game winning goal for Hurricane; Rangers Quick stops 32 shots to edge Bruins 2-1; plus more news

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The Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) and Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scuffle as linesman Tommy Hughes tries to break it up in the second period at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Jaccob Slavin got the game winning goal for the Carolina Hurricane in the third period at 7:30 to break a 1-1 tie which the Hurricane won by a final score of 3-1.Slavin’s wasn’t without a battle as there was a pile up in front of the net as the Hurricane’s Jesperi Kotaniemi slid into Florida Panther goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who was down at the crease in front of the net when Slavin made a rebound shot from the left circle for the goal.

#2 The New York Rangers edged the Boston Bruins 2-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Ranger goaltender Jonathan Quick was able to stop 32 shots and the Rangers snapped a four game losing streak. It was career win 399 for Quick and it was Quick’s first win since Nov 30th. If Quick wins his next game he will pick up his 400th win and become the first US born goalie to win 400 games.

#3 The Washington Capital Alexander Ovechkin scored his career 871st goal. Ovechkin needs just 24 more goals to catch Wayne Gretzky to become the number one goal scorer of all time. In spite of Ovechkin’s goal the Capitals lost in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild when Matt Boldy scored the game winner as the Wild took a 4-3 win.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Jonatan Berggren scored a game winning goal with 36 seconds left in the third period to edge the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thursday night. The win improves the Wings win streak to three games. Alex DeBrincat scored and had two goals to contribute to the Red Wings cause.

#5 The Toronto Maple Leafs Bobby McMann scored twice as the Leafs defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 in New York. The Leafs Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots. The win marks the second time in a week the Leafs have defeated the Isles and the Leafs have now won three times in four games against the Islanders.

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

Sharks Start 2025 New Year Strong Against Tampa with 2-1 win

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Mario Ferraro waves to the crowd at home at SAP Center after scoring the second goal during the game against Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan 2, 2025 (Sharks Media)

New Year is here so is a new chance to win a game as the Sharks hosts for final time this season Tampa bay with a win at home.

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE, CA –– The 2024 did not end on a good note for the San Jose Sharks. They suffered another loss on New Year’s Eve against the Flyers at home, while the Tampa Bay Lightning fell on the same boat as they suffered a horrible loss of 6-2 against the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams are going to try to start the new year sharp. The Sharks bounced back and edged the Lightning at SAP Center 2-1 on Thursday night.

It was also the return of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who returned to be behind the net after missing most of the season so far.

Tampa Bay was expected to start the game taking control due to its position in the standings and its team with better depth, but that was not the case. San Jose had control of the puck on several occasions tonight and was a team that played to steal the puck from Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay had good chances to score in the 1st Period, but none went into the net.

San Jose, on the other hand, found its way to put the first one on the board. Tyler Toffoli showed a magical play, dribbling with the puck and scoring a goal that put the Sharks in the lead in the final minutes of the first period.

The first goal set the momentum for the Sharks for what later on would be a win for the Teal, that needed it so much. In the 2nd Period, it was plagued by penalties and, of course, the tension between both teams. Both Mario Ferraro (SJ) and Mitchell Chaffee (TB) got a penalty for fighting in retaliation for hitting Nikolai Kovanlenko.

At 07.05 of the game, Mario Ferraro showed heart and nailed the 2nd goal for the Sharks, leaving the score 2-0, but just minutes before the end of the period, Anthony Cirelli put the first one for the visitors. During the 3rd period, there were no goals, but Tampa did show itself in moments of desperation, the performance of the goaltender, Yaroslav Askarov was one to remember, Askarov gave everything for the team statistically speaking.

Tampa was aggressive, but San Jose found a way to maintain its composure and game spirit, an attitude that had not been shown for a while by a team that has been battered by losses in recent weeks.

With this victory, San Jose started the year on the right foot and with the desire to add more victories in the games to come. San Jose has another date at home here at the SAP Center against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 1 pm.

Sharks shutout by Flyers 4-0 on New Years Eve matchup; SJ falls to their 8th straight loss

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Will Smith (2) and Sean Couturier (14) taking a face-off during their game at SAP center on Tuesday December 31st. (via SanJoseSharks/x)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- In a New Years Eve matchup, the Sharks fell to a 4-0 shutout by the Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center, the second loss against the Flyers this season.

Philadelphia opened the scoring on a wrist shot by Nick Seeler at 5:59. He netted just his third goal of the season with Jamie Drysdale registering the lone assist.

After a quiet start to the second period with no penalties or goals, Philadelphia extended their lead to 2-0 at 12:09 when there was a scramble in front of the Sharks’s net. With Georgiev not knowing where the puck was, Ryan Poehling took advantage and netted his third of the season assisted by Egor Zamula and Bobby Brink.

At 13:35, Mikael Granlund took a two minute penalty for tripping giving Philadelphia their second powerplay opportunity. Philadelphia’s powerplay was ranked 29th in the league at 14.7. Although their powerplay is nearly last, Travis Konecy found the back of the net within nine seconds. Konecy netted his 17th goal and Philadelphia’s 15th PPG of the season assisted by Owen Tippett and Jamie Drysdale, Drysdale’s second helper of the night.

With the final 20 minutes of play, Philadelphia didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. Right after coming off of the powerplay at 2:30, Egor Zamula netted his third of the season. Bobby Brink and Noah Cates registering the assists, Brink with his second helper of the night.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  • 1. Egor Zamula, 1G 1A
  • 2. Jamie Drysdsle 2A
  • 3.Ryan Poehling 1G

The Sharks will be back in action on Thu January 2nd at 7:30pm PST against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The last time these two teams faced off was on December 5th which resulted in a Tampa Bay 8-1 win. Alexander Wennberg registered the lone San Jose goal assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Jan Rutta.

Sharks add Seventh Straight Loss Against Calgary 3-1 at SAP Center

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Another Saturday night action at the tank as the Sharks hosted the Flames in front of a big crowd that expected a victory.

Calgary Flames in action against San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Dec 28, 2024 (AP Photo)

By: Fernando Abarca

Lately, Calgary has been a tough customer for the Sharks as the team added up the eighth loss in nine of the last nine games Sharks losing Saturday night 3-1. Unsurprisingly, the team from Alberta, Canada, is currently fifth in the standings showing great hockey.

Friday night against Vegas, the Sharks suffered one of the most painful losses in the season so far with a 6-3 score in a game where the Sharks completely dominated for most of the 60 minutes of hockey. Saturday night, it was the same result.

The team had many positive things to take away and one of them was the performance of goaltender, Yarovlav Askarov who recorded 30 saves throughout the game.

Also, there were plenty of shots on goal but only one on goal, it has been one of those nights in which the Sharks have not found ways to get ahead.

Macklin Celebrini, is at the top of the rookie scoring with 12 goals and 27 points showing the quality of player that he is and what he has shown in the first half of the season.

Macklin scored a goal in the second period assisted by Alexander Wennberg.

Calgary, despite dominating and being the winner, was very passive. Jonathan Huberdeau put Calgary 1-0 in the first period, while the second goal fell in the second period by Mikael Backlund. In an empty net, Huberdeau sealed the game with a goal in the last seconds of the third.

This game has surely been one of the most challenging for the Sharks due to the injuries that occurred during the course of the game, especially to key players who decide the game. At the press conference, Macklin Celebrini appeared indifferent, pensive, and at times evasive.

Clearly, they do not want to get used to losing, especially in instances where they can play a good game.

The Sharks will close the year at home, receiving the Flyers on New Year’s Eve.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks can’t hold the line Knights score 4 times in third in 6-3 win

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San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (11) makes a move on the net against the Vegas Golden Knights net minder Adin Hill (33) at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Dec 27, 2024 (Bay Area News Group photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (11-21-6) were sailing along through the second period with a 3-2 lead until the third period happened and the visiting Vegas Golden Knights (24-8-3) opened up a can on the Sharks scoring four unanswered goals taking a 6-3 lead and then the win.

#2 Mary taking a look at the first period of the game the Sharks defenseman Shakir Mauhamadulin scored his first goal of the season at 14:40 giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The Knights would even the score at 6:58 when Noah Hanifin to make it 1-1.

#3 In the second period the Knights Mark Stone scored the first goal of the period at 3:27 to make it 2-1 Knights. The Sharks Will Smith at 5:53 scored for the Sharks to tie it up at 2-2. Then Tyler Toffoli scored his 14th goal of the season at 15:57 and gave the Sharks a 3-2 intermission lead.

#4 The Knights in the third period scored four unanswered goals to quickly erase any lead and any chance for a win for the Sharks. Vegas scorers in the fourth Brayden McNabb at 1:03, Jack Eichel at 1:26, Pavel Dorofeyev at 5:46 and to close all damage out at 19:28 Brett Howden an empty netter for a 6-3 final.

#5 Sharks playing back to back nights face the Calgary Flames on Saturday night at SAP Center for a 7:00pm PST face off. The Flames are fifth in the Pacific Division at 16-11-7. The Flames have won four of their last ten games. The Sharks are in last in the Pacific and with the loss to the Knights being their sixth in a row.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah HC Comes Up Empty Again At Home In 4-1 Loss To Colorado 

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Colorado Avalanche Artturi Lehkonen (62) gets the puck past Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karl Vejmelka (70) in third period action at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Dec 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah would have liked to put their 2024 home record behind them after going 1-3-2 in December the pain continues as Utah took a three goal loss to Colorado 4-1 on Friday night at the Delta Center.

The Utah Hockey Club wrapped up their 2024 home schedule on Friday night against the visiting Colorado Avalanche. It was the third and final matchup of the season between the division rivals, with the two teams splitting their previous encounters.

The first period wound up scoreless, with Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka stopping 14 shots and his Colorado counterpart, Mackenzie Blackwood, stopping 11.

Nearly 12 minutes into the second period, Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen gave Colorado the first lead of the game with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski. Utah failed to respond in a period which concluded in a fight between MacKinnon and Barrett Hayton with eight seconds remaining.

At 2:36 of the third period, Avs forward Mikko Rantanen went to the penalty box for tripping against Olli Määttä. A little over a minute into the man-advantage, Utah evened the score when Logan Cooley fed the puck to Mikhail Sergachev who ripped a shot from deep in Utah’s offensive zone which was tipped in by Nick Schmaltz for his sixth goal of the season.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in the third, Artturi Kehkonen struck again with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Valeri Nichushkin and Nathan MacKinnon. As the clock ticked down, Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker, but the strategy failed when Mikko Rantanen atoned for his penalty with an empty net goal, his 20th of the season, assisted by MacKinnon. As fans began to head to the exits, Artturi Kehkonen completed the hat trick into an empty net unassisted with 26 seconds remaining.

The loss gives Utah a 1-3-2 record at home in December with the regulation losses coming against their closest division rivals competing for the wild card positions. Asked in the locker room about the team’s challenges winning at home, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev commented, “I don’t know. Honestly, we’re coming in every game with the same approach to win and to play our best. At home, it doesn’t show. I don’t think we were changing anything. I don’t know. … Obviously, we want to win in front of our fans, and they get us going every game, but it sucks. We’re trying to win every game. It’s not like we’re not trying at home. I think fans see that we’re not giving up ever. We’re coming in. We’re hitting, going strong, skating well. It’s just unfortunate.”

Head coach André Tourigny, commenting on his team’s performance, “I think we played against a really good team who were ready to play. They played hard the first two periods. I will say, especially in the first period, I think we tried to do a little bit too much with the puck, and we could not get inside. They defended well. I think in the second period, we had a good forecheck and quite good offense from it. In the third period, I think we had a great push. Our goalie was really good. I think we played against a team who will raise their level and that was good hockey.”

Utah, which is 11-6-2 on the road this season, hopes to continue their road success during their next four games in Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, and Dallas. They will return to Salt Lake City on January 8 to face the Florida Panthers for the first of seven consecutive games at home where they hope to turn the corner in 2025.