Category: NHL

Sharks Add Another Loss in Hertl’s Homecoming 6-3

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Tomar Hertl laps around the ice during his tribute video at SAP Center in San Jose during his return as a Golden Knights player on Dec 27, 2024 (Photo by Golden Knights Media)

The San Jose Sharks are back at the Tank to close out 2024 with a series of seven games at home with a very special one among those nights

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE, CA –– After all the Christmas noise, celebrations, and much more, having the guys back in town is always nice after their trip to Canada. On their last road trip, they played Edmonton and Vancouver, performing well and showing good hockey, but they could not convert in the game’s final instances, losing by one goal in both games.

Vegas is coming Red Hot, winning four of their last five games.

The game also had a different taste as former Shark Tomas Hertl made his return to the tank for the first time after being traded to Vegas early this year. Before puck drop, the team prepared a tribute showing on the jumbotron some of the most remarkable moments of his stint with the Sharks. A standing ovation that was well-received.

In the first period, The 2023 Stanley Cup champions struck first and took advantage of the poor defensive labor to retrieve the puck with a shot on goal by Noah Hanifin, assisted by Victor Olofsson, making it a 1-0 for the Golden Knights.

The building was noisy as the Sharks tried to find ways to score with lots of shots on goal and back and forth hockey.

Late in the first period, Shakir Mukhamadullin made it even with a powerful shot deflected against the boards to give some joy to the fans.

Before the end of the first period, the young San Jose star Macklin Celebrini was sent to the box for a penalty against Jack Eichel for Hooking.

During the second period, The Sharks completed dominated with intensive chemistry, intensive unity, and aggressive hockey. Not to mention the outstanding performance from both San Jose and Vegas goaltenders, again. the chemistry between Smith and Celebrini seems like a good pairing every time they are on the ice.

The Golden Knights scored first in the second period, with Mark Stone putting the second for the Knights.

The Sharks quickly recovered from that goal and showed heart by scoring two goals by Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli, assisted by Macklin Celebrini and Mikael Grandlund, taking the lead by 3-2.

The momentum did not last long, In the third, the Vegas Golden Knights showed why they are top of the standings. Brayden McNabb and Jack Eichel helped the Knights put two more shorthanded goals in favor of the visitors in less than a minute.

It was not enough, four minutes later, Pavel Dorofeyev sealed the fifth one for the Knights. The Teal clearly showed themselves vulnerable, lacking depth, and lacking ideas for execution, errors that cost them the good game they were having.

Tense moments and fights took place in the final minutes of the game. In a 4 4, the Golden Knights took advantage to close the night with six goals and completely ruin a night that the Sharks seemed to have dominated and controlled.

Clearly, it is a loss that certainly hurts.

The Teal is back at home tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: McLellan new Red Wings head coach; Wings become McLellan’s 4th team

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Former Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan has been hired by the Detroit Red Wings on Thu Dec 26, 2024 to replace Derek Lalonde. McLellan formerly coached the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday hired former San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan who signed a multi year contact. The Wings fired former head coach Derek Lalonde. McLellan who was fired from his last job with the Los Angeles Kings on Feb 2. McLellan is 598-412-134 in 1444 games. McLellan also was head coach for the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, before joining the Kings and has a 42-46 playoff record. McLellan ranks sixth among winningest head coaches. Lalonde is the fourth NHL coach to be fired this year.

#2 For McLellan this is his fourth NHL team and when you consider him the sixth ranking winningest NHL head coach that makes a NHL team looking for an head coach no doubt look for the best in who’s available.

#3 For the Red Wing general manager Steve Yzerman is a third of the way into his third season and had to make a move as the Red Wings were on a three game losing streak previous to Thursday’s coaching change. The Wings have lost nine of their last 12 games and 21 of their first 34 games this season.

#4 Yzerman didn’t see any improvement from Lalonde as the Wings are just above the last place Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference. Lalonde was midway into his third season with the Wings. Lalonde had success as an assistant coach in Tampa Bay winning two Stanley Cup Championships there.

#5 Former San Jose coach and the Red Wings associate coach Bob Boughner was also fired from the Wings and replaced by Trent Yawney to work as an assistant coach. McLellan has a success record out nine of 14 seasons McClellan has led his teams to the post season.

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

Stars Snap Utah HC Eight Game Points Streak In 3-2 Victory 

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Utah Hockey Club’s Ian Cole (28) take a shot at the net in the first period against the Dallas Stars at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Dec 23, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah came within a goal late in the game, but could not overcome second period difficulties.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the Dallas Stars to Delta Center on Monday for their second faceoff in Salt Lake City this month, the first ending in Utah’s only regulation loss over the past 12 games during which they posted a record of 8-1-3, earning 19 points and re-emerging in the Wild Card hunt.

Dallas winger Colin Blackwell kicked off the scoring eleven minutes into the game with his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Oskar Back. Utah responded less than two minutes later as defenseman Ian Cole ripped a fierce shot from the blue line which was tipped in by Kevin Stenlund for his sixth of the season, with an additional assist given to Michael Carcone.

The Stars owned the second period as center Roope Hintz netted his 15th goal of the season followed by winger Jamie Benn with his 7th.

With just over eight minutes remaining in the third period, Utah center Barrett Hayton, while being pushed down to the ice by Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen, tipped in a shot by Nick Schmaltz to get Utah back to within one, but that’s where the game ended up 3-2.

After the game, Hayton, whose goals in back-to-back games have given him 100 career points, commented on the loss. “I think that second period is a learning lesson, obviously. We knew coming into this game, it’s a four point game, a division game. Obviously those matchups are huge. I thought we did a great job in the first period. We were urgent, we were intense, we were on the ball, playing the right way, and you just can’t afford those lapses against good teams. That was what our second period was. It’s gonna be something we have to take as a learning experience right now. We’re all pissed off about it and disappointed and frustrated in ourselves, and yeah, that’s a big game, and sucks for it to go that way.”

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny, when asked whether the second period decided the outcome, said, “I agree, I think we had 12, 15 or eight minutes where we were not aggressive enough defensively, which led to them possessing the puck a lot, and we could not change from there. But I think we were successful when we are aggressive defensively, when we play with pace and we cut possession, which leads to our own offense and being able to have good chances and having energy out there. So when we stopped doing that, the game turned around.”

Utah concludes its three-game homestand at 7:30pm MST on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche before embarking upon a four-game trip to Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, and Dallas.

Sharks Fall 4-3 to Canucks, Demko 12-0 Against Sharks

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) puts the stop on a shot by the San Jose Sharks in the first period at Rogers Center in Vancouver on Mon Dec 23, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks Monday in the last game before Christmas. Brock Boeser, Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks, with Pettersson scoring twice. Thatcher Demko made 26 saves for the win. William Eklund, Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves in the loss.

The win was Thatcher Demko’s 12th against the Sharks, maintaining a perfect record against San Jose. While the Sharks improved their third period performance, a brief collapse in the second period was the difference in the game. After the game, Barclay Goodrow talked about that collapse:

“A couple pucks we didn’t get deep, I failed to get behind their D, they turn it up, it’s in the back of our net. That created momentum for their team and next thing you know they’ve scored three. Obviously if we don’t have that little stretch in the game it might be a different outcome.”

Shortly after being hit hard into the boards by Tyler Myers, William Eklund scored the first goal of the game. On a five-on-three power play, Eklund took the shot from the faceoff circle through traffic. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini. The goal was scored at 11:36 of the first period.

Brock Boeser tied the game at 14:10. Skating to the net, he tipped in a shot from Quinn Hughes. An assist also went to Vincent Desharmais.

Though Eklund played through the period, he did not return after the first intermission.

The Sharks outshot the Canucks 10-6 in the first period. Each team took two penalties and a fighting major.

Kiefer Sherwood gave the Canucks a lead at 16:42 of the second period. Sherwood skated into the Sharks zone and shot around Henry Thrun. Assists went to Teddy Blueger and Nils Hoglander.

Elias Pettersson scored Vancouver’s third goal of the game at 17:08 of the period. The Sharks challenged the goal for goaltender interference. While Connor Garland made some contact with Askarov, the NHL upheld the call on the ice, putting the Sharks on the penalty kill.

The Canucks made it 4-1 on that power play. Elias Pettersson Had too much time to pick his shot and he used it to put the puck in the top corner. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.

Vancouver outshot the Sharks 14-6 in the second period. Early in the third period, Henry Thrun took a shot to the face and had to leave the ice for repairs. He did return to the game with a gash on hi8s forehead. Elias Pettersson took one shift in the third period and then left the game.

Cody Ceci made it 4-2 with a shot from the point at 4:21 of the third period. Demko almost stopped it but it trickled through. An assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

With just under 2:30 to go, the Sharks pulled Askarov for an extra skater. With six seconds left in the game, Luke Kunin caught a rebound and shot it in from a tight angle. Assists went to Celebrini and Toffoli.

The Sharks outshot the Canucks 14-4 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Friday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Ducks Overcome 4-1 Deficit To Defeat Utah HC In Shootout 

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Anaheim Ducks Troy Terry (19) shoots as defenseman Jackson LaCombe (2) assists while Utah’s goaltender Jaxson Stauber (33) defends with defenseman Ian Cole (28) and center Logan Cooley (92) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Dec 22, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

Utah starts fast but fails to hold on in 5-4 shoutout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah Hockey Club returned home on Sunday for the first of three games at Delta Center, a welcome respite from the previous four consecutive one-game visits to home ice. The road has been good to Utah where they have won their last seven including Friday’s 2-1 victory in Minnesota in which Dylan Guenther scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season. On Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, Utah hoped to build upon last week’s overtime win versus Vancouver which snapped a five-game home losing streak.

Captain Clayton Keller struck quickly for Utah just 86 seconds into the game with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Juuso Välimäki and Barrett Hayton. Anaheim wasted no time evening things up a few minutes later as Robby Fabbri netted his third goal of the season for the Ducks, assisted by Mason McTavish. Late in the first, Utah center Barrett Hayton put his squad up 2-1 with his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Olli Määttä and Keller.

In the second period, Utah padded its lead early with a power play goal by Logan Cooley, his eighth of the season, assisted by Keller and Mikhail Sergachev, followed a few minutes later as Keller recorded his second goal and fourth point of the game, assisted by Sergachev and Nick Schmaltz, giving the home team a 4-1 lead.

Unfortunately for Utah, that’s where the wheels fell off and Anaheim began to mount its comeback. The Ducks were able to trim their deficit to 4-2 midway through the second period as center Isac Lundestrom found the back of the net for his 4th of the season, assisted by Olen Zellweger and Jansen Harkins.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the third period there was a scrum at the Utah net where Robby Fabbri somehow managed to knock a puck through the pads of netminder Jaxson Stauber which appeared to travel in super slow motion behind Stauber and trickle just across the line to draw Anaheim back to within one. Fabbri’s second goal of the game was assisted by Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov.

At 13:31 of the third period, Utah forward Logan Cooley was sent to the penalty box for slashing against Mason McTavish. With just 16 seconds remaining in the penalty kill, Ducks winger Brett Leason completed Anaheim’s comeback with his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Gauthier and Zellweger, making it 4-4.

Following a scoreless overtime period, the two squads sent their champions to center ice for the shootout. Utah elected to go first, and Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal turned away Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Nick Bjugstad. Keller’s shot went off the crossbar and fans initially cheered as if it had crossed the goal line, but the official and video replay both indicated no-goal. For his part, Jaxson Stauber turned away Ducks penalty shot specialist Troy Terry and Brock McGinn, but ultimately could not stop Mason McTavish who won the game for Anaheim on a snap shot.

In Utah’s locker room forward Barrett Hayton, who scored the second goal of the night, commented, “Right now, it doesn’t feel like we walked away with a point with the way we handled that second half and obviously handled the lead. (That) can’t happen. It’s disappointing.” Addressing how things unraveled, he said, “I think it happened a little bit at the start of the game and then creeped back in. I think (we were) just getting too loose, giving up too much. You give a team that many power plays, it’s tough. I think there were a lot of things throughout the entire game. Obviously, fell apart in the third. It wasn’t good enough.”

Captain Clayton Keller weighed in, “It was kind of a back-and-forth game. We just weren’t good on our details. Just kind of played a little too loose. That’s what happens; they get some life, they get some bounces and we unfortunately lose the game. But the good thing about this is (that) we play tomorrow. We don’t have to think about it too much. We’ll address it and be better from it.” With regard to his four point game, Keller said, “Just playing simple, doing everything I can to help this team win. My linemates have done a great job as well. We’re on to tomorrow. … We’ll address it in the morning tomorrow, the things we need to do better. I still feel like we have a lot of confidence in this room. We still got a point tonight. We still have confidence and a quick reset (for) tomorrow.”

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny also talked about turning the page to tomorrow’s contest against the Dallas Stars. “We have to. Today is a good testimony of our maturity. That’s unfortunate. It is what it is. Anaheim is a tough team to play. They apply pressure, they have talent. You have to know that. And you need to show up with your ‘A’ game every night…Last week, I was here sitting in front of you and I was talking about urgency. That’s the most important thing. We need to have energy, yeah. But, urgency is a super important currency. If you have it, we can play against anybody and we can sustain success. If we don’t, you have your answer. That’s the problem tonight. The guys wanted to play well; they worked hard. I didn’t feel anyone was not working that hard. But I think we were not as urgent. We didn’t stop on pucks. We were not reloading with the same urgency. We didn’t take the simple decisions. We tried to make plays where there were no plays. That turnover goes on the other side. You take bad penalties. That kind of stuff. That’s just urgency. If you play for your life, you don’t do those things. It’s just what happened today. Those guys, they mean good. They want to do the right thing. They’re as mad as me right now. Nobody’s happy. They care; they care a ton. I have no doubt about it. We need to learn from it. That’s, unfortunately, the maturity part. Same thing when I was a young guy. You need to go through some adversity, some battle scars. So you learn from it and you get better…It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. I’m not mad at them. I’m mad at the situation. It’s (about) how we react to it. Adversity is what builds you. It shapes you. Either you become better or you become worse. If you become worse, that’s who you choose to be. That’s not what we will choose to be.”

The mood was much lighter in Anaheim’s locker room after the game which was filled with upbeat music including the resurgent Village People anthem “YMCA.” Ducks forward Robby Fabbri, who scored twice in the game, spoke about his team’s comeback. “I don’t think it was anything specific that we did. I think we just didn’t stray away from our team. When you’re down like that on the road, it’s easy just to pack it in. We don’t have that in our room here, and we showed that tonight.”

Anaheim’s head coach Greg Cronin addressed the media about keeping the faith when coming from behind. “I mean, it’s kind of a weird game, but there’s a lot of penalties. You know, they got up three to one, and I thought when it got four to one, there was that point in the game where we were trying to generate some energy internally to get the faith and the belief back. And then we got that second goal, which really changed the dynamic of the game. I didn’t attribute a lot to the physicality, I just thought we started skating more in the third period.” With regard to that third period, “Ironically, we had the five on three, and then we ended up making it a four on three. Then we ended up, you know, killing a penalty for 30 seconds… but I thought after that was over, we had that goal at the goal mouth [the third goal], when we made it four to three, that goal changed it. We could just tell there was more belief in our play, and then I think there was a little bit more confidence that if we got pucks down deep, we got them back, and would get an opportunity to get some scoring chances off of direct shots or rebounds.”

Cronin talked about the extra incentive to get a win for the dads who are tagging along on this road trip. “I don’t know what they were thinking about. I know after the second period, I had told them that the dads are here, and they have come a long way to watch you guys play. Let’s finish this off and get a win. Killorn’s dad, Matt, read the pregame lineup… he did a great job, so I’m gonna carry him with us on all the trips.”

Utah will immediately lace up their skates on Monday at 7:00pm MST for their final game before Christmas against the Dallas Stars. Dallas won their previous matchup 2-1 at Delta Center three weeks ago. The two teams are tied for points in the Central Division with 38 each, but Dallas has a game in hand.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Oilers, Give Up another Lead in the Third

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Edmonton Oilers Connor Brown (28) scrambles for the puck against the San Jose Sharks Cody Ceci (4) in the second period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sat Dec 21, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime Saturday. Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers. Calvin Pickard made 20 saves for the win. Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 39 saves in the loss. Askarov’s 23 saves in the second period were the most saves in one period by a Sharks goaltender since the 2015-16 season.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of the goaltender: “He was outstanding. He’s the reason we got a point. He was seeing the puck really well, quick. He made some really big saves.”

The Sharks took the lead twice in the first period, then held it until the last minute of overtime. Warsofsky talked about how the game got away from the Sharks: “We got slow, we got put on our heels, we didn’t defend quick enough. We didn’t skate to make them move the puck a little quicker.”

Luke Kunin opened the scoring 3:23 into the game. Alexander Wennberg chased the puck all the way down the ice into the Oilers’ corner, then passed it back to the trailing Kunin for the shot. Assists went to Wennberg and Timothy Liljegren.

Zach Hyman tied the game at 7:07. Connor McDavid carriws the puck around behind the net and then sent a pass across the slot to Hyman. Assists went to McDavid and Evan Bouchard.

Jan Rutta gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 8:21. Jake Walman carried the puck through the neutral zone and down as far as the faceoff circle before making a pass back to Rutta at the top of the slot. Rutta scored with a snap shot down up the middle. Assists went to Walman and Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks were outshot 9-7 in the first period, and then 23-7 in the scoreless second period. In the first period there was a single penalty called, and that was against Edmonton. In the second period, the Sharks took the only penalty.

At 19:42 of the third period, with their goaltender pulled, the Oilers tied the game. Skating down from the point, Mattias Ekholm caught a pass from Corey Perry and shot through traffic. Assists went to Perry and McDavid.

Leon Draisaitl scored gane overtime winner 18 seconds into overtime. Daraisaitl carried the puck into the zone and then passed it across the ice to Bouchard. Bouchard gave it to McDavid, who passed it back to Draisaitl for the shot.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Vancouver against the Canucks at 6:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks could have their hands full with Oilers tonight at Rogers Place

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Colorado Avalanche left winger Joel Kiviranta (94) congratulates goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) after defeating the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena in Denver on Fri Dec 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa, knowing the San Jose Sharks playbook a little bit how much of advantage was it for former Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood to defend against the Sharks on Thursday night for a 4-2 win.

#2 The Aves Joel Kiviranta scored twice in the third period as Colorado picked up three goals to erase the Sharks 2-1 lead.

#3 In your view Mary Lisa Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev just couldn’t stop the Aves attack but also was it the Sharks defense up front that let Georgiev down in that third period.

#4 The Sharks have given up multiple third period goals in their last five games and Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said during Thursday’s morning skate that he’s disappointed the Sharks can’t close out their opponents.

#5 The Sharks battle the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton tonight. The Oilers could be a handful their in third place in the Pacific Division and are on a roll having won eight of their last ten games. They’re a loaded team.

Mary Lisa does the San Jose Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Guenther scores twice to give Utah 2-1 win; Caps Lindgren stops 24 shots for 3-1 win over Wild; plus more NHL news

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The Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther is congratulated from the Utah bench after scoring a goal in the first period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis on Fri Dec 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther scored twice and got a go ahead goal at 10:01 in the third period. Guenther extended his point streak to seven games in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Excel Energy Center in Minneapolis.

#2 The Washington Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots and the Caps got a 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Capital One Center on Friday. The Capitals Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, and Jakob Vranda all scored a goal and an assist.

#3 The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray stopped 25 shots in his first NHL game back since Apr 2, 2023 getting the win over the Buffalo Sabres at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Friday 6-3. it was also Murray’s first NHL win since March 23, 2023. Sabres have lost 12 straight games and have 0-9-3 during the losing streak and are 11-18-4 overall.

#4 The Montreal Canadiens Patrik Laine scored the go ahead goal at 7:58 to lead the Habs to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Pizza Arena in Detroit on Friday. Emil Heineman and Jake Evans each scored and got an assist for Montreal. Habs goaltender Cam Talbot save 24 shots.

#5 Aleksander Barkov scored with 17 seconds remaining in overtime that gave the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win over the the St Louis Blues at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Friday. Barkov got a wrist shot from the right circle during a power play right after he was sent to the penalty box for tripping the Blues Brayden Schenn at 4:17.

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

Sharks fall 4-2 in Blackwood’s return to San Jose

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Valeri Nichushkin (13) celebrating after giving Colorado the lead early in the first period at SAP Center on Thursday December 19th (via Avalanche/X)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- In Mackenzie Blackwood’s first start at home since being traded on the ninth, he recorded a 4-2 win, his second win in a Colorado uniform. “Feels great, I enjoyed my time here, made a lot of great friends that I’ll always be thankful for. ” said Blackwood when asked about the crowd and environment in today’s game.

Colorado jumped out to an early lead after Carl Grundstrom took a high sticking penalty at 3:07. Valeri Nichushkin netted his 9th goal of the season, Makar and MacKinnon registering the assists. Colorado’s powerplay is ranked 10th in the league with a 23.0%.

After a quiet start to the second period, Carl Grundstrom tied the game netting his first career NHL goal at 4:26. Jan Rutta registering his fourth assist and Luke Kunin registering his fifth assist of the season. At 9:29, William Eklund gave the Sharks their first lead of the game netting his sixth goal of the season. Cody Ceci registering his eighth assist and Luke Kunin registering his sixth assist of the season, second of the night. This is also Kunin’s second multi-point night of the season, the first was on December 10th against Carolina.

At 8:26 of the third, Barclay Goodrow took a hooking penalty giving Colorado their fifth powerplay opportunity of the night. The Avalanche scored their second powerplay goal of the night with Mikko Rantanen netting his 19th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

After being tied for majority of the third, Colorado took a 3-2 lead on a Joel Kirviranta, his sixth of the seaon. Logan O’Connor registering the lone assist. Joel Kirviranta went on hat-trick watch at 15:28 of the third scoring his second of the night assisted by Artturi Lehkonen and Casey Mittelstadt to give the Avalanche the 4-2 lead.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  • 1. Joel Kiviranta
  • 2. Luke Kunin
  • 3. William Eklund

The Sharks will be back in action on Saturday traveling to Edmonton to take on the Oilers for the first time this season.

With 3-2 Overtime Comeback Victory Over Vancouver, There’s Finally No Place Like Home For Utah HC 

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The Utah Hockey Club’s Mikhail Sergachev is thrilled to score the winning overtime goal against the Vancouver Canucks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Dec 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah snaps a 5-game home losing skid with a thrilling 3rd period comeback and overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.

The last time Utah Hockey Club won at home was five weeks ago, November 13, against the Carolina Hurricanes.  Coming into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Vancouver Canucks, Utah had lost five consecutive home games while winning six in a row on the road including the most recent two against Colorado and San Jose.  Utah had scored four or more goals in each of their last five games.  

The first period ended as a scoreless draw, with Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka turning away all four of Vancouver’s shots, and Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko turning away nine from Utah. The two squads split the period’s faceoffs with each team winning 11 of 22.

At 8:41 of the second period, Vancouver defenseman Erik Brännström committed a holding penalty against center Logan Cooley, but Utah was unable to capitalize.  Just three seconds following the penalty kill, Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring went to the sin bin for interference against Canuck winger Conor Garland, and with just five seconds remaining in Vancouver’s power play Danton Heinen found the back of the net to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead, assisted by Quinn Hughes.

Dakota Joshua put Vancouver up 2-0 early in the third period going the length of the ice on a breakaway, assisted by Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes.  Utah appeared to be pressing to overcome their home arena blues, resulting in some sloppy moments in the offensive zone. 

Nearly halfway into the period, Captain Clayton Keller gave Utah life with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton. With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers cross-checked Keller to give Utah a critical power play opportunity which was cashed in just 22 seconds later by Dylan Guenther, assisted by Keller and Logan Cooley, keeping hope alive for a potential end the home losing streak.

As the crowd roared in overtime, the two squads exchanged numerous potential game-ending scoring chances with multiple rushes.  In the end, however, it was Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev who came through in the clutch with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Cooley, to secure the victory.  Utah has now won 5 of its last 6 games.  

Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev spoke with media in the locker room afterward.  “Yeah, it feels good. Finally we got two at home. It feels great. I don’t think we have won at home in a month or so, you know, obviously a big one.”’ Responding to a question about transitioning road success to home success, Sergachev added, “Yeah, it’s just overall play. It’s not like at home we’re not trying. We’re trying a little more, and gripping the sticks sometimes, trying to get a win. But I’m just proud of the group coming from behind. We were down two nothing. Big goals, obviously a big power-play goal, kind of lucky, but we take those, and obviously big in overtime.  …  We’re growing as a group. You know, we’re a young group, but we can make the playoffs. We can play in the playoffs. We can play against playoff teams. We show it on a nightly basis, so we just have to put 60 minutes together and play like that every night.”

Captain Clayton Keller weighed in on getting the home win. “Yeah, it feels good. I think we had a good start, and in the second, we were a little sloppy. We gave them a lot of chances just from our mistakes and maybe forcing a little bit. But, similar to that Minnesota game, I think we regrouped after the second and wanted to have a good start. And I think it’s good, power play gets a goal, and we get a five on five, and great playing in overtime. A lot of players stepped up and made big plays at key times.”  What was the turning point? “I don’t know, maybe after we got the first one, and then we killed off a penalty there. Sergey (Sergachev) makes an unbelievable block on the one timer there that maybe saves a goal for us, and it’s great to see him get the winner as well.”

Earlier in the day, team owner Ryan Smith posted to X, “My treat…we’re opening up single goal view seats which we typically don’t open. Use the link to get 2 free tix for tonight. First come, first served. Let’s pack the barn!” About 2,000 tickets were given away in less than an hour.

Head coach André Tourigny commented on Smith making tickets free and the atmosphere. “That means a lot for the player. You want to be supported, you want to feel like you belong. It means a lot for the coach. It means a lot to everybody. The reaction tonight from the fans, from the first period, from the moment Keller scored, the overtime, don’t tell me you don’t have goosebumps. That was cool, that’s what you love.”

This game marked the conclusion of four straight one-game homestands for Utah. Following this coming Friday night’s game in Minnesota, Utah will return for three consecutive home games beginning on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks at 3:00pm MST.