Category: NHL

Utah HC Surrenders 2-0 Third Period Lead As Columbus Comes From Behind For 3-2 Overtime Victory

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It’s the thrill of victory for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they celebrate Zach Werenski’s overtime goal to defeat the Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Jan 31, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah goes 5-6-3 for January and closes out month on four game losing streak with overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the Columbus Blue Jackets to Delta Center on Friday night for the first of their two matchups this season.

Utah spent much of the opening frame putting maximum pressure on goaltender Danil Tarasov to no avail as he turned away all 13 shots. For his part, Karel Vejmelka stopped all 9 attempts from the Blue Jackets.

The second period began with Utah having just under a minute remaining of a power play resulting from Kent Johnson tripping Michael Carcone near the end of the first. Forward Nick Schmaltz was able to convert it 41 seconds into the period for his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller. Vejmelka turned away another 6 shots during the frame, while Tarasov stopped 9 of 10.

A half minute into the third, Alexander Kerfoot put Utah up 2-0 with his 7th goal of the season, assisted by John Marino and Clayton Keller. Unfortunately for Utah, two goals is never a sufficient third period lead and Columbus would find the back of the net with goals by Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson to square things up and send the contest to overtime.

Barely a minute into the overtime period, Utah fans felt that sinking feeling once again as Zach Werenski completed the Blue Jackets comeback victory with his 17th of the season, assisted by Cole Sillinger, to send everyone scrambling to the exits.

Captain Clayton Keller was asked in the locker room about the pattern of third period letdowns. “I don’t know. I get some different bounces there on the one and kind of let them back in the game. 60 minutes, they’re going to have a push. I thought they pushed hard in the third and they made it harder on us. It’s frustrating, for sure. I think we’ve talked about it, we’ve had the right mindset. Just got to keep going, learn from it, having confidence, believe you can make the play in the third. So I think that’s next up. … [We]had a discussion just about our third period, and our mindset, and how we have to play for a full 60. I think it has been better, our attitude on the bench, just our third period in general. I think we’re definitely making strides and it’s hard to win in this league, and it’s hard to do it every night and that’s something we’re still figuring out.”

When asked if the team believes it can still make the playoffs, Keller responded, “Yeah, for sure. There’s never any doubt in this room. There’s a lot of games left in the season. We’ve gotten hot this year before and it takes a game or two and your confidence is at an all time high…you squeeze out some wins that maybe you shouldn’t. We just got to stay confident and keep going. Like I said, there’s a lot of games left and that’s when we have to play our best, is these last games.”

Head coach André Tourigny spoke about his team’s opportunities during the game. “I think it was 15 grade-A chances and 11 B. We had the puck a whole lot. There were really unfortunate stakes in the third period there, out of three scoring chances they scored twice. So it’s the second time in two games, a little bit of the same story. We played much better in the third, we had seven scoring chances against three. It’s tough to swallow.”

Next up on the homestand is a Sunday tilt against the St. Louis Blues at 5:00pm.

Utah HC Naming Notes: Immediately following Wednesday night’s first round of fan voting for the new team name, the Utah Hockey Club announced that it was withdrawing the proposed “Utah Wasatch” option and replacing it with Utah Outlaws. The team posted the announcement to their social media on Thursday: “Hey Utah hockey fans! We listened to your feedback and dug into all the Qualtrics data from last night’s survey. For the team name, it’s clear Outlaws should be in the mix instead of Wasatch, so we’re swapping it out. Surveys will continue at the arena Friday, Sunday and Tuesday for you to vote for the options Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Outlaws. Excited to see the votes roll in.”

At the arena, fans at the voting areas are required to hand over their mobile phones before receiving a tablet device to cast their votes in order to ensure that no one captures images from the voting. The opening display provides a brief background of each name and then fans are asked their initial preference. They are then shown the logo options and indicate their preference. The logos are then shown on various merchandise items, and the fans are asked on a scale of 1-10 if they would be inclined to purchase the merch. At the conclusion, having now seen all of the options, they are asked again which name with logo they prefer, after which they return the tablet device and retrieve their personal phones. Utah HC will know the outcome following next Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but the club is not expected to make any announcements in the near future.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Jets Ford scores first NHL goal; Wild goalie Fleury shuts out Habs 4-0; plus more NHL news

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Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnkov (7) puts a backhanded shot in the net past the Boston Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo (70) in the first period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Winnipeg Jets Parker Ford who grew up rooting for the Boston Bruins as a kid scored in his NHL debut against the Bruins as well as the Jets scoring a total of four straight goals in the third period in a four goal 6-2 win over the Bruins.

#2  Minnesota Wild goaltender 40 year Mark Andre Fleury stopped 19 shots and recorded his 76th NHL shutout for the Wild’s third straight win 4-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. Fleury picked up his first shutout since March 14th. This could very well be Fleury’s last game in Montreal as he is retiring after this season. Fleury who grew up a Canadiens fan lived in Sorel, Quebec just an hour from Montreal.

#3 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin scored his career 876th goal and needs 19 to surpass former Los Angeles Kings NHL goal leader Wayne Gretzky who has 894 career goals. Despite the Ovechkin goal the Caps lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 at Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa on Thursday.

#4 Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots in the Lightning’s 3-0 shutout over the Los Angeles Kings at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. For Vasilevskiy this was his third shutout for the season and his 37th career shutout. The Lightning got two goals from Brandon Hagel and a goal from Anthony Cirelli.

#5 Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal since joining the Carolina Hurricanes in their 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Lenovo Center on Thursday night. Rantanen who came over to Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche that involved a three trade deal that included the Blackhawks forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury and a 2025 second round NHL draft pick.

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

Kraken Sink Sharks 6-2, Montour Scores Twice

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The Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour celebrates scoring his second goal against the San Jose Sharks in the second period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thu Jan 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-2 to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Chandler Stephenson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Montour (2 goals), Jaden Schwartz, and Eeli Tolvane scored for Seattle. Joey Daccord made 26 saves for the win. Carl Grundstrom and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made seven saves on 11 shots before being replaced by Alexandar Georgiev, who made 20 saves in the loss.

The Kraken took an early lead at 3:55 of the first period. Chandler Stephenson got a break away courtesy of a series of good passes to get the puck out of Seattle’s zone. By the time the puck got to Stephenson, he was almost at the Sharks blue line and there was no one between him and Askarov. The shot went by Askarov on the glove side. Assists went to Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen.

Carl Grundstrom tied the game at 17:55. Grundstrom skated to the net from the right side, passing back and forth with Will Smith, before taking the shot. Assists went to Smith and Mikael Granlund.

The Sharks outshot the Kraken 11-8 in the first period. There were no penalties called in the first.

Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 2-1 at 2:03 of the second period. Bjorkstrand scored from just outside the blue paint off a pass from Chandler Stephenson. Assists went to Stephenson and Vince Dunn.

Brandon Montour scored the third Seattle goal less than a minute later. S Wright stole the puck from the Sharks and passed it over to Montour, who was just skating into the zone. Montour took the shot from high in the slot and beat Azkarov on the glove side.

Jaden Schwartz made it 4-1 at 5:58. Jamie Oleksiak’s pass found Schwartz breaking away at the Sharks’ blue line. No one got in front of him as he skated in and shot at the puck past Askarov.

The Sharks pulled Askarov after that one and put Georgiev in net.

Brandon Montour scored his second of the night on a power play at 7:52. Montour caught a cross-ice pass from Jared McCann before shooting from the hash marks into the far side of the net. Assists went to McCann and Chandler Stephenson.

In the second period, several calls gave the Kraken two power plays and the Sharks one. The Kraken outshot the Sharks 17-9 in the second.

Tyler Toffoli got one back for the Sharks at 8:06 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini got a pass through to Toffoli in the center of the ice. Toffoli got a wrist shot through traffic in front of the net for his 18th of the season. Assists went to Celebrini and Henry Thrun.

Eeli Tolvanen made it 6-2 at 12:18. The Kraken took the puck from the Sharks on a zone entry and went to the other way. Tolvanen used Cody Ceci as a screen for his shot, Ceci being the only Shark to catch him as he skated into the zone. Joshua Mahura got an assist on the goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday back in San Jose against the visiting Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 PM PT.

Utah HC Takes Mammoth Step Toward Team Name But Falls to Penguins 3-2 In Overtime

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Pittsburgh Penguins center Syd Crosby (87) and Utah Hockey Club’s left wing Michael Carcone (53) battle for the puck in second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah inched closer to a new team name on Wednesday, but Sid Crosby’s overtime goal delivers another home ice loss.

The Utah Hockey Club announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had rejected various proposed names and logos that the team had sought as possibilities for the 2025-2026 season and beyond, including what had been the odds-on fan favorite “Yetis,” which turns out to be heavily trademark protected by Yeti Coolers LLC. As a result, the team announced that fan voting would take place at Delta Center during the next four home games where attendees would be able to choose between the current Utah Hockey Club name, the Utah Mammoth, or the Utah Wasatch, which is the name of the mountain range flanking Salt Lake City and the surrounding region.

The announcement was enthusiastically received by two particular fans, Richard Latimer and Nick Finlayson, who have actively campaigned for the Mammoth name from the beginning and who have been seen at many games and on television news programs sporting their now familiar Mammoth attire. Though not technically permitted to advocate at the arena’s polling booths where fans lined up for the opportunity to weigh in on the new name, Latimer and Finlayson nevertheless hung out near one of the voting sites prior to Wednesday night’s tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins to draw attention and occasionally break into a “Let’s Go Mammoths” chant. Finlayson said, “When they announced the names that you could vote for, Mammoth stuck out immediately.” Latimer added, “We knew it was Mammoth from the beginning. As soon as it was announced we got a hockey club we knew we had to be the Mammoth. … We came to game one, opening night, dressed as mammoths.” The two friends have even taken their costumes on the road to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Spencer Joseph of the local Fox 13 affiliate surveyed a number of fans about their preferences, and Utah Mammoth was the clear fan favorite thus far.

Out on the ice, Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the lineup from injury after a five-game absence and gave his squad a 1-0 lead at 14:51 of the first with his 9th goal of the season, a snap shot on the power play, assisted Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley. Utah goaltender Connor Ingram turned away all four Pittsburgh shots in the period, while Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 11 of 12.

Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson evened things up at 6:40 of the second period with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Sidney Crosby and Matt Grzelcyk. Utah would respond two minutes later and regain the lead as Michael Carcone netted his 4th of the season, assisted by John Marino and Nick Bjugstad.

At 6:17 of the third period, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson took advantage of a misdirected pass in the Utah defensive zone and blasted a shot past Ingram to ties things up again with his 5th goal of the season, unassisted, and the two teams ended regulation play knotted up 2-2.

With a little more than a minute remaining in the overtime period, Penguins star Sid Crosby gave Utah fans a glimpse of his Hall of Fame credentials with the game winner for Pittsburgh, his 16th of the season, assisted by Cody Glass and Rickard Rakell. Crosby commented after the game about playing for the first time in Salt Lake City. “It was great. The atmosphere was great, it was a lot of fun to play here. I can tell that the people are excited here to have a team and can support them.”

In the Utah locker room, Mikhail Sergachev was asked what it will take to learn from the losses. “Time. Tough loss, tougher than the ones that we had before. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I think the leadership group and the coaches are doing everything we can to try to turn it around. And we can’t be too negative about it, but we can’t be just ‘whatever next one.’ Can’t be like that. So we’re going to talk about it tomorrow, for sure.”

Head coach André Tourigny praised Sergachev’s growth as a leader. “He has a lot of character. He takes ownership, and he doesn’t shy away from responsibility. He’s a winner, he won before so he knows what it takes, and he believes in (the) group and he wants to win.”

Utah HC returns to home ice on Friday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:00pm.

Sharks Take on Crosby and Win 2-1 it on Monday Action; Victory snaps San Jose’s six game skid

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Sharks Players celebrate their first win against the Penguins at SAP Center in San Jose on Monday, Jan 27, 2025 (Sharks Media)

By Fernando Abarca

This Monday night, the San Jose Sharks pulled off a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, keeping fans on the edge of their seats at the SAP Center. Not only was this matchup crucial in the fight for points in the season, but it also highlighted both teams’ tenacity and competitive spirit as both teams have struggled throughout the season

From the start of the match, the Sharks showed renewed energy after the dreadful loss against the Stanley Cup Champions, Florida Panthers, fueled by the unconditional support of their home crowd. In the second period, the home team took the lead with an early goal that fired up the crowd from Mikael Granlund assisted by Will Smith. A precise turnover from the blue line found its way to the net, thanks to an excellent job to fight for the puck. This first goal not only set the tone for the game, but also gave the Sharks confidence.

The Penguins, known for their responsiveness, were quick to react. They began to press harder throughout the second period, creating several scoring opportunities. However, the Sharks’ defense held firm, with their goalie making some key saves that maintained the lead. Despite Pittsburgh’s best efforts, the score remained 1-0 at the end of the second period.

The third period brought with it even greater intensity. The Penguins finally managed to equalize the score with a goal that came after a series of quick and precise passes. The visiting fans erupted in jubilation, and the match became even more exciting. However, the Sharks did not let themselves be discouraged. With time running out, they stepped up their game and began to go for the win.

The Sharks found their opportunity. With a well-crafted play, they managed to regain the lead with a second goal that left the Penguins with no answer. The combination of speed and precision in attack was key to sealing the fate of the match. Maklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby got their points.

With the final score at 2-1, the Sharks celebrated a much-needed victory, while the Penguins walked away with their heads held high, but with an unpleasant flavor. This game was not only a testament to the talent of both teams but also to the passion that ice hockey inspires in its fans, especially when you have the caliber of players of the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin,

The San Jose Sharks add up their first win since January 18, and fans are looking forward to seeing more standout performances in the upcoming games after a disappointing month of January, concluding the first month of the year in Seattle against the Kraken on January 30th.

Two goals in one minute wasn’t enough, Sharks fall 7-2

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San Jose Sharks versus Florida Panthers on Saturday January 25th 2024 at SAP Center. (via FlaPanthers/x)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- The Sharks looked to snap a five game losing streak in Saturday night’s matchup against the Stanley Cup winning Florida Panthers but ended up extending their losing streak to six games in a 7-2 loss at SAP Center.

The goalie matchup was Alexandar Georgiev versus Sergei Bobrovsky. Friday, the Sharks announced the transactions of sending Collin Graf to the Barracuda and the recalls of Scott Sabourin and Colin White. Prior to Saturday’s game, Colin White signed a one year-two way contract with San Jose.

After a failed clearing attempt by Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Nate Schimdt picked up the puck to score his fourth of the season, unassisted, at 5:47 of the first. San Jose quickly answered back at 6:50 when Cody Ceci tipped in Jake Walman’s shot from the blueline.

They took their first lead of the game a minute and 28 seconds later when Will Smith picked up the puck on a rebound off the boards. The rebound was off of Mario Ferraro’s shot, with Fabian Zetterlund registering the secondary assist.

The Panthers tied the game at 14:26 after a scrum in front of the net, causing Georgiev to lose sight of the puck. Sam Bennet scoring his 15th of the season, A.J Greer and Niko Mikkola registering the assists. After being injured for months, Aaron Ekblad made sure to make his presence known by giving his team the lead. At 17:08, Florida took a 3-2 lead off of a snap shot at the blue line, Matthew Tkachuk registering the lone assist.

A.J Greer scored on a breakaway at 3:01 to extend their lead to two. Tomas Nosek registering the lone assist. This led to Warsosfsky making the decision to replace Alexandar Georgiev with Yaroslav Askarov.

Tyler Toffoli took a slashing call at 5:17 and the eighth ranked PP team in the league got to work. Just 18 seconds in, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 15th of the season, Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad registering the assists.

After attacking in San Jose’s zone, Jesper Boqvist sends one home to make the score 6-2. Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe registering the assists. Florida didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal scoring for the fourth time in the second. Sam Reinhart scored his 29th of the season, both Matthew Tkachuck and Aleksander Barkov tallying their second assists of the night.

The Sharks will be back in action on Monday to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The last time these two teams faced off was on November 16th where the Sharks fell 4-3 in a shootout.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks host Panthers tonight hope to snap 5 game skid

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Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos middle left celebrates after scoring against the San Jose Sharks in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Jan 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Nashville Predators came to San Jose and Filip Forsberg scored twice help edge the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday night 6-5.

# 2 For Forsberg the two goals helped extend his scoring streak to seven games. The streak is a first in NHL history for a player who went without a goal in 18 straight games then to score a goal in seven straight games.

#3 The Predators Luke Schenn got three assists, Justin Barron and Roman Josi each scored a goal and Justus Annunen stopped 30 shots for Nashville. The Predators had a three goal lead erased but came back to edge the Sharks in the one goal win.

#4 The Sharks Macklin Celebrini leads all rookies with goals scored he added another one for this 15th of the season. Mario Ferraro scored and it was his fifth goal of season a career high also adding an assist.

#5 The Sharks host the Florida Panthers Saturday night at SAP Center the Panthers sit in second place in the Atlantic Division 28-18-3 with 59 points. The Panthers have won five of their last ten games. How do you see this match up tonight?

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins blank Senators 2-0 behind Korpisalo’s shutout; Red Wings get a jump on Habs in 4-2 win; plus more news

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The Boston Bruins left winter Brad Marchand (63) takes a poke at the puck in an attempt to score on the Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) in the third period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins took care of business shutting out the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night. The Bruins and Sens didn’t score in the first period but the Bruins got single goals in the second and third periods. Bruins Morgan Geekie (13) score in the second period at 2:06 and David Pastrnak (23) at 19:55 in the third period in the 2-0 win. Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 29 Ottawa shots for the shutout.

#2 The Detroit Red Wings won a two goal game over the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Little Caesars Palace in Detroit on Thursday. The Red Wings Jonatan Berggren (8) scored the game’s first goal in the first period at 13:00. The Wings scored a second goal at 19:56 in the first period by Alex DeBrincat (20) to go up 2-0. Second period Andrew Copp (9) at 4:25 and Dylan Larkin (21) at 7:50 both scored. The Wings came away with a 4- 2 lead after two periods. Neither team scored in the third period.

#3 The New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller scored a goal and had an assist. The Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped 35 shots in the Rangers convincing win over the Flyers 6-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

#4 The Carolina Hurricane put away the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4 at the Lenovo Center in Columbus. The Canes Seth Jarvis scored two goals and had two assists. Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, as the Hurricanes scored five goals in the second period and came away with a three goal win.

#5 The Minnesota Wild who are 28-16-4 took a rather shocking defeat 4-0 to the Utah Hockey Club (21-19-7) at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday. Utah’s Barrett Hayton scored two goals, Lawson Crousse, and Clayton Keller scored a goal each in the win. Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped all 26 Minnesota shots for the shutout.

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

Sharks extend losing streak to 5, drop back to back games against Nashville

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San Jose Sharks celebrating after scoring a goal during their game against the Nashville Predators at SAP Center on Thursday January 23rd 2024 (via SanJoseSharks/x)

by Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- Coming into today’s game, San Jose was looking to snap a four game losing streak. The last loss was against this Nashville team where they gave up another third period lead to fall 7-5. Tyler Toffoli drew back into the lineup after missing the last three games. Newly acquired from the Calgary Flames Walker Duehr also made his Sharks debut.

Nashville’s 16th ranked powerplay got them on the board first at 3:58. After being left wide open, Gustav Nyquist scored his eighth goal of the season, Novak and Skjej registering the assists. A minute later at 4:52, the same situation occurred when Novak was left open, scoring his seventh of the season. ‘Heureux and Svechkov registering the assists.

They extended their lead at 6:53 when Filp Forsberg scored his 17th of the season assisted by Barron. After three fights in the span of four seconds, the Sharks got on the board when Walker Duehr scored his first of the season and as a Shark. Kovalenko and Ferraro registering the assists.

After good puck movement by Granlund and Ferraro, the Sharks cut the Predators’s lead to one. Ferraro with the snap shot, his fifth of the season, Granlund and Liljegren registering the assists.

The Predators extended their lead again at 1:38 of the second. Filip Forsberg picked up a loose puck and wrapped around the net to score his second of the night. Sissons and Skjej registering the assists. After Mikael Granlund went to the box for hooking against Steven Stamkos, Stamkos scored his 17th of the season. Marchessault and Josi registering the assists.

San Jose wasn’t going down without a fight when Henry Thrun scored his first of the season, assisted by Wennberg and Kovalenko. A minute and 15 seconds later, Fabian Zetterlund scored his 14th goal of the season on a backhand shot. Smith and Granlund registering the assists.

The 26th ranked powerplay went to work when Cole Smith was assessed a match penalty for a hit on Ty Dellandrea. Celebrini scored his 15th goal of the season assisted by Granlund and Eklund.

After a quiet start to the third, Nashville took the lead at 8:16 when Fedor Svechkov scored his sixth of the season on a wrist shot. Skjej and ‘Heureux registering the assists.

The Sharks will be back in action on Saturday against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers. The last time these two teams faced off was on December 7th when the Sharks fell 3-1, Toffoli registering the lone goal.

Sharks Give Up 4 Goal Lead, Fall 7-5 to Predators

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) and Fabian Zetterlund (20) blocks the path Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) in the second period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tue Jan 21, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 7-5 to the Nashville Predators Tuesday. Fedor Svechkov, Tommy Novak, Justin Barron, Jonathan Marchessault, Roman Josi, Nick Blankenburg and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made four saves in the first period. Justus Annunen made 15 saves in the second and third periods. Macklin Celebrini, Luke Kunin, Mikael Granlund and Jake Walman scored for San Jose. Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“I think we had a good start. We did things that we wanted to do. And then, you know, we got immature with our game again. We got soft with puck plays especially. Made some bad reads, starting in the offensive zone. Tried to make a cross-ice pass when the puck should be delivered to the net.”

The game was an example of extremes for both teams: each had one very good period and one disastrous period. Sharks fans must by now be used to the frustration of watching the team give up leads, but to give up a four goal lead is unusual.

Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring just 1:07 into the first period. Celebrini scored with a wrist shot on a breakaway thanks to Cody Ceci’s stretch pass. Ceci and William Eklund got the assists.

Luke Kunin made it 2-0 at 11:42 with a wrist shot from high in the slot. Ceci got the assist.

Fourteen seconds later, Mikael Granlund made it 3-0 with a slap shot off a cross-ice pass from Will Smith. Smith and Fabian Zetterlund got the assists.

Tommy Novak got one back for Nashville at 12:20, scoring with a wrist shot from close in. That made three goals in 38 seconds. Assists went to Luke Schenn and Zachary L’Heureux.

Alexander Wennberg won the puck along the boards and skated to the net, two-on-none with Jake Walman. Wennberg made a short little pass across the slot and Walman backhanded it in for the Sharks’ fourth goal of the period.

At the end of the period, the shots were even and just one penalty had been called, a puck over the glass against Nashville. The Predators changed goaltenders to start the second period.

Mikael Granlund scored his second of the night with a power play goal at 4:28 of the second period. Celebrini moved like he was going to the net, but instead passed to Eklund on the goal line and Eklund passed it across the crease to Granlund for the shot.

Fedor Svechkov scored for Nashville with a shot from the slot, following a lot of puck movement from Nashville. Assists went to Colton Sissons and Novak.

Justin Barron made it 5-3 just 53 seconds later. Barron’s wrist shot came after another series of quick passes that had the Sharks defense befuddled. Assists went to Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos.

The Sharks had just five shots on goal in the second period to Nashville’s 18. That was the beginning of a comeback by the Predators. In the third period, they mirrored the Sharks’ first period with four goals, one on the power play and one into an empty net. The goal scorers were Jonathan Marchessault, Roman Josi, Nick Blankenburg and Filip Forsberg.

The Sharks next play on Thursday against the Nashville Predators in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.