Category: NHL

Utah HC Cools The Jets 5-2 To Close Homestand On Winning Note

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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Conner Ingram (39) blocks a shot against the Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Baron (36) in the third period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Jan 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–After 36 scoreless minutes, Utah scored four consecutive goals en route to 5-2 victory over division-leading Winnipeg.

On a day when the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day and inaugurated a new president, the Utah Hockey Club wrapped up its 7-game homestand on Monday against the Central Division leading Winnipeg Jets. Whereas our neighbors to the north have thus far resisted becoming America’s 51st state in the opening hours of the new administration, fans in attendance were treated to local recording artist Oba “Obeeyay” Bonner’s stirring renditions of O Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner prior to the opening faceoff.

The first period was all defense on both ends of the ice. In a battle of the Connors, Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck turned away all 10 shots he faced, while Utah goalie Connor Ingram stopped 11.

The initial 16 minutes of the second period remained a defensive draw until Olli Määttä found the back of the net for his first goal in a Utah sweater, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller. Keller had just returned to the ice after sitting out most of the period after being hit in the face by a deflected puck and receiving a dozen stitches in the locker room. In the closing seconds of the period, Barrett Hayton fed a breakaway pass to Logan Cooley who put Utah up 2-0 at the end of the second with his 15th goal of the season.

Nearly 5 minutes into the third period, Hayton would score his 9th of the season, assisted by Josh Doan and Kevin Stenlund, and just a few minutes after that, Utah would go up 4-0 on the 8th goal of the season from Matias Maccelli, assisted by Doan and Hayton. If anyone began to feel like Utah might have the game in the bag at this point, those thoughts were quickly dashed as Winnipeg got one back 28 seconds later on a shot by Nino Niederreiter, and then cut the lead in half a few minutes later with Dylan DeMelo putting the puck past Ingram. Recent 3rd period lapses at home suddenly caused concern that another one might slip away in the closing minutes. This time, however, Utah held the line on defense and Clayton Keller sealed the result with an empty net goal, his 16th goal of the season assisted by Schmaltz, to officially put the game away with two minutes remaining.

Though Utah closed out the homestand with a 3-4 record, the team felt good about hitting the road on a positive note having won the final two. After the game, head coach André Tourigny began his media session by joking, “I wish we stay at home for a little while, man, now we’re rolling!” Tourigny praised his captain’s return to the game from his injury. “That’s a hockey player. The other thing is that he went at the net and got a puck right in the eye and came back on his first shift–no hesitation…Kicked the puck out on entry, went right at the net and got rewarded. Coming back without hesitation, without a doubt in his head; that was great.”

Tourigny continued commenting on his team’s performance, “They believe in the way they play, they believe in themselves, they believe in the consistency in our game. Every loss or every stretch (is) not necessarily positive, unfortunately…We have a different mindset; there’s no doubt about it. The key moment in the game was in the first period. The first 17 and a half minutes, we didn’t give anything. You’ll tell me we didn’t get a lot–but that’s the Winnipeg Jets. That’s one of the best defensive teams in the league. There was a bunch of nothing happening, which was fine. There’s a few calls we didn’t get. Then we got emotional a little bit…And they dominated the last two (and a half) minutes. We came back in the second calm (and) collected and we played well. Even when they had a push the rest of the game, I never felt the boat was rocking. We had great leadership, we had a great presence. I’m really proud of the way we weathered the storm and stayed with it. I think that made a difference. When we took the lead, we didn’t change the way we played. We kept playing the same way. We started the third period, we didn’t back down or get nervous, we kept playing–playing the right way. For me, that is the key moment.”

Captain Clayton Keller spoke to the media in the locker room, his stitched-up eyebrow on full display, “I’m feeling great. I got lucky; (the puck) didn’t catch my eye. When it happened, it happened so fast. You don’t really feel much. But I tried to look through my eye and I knew I could, so I wasn’t really too worried after that.” Keller immediately moved on to talking about the game itself. “I think we tried to be simple and try to have some traffic, get to the net. I think we did a good job of that. (Hellebuyck is) one of the best goalies in the league. He’s so hard to score on. Credit to the guys for going to the net and bearing down on our chances.”

Forward Josh Doan, who picked up a couple of assists in the game and is holding his own since being recalled from Tucson, commented about playing the Jets. “Any time you play a division opponent it’s a huge game. (Winnipeg) is such a great team…I think we did a good job tonight of taking what was there and not forcing it. I think that’s something that maybe, earlier in the year, we wouldn’t have done.” With regard to Keller returning to the game in the second period, Doan said, “Yeah, I think it does a lot for the bench knowing that he’s willing to do that and come back and go right back to the net front next shift and get rewarded. It’s one of those things where it’s part of the game, but you hate to see it happen and for him to bounce back like that was huge for us and our momentum. Obviously you heard the crowd’s reaction. It meant a lot to them too.”

Sharks Fall 6-3 to Briuns, Smith Gets Two Points in Homecoming; Loss is San Jose’s Third Straight

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The Boston Bruins right wing Oliver Wahstrom goes airborne and San Jose Sharks right wing Carl Grundstrom both slam into the boards in the second period on Mon Jan 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

Vinni Lettieri, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm scored for the Bruins. Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves for the win. Barclay Goodrow, Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 27 saves in the loss.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for several Massachusetts natives on the Sharks team, including Will Smith, Collin Graf and Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky. It was their first time in Boston as NHL players and coach.

“I thought for the majority of the game I liked our game. We just got very immature in the third period,” said Ryan Warsofsky. “Just a young team that got scrambly. You know, they put us on our heels and we couldn’t relieve the pressure by making some plays. We got back to kind of flipping pucks to the middle of the ice and they feed off of that stuff.”

Vinni Lettieri scored the first goal at 9:27 of the first period. Lettieri tipped Jordan Oesterle’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Oesterle and Oliver Wahlstrom.

Barclay Goodrow tied the game with a goal at 13:16. Ty Dellandrea dumped the puck in from the centerline. Nico Sturm chased it down and then passed it back to a trailing Goodrow for the shot.

Boston outshot San Jose 11-6 in the first period. The Sharks pushed back in the second, outshooting Boston 14-10.

David Pastrnak gave the Bruins their second lead with a power play goal at 7:02 of the second period. Pavel Zacha carried the puck around behind the net and then sent the puck to Pastrnak in the circle. Patrnak scored with a snap shot. Assists went to Zacha and Elias Lindholm.

Will Smith tied it again at 8:52. Smith took the puck away from John Beecher, then carried it back across the blue line and passed it back and forth with Mikael Granlund before shooting it by Korpisalo on the short side.

Fabian Zetterlund gave the Sharks their first and only lead of the game at 15:18. Zetterlund carried the puck all the way from the Sharks’ zone, took a shot, caught his own rebound and put it in the net. An assist went to Will Smith.

Charlie Coyle tied the game again at 8:22 of the third period. Skating to the net, Coyle caught a pass from the boards and snapped it in. Assists went to Matthew Poitras and Brad Marchand.

Coyle scored again at 14:11. Shooting as he crossed the goal line, his shot went off of Askarov and in. Assists went to Poitras and Mason Lohrei.

Brad Marchand made it 5-3 with an empty net goal at 18:45. Assists went to Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo. Elias Lindholm made it 6-3 with a second empty net goal at 19:35. Assists went to Coyle and Andrew Peeke.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:00 PM PT.

Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting As Utah HC Battles Blues For 4-2 Victory

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The Utah Hockey Club’s center Clayton Keller (9) takes a shot on net against the St Louis Blues left winger Pavel Buchnevich (89) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Liam O’Brien’s bloody fight sparks Utah’s 3-goal outburst in the first as teammates go on to win 4-2.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the St. Louis Blues to Delta Center on Saturday night for the sixth of seven games in the longest homestand of the season. Utah previously defeated their division rival 4-2 in St. Louis in November and entered the game trailing the Blues by five points in the Central Division standings.

Two minutes into the first period, Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker ripped a snap shot from near the faceoff circle for his second goal of the season, assisted by Oskar Sundqvist, to give St. Louis an early 1-0 lead. On the ensuing draw, Tucker dropped the gloves with Utah’s Liam O’Brien in a brutal exchange of fisticuffs which ultimately sent O’Brien to the locker room with blood streaming down his face as fans roared their approval.

At 5:15 of the frame, Zack Bolduc went to the sin bin for tripping against John Marino, giving Utah its first power play of the evening. Less than a minute later, defenseman Michael Kesselring netted his 5th of the season, assisted by Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller.

At 8:25, Utah grabbed the lead on Nick Schmaltz’s 9th goal of the season, assisted by Clayton and Marino. Just past the halfway point of the period, St. Louis was whistled for tripping Cooley at the net, but captain Clayton Keller lunged for a rebound and found the back of the net for his 15th of the season to nullify the penalty and give Utah a 3-1 lead heading into the locker room.

St. Louis opened the second period on the power play due to a holding penalty against Barrett Hayton near the end of the first. At 1:32 forward Jake Neighbours made it 3-2 with a power play goal, his 12th of the season, assisted by Dylan Holloway and Brayden Schenn. At 10:42, Logan Cooley recaptured the 2-goal lead with his 14th of the season and Keller picking up his third assist and fourth point of the night.

In the third, Utah exorcized the demons of previous late period collapses and goaltender Connor Ingram turned away the final nine shots from the Blues as Utah gained a rare home victory 4-2.

After the game, Utah captain Clayton Keller talked about his chemistry with Logan Cooley with whom he combined for seven points on the night. “I think we’re playing with a lot of speed. We’re starting to read off each other. I’ve said before, chemistry takes time and to get to know one another’s tendencies. We like to hang out. We’re chatting a lot. I’m doing everything I can to help him with how I like to play the game and how he likes to play the game. You know Schmaltzy [Nick Schmaltz] as well, I played with him for a long time as well. So it’s been good. We’ve had some success lately.” Asked about the team’s response to the early St. Louis goal, Keller said, “I think just our mindset. We’re positive. We have better body language from everyone. Coaches and all the way down. We had confidence and Ingy (Connor Ingram) made some unbelievable saves. OB (Liam O’Brien) had a great fight there. Kind of pumps us up after this and they score one. A lot of credit goes to him.”

Logan Cooley talked about how great it was to get the win. “Yeah, it’s awesome. There’s no better feeling than winning, and especially on home ice. These fans deserve it, and obviously it’s felt like it’s been a year since we had a win at home so it’s nice. I thought it was a great effort by everyone in here, a full 60 minutes. That’s how we need to play, especially against a team like that. It’s an important game. It’s basically a playoff game. So it’s unbelievable to get those two points.” With regard to Utah’s 3 goals in a 4:25 span in the first, Cooley said, “Yeah, it’s big. It allows you to feel good early on in the game. I feel like us as a line, we had a lot of touches early and that allows you to feel the puck more, and it kind of gives you more confidence to make plays. I thought our line was extremely good on both sides of the puck. We didn’t give them anything defensively, and I thought we were pretty good offensively, too, and generated a lot.”

Head coach André Tourigny was asked about the impact of O’Brien’s fight. “Every time he’s in the lineup, his energy, drive, physicality, predictability, and how he played makes me like his presence.” Tourigny also addressed the competitiveness of Cooley and Clayton Keller. “I said it many times about how competitive those two guys are. They’re never satisfied.” The coach continued, “Tonight, I liked a lot of guys on our team. I liked the fight. I liked Bjugy’s (Nick Bjugstad) line. I think they played big-boy hockey tonight. They were physical, and they had pace. They were the other huge presences in the game. I think our kill in the third period was elite as well. There’s a lot of guys who contributed to that game. I think Kesselring had a really good game. Johnny was maybe a little bit tired at the end of the game, but he was really good for us and made key plays at the end of the game. If you look throughout the lineup, there are a lot of positives. Ingy (Connor Ingram) making big saves was a key moment as well.”

Utah has a chance to earn a third victory on the homestand on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, after which they will hit the road for a trio of games against Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.

Sharks can’t push back on Brazel and Nelson’s goals as Isles dump on SJ defense 4-1 at UBS Arena

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New York Islanders goaltender Marcus Hogberg (50) makes a stop on the San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (11) in the second period at UBS Arena in Elmont on Sat Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

ELMONT, NY. — With several players sick or injured, the depleted San Jose Sharks fell to the New York Islanders 4-1 on Saturday night at UBS Arena.

The Sharks tied the game at 1-1 in the second period, but the Isles regained the lead 40 seconds later and took off with an unstoppable momentum.

“Yeah we just can’t make these, I don’t know if I can say it, but bonehead mistakes that end up in the back of net,” said Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “We get away from who we are as players and as a team, so until we do that we’re going to be kind of seeing the same result.”

Mathew Barzal scored the first goal of the night unassisted at 8:47 in the second period to put the Islanders up 1-0. The Sharks answered back at 10:02 when Barclay Goodrow scored a goal assisted by Jan Rutta to tie the game at 1-1.

“Yeah just saw (Collin) Graf and (Nico) Sturm driving the net, driving the inside and just trying to get the puck in,” said Goodrow of his goal.

Just 40 seconds later, Brock Nelson made a goal assisted by Kyle Palmieri and Adam Pelech to put the Isles back up 2-1. Then with 27 seconds remaining in the period, Noah Dobson made a goal assisted by Barzal and Bo Horvat, boosting the Isles up 3-1.

In the third period, Ryan Pulock made a goal assisted by Anthony Duclair and Nelson at 1:03 to expand the Islanders’ lead to 4-1. The Sharks made an effort in the third, but couldn’t score.

Sharks 19-year-old forward Will Smith, who was their fourth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, skated with Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund for the very first time.

“I mean this team has done it before coming back 4-1, so I think having the mindset that we’re not out of it, and obviously no quit is kind of the mindset going into the third,” said Smith.

The Isles had an especially memorable night before the puck dropped, holding a ceremony on the ice inducting Brent Sutter into their Hall of Fame.

The Sharks (14-28-6) continue their road trip on Monday against the Boston Bruins (22-19-6). The puck drops at 10am PST on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks-Islanders battle of two last place teams

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It’s a battle in front of the net with the San Jose Sharks Nico Sturm (7) and the Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dimitri Voronkov (10) both reach for the puck in the first period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Fri Jan 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a win over the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday. The win extended the Jackets win streak to six game. It’s the longest Columbus win streak since January 2020.

#2 The Jackets Kent Johnson scored and got an assist for Adam Fantilli picked up his eighth point and scored a goal. Van Riemsdyk got empty net goal with 2:01 left in the game which resulted in Van Riemsdyk second goal of the game.

#3 The Sharks Tyler Toffoli scored and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev saved 30 shots and the Sharks who had won six straight games have now lost four of their last five games and are in dead last place in the Pacific Division.

#4 On Thursday Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1300th career game. Vlasic has been with the Sharks since the 2006-07 season. The Sharks are the only team that Vlasic knows.

#5 The Sharks now move onto the New York Islanders on Saturday. The Islanders like the Sharks are a last place team and sit in the cellar of the Eastern Conference with at 17-20-7 and have lost six of their last ten games.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

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.