Category: NHL

Sharks Lose 5-2 to Dallas, Give Up 2 Empty Net Goals

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San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) deflects a shot by the Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven (11) as defenseman Mario Ferrero (38) looks on in the first period at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wed Nov 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Wednesday. Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 21 saves for the win. Mikael Granlund and Jake Walman scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves in the loss.

After the game, Jake Walman described the Sharks game as being close despite small problems: “For the most part we’re doing the right things but it’s just those little parts in the game. We got to hold each other accountable.” William Eklund also sounded like he thinks the team is close to finding a new level: “Turnovers cost us a little bit, some mistakes cost us a little bit today. We still find a way to keep it tight, keep it close.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“We shoot ourselves in the foot in goals that we give up that are completely preventable. Until we learn how to play in the National Hockey League against really good second period teams, which are most teams that know how to transition in the second period, we’re going to be fighting this uphill battle in games.”

Jason Robertson opened the scoring at 15:33 of the first period. Mathew Dumba made a pass from the blue line and found Robertson as he entered the slot. Robertson spun and shot, beating Blackwood on the short side. Assists went to Dumba and Thomas Harley.

Mikael Granlund tied the game at 18:44. Short-handed, he broke away and skated almost to the blue paint before taking his shot. An assist went to William Eklund.

Dallas outshot San Jose 14-9 in the first period. The Sharks took three penalties and had one power play. They had two shots on their power play and gave up seven shots while short-handed.

Wyatt Johnston made it 2-1 for Dallas 56 seconds into the second period. Johnston and Roope Hintz skated into the Sharks zone two on one. Hintz put the puck behind the Sharks defender for Johnston to gather up and shoot in. Assists went to Hintz and Jason Robertson.

Jamie Benn made it 3-1 at 10:56 of the second. Benn was lurking beside the Sharks net while Sharks chased Logan Stankoven behind the net. Stankoven got the puck out to Benn for a shot.

The shots were much closer in the second period, 8-6 Dallas. The Sharks took no penalties in the second and they had one power play. They had one shot on goal during that power play.

Jake Walman made it 3-2 at 13:25 of the third period. Granlund carried the puck into the zone, then made a pass from the boards that caught Walman as he skated in. Walman took his shot from just inside the faceoff circle. Granlund and Cody Ceci got the assists.

With the Sharks net empty, Roope Hintz scored to make it 4-2. Johnston and Robertson got assists. Two Sharks collided with an official in the corner and went down, helping Johnston take control of the puck for that play.

Evgenii Dadonov also scored and empty net goal to make it 5-2. An assist went to Oskar Bäck.

With a little more than two minutes left, Granlund was called off the ice after he took a hit to the head from Ilya Lyubushkin. No penalty was called but the Sharks were without Granlund for the final minutes. There were no updates about his condition right after the game.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in St. Louis against the Blues at 5:00 PM PT.

Alexander The Great Inches Closer To The Great One in 6-2 Capitals Victory over Utah HC

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The Washington Capitals celebrate a goal as the Utah Hockey Club’s defenseman Ian Cole (28) can only skate by in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Nov 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

Alex Ovechkin scored two goals in season quest to surpass Wayne Gretzky for most all-time NHL goals.

SALT LAKE CITY–Wayne Gretzky was just 10-years-old when a reporter watching him play youth hockey dubbed him The Great One, a prophetic nickname which he lived up to over the course of an illustrious 20-season NHL career during which he racked up 894 goals and 1,963 assists for a total of 2,857 points.

To put that into perspective, Jaromír Jágr is second on the all-time points list with 1,921. For all intents and purposes, Gretzky’s total points record is untouchable. There was a time that it was assumed that his goals record was also beyond reach.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is challenging that notion as he continues his pursuit of becoming the NHL’s new goal scoring king. On Monday night in Salt Lake City, Ovechkin notched his 867th and 868th career goals against Utah Hockey Club to bring him to within just 26 of tying Gretzky’s mark, something the 39-year-old winger could potentially achieve this season as the Caps defeated the UHC 6-2 at the Delta Center.

Utah started the game off on the right foot as forward Jack McBain netted his 5th goal of the season just over three minutes into the game, assisted by Kevin Stenlund and Ian Cole. Cole’s assist gave him 200 career NHL points.

That lead would be very short-lived when Capitals center Dylan Strome scored an unassisted goal at 7:46, followed with another just ten seconds later by his teammate Nic Dowd, giving Washington a 2-1 lead.

At 11:05 of the opening frame, Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin scored his 14th goal of the season to put Washington ahead by 3-1.

Early in the 2nd period, Utah’s Jack McBain was called for tripping against Andrew Mangiapane. Just four seconds later on the power play, Ovechkin scored his second of the game, his league-leading 15th of the season, and 868th of his career triggering applause not just from Capitals fans, but clearly a fair number of Utah fans witnessing history in the making as Washington increased its lead to 4-1.

The goal sent starting netminder Connor Ingram to the bench, relieved by Karel Vejmelka. Utah center Nick Bjugstad cut the deficit in half with his 3rd goal of the season at 11:44, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller, but that turned out to be the end of Utah’s offensive production for the evening.

Washington received a scare at 5:30 of the third period when Alex Ovechkin collided with Jack McBain and was helped to the bench. He would not return to the ice for a shot at his second hat trick in as many games.

The Capitals put the game away for good by the midway point of the final frame with goals by Brandon Duhaime and Aliaksei Protas for a final score of 6-2.

After the game, Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren spoke about Ovechkin whose goals against Connor Ingram tied Jaromír Jágr’s NHL record of 178 different goalies he has scored upon. “I don’t even know if there’s words to describe it.

I mean, honestly, it’s beyond impressive what he does. When it rains, it pours for him. I mean, it truly does. And you know, he finds ways to get to scoring areas and when he does and the puck is on his stick, he usually doesn’t miss. He’s our leader. It’s tough to see him go down. I don’t know what the extent is there, but even last night in Vegas, he scored three goals. He made a big pass break up there in the second period, had a big block. He’s a guy that’s doing it all right now and not just scoring. He’s a captain for a reason.” Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carbery, speaking of Ovechkin’s condition, said “He’s being evaluated as we speak, and we’ll know more tomorrow.”

Utah Hockey Club Head Coach André Tourigny commented on what made the difference in the loss. “[Washington] was really opportunistic early in the game. We had chances, we hit the post five times on our power play. We had looks, but we could not score the big goal. And then on the other side, they had the killer instinct and they pulled us away when they had the opportunity.” With regard to offensive production, “We’re not getting enough from anybody. We’re getting possession, shots, things like that, but we don’t finish. We missed the net on a lot of great opportunities. What I like about our game in the last week or so, is that we’re generating. We’re back to skating well and generating offense, but we need to finish. We need to make the last play, that play will make the difference. We can possess the puck as much as we want, but if we don’t make the last play that doesn’t count.”

Forward Lawson Crouse addressed the failure to capitalize on the power play. “We have to be way better. It’s easy to sit here and say, we hit cross bars, but that’s no excuse. We have got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net. We had seven chances tonight, and we were 0-7, that’s not good enough…Maybe you tie the game up and it’s a different story. We’ve talked about a lot, we’re talking about it consistently, in the room in intermission, seeing what we can do. It’s hard to pick one thing, but we have got to be much better.”

Utah will try to turn things around on a four-game road trip beginning Thursday in Boston and then continuing to Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Montreal before returning home to face the Edmonton Oilers the day after Thanksgiving on November 29.

The Sharks Taste Victory over Detroit in OT

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The Sharks are back in town they are certainly not in the best mood after losing three games in a row. Tonight, they host the Red Wings.

Tyler Toffoli scores the third goal of the game in the second period for the Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Nov 18, 2024 (Photo Courtesy by San Jose Sharks Media)

By Fernando Abarca

We missed you, SAP Center.

SAN JOSE –– The San Jose Sharks (5-10-4) are back for Monday Night action after a not-so-good trip filled with OT losses and one win and host the Detroit Red Wings (7-9-1).

The Red Wings currently sit last in the Atlantic Division, not so different from the Sharks, who sit last in the Pacific Division. Both teams are coming to this game with tough losses, starting with the Sharks suffering a loss in overtime, 4-3, against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. The Sharks took a close one from the Kanasa

The Red Wings visit to the West Coast has not gone as expected. The Wings played Anaheim and Los Angeles, and both games ended in losses with 4-6 vs. ANA and 1-4 vs. LAK. The Red Wings will try to finish their trip with a win over the Sharks.

The first period started with the Red Wings attacking first, Montz Seider, with possession of the puck, sent it into the Sharks zone and bounced off the boards. Poor execution by the Sharks goalie. Jake Walman, with the puck clearance, failed to get it far, leaving Simon Edvinsson with all the space and time to form the play, Larkin, with perfect timing, scored the first goal for the Red Wings.

The Sharks were able to recover quickly from the visitors’ first attack. The Sharks responded after having received a powerplay in their favor. William Eklund favored both in the creation of the play with Alexander Wennberg, whose shot did not enter the net but bounced enough for Eklund to score the equalizer.

Eklund didn’t finish business there, in the second period of the match, he scored another goal for the Sharks with a powerful wrist shot assisted by Mario Ferraro and Fabian Zetterlund.

Still, in the first period. With a powerplay for the visitors, Shark’s Goaltender did his best to keep the goal without any more pucks in the net, but a rebound inside the zone cost him dearly, and Marco Kasper made it 2-1 at the end of the period.

In the second, the Sharks looked more dominant, scoring two goals, the aforementioned by Eklund and Tyler Toffoli, who got another goal on his stats, ending the period with a 3-3 tie.

6:19 into the third period, Luke Kunin lifts the spirits of the SAP Center crowd with a wrist shot, putting the score at 4-3.

The chants began to sound louder in the SAP, and clearly better hockey by the Sharks with more continuous counterattacks and shots on goal.

The effort was not enough to keep the lead, and Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat scored a fourth goal late in the third period on a PowerPlay.

The game ended on a good note, Macklin Celebrini finished business at SAP Center with his first career OT goal to send good energy to all the fans at the tank.

After a stormy trip away from home, some sunshine came down to the SAP Center. The Sharks go back on the road to face Dallas and St. Louis to come back home Saturday against Buffalo.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Fernando Abarca: Sharks host Red Wings tonight; Yaroslav Askarov promoted to Sharks after having banner season in net at the AHL

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San Jose Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is all smiles. Askarov has been promoted to the San Jose Sharks as of Mon Nov 18, 2024 after having a standout season in the AHL. (Panayiota Good/San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Fernando Abarca:

#1 The San Jose Sharks have promoted goaltender Yaroslav Askarov from AHL affiliate the San Jose Barracuda. Askarov has had an outstanding season with the Barracuda is 6-3 with two shutouts and a 1.92 goals against average. Fernando this has to be a big opportunity for Askarov who could get a start tonight?

#2 The San Jose Sharks took a tough loss 4-3 from the Pittsburgh Penguins. in a shootout in their last game last Saturday in Pittsburgh that concluded their four game road trip. Fernando it’s not the kind of way that Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky wanted it to end?

#3 The Penguins Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal of the shootout. Sidney Crosby and Anthony Beauvillier scored goals in the shootout as well. Fernando there is no doubt your looking at some very talented shooters in a shootout like that when your facing Malkin, Crosby and Beauvillier?

#4 The Sharks Alex Wennberg made the attempt to score on Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic in the fifth round of the shootout but couldn’t convert thus the Sharks lose it by a goal and those can be part of the frustrations of the game not being able to get that vital goal when the game is on the line?

#5 Fernando another note former Shark and current Penguin Erik Karlsson got an assist and passed former Shark Doug Wilson for 16th place on the NHL career points list for defensemen. You don’t see too many defensemen who can pile up the goals like Karlsson has done in his career?

#6 The Sharks (5-10-4) who are back in San Jose to face off with the Detroit Red Wings here at SAP Center. The Red Wings are a struggling bunch at 7-9-1 and seventh place in the Atlantic Division, the Wings have lost their last two games and lost seven of their last ten games. The Sharks coming off that loss in Pittsburgh have a good chance to pick up a win tonight?

Fernando Abarca is a San Jose Sharks beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 4-3 in SO to Penguins, Come Back From 3-0 to Tie Game, Again

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Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) celebrates his goal with Evgeni Malkin (71), Jack St Ivany (3) and Michael Bunting (8) first period against the San Jose Sharks at PPG Pants in Pittsburgh on Sat Nov 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Jesse Puljujarvi and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins. Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanacek made 8 saves on ten shots in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves on 26 shots in the second, third and overtime periods.

The Sharks earned points in three games in this four game road trip. Of this tally, Tyler Toffoli said: “We’re staying in games and giving ourselves a chance to win. It’s a matter of time before we are able to play with leads and finish games off.”

The Sharks have made some impressive comebacks recently. Of this trend, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“Credit to the guys, we stuck with it. It’s a hole we don’t want to be in and we’re in it too often right now. But I give the guys a lot of credit for battling back and getting a point in this game where it wasn’t looking pretty for a long time. We’ve got to look and find some ways to start on time.”

Blackwood said that he had about five minutes to prepare to get in the game. “It’s tough, you know. Obviously you’re cold and you have no feel of the game so you gotta go in there and get into the game quick. Typically, I struggle with that, I’ve struggled to come off the bench and put up a good performance. So I’ve been working on it.”

Warsofsky said, of his goaltenders: “I haven’t gotten an update yet on Vitek, just told he wasn’t coming back. Outstanding by Blackwood. Some of the best saves you’ll see in this League this year I assume.”

The Penguins scored just 1:01 into the first period. Bryan Rust carried the puck up from behind the net and backhanded it under Vitek Vanacek. Assists went to Michael Bunting and Evgeni Malkin.

Evgeni Malkin put the puck in the net at 5:46. Carrying the puck in, he cut across the slot and shot the puck off the post and in with a backhand. The Sharks challenged the goal as offside and the goal was overturned.

Jesse Puljujarvi got that goal back at 6:34. Drew O’Connor took a shot from the boards, and the rebound from that shot slid in front of Puljujarvi as he arrived at the net. Vanacek could not get across in time and Puljujarvi had an open net. A secondary assist went to Owen Pickering.

The teams were tied in shots at the end of the first period at 10-10. The Penguins took the only penalty of the period. Vanacek did not return for the second period due to injury. Blackwood stepped in.

Sidney Crosby made it 3-0 at 4:19 of the second with a shot through traffic from the point. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Anthony Beauvillier.

Tyler Toffoli got the Sharks on the board with a power play goal at 12:05 of the second. Will Smith got the assist. Macklin Celebrini carried the puck into the zone but his pass was intercepted. Will Smith got the puck back and sent it to the net. Toffoli arrived at the net just in time to gather up the puck and score.

The Penguins outshot the Sharks 10-7 in the second period. The Sharks had two power plays and one shortened penalty kill in the period.

Mikael Granlund cut the lead to one goal at 6:56 of the third period. William Eklund made a pass off the boards to Fabian Zetterlund in the neutral zone. Zetterlund carried it over the blue line and made a cross-ice pass to Granlund, who caught the puck in the slot and shot without breaking stride.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with his second goal of the night. Ty Dellandrea carried the puck in along the boards before finding Toffoli on his way to the net. Toffoli skated around several defenders to get in position for the shot. Assists went to Dellandrea and Jake Wallman.

Third period shots were close again, 11-10 Sharks. The Penguins took the only penalty in the period. In overtime, the Penguins dominated 6-1 in shots but Blackwood shut the door.

Mikael Granlund and William Eklund scored in the shootout. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Alexander Wennberg were stopped by Nedeljkovic.

Sidney Crosby, Anthony Beauvillier and Evgeni Malkin scored in the shootout. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell were stopped by Blackwood.

The Sharks next play on Monday back in San Jose against the visiting Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks conclude 4 game road trip in Pittsburgh tonight

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San Jose Sharks Tim Liljegren (center) celebrates his goal with teammates Cody Ceci (left) and Luke Kunin in the first period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thu Nov 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 New York Rangers Mika Zibanejad Jimmy Versey, Vince Trocheck, scored a goal each in the second period and that was all the scoring the Rangers needed to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Thursday night.

#2 Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said that the Sharks did improve their first period which they had lost in most games this time they shutout the Rangers 1-0. They didn’t win the game but they did figure out how to improve in the first period

#3 The Rangers got goaltending help from Igor Shesterkin who stopped 25 shots and held the Sharks to just two goals enough to win the game by a goal.

#4 Former Rangers and current Shark Barclay Goodrow who played three seasons in New York got a standing ovation from the Madison Square Garden fans during a third period break in the action.

#5 Mary Lisa, the Sharks complete this four game road trip tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Pants Arena. The Penguins have lost four of their last five games. The Sharks have lost three of their last four games. How do you see the match up between the Sharks and Penguins tonight?

Mary Lisa covers the San Jose Sharks road games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Vegas Forwards Lay Down Two Pair as Golden Knights Defeat Utah HC 4-2 

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Utah Hockey Club Mikhail Sergachev (98) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Vegas Golden Knights at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Nov 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tomas Hertl and William Karlsson each score twice in Vegas victory over Utah

SALT LAKE CITY–Coming off of a heart-stopping 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night, the Utah Hockey Club faced another stiff challenge on Friday squaring off against the Pacific Division leading Vegas Golden Knights.  The two teams had already faced each other in Las Vegas two weeks earlier where Utah found itself losing 4-3 in overtime.

Utah forward Logan Cooley drew first blood at 11:16 of the first period with his third goal of the season, assisted by Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther. Utah finished the period besting Vegas 16-9 in shots on goal and winning 86% of faceoffs.

Moving on to the second period, Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev notched his 4th goal of the season at 6:59 on the power play to make it 2-0, assisted by captain Clayton Keller and Alexander Kerfoot. With the goal, Sergachev extended his home goal-scoring streak to four consecutive games. 

Later in the period, with Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring in the penalty box for hooking against Keegan Kolesar, Tomas Hertl brought the Golden Knights back to within one on a power play goal assisted by Nicolas Roy and Jack Eichel.

Unfortunately for Utah, the third period was all Vegas. At 8:23 Tomas Hertl evened things up with his second power play goal of the game, assisted by William Karlsson and Jack Eichel.  With a minute and eighteen seconds left in regulation, Karlsson gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the game which also turned out to be the game-winner, assisted by Kaedan Korczak and Cole Schwindt.  With Utah netminder 

Karel Vejmelka on the bench to give his squad an extra attacker, Karlsson struck again unassisted into the empty net with 29 seconds left to send fans to the parking lots as Vegas came away with a 4-2 victory. 

Utah Hockey Club Head Coach André Tourigny addressed the media following the game. “Well, I don’t think we played as good with the puck, but I think it started in the second. I think in the second we were not as urgent defensively giving a few men rush…It’s not like they generate the few man rush we give them, so that started there. I think in the third we…it’s not like we collapsed, and we still had a few chances, but I don’t think we connected really well on our power play, and that cost us momentum.” 

Tourigny, commenting on the difference between the first and third periods, said, “There (was) two teams on the ice, in the first there (was) only one. When they showed up, there started to be a game. I think from there it was 50/50. I don’t think it’s for them or us. I think it was 50/50. It’s a good team, Stanley Cup champion contender. And you know what? One thing you can learn from them in that game is, even when we dominate, they just hang there. They just hang there and hang there. We could not get the big goal. It’s the killer goal, (would) have probably changed everything, but we could not separate ourselves, like you mentioned, after the first period, you know, we had (a) 1-0 lead instead 2-0 or 3-0 lead. And that (would) have separated us. Instead of that, they stayed in it and scored a goal in their power play and scored another goal in their power play, and then they get a tip at the end of the game.”

One highlight for the home team was finishing with a season-high 34 shots after averaging 25.9 shots per game over the previous 16 matches.

Utah still has a chance to wrap up its three game homestand on a winning note on Monday as Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals make their first NHL visit to Salt Lake City for a 7:00pm (MST) matchup.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Tampa Bay’s Vesilevskiy fastest goalie to reach 300 wins; New Jersey’s Bratt gets hat trick defeat Panthers 6-2; plus more news

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The Tampa Bay Lightning’s defenseman Victor Hedman (77) congratulates goaltender Andrei Vesilevskiy (88) after he picked up his 300th career NHL win in Tampa Bay on Thu Nov 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vesilevskiy became the fastest goalie to reach 300th win as the Lightning defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday night. It was the Jets second loss in 15 games.

#2 The New Jersey Devil’s Jesper Bratt’s hat trick help beat the Florida Panthers 6-2. It was Bratt’s second career hat trick. New Jersey got goals from Stefan Noesen who scored twice, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes picked up a goal a piece in the win.

#3 The Philadelphia Flyers Matvei Michkov scored a game winning overtime goal to defeat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thursday. Michkov’s game winner was a sharp angle shot that went past Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark with just enough daylight to get the Flyers the win.

#4 For the New York Rangers Mika Zibanejad the nine game drought without a goal has ended as Zibanejad scored off a rebound on Adam Fox’s shot at 11:41 in the second period that tied up the game 1-1. The Rangers would add two more goals for a total of three goals in the second period that was all the scoring they would need to edge the San Jose Sharks 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

#5 The Buffalo Sabres edged the St Louis Blues Thursday night 4-3 in overtime. Tied 3-3 in the overtime stanza the Sabres Rasmus Dahlin scored at 1:33 on a power play goal to lift Buffalo to victory. It was a back in forth game that saw the Sabres score twice in the first period to make it 2-1, the Blues came right back with two goals to take the lead 3-2, the Sabres would score in the third period to tie it and get the win in the overtime.

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

Rangers 3 goals was all they needed to edge Sharks 3-2 at Madison Square Garden

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The New York Rangers Vincent Trocheck (right) battles with the San Jose Sharks William Eklund (left) for the hockey puck in the first period at Madison Square Garden on Thu Nov 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK. — The San Jose Sharks played one of their best first periods of the season, but could not keep it up in the second and fell to the New York Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

New York scored three unanswered goals in the second period, and the Sharks failed to make a comeback in the third.

“I think our first period was obviously our identity and the way that we need to play. We’ve got to do that more often,” said Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “Hope this is a learning moment.”

Timothy Liljegren made the first goal of the game at 17:09, when the puck went off a few players and he got it past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin to put the Sharks up 1-0. Liljegren was assisted by Luke Kunin and Nico Sturm.

“Just a lot of people in front, in front of the net, so just tried to get it there and had the lucky bounce so good to see it go in,” said Liljegren.

The Sharks played fast and got pucks deep and got them back, but got away from that in the second and third periods.

In the second, Mika Zibanejad scored a goal at 8:19 assisted by Adam Fox and Reilly Smith to tie the game at 1-1. Then at 6:45, Jimmy Vesey made a goal assisted by Sam Carrick to put the Rangers up 2-1. A few minutes later, Vincent Trocheck scored assisted by Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière to boost New York up 3-1.

“I think our first period overall was really good and then obviously it was tough to follow it up in the second,” said Sharks right wing Barclay Goodrow. “We were just playing simple. Playing the game we have to play to be successful.”

In the third period, the Sharks did too little too late. Fabian Zetterlund scored on a power-play with 27 seconds remaining, assisted by William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli, to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-2.

“If you give these guys too many chances they’re going to score and that’s what they did,” Liljegren said. “So, got to learn from it and play more of a 60-minute game like we played in the first.”

Shesterkin had 25 saves, helping the Rangers notch their fourth win in six games and improve to 10-4-1.

During a stop in the first period when Goodrow was shown on the jumbotron, the crowd gave him an ovation. Goodrow spent three seasons with the Rangers and had six goals during the playoffs last spring.

“It was good,” he said. “Obviously, would’ve been nice to get the win, but yeah it was good to be back.”

The Sharks (5-10-3) finish off their four-game road trip facing the Pittsburgh Penguins (6-9-3) on Saturday. The puck drops at 4 p.m. PT.

Utah HC Rocks Carolina Like a Hurricane in 4-1 Victory 

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Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 49 of 50 shots and teammates rain down three goals in the third period to win first game of homestand 4-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Nov 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–The Utah Hockey Club returned home to Delta Center on Wednesday night having completed a two-week, four-game road trip against Las Vegas, Winnipeg, St. Louis, and Nashville in which they finished with a 1-2-1 record. The visiting Carolina Hurricanes entered the night’s play having won 9 of their last 10 games with an 11-3 record overall on the season.

The two teams played physically throughout a first period which seemed like it would end in a scoreless draw until Utah forward Nick Bjugstad found the back of the Carolina net for his first goal of the season, unassisted, with a little more than two minutes remaining in the frame to give Utah HC the first lead of the game.

The Hurricanes came back in a fury in the second period, peppering goaltender Karel Vejmelka with 17 shots. With defenseman Ian Cole in the penalty box for holding against Jordan Staal, Carolina forward Martin Necas capitalized on the ensuing power play with his ninth goal of the season at 10:04 to even things up, assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho.

At the end of two, Carolina held a whopping edge in shots on goal, 32-13. If not for a defense which was both stingy and lucky, Carolina could have easily taken a commanding lead in the period.

Utah forward Jack McBain gave his squad a 2-1 lead at 5:09 of the third period, assisted by defenseman Michael Kesselring. Before anyone could blink, Utah thought it had its third goal of the game, but upon further review it was ruled that the puck did not cross the goal line.

Two minutes later, however, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev lit the lamp for his third goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Matias Maccelli, chasing Carolina netminder Pyotr Kochetkov in the process. Just 17 seconds later, Nick Bjugstad welcomed Spencer Martin to the game, scoring his second goal of the game and the season to make it 4-1, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Nick Schmaltz.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Utah had a 4-1 lead in the third at home against the Sharks, only to stumble and lose to San Jose in overtime, so when forward Michael Carcone took two minute instigator, five minute fighting, and ten minute game misconduct penalties at 8:03, Utah needed to hunker down to preserve their lead.

Six minutes and 26 seconds into the penalty kill, Maveric Lamoureux was called for hooking, giving the Hurricanes a two man advantage for nearly a minute and a half. Karel Vejmelka stood on his head and his teammates sacrificed their bodies over and over again to keep Carolina off the boards throughout.

In total, the penalty kill lasted eight minutes and 26 seconds. When Lamoureux was sprung from the box, the sellout crowd roared louder than for any of the previous four goals. At 17:09 of the third, Nick Bjugstad was assessed a delay of game penalty which gave Carolina one last chance to come back, but Utah’s defense slammed the door shut and shut the Hurricanes down the rest of the way.

Karel Vejmelka stopped a career high 49 of 50 shots for his first win of the season. His teammates chipped in 26 blocked shot attempts in the winning effort.

In the locker room, Nick Bjugstad spoke of the team’s grit on the third period penalty kill. “Starting with (Karel Vejmelka), all night, unbelievable. We’re thankful for him. He had an amazing night. The PK came up big.

I think (Mikhail Sergachev) took one to the head. He had a few big blocked shots. Unbelievable. We were really feeling the crowd. Everyone was pumped up. (Michael Carcone) had a big fight. Everyone was kind of going.

It was a fun game.” When asked about the third period goals, Bjugstad commented, “It was getting in their zone. We were rolling the lines. Everyone was kind of making plays. We didn’t play the best in the second, I thought. We found a way in the third. It was good. Guys really stepped up tonight, most importantly (Vejmelka). I don’t know that I’ve seen many 50-shot games. We appreciate him.”

Karel Vejmelka was asked about his mindset facing the extended penalty kill in the third. “It didn’t change much. I just tried to focus for another shot and help my team…It was the same mindset all night long.” His reaction to fans shouting his name late in the game, “It was surreal. This is a moment to remember for sure, a night to remember for me and for everybody. This is a huge game for us and a big two points.”

Head Coach André Tourigny was also asked about his team’s penalty kill. “It was amazing. Goaltending for sure is your best (penalty) killer. The blocked shots and the determination in that situation was great. There was adversity in that game for us, and mentally we’re not the most confident team at this point offensively. In the second period, they had a push and we held on. (To) come back in the third the way we came back, we had a lot of confidence with the puck and made big plays. Even when we scored our second goal, we didn’t sit back; we went right back at them right away. We scored two more goals and (Lawson Crouse) could have scored another one, almost…I think we had a good first period, second period was too many bad plays with the puck. (Carolina’s) a good team, they’re tough to contain when you make mistakes–they capitalize. But the way we came back in the third and the confidence we displayed in our game, that was great.”

Tourigny had high praise for his goaltender. “He was extremely good. Everything’s a chain-connector. (Vejmelka) was good, the guys were blocking shots, we defended the slot pretty good in our zone. We’re not as good (lately) as we’ve been on the rush against…We gave up too much of the rush. But in our zone, we’re pretty stingy. I’m really proud of the way the boys fought.”

On shuffling his defensive lines, Tourigny added, “I think Olli (Määttä) and (Mikhail Sergachev) played well together. I was pleased with them playing together. I thought there was some chemistry there…(Juuso Välimäki) and (Michael Kesselring) had ups and downs in the game…I don’t think they were terrible, I’m just saying they had ups and downs. An example, I thought (Kesselring) made a hell of a play on our second goal. That’s a key play in the game. It’s important to be able to make plays, but the timing and making key plays is great. The shift before was not as elegant. I think that showed character; he came back on the next shift and made a big play. It was a key play for us.”

The Utah Hockey Club will play host to the Pacific Division leading Vegas Golden Knights on Friday at 7:00pm (MST). Earlier in the day the first batch of official Utah Hockey Club team jerseys with Inaugural Season shoulder patches will go on sale at the team store.