Category: NHL

San Jose Sharks Lose 2-1 At Home To The Los Angeles Kings

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Los Angeles Kings right winger Adrian Kempe (9) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blacwood (29) in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

Thursday, April 4th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

SANJOSE–Even though the San Jose Sharks were the hosts, there were an abundance of Los Angeles Kings fans in the house and the Kings gave that portion of the Tank something to cheer for edging out the Sharks 2-1 at SAP Center. Adrian Kempe scored the opening goal on a breakaway, his 25th of the season, 1-0 Kings 11 minutes into the game.

Shortly after the Kempe goal, Akil Thomas scored his first points of the season and the second goal of the game with a wrist shot while embracing a hit, 2-0 Kings. The cheers for the Kings from their fans overshadowed the boos from the Sharks fans in attendance and the 1st period ended with a 2-0 score and the Kings in the middle of a power play. 

A better second period for the Sharks, but only because the Sharks were more physical. A fight between Luke Kunin and Andreas Englund had a fight that woke the crowd up including the home fans. No goals this period, but a sign of hope as San Jose got more chances and had better possession time.

Third period was a nothing period as the Kings played the clock and the Sharks looked defeated as soon as the period started. Klim Kostin scored a goal that gave fans some sense of hope, but it was too little too late, 2-1 Kings to end the game.

Game notes: Two division rivals on opposite sides of the coin face off as the last place in the Pacific Division San Jose Sharks host the 4th place in the Pacific Division Los Angeles Kings. Last game for the Sharks was a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on April Fool’s Day. Fabian Zetterlund (1g, 1a) netted his team-leading 21st goal of the season, a power play tally to open the home team’s scoring in his ninth multi-point game of the season.

Klim Kostin (1g, 0a) scored his fourth goal with the Sharks, his seventh of the season. Mikael Granlund (0g, 1a) extended his point streak to five games (2g, 4a) with an assist on Zetterlund’s goal, and William Eklund (0g, 1a) pushed his home point streak to eight games (3g, 6a) with the secondary helper on the same score. SJS Goals: Zetterlund (21 pp), Kostin (7) . 

Next game for the Sharks will be at home Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Celebrini looking to go #1 in draft; Knights dominate Canucks; plus more NHL news

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Team Canada Macklin Celebrini scores against Team Latvia in the IIHF World Junior Championship group in Gothenburg Sweden Wed Dec 27, 2023. Celebrini is the NHL No.1 draft choice in the 2024 NHL Draft. (TT News Agency photo via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Macklin Celebrini is the expceted No.1 draft choice out of the NHL draft. Celebrini is having a great year at Boston University scoring 32 goals and 64 points in 37 games. Celebrini is well sought after most likely he could go in the first of the draft.

#2 Len, how potent is this Vegas Golden Knights (42-25-8) team they scored four goals in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks to win it 6-3 on Tuesday and pick up their point streak to seven games. The Canucks who are first in the Pacific are starting to show ware they have now lost three of their last four games.

#3 Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella says the Flyers need another level just to make post season. The Flyers are on a five game skid and have lost five of their last ten games. The Flyers are third in the Metropolitan Division. Tortorella said that it’s his job to get this team over the hump and he hasn’t done that good of a job to do that.

#4 The Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl made morning practice on Tuesday. Hertl had been skating on his own on Mar 11. Since he had knee surgery on Feb 12th he’s skated on his own and the Knights are hoping to get him in the line up on Friday night against the Arizona Coyotes.

#5 Len, lets talk about Dallas and the scoring race.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bjorkstrand key in Kraken 4-2 win over Sharks at SAP

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The Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde (37) attempts to get a stick on the puck, San Jose Sharks defenseman Calen Addison (33), goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29), and center Nico Sturm (7) try to defend the net in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Apr 1, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Titus Wilkinson

The Seattle Kraken’s (31-30-13) Oliver Bjorkstrand scored a goal and an assist and the Kraken had a three goal rally in the first period that eventually did in the San Jose Sharks (17-49-8) at SAP Center in San Jose 4-2. For Bjorkstrand it was his 20th goal of the season.

The Kraken also got a goal from Jared McCann, Marty Beniers, and Shane Wright. Veteran Shane Eberle picked up his 700th career point when he got an assist. Meanwhile Kraken goaltender Phillip Grubauer stopped 24 Sharks shots.

The Sharks dropped their tenth in 11 games, that’s 19 loses in 21 games so far. The Sharks Fabian Zetterlund picked up a goal and assist and left winger Klim Kostin scored a goal, William Granlund extended his point streak to five games when he picked up an assist.

Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 28 shots but allowed four goals and the first period kept him on his skates with three goals against in that opening period. Sharks head coach David Quinn said that they needed to be physically engaged to have a chance against a team like the Kraken. Quinn said they were not focused in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Next up: The Sharks host the Los Angeles Kings (35-25-11) Thursday night at SAP Arena in San Jose. The Kings are fourth in the Pacific Division and are on a three game losing streak. Face off is at 7:30pm PDT.

Titus Wilkinson is an NHL writer at http://www.sportrsradioservice.com

Sharks End Losing Streak, Shut Out Blues 4-0

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The St Louis Blues Pavel Buchnevich (89) and the San Jose Sharks Ryan Carpenter (22) battle for the puck in third period action at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Sat Mar 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks shut out the St Louis Blues 4-0 on Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St Louis. The win ended a nine-game losing streak for San Jose and dimmed the Blues’ playoff hopes. Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood made 37 saves for the shutout win. Joel Hofer made 16 saves for the Blues.

After the game, Sharks forward Luke Kunin talked about how the team shifted gears from a lackadaisical first period to a very successful second period: “All the things we were doing well in previous games, as far as getting out of our zone, breakouts, we were just not doing any of that. Talked it over there, after the first, and I think you saw it got a lot better throughout the rest of the game.”

In a penalty-free and scoreless first period, the Sharks had just three shots to the Blues’ eleven. The first goal of the game came almost half way through the second period, from Filip Zadina. He stole the puck from Zack Bolduc in the corner and skated back to the slot where he scored with a quick wrist shot.

Mikael Granlund made it 2-0 at 12:05. Granlund followed Fabian Zetterlund’s shot to the net. When the puck bounced off the post and landed behind the goalie in the blue paint, Granlund was there to scoop the puck over the line. Assists went to Zetterlund and William Eklund.

Luke Kunin made it 3-0 at 17:58. Justin Bailey beat a defender to the puck with Hofer out of the net, but he didn’t manage a shot. Nonetheless, he caused the defender to dive for the puck. The puck trickled away, into the path of Kunin, who was racing into the zone. He gathered up the puck for a wrist shot.

The Sharks outshot the Blues twelve to three in that second period. The Sharks took one penalty but that penalty kill was abbreviated when the Blues took an overlapping penalty 40 seconds in. The Blues took two more penalties in the period but no one scored on the power play.

In the first seven minutes of the third period, the Blues managed eleven shots on goal to the Sharks’ two. The Blues pulled their goaltender with just under four minutes to go. Less than a minute later, Jan Rutta took a shot shot next to the Sharks net and scored in the empty net at the other end. An assist went to Nico Sturm.

The Sharks next play on Monday at home against the Seattle Kraken at 7:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hoping to end 9 game skid tonight in St Louis

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The San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) and defenseman Jon Rutta (84) defend as the Minnesota Wild’s center Joel Eriksson Elk (14) tries to find the back end of the net in the first period on Thu Mar 28, 2024 at XCel Energy Center in St Paul MN (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Minnesota Wild broke 1-1 deadlock when they ended up scoring two goals in the third period to win it 3-1 handing the San Jose Sharks their ninth loss in a row.

#2 The Wild’s Matt Boldy scored a tie breaking goal to put the Wild in front at 18 seconds into the third period. The Sharks were hoping to get a win and snap out of their loss streak but rather than move ahead Boldy and the Wild held and took the game.

#3 Boldy said that guys in the dressing room are playing the game the right way and it’s coming out to wins. The Wild’s Joel Eriksson Elk got a goal, Ryan Hartman picked up an empty netter, and Kirill Kaprizov picked up two assists.

#4 Sharks head coach David Quinn said after the contest that the Sharks are dying for a win and he feels for the players but said you have to play for 60 minutes not 40 minutes.

#5 The Sharks face off against the St Louis Blues tonight at Enterprise Arena in St Louis. The Blues are fourth in the NHL Central at 39-30-4 and have won seven of their last ten games. How tough will this one be for the Sharks in St Louis and trying to end that nine game losing streak?

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

Struggling Sharks fall 3-1 to Wild; Defeat extends San Jose’s loss streak to nine games

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San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) puts the stop on a shot by Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson (14) in the first period at the XCel Energy Center in St Paul on Thu Mar 28, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, March 28, 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A long season for the San Jose Sharks didn’t get any shorter on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, as a Minnesota Wild team, playing with desperation, defeated the rebuilding Sharks 3-1 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Wild (35-28-9, 79 points) are in a scramble for an NHL Western Conference playoff berth, trailing Vegas by nine points and idle St. Louis by three in the Wild Card race with 10 games to play. San Jose (16-48-8, 40 points) is mired in eighth place in the Pacific Division, one point behind Anaheim.

“We’re dying for a win here, and I feel for our guys,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “But you have to play 60, you can’t play 40. We’re in that mode of playing the first two periods really well and struggle in the third. We kind of reversed that a little bit tonight.

“It says a lot. We continue to battle, and in those last two periods, it would have been easy to pack it in after the first period. We did anything but that.”

The Sharks have lost their last nine games, and were looking to bounce back from a 6-3 loss to Dallas on Tuesday.

“It was a good effort. It’s frustrating when the guys are playing hard, playing the right way,” Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood said. “Obviously the first period didn’t go our way, but I thought we responded well and deserved better than no points tonight.”

The Wild wasted little time scoring the go-ahead tally at 18 seconds of the third period. Matt Boldy made it 2-1 Minnesota when he circled behind the net, took a feed from Kirill Kaprizov and swatted the puck behind Blackwood, who found himself out of position.

Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman tacked on an empty-net goal at 19:06, his 19th.

“I give our team a lot of credit for getting back on track with a good second period and an even better third period,” Quinn said. “I liked an awful lot of what I saw in those two periods.”

Minnesota had two power plays in the first period while outshooting the Sharis 15-1, and had one goal – Joel Eriksson Ek’s 30th of the season, Eriksson Ek took a centering pass from Kirill Kaprizov and flipped a wrist shot to the top shelf over Blackwood’s right shoulder.

“I thought we did some good things physically in the first period,” Quinn said. “But I thought we were really out of it mentally. The penalties didn’t help us because (the Wild’s) power play can move the puck around pretty good. We were fortunate to get out of that period down 1-0.”

The Sharks came up with the equalizer at 16:01 of the second period, tying the game at 1-1. Mikael Granlund took a feed in the slot and stuffed the puck into the lower corner of the goal past Filip Gustavsson’s glove for his 11th goal of the season. Jan Rutta and Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the assists.

“I think our response was better in the second and third period,” Sharks forward Justin Bailey said. “Between periods, we were reminded to clean up some little things and make sure we were getting to the puck. (Minnesota) is a fast team, a quick team, and make them earn all the defense they got. I think we did that tonight.”

Quinn felt his fourth line of Filip Zadina, Ryan Carpenter and Kevin Labanc had a strong third period that helped keep the Sharks in the game.

“The first two periods were okay, but the third period was their best,” Quinn said. “I thought they gave us a real good period. We had some chances, but we just couldn’t get one by in that third period.”

Gustavsson stopped 27-of-28 San Jose shots on goal, while Blackwood made 29 saves on 31 Wild shots.

“I felt a lot sharper tonight,’ Blackwood said. “I was seeing the puck better and I had better positioning. It felt good to get back into a better rhythm and feel like myself again.”

SHARK BITES: San Jose scratches were D Jacob McDonald, RW Givani Smith and LW Alexander Barabanov. … The Sharks travel to St. Louis on Saturday before returning home for an April 1 contest with the Seattle Kraken.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro and Jerry Feitelberg: Blues Sundqvist out for season with torn ACL; Leafs observing Marner with ankle injury could be back in a week; plus more news

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St Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL as announced by the Blues on Wed Mar 27, 2024 (UPI photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season for the St Louis Blues after he had torn his ACL. Sundqvist left Monday’s against the Vegas Golden Knights at 9:50 in the second period after he got hit by the Knights defenseman Braydon McNabb. Sundvist once again out for the rest of the season.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner will be out at least a week with a high ankle sprain. Marner was at a optional practice Thursday morning giving head coach Sheldon Keefe an opportunity to see how he’s coming along. Marner was injured on Mar 7th against the Boston Bruins and has missed eight games since.

#3 Quite a celebration for TJ Oshie who celebrated his 1000th NHL game. Oshie’s family came out to congratulate him before the Washington Capitals game against the Winnipeg Jets. Which the Capitals ended up winning 3-0. Before the game during warm ups everybody wore a number 77 sweater in honor of Oshie’s 1000th game.

#4 The Arizona Coyotes were eliminated when the Knights gained a point after defeating the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Coyotes fell into a second half funk and just couldn’t recover and their elimination from post season was for the fourth straight season. The Coyotes are excited about their new players coming from the draft and young talent for next season.

#5 The San Jose Sharks are looking to snap their long eight game losing streak later tonight at the Target Center in Minnesota. The Sharks who lost their last two games against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime 5-4 and on Monday night to the Dallas Stars 6-3 all on home ice in San Jose. Tonight they face the Minnesota Wild.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks Lose To Dallas Stars 6-3, Now On 8 Game Losing Streak

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Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski (16) takes the puck against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta (84) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, March 26th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – In the “Tank” the San Jose Sharks host the Dallas Stars in a weekday throwdown. The Sharks continued their losing streak extending it to eight straight loses 6-3 at SAP Center.

Last game the Sharks blew a four goal lead to the Chicago Blackhawks to lose 5-4. Thomas Bordeleau (2g, 0a) potted his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the first period, the first time in his career notching two goals in a period. Fabian Zetterlund (2g, 1a) matched his career-high with a three-point effort and his first goal in the game came at 0:16 seconds of the opening second period, besting William Eklund (0:17, Nov. 16, 2023 vs. STL) for the fastest goal scored by a Shark to start a regulation period this year. Klim Kostin (0g, 1a) has registered six points (2g, 4a) in his first eight games with San Jose, including a point in (1g, 2a) in three of his past four games played. William Eklund (0g, 1a) has points (2g, 4a) in six consecutive games on home ice. 

 The first period was a period of missed opportunities for San Jose. A couple big passes that led to breakaways, but no goals for the Sharks. For the Stars it was the exact opposite. Esa Lindell got a slashing call and the missed opportunity for the Sharks of getting a power play goal was capitalized by Wyatt Johnston on a breakaway shorthanded goal, 1-0 Stars.

Johnston in his last game at SAP was a hat trick and now with another goal here, he has 27 total on the season. The Stars weren’t done in the first period, Mason Marchment scored a goal that happened so fast, fans and even some players didn’t even notice the goal occurred at first. After a very quick review it was an easy call that it was a goal, 2-0 Stars, and there was no real energy in the building going into intermission. 

Huge period for both teams, as it was a hot period from the puck drop to the buzzer signaling intermission. 14 seconds into the period, Jason Robertson scored his 25th goal of the season and the third straight goal for the Stars this game, 3-0 Stars.

10 seconds later Alexander Barbanov scored the first goal for SJ, 3-1. A Sam Steel holding call for Dallas then led to a power play goal for San Jose courtesy of William Eklund and it was 8 seconds into the power play. 3-2 and the arena woke up. The period stayed on fire as Luke Kunin and Ty Dellandrea got into a fight and they were throwing hands the old school way and this electrified the crowd for more.

Stars captain Jamie Benn scored, continuing his five game goal streak and gave Dallas the most dangerous lead in hockey, a two goal lead, 4-2 Stars. The fight wasn’t over for the Sharks this period as Kostin kept the game close with a laser wrist shot for a goal, 4-3. The fans were still electric, but Johnston scored another goal, his second of the night and the Stars headed into the third with a 5-3 lead. 

There was only one goal in the third and it was from Robertson, who scored on a power play goal and that was basically the end of the game. A game that had hopes for the Sharks, but before you know it, it was over, 6-3 Dallas. 

Now an 8 game losing streak, San Jose Sharks next game against the Minnesota Wild in the Twin Cities on Thursday, March 28th.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson: Sharks try to snap out of 7 game skid tonight against Dallas at SAP

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Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) takes the puck against the San Jose Sharks right wing Filip Zadina (18) and left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 23, 2024 (AP News photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson:

#1 The San Jose Sharks bring a seven game losing streak into SAP Center tonight. After dropping a four goal lead on home ice last Saturday to the Chicago Blackhawks.

#2 The Blackhawks who had to come back from a 4-0 deficit on Sharks ice got some big help from Seth Jones who scored two goals in just 18 seconds into overtime for game match draw.

#3 It was a long wait but it was the first time the Blackhawks won coming back from four goals down since October 12th, 2009 when they beat the Calgary Flames 6-5 in overtime.

#4 The Sharks are trying to work they’re way out of this seven game skid. Sharks head coach David Quinn said the Blackhawks were just opportunistic in coming back to from a four goal deficit.

#5 The Sharks host the Dallas Stars tonight at 7:30pm at SAP Center. The Stars and are second in the Western Conference. The Stars have won eight of their last ten games and are on a four game win streak.

Titus Wilkinson is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks give up five unanswered goals to Chicago in 5-4 overtime loss

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Thomas Bordeleau and his teammates celebrate his goal (taken on 3/23/24).

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Sharks continued their home stand against the other worst team in the league the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

The hometown kid Devin Cooley would be getting his first start at SAP Center as he was in between the pipes. Cooley had played one game for the Sharks previous to this one also against Chicago where he gave up four goals in a loss.

For the Blackhawks, it was veteran Peter Mrazek in goal who heading into this one had a 3.09 GAA and .904 SV%.

There was only one goal scorer in the opening period and it was Thomas Bordealeau who lit the lamp twice.

The first one came on the powerplay off a beautiful tip out front by Bordealeau who got his fifth of the season.

Later in the period, Bordeleau ripped one top shelf around a Chicago defender extending their lead and putting him on hat-trick watch.

The Blackhawks had to feel deja vu in the second period as this time it was Fabian Zetterlund scoring a goal on the power play and even strength. The even-strength goal would come just 16 seconds in as he ripped one past the glove of Mrazek. The second goal came just over a minute later as William Eklund fead Zetterlund an incredible pass backdoor giving Fabian his first career 20-goal season.

After these four goals unfortunately for San Jose it would be all downhill.

It started with Ryan Donato who shoveled home a rebound past Cooley cutting the Sharks lead down to three.

A little later in the period, Tyler Johnson found himself wide open in front of the net and deposited home a pass from Donato.

San Jose was almost able to get a response in the third but Mrazek who has consistently been one of Chicago’s best players robbed Bordeleau of his hat-trick goal.

Chicago would then cut San Jose’s lead down to one as this time Seth Jones found the back of the net.

It looked like the Sharks were gonna be able to hold out until with just a little under a minute left Phillip Kurashev stuffed home his 15th of the season tying the game up at four. Kurashev had easily been one of Chicago’s best scorers as of late as he had 12 points in his past ten games heading into this one.

That meant overtime was next and Chicago wasted absolutely no time ending it just 18 seconds in as Jones wristed home his second of the game and robbed Cooley of his first career win.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Ryan Donato 2nd: Fabian Zetterlund 3rd: Seth Jones

The shots in the game favored Chicago 31-30 San Jose dominated on the power play going 2/4 while the Blackhawks went 0/2.

San Jose will look to bounce back on their home ice against Dallas a team they have also blown big leads to. That game will be played on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.