Category: NHL

Sharks Win 3-2 Against Blue Jackets, Reedy Scores Twice; 10 game loss streak is over for San Jose

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San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) moves the puck past Columbus Blue Jackets’ Adam Boqvist (27) and Gavin Bayreuther (5) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Apr 19, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2, ending a ten-game losing streak. It was also their first win with Kaapo Kahkonen in net. Scott Reedy scored twice for the Sharks and Rudolfs Balcers added the third goal. Kahkonen made 22 saves for the win. Jack Roslovic scored both of the Columbus goals and Elvis Merzlikins made 25 save sin the loss.

After the game, Sharks Captain Logan Couture talked about finally getting a win for goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen. Couture mentioned the goalie’s work ethic and said that Kahkonen “fits in really well, gets along everyone in the room. Those are the guys you want to play for. He’s played some really really good games, we haven’t been able to score for him. Tonight we were able to get three and hung on there, he made some great saves for us.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about Scott Reedy’s progress with the team:

“I think [Reedy] is a guy that seems to work hard number one, he’s trying to get better every day. And, fairly or unfairly, we’ve switched him from center to right wing, back to center a few times and he’s sort of found a home on right wing there. I think the offensive upside that he has, I think for a team that struggles to score, you want to keep developing these guys that have a touch around the net. You saw that touch tonight.”

Reedy scored the first goal of the game at 4:39 on the power play. Noah Gregor went to the net and took a shot in close. That created a rebound for a trailing Reedy. Assists went to Gregor and Logan Couture.

Rudolfs Balcers scored the next Sharks goal at 8:45. Thomas Bordeleau won a race to the puck and carried it behind the net for a quick pass up to Balcers in front of the net.

The Blue Jackets put the puck in the net at 15:41 but the Sharks challenged it for off side and the challenge was upheld.

Scott Reedy scored his second of the game at 18:14. Sasha Chmelevski sent the puck to the net from high in the zone and Reedy cleaned up the bouncing rebound.

The second period was scoreless but busy for the Sharks’ penalty kill. The Sharks killed three penalties in the period, allowing just two shots.

Jack Roslovic scored the first Blue Jackets goal at 1:32, on the power play. The Sharks were caught up ice on a short-handed bid when the Blue Jackets went the other way and got into the Sharks zone three-on-one. Justin Danforth made a cross-ice pass to Roslovic for the shot. Assists went to Danforth and Kent Johnson.

The Blue Jackets cut the lead to one at 13:33, with another goal from Roslovic. He had the puck behind the net and seemed to be trying to center it for someone else to shoot. But his pass went off of a Sharks and into the short side. Assists went to Jakub Voracek and Jake Bean.

The Sharks out-shot the Blue Jackets 28-24, and their power play had five shots on goal and one goal in two opportunities. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 55% of the draws.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the St. Louis Blues.

Sharks Lose 5-4 in OT to Wild, Bordeleau Has Assist in NHL Debut

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San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Merkley (6) skates past Minnesota Wild’s Kevin Fiala, center, and Jared Spurgeon (46) after Spurgeon scored the game winning goal in overtime at Xcel Energy Arena in St Paul on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished their road trip with an overtime loss, 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild. Dmitry Kulikov, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Boldy, and Kevin Fiala scored for the Wild, with two goals from Spurgeon. Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for the win. Rudolfs Balcers, Matt Nieto, Noah Gregor and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 23 saves in the loss. With this win, the Wild clinched their playoff berth.

In this ten game losing streak, the Sharks lost six games by one goal. Two of their losses by two goals included empty net goals. That is a lot of close games. After this game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It’s crazy how close we are on a lot of nights. You know, I’ve never been through anything like this as a coach or as a player, you know, losing this many games. And I’m not sure some of those guys in the room have either, the veterans, and certainly my staff. So it’s our job to try and draw on the positives, especially with nine rookies in the lineup tonight, is trying to you know, provide a lot of teaching at this point of the season. There’s a lot of good going on and you’ll never see it in the wins a losses column right now.”

Sharks added a couple more rookies to the mix on Sunday, for a total of seven in the lineup. Forward Thomas Bordeleau had an assist, a shot and was 40% in face-offs. He had 13:14 TOI, skating at center with Noah Gregor and Rudolfs Balcers. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka had a shot, a hit and two blocked shots in 11:44 TOI, skating with Nicolas Meloche.

Of Bordeleau’s first game, Boughner said: “I thought he did a lot of good things. You know, I talked to him after the first. Of course, he was nervous and, you know, he said to me: ‘I’ll be better in the second period,’ but I thought he actually had a pretty good first period.” He went on with the analysis to say “I liked his game, I thought pretty responsible, and for a first game I thought he handled himself very well.”

Dmitry Kulikov scored the first goal of the game at 6:04 of the first period. Kevin Fiala dropped the puck to Kulikov high in the slot. Kulikov’s shot went through some traffic and past Reimer’s glove. Assists went to Fiala and Matt Boldy.

Jared Spurgeon made it 2-0 at 7:29 with a shot from the point that went through traffic and in. It seemed to change direction off of Brent Burns’ stick. Marcus Foligno got the assist.

Rudolfs Balcers got the Sharks on the board at 9:38. Thomas Bordeleau knocked the puck lose below the goal line and Balcers gathered it up and moved up high for a shot from just below the blue line. The puck went under Fleury and in. Assists went to Bordeleau and Noah Gregor.

Matt Nieto tied the game at 1:19 of the second period. Nick Bonino caught the puck after Burns knocked it away from the Wild in the Sharks’ zone. Bonino passed it across the neutral zone to a speeding Nieto who carried it the other way. He got as far as the face-off circle before taking the shot for his sixth of the season.

Matt Boldy got the lead back for the Wild at 6:37, cleaning up a rebound. Assists went to Kevin Fiala and Frederick Gaudreau.

Noah Gregor tied it back up at 11:11. Bordeleau helped out again, this time picking off a pass and getting the puck to Balcers to start the play. Burns took the shot from the point and Gregor knocked in the rebound. Burns and Balcers got the assists.

Nick Bonino scored a short-handed goal at 1:37 of the third to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead. Tomas Herlt broke the puck out and then turned to skate backwards just over the Wild blue line. Bonino went down the boards and Hertl made a pass across the ice to him. Bonino took the shot from bad angle and beat Fleury. Assists went to Hertl and Nicolas Meloche.

Keivn Fiala tied it for the Wild, redirecting a Jordie Benn shot from the point. There was some discussion of goaltender interference, as a Wild player did bump Reimer’s glove. After the game, Boughner explained that the Sharks considered challenging it but, with Reimer outside the blue paint, the call might go against them. Assists went to Benn and Gaudreau.

Jared Spurgeon scored the game winner at 1:05 of overtime with a wrist shot from just above the circle. Assists went to Fiala and Gaudreau.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 2-1 to Stars, Losing Streak at nine

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Dallas Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa (2) and center Joe Pavelski (16) defend against San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) in real close battle at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sat Apr 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks lost their ninth in a row Thursday, 2-1 to the Dallas Stars. Tyler Seguin and Michael Raffl scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the win. Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and Kaapo Kahkonen made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner compared the game to the previous outing:

“I thought tonight we played exactly how we want to play in this building against an urgent team. We know how important this game was for Dallas, we tried to match that urgency early. I thought we did. I just thought our game was better, I thought that we played with good structure.”

The Sharks were eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to the Blackhawks on Tuesday. So it should be no surprise that a number of rookies in need of game time were in the lineup Thursday. Out of the lineup were Alexander Barabanov, Erik Karlsson and Radim Simek with injuries of varying degrees. Forward Jasper Weatherby had 8:01 TOI and won 29% of his face-offs, centering Jeffrey Viel and Scott Reedy. Viel had 7:51 TOI. Reedy had two shots, a hit and a blocked shot in 12:10 TOI. Sasha Chmelevski had three shots, two hits, and won 29% of his face-offs in 16:56 TOI, centering Noah Gregor and Matt Nieto. Defenseman Ryan Merkley had an assist, three shots, a blocked shot and a hit in 16:40 TOI, playing with Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Defenseman Nicolas Meloche had a shot, a hit and a blocked shot in 20:31 TOI, playing with Mario Ferraro.

Boughner was not unhappy with the performance of the younger players, and said:

“I thought the young guys all played well, I thought Weatherby coming in, I thought he played fine in the middle. I thought he had a little trouble in his face-offs. You know, but I thought Reedy, and Sasha, [Merkley], all those guys gave us good minutes.”

Tyler Seguin scored the first goal, at 5:55 of the first period. He redirected a shot from Jamie Benn that came across the ice to Seguin, right in front of the blue paint. Assists went to Benn and Ryan Suter.

Michael Raffl scored the second Dallas goal, short handed at 13:32 of the second period. Luke Glendening carried the puck from one o-zone to the other, two on one with Raffl. Glendening made the pass through a sliding Brent Burns to Raffl, who had a clear shot. Assists went to Glendening and Esa Lindell. It was the eleventh short-handed goal that the Sharks have given up this season.

Timo Meier scored at 19:23 of the second, his 33rd of the season. Ryan Merkley sent the puck to the middle of the slot for Meier, who took the shot through traffic. Assists went to Merkley and Mario Ferraro.

The shots were close throughout the game, with a final count of 26-24 Stars. Each team had three shots on the power play, but the Stars had three short-handed shots as well as the short-handed goal. The Sharks won 41% of their face-offs.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 2:30 PM PT in Minnesota against the Wild.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Isles Bossy was a goal scorer and a four time cup champion passes at 65; Rangers Shesterkin throws shutout against Red Wings; plus much more

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The late Mike Bossy skated for the New York Islanders between 1977 to 1987 was a four time Stanley Cup Champion winner (photo from nhl.com)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt, it’s hard to believe that former New York Islander Mike Bossy has passed at 65 years old. Bossy has suffered from lung cancer. Bossy was a goal scorer and a four time cup champion winner.

#2 Matt, the New York Rangers didn’t waste anytime making work of the Detroit Red Wings with a 4-0 shutout at Madison Square Garden Saturday. Igor Shesterkin in goal stopped 20 Red Wing shots for the shutout and left winger Alexis Lafreniere scored twice.

#3 Nashville Predators are hard to hold back as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a Saturday matinee. The Preds got scoring help from Mikael Granlund who got a goal and an assist. The win strengthens the Predators in the Western Conference wild card.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry is week to week with a lower body injury. Jarry didn’t practice Friday morning at the skate he stopped 36 shots on Thursday against the New York Islanders he has a 2.42 goals for the season in the win over the Isles 6-3.

#5 Black on ice officials with Jordan Samuel Thomas and Shandor Alphonso it was the first time that two black officials worked together in NHL history. Shout out to the San Jose Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center who participated in the historic game on Thursday night.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall to Blackhawks 5-4 in Shootout

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Chicago Blackhawks center Dylan Strome (17) scores against San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer, left, at the United Center in Chicago on Thu Apr 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Blackhawks in Chicago on Thursday. Patrick Kane, Taylor Raddish, Calvin DeHaan, and Dylan Strome scored for Chicago. Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves for the win. Timo Meier, Scott Reedy, Rudolfs Balcers, and Jaycob Megna scored for San Jose.

James Reimer made 28 saves in the loss. Going into the game, the Sharks had lost seven in a row and the Blackhawks had lost eight in a row. The win was fortuitous, as the game was the last for long-time (39 years) Chicago broadcaster Pat Foley.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about missed opportunities in this game and other recent losses. He said he would like to know “how many breakaways we’ve had probably in the last ten games, either five-on-five, short-handed. Shoot-outs, all those situations, you know, two nights ago in Nashville, Tommy Hertl. We missed a few breakaways in Vancouver. So those are golden opportunities to shift the momentum and we haven’t been able to take advantage of that.”

Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks a lead at 2:03 in a three-on-one attack. Kane, arriving at the side of the net received, the pass from Dylan Strome and tapped the puck over the line. Assists went to Strome and Alex Debrincat.

Timo Meier tied it up at 4:45. Brent Burns took a shot from the point. Tomas Hertl redirected it and it went off of a Chicago defender, bouncing right to Meier, who shot it in off of the far post. Assists went to Hertl and Burns.

Taylor Raddish scored for Chicago on the power play at 13:35 of the second period. Assists went to Seth Jones and Patrick Kane.

Scott Reedy tied it 2-2 at 15:53. Matt Nieto passed the puck to a trailing Reedy who took the shot up the slot through traffic. The puck went in off of the crossbar. Assists went to.

The NHL reviewed a play at 17:14 after the Blackhawks celebrated, thinking they had a goal. But Reimer twisted around to reach for the puck and sweep it out while it was still on the red line. Before play resumed, Nicolas Meloche and Jake McCabe seemed ready to fight but the officials intervened and gave them each four minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Blackhawks scored during the ensuing four-on-four at 18:42. Patrick Kane sent the puck at the net just as Calvin DeHaan was passing in front of the blue paint for a neat redirection. Assists went to Kane and Debrincat.

Dylan Strome made it 4-2 Chicago at 4:45 of the third. Four Blackhawks entered the zone, and four passed the puck across the ice before Strome took the shot from just below the circle. Assists went to Seth Jones and Alex Debrincat.

Rudolfs Balcers cut the lead back down to one with a goal at 5:40. With a scramble going on in front of the Chicago net, Balcers found the puck out front. He took his time to set up and shoot the puck up over the prone goaltender. Assists went to Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson.

Jaycob Megna tied the game at 16:35, after a flurry of shots from the Sharks late in the third. Megna caught a rebound at the bottom of the circle and shot the puck into the far side. Assists went to Meier and Hertl.

After a scoreless overtime, James Reimer saved shots from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, but gave up a goal to Alex Debrincat. Kevin Lankinen stopped shots from Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson.

Alexander Barabanov did not skate after he took a body check early in the first period, but he returned for the second period. Radim Simek also left early the first period, returned for two shifts before the end of the period and then did not return for the second. Matt Nieto sustained an upper-body injury at the end of the second period but returned for the third.

The shot count was close in the first and second periods, 22-20 Sharks. In the third, the Sharks stepped on the gas and out-shot the Blackhawks 13-6. In OT, the Blackhawks had four shots to the Sharks’ one. In the face-off circle, the Sharks took a beating, winning only 36% of the draws.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Dallas against the Stars at 5:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Preds Johansen shows that he can do it by himself gets gamer in overtime for 1-0 win

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The Nashville Predators and left winger Filip Forsberg (9) kept San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (34) off balance night in a goaltending duel that went into overtime at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (photo from San Jose Sharks)

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa it was a battle that felt like it took all night both goaltenders for the San Jose Sharks (29-33-10) Kaapo Kahkonen and for the Nashville Predators (42-26-5) Juuse Saros. Saros got the perfect game stopping all 25 Sharks shots for the 1-0 overtime shutout. Kahkonen stopped 41 Predator shots.

#2 Mary Lisa there’s a lot that goes into throwing a shutout Saros had to defend against some of the Sharks top shooters Matt Nieto led with four shots, Sasha Chemlevski, Rudolfs Balcers, and Tim Meier had three each to no avail.

#3 Mary, talk about the goal by Ryan Johansen in the overtime stanza at 3:18 it was the game’s only goal and with Kahkonen defending the net as well as he was and the goal coming in the late part of the overtime it gave the Predators a great chance to wrap up the game.

#4 One other note the Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki was crosschecked in the face and slashed on the hip on Sun Apr 10th by the Pittsburgh Penguins Evgeni Malkin. Malkin received a double minor and was suspended for the next four games. The league ruled the hit was intentional and not some defensive inadvertent move.

#5 It’s off to Chicago and the United Center and the Blackhawks who have lost eight straight games. The Hawks have not won a game since Mar 24 in a shootout over the Los Angeles Kings 4-3. Tell us how you see the Sharks and Blackhawks matching up Thursday night.

Join Mary Lisa for the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 1-0 to Predators in OT

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Nashville Predators’ Mattias Ekholm (14) celebrates with Ryan Johansen (92) after Johansen scored the winning goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (34) in overtime at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tue Apr 12, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their seventh in a row 1-0 in overtime to the Nashville Predators Tuesday. Ryan Johansen scored the lone goal of the game. Juuse Saros made 25 saves for the win. The Predators moved into the first wild card spot with the win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 40 saves for San Jose in the loss.

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen described what he saw from his team: “Good road game. We battled hard and we didn’t step back and did a lot of good things. We were in the game all game, just a tough result again. But I think a lot of good things for being on the road and playing a good team.”

Despite their current losing streak, the Sharks have been very close in many of their recent games, including this one. Sharks forward Rudolfs Balcers described the mood in the room after the game: “Frustrating, you know, trying to get that win here, it’s been too many losses. I mean, it’s just tough, you don’t score goals you don’t win a game. So, the guys are a little down.”

The Sharks put up a good fight, including fights in the first period and the third from Jeffrey Viel and Nicolas Meloche. In general, the team played well and certainly improved on their prior meeting with Nashville, when they lost 8-0. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“I think that we did a decent job of sort of establishing our game. I think I looked up at the clock at one point in time it was 11 or 12 minutes to play in the first period and the shots were 2-1. So, those were things that we wanted to come out and establish. You know, we stood up to them physically and [Couture] came out hitting, [Viel], Meloche, guys like that. We took the hit to make the play we gave hits, it was a physical grind and I thought we answered the bell.”

There were two goals from the Predators in the game, but the first one was called back when the Sharks challenged the play for offside. Ryan Johansen’s overtime goal came 3:18 into the the extra frame. Johansen took the shot from a bad angle and it seemed to deflect of off a Shark before slipping under Kahkonen and into the net. Assists went to Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg.

The Sharks were outshot by the Predators 25-41 through the game. In the face-off circle, they did well in the first period but by the end of the game were down to 43%. The Sharks killed two penalties, allowing just three shots. Their power play had one opportunity and got one shot on goal. Matt Nieto led the team in shots with four.

The Sharks play again on Thursday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 5:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Canucks, Canucks Sweep Season Series

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Vancouver Canucks’ Alex Chiasson and fans celebrate his goal during third period action at Rogers Place in Vancouver on Sat Apr 9, 2022 (The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks’ Alex Chiasson and fans celebrate after Chiasson scores in the third period against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place in Vancouver on Sat Apr 10, 2022 (The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

VANCOUVER- The San Jose Sharks dropped their sixth in a row, a 4-2 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. The loss concluded the season series between the teams, with the Canucks winning all three games. The win put the Canucks within four points of a playoff spot. Jason Dicksinson, Conor Garland, Alex Chiasson and Luke Schenn scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko made 35 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks and Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves in the loss.

Like many of the Sharks recent losses, the game was close in many respects. Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner listed some of the missed opportunities that the Sharks had on Saturday:

“Had our scoring chances, again, I mean, I sound like a broken record but we had breakaways, we had three posts, you know, we had looks at the end in our six on five, six on four situation. You know, we had plenty of opportunities to score, we didn’t get it done.”

Sharks defenseman Ryan Merkley took a hit early in the first period after missing the mark with a drop pass in the Canucks zone. While he was getting to the bench, the Canucks went the other way and scored. He left the game until late in the period. Boughner discussed the hit and the play:

“I thought [the hit] looked a little high. Concerned about that, also concerned about the play. In the back of our net, that’s how we start the game. Things that we’re trying to get out of his game, out of our game. He’s a young guy. But I think that he got hit high, I looked at it a few times. He went through protocol, got checked out, it was good to see him come back healthy and ready to help us. But those are learning plays.”

Jason Dickinson gave the Canucks the lead just 2:05 into the first period. He intercepted a pass in the Sharks zone and went the other way two-on-one. He tucked the puck into the net at the last minute after Kahkonen had come too far out of the net.

Tomas Hertl tied it at 7:33 with a power play goal. Erik Karlsson set up Timo Meier for a shot from the circle. Demko stopped Meier’s shot but the rebound went right to Hertl on the other side. Assists went to Meier and Karlsson.

Conor Garland made it 2-1 at 4:49 of the second period. Garland picked up the puck at the Sharks blue line and went the other way with speed. He took the shot from the circle and to score his 15th of the season. Alex Chiasson got the assist.

Nick Bonino, playing his 750th NHL game, deflected a Brent Burns shot from the point to tie it at 18:37. Assists went to Burns and Noah Gregor.

Alex Chiasson made it 3-2 at 2:07 of the third period. He caught the puck low in the circle and put the shot through the short side. Assists went to Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers.

Luke Schenn scored a short-handed goal into and empty net with a second left in the game to make it 4-2.

The Sharks killed seven penalties in the game, allowing 12 shots to the Canucks power play. The Sharks power play had five opportunities and got one goal and five shots. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 55% of the draws.

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

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Isles continue to roll with win over Hurricanes; Coyle gets goal in OT as Boston defeats Tampa Bay; plus more

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The New York Islanders are jubilant after a goal scored by Kyle Palmieri (21) during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Arena in Raleigh on Fri Apr 8, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 With just 14.1 second left with the score tied 1-1 the New York Islanders (33-28-9) Kyle Palmieri found the back end of the net and got the game winning goal to help defeat the Carolina Hurricanes (46-18-8). The win comes after the night the Isles clinched a playoff spot.

#2 In overtime last night the Boston Bruins (45-21-5) Charlie Coyle got the game winning goal at 3:37 to get the Bruins a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning (43-20-8). Coyle scored to the right of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

#3 In another nail biter with just 37.3 second left in overtime in the contest the Florida Panthers (50-15-6) Sam Bennett scored the game winner to help defeat the Buffalo Sabers (. Bennett’s goal was redirected from Aleksander Barkov’s pass in front of the net it was Bennett’s 100th NHL goal and 200th point.

#4 Matt, if you like overtime in the NHL this was your night the St Louis Blues came from behind to defeat the Minnesota Wild at the Enterprise Center. The Blues Robert Thomas scored at 1:27 in overtime for the gamer. Thomas’ shot was a one timer from the left faceoff circle.

#5 The Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar scored the game winner in overtime in the fourth NHL overtime on Friday as the Aves defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-4 at Canada Life Centre. Makar had help earlier the Avalanche’s Nathan McKinnon and Andre Burakowsky had scored goals.

Matt does the NHL podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Doug Wilson Steps Down, Search For New Sharks GM Begins

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San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson at a news conference Sep 18, 2018 stepped down on Thu Apr 7, 2022 after 19 seasons as GM. Interim GM Joe Will is running the club until a new general manager is found (AP News file photo)

By Mary Lisa Walsh

SAN JOSE- Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson has been quietly but conspicuously absent for most of this season. Last Fall, shortly after being inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, Wilson began a leave of absence for health reasons. Assistant GM Joe Will stepped in. On Thursday, the Sharks announced that their GM of 19 years had stepped down. In a press release, Wilson said of his decision:

“Finally, I want to thank everyone who has reached out during my leave of absence. While I have made great progress over the last several months, I feel it is in the best interest of the organization and myself to step down from my current duties and focus on my health and full recovery. I look forward to continuing my career in the NHL in the future.”

Thursday morning, the Sharks released a statement from owner Hasso Plattner:

“I want to personally thank Doug for his 19 seasons as general manager of the San Jose Sharks. Doug and his staff produced remarkable results over a span that very few NHL teams can match, highlighted by our 2016 Stanley Cup run. Doug has been an integral part of this franchise since the team’s inception in 1991, and his impact – on and off the ice – will continue to be felt long into the future. Doug, and his wife Kathy, will always have a place as members of the Sharks family.”

The team in charge of the search is made up of Sharks President Jonathan Becher, Interim General Manager Joe Will and Hasso Plattner. It does not seem that anyone expected Wilson to make this decision at this time. Of their plans so far, Becher said:

“Quite honestly, this is a late-breaking thing, so to say we have a hard list of criteria written down and I can cite them all would be exaggerating. Joe and I are going to meet this afternoon, put together the outline of the kind of person we’re looking for, probably bat around even some original ideas.”

Accordingly, the Sharks have no set timeline for finding a new GM. While they do not expect to fill the position before the draft, they anticipate finding someone before the next season starts. While the search is described as an external one, they have not absolutely ruled out choosing someone from within the organization.

Becher was asked whether they anticipate any changes to the team culture or style of play. He said:

“The culture of San Jose as a destination, as a family environment, that is highly unlikely to change as part of that. The culture of winning first, winning in the right way, that is unlikely to change. As I said in my opening remarks, Doug’s fingerprints are all over this thing and they’re unlikely to disappear. But as candidates come through they’re likely to have ideas that we haven’t thought of before and that’s what we want to be open to.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner heard the news Thursday morning. He called the news “stunning,” and said: ” Doug means a lot to me personally, I know what he’s done with this organization and, you know, his legacy is tough to compare. I think that a lot of people in that dressing room, including myself, have a lot to be thankful to Doug for. It’s, I guess, a changing of the guard and we’re trying to get our head around that.”

Several Sharks players spoke with the media Thursday afternoon, expressing their surprise at the news and also gratitude for the support that Wilson gave to them through their careers in San Jose. Sharks captain Logan Couture said: “Definitely going to miss him. Hopefully see him down the road here and talk to him and all that. But, happy that he’s taking steps to, you know, get to where he needs to be and doing what’s best for himself and his family.”