Category: San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks Lose Hard Fought Game Against Nashville Predators 4-2

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San Jose Sharks left winger Alex Barabanov (94) gets the puck past the Nashville Predator defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (right) in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Feb 24, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, February 24th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks host the Nashville Predators in the SAP Center and the boys in teal look to recover from last game. The Sharks penalty kill had its seven-game streak without allowing a power play goal snapped (Mason Morelli, first period).

Henry Thrun was activated from injured reserve prior to the game and logged one takeaway and one blocked shot in 20:43 time on ice. Mario Ferraro led the Sharks with four blocked shots in a team-high 23:47 time on ice and paces the team in blocked shots this season (148). Mackenzie Blackwood’s four game win streak and five-game point streak (4-0-1) were snapped with the loss.

Slow first period for the Sharks, a lot of time in the offensive zone, but no goals off eight shots. Nashville despite two penalties that they killed off, they scored a goal halfway through the period. After Roman Josi passed to Michael McCarron, McCarron dished a tape to tape assist to Keifer Sherwood, who scored his sixth goal of the season. 1-0 Predators. Sharks down one after one period, but still a lot of opportunities to captialize on. 

Nashville gained another goal in the second period off a power play goal. Henry Thrun got a tripping call 17 minutes into the second and this penalty led to an efficient goal for the Predators. Filip Forsberg hit a wrist shot from the point, assisted by Tommy Novak and Gustav Nyquist. 2-0 Nashville.

This goal was Forsberg’s 27th goal of the season and 56th point of the season. Sharks gained more opportunities, but Juuse Saros of the Predators was stopping everything.

Last period of the game started off hot for the Sharks. Mikael Granlund kept San Jose in it with a wrist shot past Saros, 2-1 and Sharks were back in the game. Granlund with 31 points over the past 35 games. Nashville didn’t let up off the gas though, Sherwood scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway silencing the crowd, 3-1 Nashville.

Sharks were still fighting early in the third as Filip Zadina scored off a rebound making it 3-2 and the crowd got a hit of adrenaline and momentum had shifted. Right after the Sharks goal, they almost had another line thanks to Anthony Duclair, but after review it was no goal and San Jose was down one goal with 10 minutes left in the game.

The game went down to the final minute, but after an empty net goal with 10 seconds left, fans made their way to the exits and the game was over 4-2 Nashville.

A hard fought game for the Sharks, but Nashville had the game from the beginning. Next game for the Sharks is Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, who are having a hell of a season, so the hard season keeps getting harder for the boys in teal as the season winds down into the final two months.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to get back in win column tonight against Nashville

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The San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (left) looks to defend against the Vegas Golden Knights center Nicolas Roy in second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Feb 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa, In the San Jose Sharks (15-35-5) last game against the Vegas Golden Knights (32-17-6) at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Feb 19th the Knights put a whooping on San Jose shutting them out 4-0.

#2 The Knights goaltender Logan Thompson got the shutout against the Sharks he stopped all 29 shots. For Thompson it was his fourth career shutout.

#3 The Knights Mason Morelli got a goal and an assist and the win was a season sweep over the Sharks.

#4 The Knights came right out of the gate with three goals in the first period and pretty much just took the Sharks out of their game.

#5 The Sharks host the Nashville Predators tonight at SAP Center in San Jose for a 7pm face off at SAP Center. The Predators are fifth in the Western Conference and have won three straight games and won five of their last ten games. How do you see this match up.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.

Vegas completes season sweep of San Jose with 4-0 victory

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Sharks continued their home stand against one of their most hated rivals the Vegas Golden Knights.

Taking over for San Jose today in goal was Mackenzie Blackwood who’s last start was against Calgary when they got a 6-3 win. For Vegas it was Logan Thompson who heading into this one was sporting a 2.77 GAA and .906 SV%.

If you wanted to classify today’s win in anyway it was clinical. Vegas did what it does best which is play their brand of hockey.

Though funnily enough the game did not start that away as they let San Jose hit the post twice early in the game.

Things looked to be in the home team’s favor until Michael Amadio sprung the zone and Zach Whitecloud hit him with a breakaway pass that he scored on getting his eighth of the season.

Vegas then continued to buzz ragging the puck in the Sharks zone until William Karlsson got the puck out front and stuffed it past Blackwood.

Thing continued to get worse when Jan Rutta took a tripping penalty putting Vegas on the power play 17:30 into the period.

The Golden Knights quickly got set up in the zone and Alex Pietrangelo found Mason Morelli wide open out front who tapped home his first goal career goal in his first NHL game. It was certainly a specail moment for the 28 year old who had toiled away for a longtime in the minors before finally getting his shot. On top of that as well they showed on the broadcast that his family was in attendance who got to celebrate his first career goal in person.

The middle frame saw the Sharks get an early power play but they were able to do little with it as Vegas easily killed it off.

Vegas pretty much did the same thing with the rest of the period as they completely shut down San Jose.

We wouldn’t get a goal until 18:44 in when Keegan Kolesar tapped home a pass from Alex Martinez making it 4-0.

The final period saw no goals as Vegas continued to play their brand of hockey frustrating the Sharks to no end.

In the third San Jose was pretty undisciplined being penalized four times though one of them was at the end of the game.

Thompson did end up recording the shutout making 30 saves which was actually his first shutout of the season.

After the loss San Jose’s record drops to 15-35-5 while Vegas notches it’s 33rd win of the season making their record 33-17-6.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Logan Thompson 2nd: Alex Martinez 3rd: Mason Morelli

San Jose will now have a four day break as they won’t play again until Saturday when they take on Nashville at 7 p.m at SAP Center in San Jose.

Sharks lose heart breaker against Columbus 4-3

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Sharks looked to continue their winning ways against one of the bottom-feeders in the East the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In goal for the Sharks was Kaapo Kahkonen who’s last game was against the Jets when he made 38 saves but still lost. On the other side Elvis Merzlikins was in between the pipes who despite his trade requests is still stuck in Columbus with a 3.21 GAA and .904 SV%.

If you were looking to watch sloppy hockey you got just that to start in this one as it was turnovers galore on both sides. Obviously not all that surprising considering the standing of both teams.

Through all of the sloppiness a moment of beauty shined though as Anthony Duclair got loose for a breakaway. With a Kucherov like move he slipped the puck between Merzlikins legs putting the home crowd on their feet and scoring his 10th of the season.

Then it was Johnny Gaudrea’s turn to get a breakaway but despite getting Kahkonen on the deke Kaapo was still able to poke the puck away at the last minute. The Sharks then decided to let Gaudreau have another breakaway and this time he rang it off the post.

The Sharks luck eventually ran out though as Zach Werenski ripped one past a screened Kahkonen 15:16 into the period tying the game.

Columbus continued to push and less than a minute later Kirill Marchenko beat Kahkonen short side on one that he’d probably want back making it 2-1.

The middle frame saw more loose play as both teams exchanged chances. After a shot from the point Kahkonen struggled to carroll the rebound and sitting on the door step was Dmitri Voronkov who slammed the puck home.

With the life sucked out of the building the Sharks needed a quick response and they’d get just that as just 20 seconds later Duclair buried his second of the night. The goal came off a beautiful feed from Zetterlund who zipped one across to the streaking winger for the tally.

Later in the period Voronkov found himself in the penalty box putting the Sharks on their third power play of the game. On the power play this time it would be Zetterlund receiving the pass as he one timed home a beautiful feed from Calen Addison.

The final frame ended up being quite the opposite of the first two as the team tightened up their play.

It took until the dying moments when Boone Jenner broke past the defense and found himself one-on-one with Kahkonen. Jenner ended up making the right move as he deked to his backhand and snuck one in between Kahkonen’s pads. With only 12.9 seconds left on the clock San Jose did pull their goalie but to no avail as they’d lose 4-3.

The loss drops the Sharks to 15-34-5 while the Blue Jackets improve to 16-26-10.

Special teams favored the Sharks in this one as they went 1/4 while Columbus went 0/3.

The three stars of the game were: 1st Boone Jenner 2nd: Anthony Duclair 3rd: Fabian Zetterlund

The Sharks will look to bounce back on this home stand against Vegas on Monday at 1 p.m.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks open four game homestand starting with Columbus tonight at SAP Center

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The San Jose Sharks Justin Bailey is dazzled after scoring a second period goal against the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Filip Zadina scored two goals and had two assists and scored a career high four points in the Sharks 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night a contrast from their loss to the Winnipeg Jets the night before on Wednesday night 1-0.

#2 Zadina did point out that his line hadn’t scored in awhile but was glad to get the points and help the team, “We haven’t scored as a line in a little bit but we got rewarded for the work we’ve done recently.”

#3 Zadina did have a break out game on Thursday he had only one goal and two assists in his previous 18 games before facing off against the Flames.

#4 The Sharks did have a good offensive night against the Flames with Luke Kunin scoring twice and Justin Bailey with a goal and two assists it was Bailey’s first multi point game. Mikael Granlund also contributed with a goal.

#5 The Sharks have a go with the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center in San Jose tonight for a 7:30pm PT face off. The Jackets are last in the Metropolitan Division at 16-26-10 with 42 points. They oppose the Sharks who are 15-33-5 and have 35 points. The Sharks are opening a four game homestand.

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

Sharks Douse Flames 6-3, Zadina and Kunin 2 Goals Each

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The San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (right) and the Calgary Flames Brayden Pachal (left) watch the play in front of them in the first period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

In their first meeting this season, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday. Mikael Granlund and Justin Bailey scored for San Jose, while Luke Kunin and Filip Zadina each scored twice. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the win. Zadina had four points in the game, a career high. Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 25 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Justin Bailey, who had three points in the game, said:

“Obviously things haven’t been easy for us as a group but I think the one thing that’s been a staple throughout the whole year is we’ve maintained a positive attitude, we’ve maintained trust and belief in the system of what we’re doing and nights like tonight when all things kind of seem to go in your favor, it feels good as a group.”

Nazem Kadri scored the only goal in the first period, giving Calgary a 1-0 lead at 4:19. Kadri deflected a rebound from Martin Pospisil’s shot in a three-on-one rush. The Flames had two power plays in the first period and out-shot the Sharks 13-8.

The Flames had another power play less than two minutes into the second period, but the Sharks killed that and tied the game at 4:52. Mikael Granlund scored with a wrist shot from the face-off circle. An assist went to Filip Zadina.

The Sharks took the lead at 7:50 with a goal from Justin Bailey. After a quick give and go in front of the net with Zadina, Bailey had an open net to shoot at.

At the very end of their first power play of the game, the Sharks made it 3-1 with a goal from Luke Kunin at 12:30. Kunin slipped the puck by Wolf right at the post. The goal came in what was really a 16 second power play for the Sharks, as most of the power play was eaten up by four-on-four play due to overlapping penalties. The goal was missed at first and only on review did the officials identify it. Assists went to William Eklund and Kyle Burroughs.

Mikael Backlund cut the lead down to one with at goal at 19:40. His wrist shot found its way through a crowd at the corner of the net. A scrum followed as Blackwood was knocked over by two falling skaters, one from each team. The Sharks challenged the goal on the basis of goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld. Assists went to Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

Filip Zadina made it 4-2 at 4:38 of the third period. Zadina deflected Nico Sturm’s shot from the point, using the shaft of his stick while skating through the faceoff circle. Assists went to Sturm and Bailey.

Zadina scored again less than a minute later at 5:15. This time, he scored with a wrist shot while using a Calgary defender as a screen. Assists went to Bailey and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Luke Kunin scored his second of the game at 15:30 to make it 6-2. After the puck in the neutral zone, Kunin surprised the Flames and skated into the zone all on his own. He put the puck up under the crossbar to beat Wolf.

Andrei Kuzmenko redirected a shot by Chris Tanev to make it 6-3 at 16:40.

At 13:22 of the second period, Jan Rutta fell to the ice with some help from Walker Duehr’s wide-swinging leg that took out Rutta’s legs. He left the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Jets Shut Out Sharks 1-0, Ferraro and Granlund Return, Hertl and Couture Out

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Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) deflects the puck that goes wide as the Jets Dylan DeMelo (2) defends against the San Jose Sharks Mikeal Granlund (64) at Canada Life Center in Winnipeg on Wed Feb 14, 2024 (The Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were shut out 1-0 by the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. Morgan Barron scored the only goal in the game and Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves for the shutout win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen said, of the many shots he faced: “They’re a pretty high shot volume team but overall I think what we did well was, even though they got a lot of shots on net, I think we boxed out, we kinda kept them outside so that was good for me.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn had a more dismal view of what the Sharks were doing with the puck:

“We had plenty of opportunities to make crisp passes and didn’t do it, I thought our puck play was really slow. I thought we were standing still when we got pucks. That really was the story to me of the night. I didn’t think we had any pace to our game with the puck.”

The Sharks started well in the first period, getting four shots on net before the Jets had any. The Jets turned that around and had 15 shots without allowing the Sharks any more in the period.

With 2:13 left in the period, the Jets scored. Morgan Barron deflected Adam Lowry’s shot from the point for his ninth goal of the season. Assists went to Lowry and Neal Pionk.

The Sharks took one penalty in the first period and allowed one shot to the Jets power play.

At 17:10 of the second period, it looked like Anthony Duclair might have tied the game. A review showed that the puck was stopped by Mark Sheifele, who had slipped in behind his goaltender.

The Jets again out-shot the Sharks in the second period, 16-8. Each team took a penalty in the second period. The Sharks allowed one shot to the Jets power play, and had one short-handed shot. They had no shots in their own power play.

Midway through the third period, Nico Sturm left the game after a hit from Logan Stanley, Stanley’s knee came up behind Sturm’s legs as Sturm fell, causing Sturm to hit the ice head and shoulders first.

In the final minute, Kaapo Kahkonen sustained what appeared to be a lower body injury. He was able to get to the bench so the Sharks could add an extra skater.

The final shot count was 40-18 Jets. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 38.5% of the draws. Nico Sturn led the team in shots with four.

Mario Ferraro and Mikael Granlund were back in the lineup after being injured before the All Star break. Both Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture were out. Hertl had scheduled knee surgery after the All Star Game. The team had advanced notice and, while the surgery was not emergent, it was needed. Logan Couture is having problems with the same lower body injury that kept him out for most of the season.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT in Calgary against the Flames.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks open second half of season in Winnipeg on Wednesday night

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The San Jose Sharks Marc- Edouard Vlasic (right) is ecstatic over his goal celebrates with left wing William Eklund (72) during the second period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Wed Jan 31, 2024. The Sharks resume action on Wed Feb 14, 2024 in Winnipeg against the Winnipeg Jets (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa the Sharks have had a good 14 days off during the All Star break and will return to action this Wed Feb 14 in Winnipeg to face the Jets who just recently had their 16 game winning streak snapped.

#2 Tomas Hertl at the All Star Game was able to score a goal and help Team McDavid it had to be a thrill for Hertl to be at the All Star Game and get a goal representing his team.

#3 Before the break the Sharks were able to defeat the Seattle Kraken 2-0 on Tue Jan 20th behind the great goaltending of MacKenzie Blackwood who stopped all 32 Kraken shots.

#4 The Sharks in their next contest lost to the Anaheim Ducks on Wed Jan 31st at the Honda Center it was a narrow loss 3-2 in over time. The Ducks got an overtime goal and as hard as he tried in net Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 31 of 34 shots and allowed three goals.

#5 It’s the Sharks and Jets this Wednesday night in Winnipeg and anytime you face a team coming off a 16 game win streak you know they have a little going for them coming into this game.

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Hertl scores goal in NHL All Star Game at Toronto for Team McDavid

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San Jose Sharks All Star representative Tomas Hertl (right) missed the last two Sharks games due to a lower body injury but is ready for Sat Feb 3, 2024 All Star Game as a member of Team McDavid at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (photo by USA Today)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl was not drafted for the NHL All Star Player draft how surprised were you that he wasn’t selected?

#2 Hertl however he will be on Connor McDavid’s team. This could give him an opportunity to show his skills and he should be pretty excited to be part of the All Star game.

#3 Mary, take a look at some of Hertl’s teammates David Pastrnak Leon Draisaitl, Rasmus Dahlin, Connor Hellebuyck, and Sam Reinhart a large part of Team McDavid.

#4 Hertl also had that lower body injury and missed the Sharks last two games but will be in today’s All Star game for Team McDavid. Hertl was preparing himself to get into the All Star game resting from the injury.

#5 This will be Hertl’s second All Star game and Hertl said that when the draft was on he didn’t want to be picked last but didn’t get picked at all in the draft. None the less he will be playing in the All Star game.

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

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT, Vlasic Scores Third Game in a Row

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The San Jose Sharks center Nico Sturm (7) gets to the door step but can’t score on Anaheim Ducks goaltender Josh Gibson (36) in the second period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Wed Jan 31, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated in overtime 3-2 by the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry and Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks. John Gibson made 26 saves for the win. Anthony Duclair and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in the loss.

The Sharks had a lead through most of the game. To lose after that had to be frustrating. After the game, Sharks Captain Logan Couture said “I thought we were the better team for a lot of the game but third period they kind of took over. They had a lot of looks, we looked tired at the end there.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said that the team is playing well now, despite this loss: “The one thing that you feel good about right now is how we’re playing now and our compete and we’re not giving up a lot of goals and just overall playing better hockey.”

Anaheim celebrated as if they had scored at 1:58 of the first period. But the whistle had blown and the puck only went into the net as Kahkonen was pushed in as well.

Less than 20 seconds later, the Ducks did score. Isac Lundestrom slipped behind the defense and scored with a wrist shot at 2:12. Assists went to Mason McTavish and Jakob Silfverberg

Anthony Duclair tied the game with a power play goal at 6:59. Shakir Mukhamadullin took a slap shot from the blue line and Duclair caught the rebound. Assists went to Mukhamadullin and Mike Hoffman. That was Mukhamadullin’s first NHL point in his third game.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored from the blue line with a slap shot at 17:57 of the second. Assists went to Kyle Burroughs and William Eklund. The goal extended Vlasic’s goal streak to three games.

With the Ducks net empty, Troy Terry tied the game at 18:59 of the third period. With a scrum in front of the net, Terry found the puck and put it in. Assists went to Leo Carlsson and Adam Henrique.

Frank Vatrano scored the overtime winner 4:07 into overtime. His wrist shot went past Kahkonen’s blocker as the goaltender tried moved across the goal mouth.

The Sharks were out-shot 34-28 by the Ducks. In the face-off circle, they won 45.5% of the draws. Alexander Barabanov was injured half way through the game. After the game, Quinn said that he did not believe the injury was “too serious.”

The Sharks next play on February 14 at 4:30 PM PT in Winnipeg against the Jets.