Category: San Jose Sharks

Wild use balanced attack to defeat Sharks 5-2

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The Minnesota Wild’s defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) scores the first goal of the game against the San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 11, 2023 (@mnwild photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 11, 2023

Five different Minnesota players scored, John Klingberg and Ryan Hartman each assisted on two of its goals, as the Wild defeated San Jose 5-2 Saturday at SAP Center.

It was the third straight loss for the Sharks after beating Winnipeg on the road on Monday.

The Wild (38-21-7, 83 points) opened the scoring at 1:44 of the first period on Jared Spurgeon’s 10th goal of the season, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead t the first intermission.

San Jose (19-36-12, 50 points) tied the game at 1-1 at 10:19 of the second period when Logan Couture scored on the power-play on assists from Erik Karlsson – his 64th helper – and Tomas Hertl. It was Couture’s 23rd goal of the season. Minnesota regained the lead just over two minutes before the second intermission on a power-play goal by Frederick Gaudreau.

The Wild extended their lead to 3-1 30 seconds into the third period when Marcus Johansson scored his 14th. Hertl’s 19th goal of the season, a power-play tally, pulled the Sharks to within 3-2 at 8:36. But Mats Zuccarello scored for Minnesota on the power-play at 11:00 and Matt Boldy addd an empty-netter at 18:03 to put the game away.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 of 37 shots for Minnesota, while Sharks netminder James Reimer faced 28 shots, stopping 24.

The Sharks’ homestand continues on Tuesday, when they host Columbus.

Karlsson Matches Franchise D-man Mark, Sharks Get Swept By Blues in 4-2 Loss

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The St Louis Blues center Robert Thomas (18) is jazzed as the Blues defeated the San Jose Sharks at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thu Mar 9, 2023 (@StLouisBlues photo)

By Matthew Harrington

Erik Karlsson matched the San Jose Sharks single-season record for points by a defenseman, but the Sharks still fell to the St. Louis Blues 4-2 Thursday night in the Gateway City, suffering a season sweep at the hands of their Midwest foes. Tomas Hertl scored the Sharks other goal and Alexander Barabanov had a pair of assists in defeat. The Blues (28-31-5) received goals from four different players. The Sharks (19-35-12) had a 26-19 shot edge heading into the third period, but were tied at 2-2 before the Blues cracked the game open late. San Jose had two possible goals called back for not crossing the goal as well.

Karlsson will certainly smash the franchise record, set by Brent Burns in the 2018-19 season. Burns set the mark over 82 games with 16 goals and 67 assists for a Sharks team that picked up 101 points for a second place finish in the regular season standings for the Western Conference. What makes Karlsson’s feat all the more impressive is that this iteration of the Sharks will finish somewhere…. much lower in the standings.

For Karlsson, the team feat matches an individual achievement. The Swedish defenseman’s previous career high in points was 82, coming in a rare full season for the injury-riddle d-man for the 2015-16 Ottawa Senators. He sits one goal off his career high of 21 in 2014-15 and three back of matching his career high in assists of 66 in his previous career-best year. He also now has the second best point total by a defenseman 32 years or older since Ray Bourque had 91 points(1993-94) per Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News. Brent Burns was also 34 when he had his 83 point season.

Karlsson scored his 20th goal of the year much like he scored many of his others 10:23 into the first period , beating Jordan Binnington on a snap shot through traffic that had eyes. He’s mastered the dying art of goal scoring by a defenseman this season even as goals have been hard to come by for San Jose.

The Blues Torey Krug tied the game up at the 12:31 mark of the period after he was sprung on a two-on-one with Robert Thomas carrying the puck. Thomas passed the puck to Krug while Nico Sturm backchecked Alexei Toropchenko into Kaapo Kahkonen in the Shark’s net for a 1-1 tie.

The Blues’ Sammy Blais skated in on the breakway before going fore-hand back-hand on Kahkonen at the 10:06 mark of the second period to score his third of the year, but Tomas Hertl answered back with his 18th of the year with 5:29 left in the period. Alexander Barabanov forced a turnover on the forecheck, passed the puck to Hertl streaking down the center lane and picked up the assist when Hertl beat Binnington clean for a 2-2 tie.

Just 2:53 into the third period the Blues took the 3-2 lead on Jakub Vrana’s first goal with the Blues after a shot went wide on the Sharks net. Pavel Buchnevich tried to bank the rebound off Kahkonen’s back side but didn’t convert. The rebound was there for Vrana to bat home though.

Robert Thomas sealed the game for the Blues on a power play goal with 4:58 left in regulation. The Sharks offense sputtered in the final frame, putting only eight shots on the Blues net while surrendering 12. Despite the late power play strike, the Blues were only 1 for 4 on the power play while the Sharks failed to convert on any of their four opportunities.

San Jose returns home to face the Minnesota Wild Saturday night. It kicks off a four-game home stand with tilts with the Blue Jackets, Kraken and Islanders looming at the SAP Center.

Avalanche Crush Sharks 6-0; Karlsson loses it after officials miss call

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San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson sits on the bench assisted by the Sharks trainer just before throwing his helmet on the ice and receiving an unsportsmanship like conduct after taking a non call high stick to the mouth against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver Wed Mar 7, 2023 (still photo from NBC Sports and SJ Hockey Now)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks got a glimpse of just how far off from Stanley Cup contention they are Tuesday night in Denver, getting steamrolled by the defending Cup Champion Avalanche 6-0. The Sharks were stifled to just 13 shots, all turned aside by Alexander Georgiev.

Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin had four point nights and six different Avs scored in the rout. Kaapo Kahkonen made 19 saves on 24 shots against Colorado (35-21-6) and James Reimer stopped 18 of 19 in relief playing in back-to-back contests.

The Sharks (19-34-12) opened the game flat, managing only a pair of shots on goal in the first period. They found themselves trailing 3-0 after Cale Makar scored his 14th goal 4:08 into the game. Nathan MacKinnon doubled the lead at the 12:51 mark for his 26th of the year and Mikko Rantanen scored his 42nd on the power play with 2:59 left in the period. Colorado put 19 shots on goal in the period.

San Jose raised its shot total to five shots in the middle period, but again the Avs peppered the Sharks netminders to the tune of 15 shots. Nichushkin scored his 12th of the year just 1:22 into the period on a tip-in, Dennis Malgin made it 5-0 Colorado just 1:23 later and Arturi Lehkonen pitched in his 18th of the year, this one on Reimer who replaced Kahkonen after the Malgin goal.

Reimer finished up the game strong, stopping all nine Avs shots. The damage had already been done and the Sharks wound up committing two misconducts, one on Erik Karlsson and the other on Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the final period. They had 30 penalty minutes in total on the night. Karlsson was hit in the mouth with a high stick by the Avalanche’s Alex Newhook after being attended on the bench by the trainer Karlsson threw his helmet on the ice and said after the game he was disrespected by the officials Gord Dwyer and Corey Syvret for not making the high stick call.

The Sharks face the St. Louis Blues Thursday night in game three of a three game road trip. They’ll return home Saturday to face the Minnesota Wild at SAP Center.

Reimer, Sharks Ground Jets with 3-2 OT Win

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San Jose Sharks celebrate a victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg on Mon Mar 6, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Matthew Harrington

James Reimer and the San Jose Sharks stole victory from the jaws of defeat Monday night in Winnipeg, beating the Jets 3-2 in overtime. Reimer made 36 saves, Tomas Hertl scored to tie the game with five seconds left and Logan Couture potted the game winner in OT for the win.

Nino Niederreiter and Nate Schmidt scored for the Jets (36-25-3) who have now lost eight of their last ten. Nikolai Knyzhov made his season debut for the Sharks (19-33-12), making his first regular season appearance since May 12th, 2021. He played 14:19 with one hit, one block and one penalty.

The Sharks held a 1-0 lead despite being outshot 14-7 after the first period thanks to a Steven Lorentz goal with 5:47 left in the period. David Rittich failed to put his glove on a loose puck that Lorentz scooped up for a backhand amongst of sea of bodies. Oskar Lindblom and Levin Labanc picked up the assists.

Niederreiter tied the game 6:05 into the second on a wrist shot, beating Reimer for the first time on the Jets 19th shot of the game for his 200th career goal and 19th of the season. Schmidt scored with 5:07 left in regulation and the Jets seemed on their way to victory.

The Sharks pulled Reimer trailing 2-1 and were rewarded for the risk. Erik Karlsson’s point slapper was blocked by Blake Wheeler but the shot richocheted perfectly to Hertl just wide of the slot. Hertl rifled a shot past Rittich with 11 seconds left in regulation, his 17th goal of the year forcing overtime.

Couture picked up his second point of the night on the game winner, with Karlsson springing him on a breakaway after picking up a rebound in the Sharks end for a second assist of the night. Couture’s 22nd of the year went backhand through Rittich’s five hole 1:21 into overtime.

After beating the Jets, third in the Central Division standings, the Sharks face another tough task Tuesday night. They face the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the Mile High City.

Capitals bury Sharks 8-3; SJ drops fifth straight game

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Kappo Kahkonen (36) goaltender of the San Jose Sharks stopped 22 shots faced 30 and allowed eight goals against the Washington Capitals at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 4, 2023 (photo by SanJoseSharks)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 4, 2023

Alex Ovechkin and Craig Smith each scored twice on Saturday, leading the Washington Capitals past the San Jose Sharks 8-3 at SAP Center.

Rasmus Sandin had three assists in his first game as a Capital, Garrison Carlsson had two assists in his Washington debut and Vincent Iorio picked up his first point in his first NHL game.

The Capitals pumped in four goals in the second period and four more in the third after trailing 2-0 at the first intermission. Tomas Hertl scored San Jose’s first goal on the power play at 12:03 and Alexander Barabanov made it 2-0 for the home team at 15:30.

In the second period, after the Capitals made a couple of line adjustments, Smith scored from the right circle on an assist from Dylan Strome, cutting the Washington deficit to 2-1 at 8:46. Less than three minutes later, Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored the equalizer, beating Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen at 11:30.

Former Shark Matt Irwin put the Capitals ahead to stay at 15:28 of the second with a slap shot from the left point. Smith scored his second goal of the game with a minute remaining in the period.

T.J. Oshie made it 5-2 at 5;50 of the third period, shortly before Sharks coach David Quinn received a game misconduct penalty for arguing a call. Nico Sturm scored on a one-timer to cut the Washington lead to 5-3 at 9:02, but Ovechkin scored his 34th and 35th goals of the season in response, followed by a tally from Strome.

Kahkonen stopped 22 of 30 shots, while Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper made 38 saves.

The Sharks have a two-game road trip on Monday and Tuesday, visiting Winnipeg and Colorado.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Charanbir Mahal: Sharks dealing; Taking a look at departures of Meier and Bonino

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San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) moves the puck while defended by Pittsburgh Penguins center Teddy Blueger, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast with Charanbir:

#1 Charanbir, has the Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils impacted this team the Sharks have suffered heavy loses since his departure losing to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 and their last game to the St Louis Blues 6-3.

#2 The Sharks who acquired Vladislav Namestnikov, from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Mikey Eyssimont who was sent to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2025 fourth rounder.

#3 The Sharks continued dealing sending Nick Bonino to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three way trade, the Sharks said they received three draft picks and Arvid Henrikson from Montreal, the Canadiens picked up defenceman Tony Sund and a 2024 fifth round draft pick, and the Penguins picked up Bonino from the Canadiens.

#4 Bonino got wind of the deal after Thursday’s game against the Blues Bonino and Sharks goaltender James Reimer embraced by the locker room after Bonino learned of the news.

#5 Charanbir, talk about the Sharks Scott Reedy being dealt to the Dallas Stars from Jacob Peterson. Reedy came to the Sharks as a fourth round draft choice in 2017 and had five goals and eight assists for the San Jose Barracuda for 2022-23.

Join Charanbir for the Sharks podcast during San Jose Sharks home games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Second period collapse by Sharks gives Blues the victory 6-3

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Andreas Johnsson gets warmed up before a game.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On home ice the Sharks had a good start that fell away to a terrible second period giving the Blues the victory by a final of 6-3.

In goal tonight for the Sharks was James Riemer while Thomas Griess got the start for the Blues.

San Jose’s offense got off to a quick start in this one as just 3:50 into the first period Andres Johnsson flipped the puck out to a streaking Alexander Barabonov. Despite their being a Blues defenseman back Barabonov dangled Justin Faulk and put one in past Griess to make it 1-0. On that goal Johnsson got his first point in a Sharks uniform.

Smelling blood in the water just a few minutes later Erik Karlsson dropped a pass to Logan Couture that he one-timed past Griess to extend the lead to two.

The rest of the first period was rather quiet with the Blues in particular struggling to get much going on offense.

At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose at 10-4.

During intermission it seems that St. Louis got a thorough talking to as they came out in the second period with a new sense of urgency.

That urgency ended up paying off as 2:35 into the second Colton Parayko snuck in back door and tapped one home to make it 2-1.

Feeling the pressure just a few minutes later the Blues went on the power play as Barabonov took a tripping penalty.

On the power play Jordan Kyrou found himself wide open in the slot and fired one past Riemer to tie the game up at two.

St. Louis was not just content with tying it though and Logan Brown obliged sniping home his first goal of the season and giving the Blues the lead.

Late in the second period Radim Simek took a tripping penalty giving the Blues an opportunity to extend their lead.

The Sharks penalty kill once again came up short as Brayden Schenn was left open backdoor and scored his 17th goal of the season.

At the end of the second period the shots favored San Jose at 19-16.

In the third San Jose got off to a rough start as at the 14:29 mark of the period Kevin Labanc was called for tripping.

While the other two power plays had gone well for the Blues this one did not as short handed Steven Lorentz scored to make it 4-3. After the goal the Sharks continued to push for the equalizer.

Late in the third period Jacob Macdonald made a terrible turnover in the neutral zone that lead to Tyler Pitlick taking the puck and scoring. The goal was Pitlick’s fourth goal of the campaign and sucked all life out of the building.

The Sharks pulled Riemer to try and tie the game but to no avail as Kasperi Kapanen scored on the empty cage to seal the game at 6-3.

“We just weren’t sticking to out game and that’s something we definitely got to adress and look in the mirror it’s unacceptable,” Lorentz commented after the game.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Pavel Buchnevich 2nd: Colton Parayko 3rd: Nikita Alexandrov

San Jose’s next game will be this Saturday against the Washington Capitals at home at 3 p.m.

Canadiens slip past Sharks 3-1

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The Montreal Canadiens who were down after the first period 1-0 came back and defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at SAP Center in San Jose as a dejected Sharks center Nico Sturm (7) skates away on Tue Feb 28, 2023 (@CanadiensMTL photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Jase Ylonen scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period for the  Montreal Canadiens  Tuesday, as the Canadiens went on to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at SAP Center.

Christian Dvorak and Kaiden Guble also found the net for the Habs, and Jake Allen made 28 saves while earning his 14th win.

Defenseman Jacob MacDonald scored his first goal of the season – and his first for the Sharks – to account for San Jose’s lone tally. Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen was credited with 29 saves.

San Jose (18-31-12, 48 points) opened the scoring at 1:43 of the first period when Sharks forward Nico Sturm forced a turnover in front of the Canadiens net, allowing MacDonald to capitalize on the opportunity.

After a scoreless second period, Montreal (26-30-4, 56 points) tied the game at 8:07 of the third period. Guble beat Kahkonen with a slapshot from the point. Less than two minutes later, Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick created a 2-on-0 break and fed Ylonen at the mouth of the crease at 9:59. It was Ylonen’s second goal of the season.

Dvorak tacked on an empty-netter with five seconds remaining for his 10th goal of the season.

Elsewhere for the Sharks, defenseman Radim Simek played in his first game since getting injured on Dec. 31. Newly-acquired forwards Andreau Johnsson and Fabian Zetterlund made their Sharks debuts after being picked up in the deadline trade that sent Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils,

The Sharks host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

MLB podcast with Charlie O: Automatic strike out has impact on first day of spring training games; plus much more news

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San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado took the first auto strike in baseball history Sat Feb 25, 2023 against the Seattle Mariners. Here is Machado  following through on an RBI-double during the third inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oct. 12, 2022, in Los Angeles (AP file photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie needless to say lots of changes in baseball we’ll start with living and dying with the clock how much of a factor will the clock play that could decide a big game or even knock a team out of playoff contention?

#2 Charlie Saturday was the first day of the automatic strike call rule and that’s how the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves ended their game. With the bases loaded, two outs and a full count Braves second baseman Cal Conley was called out on strikes when the batter’s clock ran out on him thus the game was called in a 6-6 tie.

#3 San Diego Padres superstar third baseman was called for the very first automatic strike in MLB history when plate umpire Ryan Blakney called him for the strike for not being ready as the eight seconds ran out. Machado did end up going 2-2 against the Seattle Mariners none the less.

#4 Charlie lots of choices for Oakland A’s manager to make particularly in the outfield first JJ Bleday play left, center or right. Seth Brown will platoon between first and left field, Esteury Ruiz is slated for center and Ramon Laureano in right.

#5 The Minnesota Twins Carlos Correa who returned to Minnesota with a six year $200 million said “I could sit down and cry about it (not passing the physicals and loss of salary money with the Giants and Yankees) or I could keep working” and Correa has returned can he live up to the expectations even with the lower leg injury?

Join Charlie O for the MLB podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Blackhawks edge Sharks 4-3 in shootout, Marleau’s No. 12 retired

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In a special tribute to former San Jose Shark Patrick Marleau he is joined by former Shark teammates Joe Thornton (center) and Kelly Hrudey (right) to retire his old number 12 at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Feb 25, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, February 25, 2023

Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek made 45 saves, stopped all three shootout attempts by San Jose, and led the Blackhawks past the Sharks 4-3 Saturday on Patrick Marleau Night at SAP Center.

Marleau had his No. 12 retired by the Sharks, a first in team history. He played 21 of his 23 NHL seasons for San Jose before retiring in 2021. Marleau broke Gordie Howe’s record for NHL games played with 1,779. He holds Sharks records for games played (1,607), goals (522) and points (1,111).

Philipp Kurashev scored the only goal in the shootout, giving Chicago (21-32-5, 47 points) its longest winning streak since winning five in a row in January 2020.

Also scoring for the Blackhawks, David Gust with his first career goal, Brett Seney had his first goal in four years and Max Domi. Nick Bonino Evgeny Svechnikov and Erik Karlsson all scored for the Sharks (18-30-12, 48 points), who have lost five of their last six games. San Jose goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen was credited with 32 saves.

Domi scored on the opening shift of the third period to put Chicago ahead 3-2. Karlsson answered for San Jose with a goal with 2:11 remaining after the Sharks pulled Kahkonen for a sixth attacker.

The 29-year-old Gust scored on his first shift in the first period when he deflected a pass from Colin Blackwell past Kahkonen. Gust and Eddie Olczyk are the only Illinois natives to score in their NHL debuts with Chicago.

After Bonino tied it for the Sharks, Seney scored on a rush for his first goal since Feb. 9, 2019, when he played for the New Jersey Devils. Svechnikov then scored for the Sharks to tie the game at 2-2.

The Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane flew back to Chicago as trade talks with the New York Rangers began to heat up. Kane has a no-movement clause in his contract and must approve any deal. Sharks forward Timo Meier, who is also mentioned in trade talks, missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury that is not considered serious.

The Sharks host Montreal on Tuesday.