Category: San Jose Sharks

Sharks Blown Out By Kings 6-2

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Photo credit: mercurynews.com

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 6-2 to the Los Angeles Kings Thursday at Staples Center. Kings goals came from Anze Kopitar, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Carl Grundstrom, Austin Wagner, Alex Iafallo, and Jeff Carter. Their goaltender, Calvin Petersen, made 29 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl scored both Sharks goals ad Martin Jones made 20 saves in the loss. Alexei Melnichuk made five saves for the Sharks, during the final ten minutes, in a brief NHL debut.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said, of the first period: “I thought we played a pretty good period. We’re down three-nothing, I mean, you’ve gotta dig yourself out of a hole on the road. When really, I mean, I thought we were probably the team that had some better scoring chances in the first period and their guy made some saves and our guy didn’t. And now you’re down three-nothing.”

Boughner also said, of Martin Jones’ performance: “That’s not up to our standard, that goaltending. And, you know, I mean we’ve given him a chance here to grab the net, especially with [Dubnyk] being hurt. And we’re not expecting him to win hockey games for us and stand on his head but we’ve gotta have solid goaltending, especially at the beginning of games and it’s not up to our standard and I’m sure it’s not up to his own.”

Logan Couture talked about the trouble the team had with five-on-five offense: “We should have done a better job tonight of holding onto the puck, using the back of the net, then looking to the slot. We were trying to force plays right away and kind of throwing plays blindly. I can think of a few that I did off the top of my head right now. So, something to work on.”

Brent Burns was in the penalty box for holding when Anze Kopitar took a shot from the face-off circle. His shot went over Erik Karlsson’s leg and by Martin Jones on the glove side at 2:47. Assists went to Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown.

The Kings took a 2-0 lead at 9:25. Austin Strand’s cross-ice pass found Jaret Anderson-Dolan for a quick shot. His shot hit Carl Grundstrom’s leg, changing direction at the last second to get by Jones.

A Sharks power play had just expired when Tobias Bjornfot sent the puck up the ice to Austin Wagner, who had just stepped out of the penalty box. He was free to take his time and plan his shot with no defense in the vicinity. It was Wagner’s second goal of the season, scored at 12:42.

Tomas Hertl got the Sharks on the board at 16:49. Nikolai Knyzhov carried the puck across the line and then gave it to Hertl along the boards. Hertl took a shot that hit Austin Strand on the leg. Hertl caught the rebound and sent it back, over Calvin Petersen’s outstretched pad. Assists went to Knyzhov and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The second period was, surprisingly, the Sharks’ best of the game. Despite taking two penalties to the Kings’ one, it looked like they had stopped the bleeding when they scored on a power play at 16:45. The teams had just finished four-on-four when Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl jumped out for a two-on-one. Couture took a shot that came off of Petersen’s pad, right to Hertl. Couture and Erik Karlsson got the assists.

The Kings started their third period scoring at 4:51. Carl Grundstrom gathered up the puck behind the net, and sent it above the crease to Trevor Moore, who passed it to the side of the net. Martin Jones had come out to challenge Moore, but he left too much room and gave Jaret Anderson-Dolan an open net. The Sharks defense had missed several chances to control that puck, and in doing so ended up well out of the play and unable to help their goaltender.

Just over a minute later, Alex Iafallo made it 5-2. Dustin Brown managed to fall and slide into Martin Jones without incurring a penalty. While Jones was tied up with Brown, Iafallo put the puck in the net. Brent Burns was called for hi-sticking Brown which negated any penalty to Brown. The Sharks challenged the goal but just got a second penalty for their trouble.

With a two-man advantage, the Kings scored again at 6:56. Jeff Carter scored with a one-timer off of a Kopitar pass that went from one face-off circle to the other. Assists went to Kopitar and Drew Doughty.

The Sharks put Alexei Melnichuck in the net with about 10 minutes left in the period. He made five saves on five shots.

By the end of the game, the teams were dead even in shots at 31 each. The Sharks had just two power plays, while Los Angeles had six. The Sharks had some of their best face-off results of the season, winning 60% of them.

Goaltender Devan Dubnyk is day-to-day with an injury. Bob Boughner did not specify when the injury was sustained but he did say that he does not expect him to play this weekend.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 1:00 PM PT in San Jose, against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Sharks Beat Kings 4-3 in Shootout

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The San Jose Sharks Evander Kane (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring a third period goal as the Los Angeles Kings could only look away Mon Feb 9, 2021 at Staples Center in Los Angeles (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 4-3 against the Los Angeles Kings at Staple Center Tuesday. It was their fifth shootout of the season and their third in a row. Sharks goals came from Logan Couture, Timo Meier and Evander Kane, with Couture also scoring the shootout winner. Martin Jones made 24 saves for the win. Kings goals came from Dustin Brown (2) and Anze Kopitar, while Calvin Petersen made 37 saves in the loss. Patrick Marleau passed Jaromir Jagr in Tuesday’s game, on the NHL’s all-time games played list. His 1,734 games are good for third, just behind Mark Messier.

Sharks captain Logan Couture had an outstanding game with a goal, an assist and six shots on goal before the shootout. Only Brent Burns had more shots with seven. After the game, Sharks goalie Martin Jones said: “He just brings it every night. He’s got kind of a workmanlike attitude and, you know, he comes and he brings it every night and that’s something that, you know, I definitely respect about him.”

The Sharks started the scoring early, just 1:20 in. Radim Simek put the puck off to the right of the net and Ryan Donato caught up to it just in time to send a pass backwards to where Timo Meier was arriving at the net. Goalie Calvin Petersen was following the puck to the left and Meier moved it back to the right and into an open net. Assists went to Donato and Simek.

The Sharks’ second goal came in the final minutes of the first. Knyzhov put the puck on Patrick Marleau’s stick by the net and he passed it across the crease to Logan Couture. Petersen could not get back across in time and Couture scored his sixth of the season. Assists went ot Marleau and Knyzhov.

The Sharks took one penalty mid-period but allowed no shots. Instead, Marcus Sorensen got credit for a short-handed effort. The Sharks led the first period in shots 12-4, and the teams were even in face-off wins.

The Sharks started the second period on a power play that carried over from the first period. They got two shots in on that power play but then took three penalties over the course of the period. Timo Meier went for hi-sticking, Mat Nieto went for hooking and Ryan Donato sat for a too many men penalty. Those penalties gave the Kings six shots and a goal.

Seven minutes into the second, Anze Kopitar got a breakaway, skating most of the length of the ice to beat Martin Jones one-on-one. Assists went to Alex Iafallo and Dustin Brown.

Dustin Brown tied the game with a power play goal at 17:54. Adrian Kempe took a shot from the blue line that hit Jones’ glove and dropped to the ice. Before Jones could cover it, Brown lifted it over the goalie’s glove and into the net. Assists went to Kempe and Drew Doughty.

The Kings led in shots during the second period 12-9, and in face-off wins at 53%.

Brown scored his second of the game to give the Kings a lead at 10:45 of the third period. Iafallo fought his way down the ice and around behind the Sharks net and made a quick pass up to Brown just as he came through the face-off circle. His quick shot squeezed between Jones and the post.

Evander Kane tied the game back up at 19:15. With the net empty, Couture took a shot from high in the slot. As the puck bounced around in the blue paint, Kane pushed it over the line through sticks and bodies. Assists went to Couture and Brent Burns.

The shots were 11-10 Sharks in the third. The Sharks won just 44% of their third period face-offs, but in the brief over-time session, they won 80%.

Despite outshooting the Kings 8-1 in overtime, the Sharks could not end it without another shootout. Jones was perfect in the shootout, allowing Logan Couture’s goal to win it for San Jose.

The Sharks will play the Kings in Los Angeles again on Thursday at 7:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks open two game set with Kings tonight at Staples

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The San Jose Sharks goaltender Devon Dubnyk saved 32 shots in the loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sat Feb 6, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim including this shot from the Anaheim Ducks Rickard Rakell in the second period (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa close game between the Sharks and Ducks last Saturday a 2-1 loss in overtime shootout for San Jose. Anaheim’s Max Comtois got the game winning shot in the shootout.

#2 The Ducks Troy Terry and the Sharks Ryan Danato scored a goal each in the shootout and Duck goaltender Ryan Miller stopped shots from Logan Couture and Kevin LeBanc even the shootout was tight.

#3 In the beginning of the game the Sharks Couture scored 11 seconds into the first period and the Ducks Isac Lundestrom scored at 5:42 in the second period to tie the game up.

#4 This game saw some great defense from the Sharks goalie Devon Dunyk who stopped 32 shots and the Ducks goalie Miller stopped 26 shots they had to stand on their heads to keep this one close.

#5 The Sharks face the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center tonight and again on Thursday night. The Kings are on a four game losing streak and lost their last game to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Sunday. The Sharks have lost four of their last six games going into tonight’s game.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Tuesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh Tue Feb 9, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks continue road trip in LA for two games starting Tuesday night

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During the shootout stanza the San Jose Sharks Kevin Labanc tries to put one on net but the puck is stopped by Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller on Sat Feb 6, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Saturday night another nail biter for the San Jose Sharks and a shootout this time in Anaheim against the Ducks at the Honda Center. Anaheim’s Max Comtois got the game winning shot in the shootout for the 2-1 win.

#2 The Ducks got shootout scoring help from Troy Terry and the Sharks Ryan Danato both scored. The Ducks goalie Ryan Miller saved shot attempts from Logan Couture and Kevin LaBanc.

#3 At the beginning of the game the Couture scored 11 seconds into the first period. Then the Ducks Isac Lundestrom answered right back in the second period at 5:42 to tie up the game and that was all the scoring in regulation.

#4 In goal the Sharks and Ducks saw some great defense for the Sharks Devon Dubnyk worked hard and saw a plenty of shots stopping 32 and the Ducks Ryan Miller stopped 26 shots in a good defensive game.

#5 The Sharks have today and Monday off and are in Los Angeles to face the Kings on Tuesday and Thursday at Staples Center. The Kings have a four game loss streak and played the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday and took a tough one goal loss 4-3. The Sharks stay in the Southland for their next two games a two game series in LA.

Join Len for the Sharks podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro Sun Feb 7, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Sharks Fall to the Ducks 2-1 in Shootout

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The San Jose Sharks Nikolai Knyzhov (71) gets behind the puck while the Anaheim Ducks Rickard Rakell (67) stays right behind Knyzhov during Sat Feb 7, 2021 game at the Honda Center in Anaheim (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 2-1 in a shoot-out to the Anaheim Ducks Saturday. Max Comtois scored the game winner in the shoot-out for Anaheim, with Isac Lundestrom scoring in regulation and Troy Terry also scoring in the shoot-out. Ryan Miller made 26 saves for the win. Logan Couture scored for the Sharks and Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves in the loss.

Saturday’s game was very different from Friday’s goal-fest. While the Sharks held the Ducks to a single goal in regulation and over-time, they did not manage to score more than one either. There was just one change in the forward roster, with Rudolfs Balcers coming in for Alex Chmelevski. Dubnyk was in net instead of Martin Jones, which was to be expected with back-to-back games. Finally, two of the three the defensive pairings were different: Burns was with Ferraro, Karlsson was with Simek, and Vlasic was with Knyzhov. Those changes on defense were probably the most impactful adjustments.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said, of the blue line pairings:

“I thought they all held their own. It was just, it was a bit of a sloppy game. You know, defensively, I have to watch the tape again and it’s tough for e to comment right after, but you know, I thought we had some breakdowns but I thought for the most part we didn’t give up a ton.”

The Sharks started early with a goal just 11 seconds in. Mario Ferraro took a shot that jumped around in some traffic before Logan Couture found it behind Ryan Miller and knocked it in. Assists went to Ferraro and Evander Kane.

That was it for scoring in the first. Special teams got to warm up in the first, with each team getting one power play and a four-on-four. The Sharks did not register any shots on their power play, while Anaheim got credit for seven. The shots were 12-10 Anaheim and the face-off advantage went to the Sharks at 53%.

The Ducks tied the game 5:42 in to the second period. Hampus Lindholm’s shot from the blue line deflected off of Ferraro and then again off of Isac Lundestrom before getting by Dubnyk. It was Lundestrom’s first NHL goal and assists went to Lindholm and Kevin Shattenkirk.

The Sharks had to kill two penalties in the second period and they had no power plays. The Ducks registered three shots in their second period power plays, with a total of nine in the period. The Sharks added twelve shots to their game tally, all at even strength. The Sharks saw a big drop off in their face-off success, winning just 33% in the second period.

The Sharks had just one shot in the third period with 3:56 left in the period. A second later, Mario Ferraro got credit for the team’s second shot. (The first came just over five minutes in, from Patrick Marleau.) The Ducks had eight shots in the same time frame. The Sharks improved a little in the face-off circle but still came in at just 46%. No penalties were called in the third period.

The Sharks had no shots in the overtime period. The Ducks had just two but they had the puck for almost the whole period, though the Sharks won 67% of the draws.

The shoot-out did not start well for either goaltender as the first three shots went in the net. Troy Terry and Max Comtois scored for Anaheim and Ryan Donato scored for San Jose. Logan Couture, Kevin Shattenkirk and Kevin Labanc all had their shots stopped.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Ducks 5-4 in Shoot-Out

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The Anaheim Ducks center Rickard Rakell (right) with outstretched stick can’t stop the San Jose Sharks right winger Matt Nieto (left) who takes the puck down ice on Fri Feb 5, 2021 in the Honda Center in Anaheim (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in a shoot-out at the Honda Center Friday. Sharks goals came from Matt Nieto, Logan Couture, Evander Kane, and Brent Burns. The shoot-out winner came from Kevin Labanc. Martin Jones made 33 saves for the win. The Ducks got goals from Adam Henrique, Troy Terry and Max Comtois (2). John Gibson made 26 saves in the loss. An eight-goal performance was unexpected from two of the lowest-scoring teams in the league. Stranger still, each team had a three-goal period.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the stunning shift in momentum from the first period to the second, when the game lurched from 1-0 Sharks to 3-1 Ducks:

“Your character’s in question there, when you have such a good first period and you come back and all of a sudden, you know. Hey, our power play didn’t go as well as we thought and that we wanted, and we lost momentum I think that way. But, you know, at the end of the day it’s a five-on-five game and we’ve got to get our five-on-five game established again. I just didn’t like a couple of the goals. I thought we looked basically uninspired in parts of the second period.”

Coming into the game, the Ducks were 4-5-2 on the season. In their previous game, they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1. Ryan Getzlaf was out with a lower body injury Friday. The Sharks were 3-5-0. Due to COVID protocol schedule changes, they had a week off after a shut-out loss to Colorado. Alexander Chmelevski made his NHL debut.

Matt Nieto started the scoring with his third goal of the year. Matt Nieto and Marcus Sorensen jumped into the zone two one one. Sorensen had the puck on the outside and waited until he was almost at the goal line before making a pass to Nieto in front of the net at 12:50 of the first period. Assists went to Sorensen and Alexander Chmelevski, Chmelevski’s first NHL point.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks had a 17-8 lead in shots. They had one shot on one power play, gave up a short-handed shot, and trailed in the face-off circle at 44%.

The second period was all Ducks. At 10:03, Adam Henrique tapped a rebound under Martin Jones to tie the game. Assists went to Derek Grant and Troy Terry.

A few minutes later, Terry scored to give Anaheim the lead. Cam Fowler brought the puck into the zone and then passed it to Terry on the outside. Fowler kept going and acted as a screen for Terry’s shot. The assists went to Fowler and Grant.

In the final minutes of the period, Max Comtois made it 3-1. The Sharks had just finished their second scoreless powerplay. An offside call led to a neutral zone face-off that Anaheim won. It took the a couple of tries to get through the neutral zone but finally they made it into the Sharks’zone. Rickard Rakell took advantage of a give-away and skated behind the Sharks net. He found Comtois with a short pass and Comtois’ shot squeezed between Jones and the post.

In the second period, the Ducks out-shot the Sharks 13-3 and won 60% of the face-offs. On the Sharks’ power play, they had one shot and gave one up.

After the game, Boughner acknowledged that a lot was said during the second intermission: “It was time to look ourselves in the mirror a little bit and it was a gut check. And they responded.”

The Sharks’ big guns did indeed respond in the third period. Logan Couture scored in the first minute. Couture dumped the puck in and Evander Kane chased it down in time to sling it in front of the net. Couture was at the net by then and tapped it in while goalie John Gibson was trying to come across. Assists went to Kane and Brent Burns.

Evander Kane tied the game with a short-handed goal at 2:06 of the third. He stole a pass meant for Hampus Lindholm. Chipping it to himself and took a shot from above the face-off dot. The puck sailed by Gibson on the far side.

Brent Burns gave the Sharks their second lead of the game at 8:04. John Gibson had just gotten back into his net after a stroll behind it. Burns took a pass from Ryan Donato and buried it.

The Ducks tied it back up with another goal from Max Comtois. The Ducks won a defensive zone draw, and followed that up with a gruelling long shift in the Sharks zone. Comtois received a cross-ice pass from Carter Rowney and shot the puck past Jones on the glove side. Assists went to Rowney and Lindholm.

The Sharks improved a little in the face-off circle in the third, winning 46% of them. The shot clock favored the Ducks 11-8.

The teams traded good chances for the first couple of minutes until a high stick penalty put the Ducks on the power play. The Sharks got a nice short-handed chance when Marc-Edouard Vlasic got control of the puck and carried it out of the zone. The Sharks killed off a good chunk of the power play moving the puck around the Ducks’ zone and taking one shot.

Ryan Donato shot first for the Sharks and scored. Rickard Rakell shot first for the Ducks and Jones made a great save.

Couture shot second for the Sharks but Gibson shut down the five-hole attempt. Comtois shot second for Anaheim but Jones stopped him with an outstretched toe.

Kevin Labanc shot third and, though he tripped over Gibson’s skate, he still got the puck in the net.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, in Anaheim again, against the Ducks at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks-Golden Knights Games Postponed Due to COVID Protocol

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The Vegas Golden Knights Max Pacioretty scored his third goal against the St Louis Blues in the third period on Tue Jan 26, 2021 in Las Vegas. The Knights were without their head coach and assistant coaches due to Covid 19 protocols during this game (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were scheduled to play their first (home away from) home games at Gila Arena in Glendale, Arizona next week. The games have been postponed because their opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, are unable to play due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols. Four members of the team, including a player and three coaches, are in isolation.

Last Tuesday, the Golden Knights played the St. Louis Blues without their regular coaching staff behind the bench, as they were already in isolation. Instead, the team was coached by General Manager Kelly McCrimmon. The assistant coaching staff was replaced by their AHL affiliate’s coaches: Manny Viveiros, Joel Ward and Jamie Heward. Two days later, the team’s games started being rescheduled.

Since the season started, nine NHL games have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 protocols. The Dallas Stars and the Carolina Hurricanes preceded the Golden Knights in the schedule shuffling.

At this time, the Sharks-Golden Knights games are expected to take place in the SAP Center in San Jose, some time after the Sharks’ scheduled return on February 13. The next Sharks game on the schedule is on February 5 against the Ducks in Anaheim at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Shut Out 3-0 by Avalanche

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By Mary Walsh

The Sharks fell 3-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Thursday. Goals came from Nazem Kadri (2) and Andre Burakovsky. Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves for the win. Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves in the loss. It was the first time the Sharks were shut out this season.

If there was a lost opportunity in the game, it was the Sharks’ three first period power plays. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“First of all, we’re losing draws on the power play, so we’re chasing pucks down the ice. Then, we get in, we get set up, we get a shot and, you know, no retrieval. They get it back down. So now you’ve gone up and down the ice twice and you don’t have any gas. We gotta win more draws on the power play. They sniffed out a couple of our entries, we made a change between the first and second but we never got to use it, we never had a power play after that.”

Of the Sharks’ defensive game, goaltender Devan Dubnyk said: “I thought the guys played great, honestly. I thought we made very, very good adjustments from last game. We got a little bit away from it in the third I think when they got the two. But if you look at the adjustments that we made in the first two periods it was huge, and that’s how we have to play that team to be successful.”

The first period was close in shots (7-6 Sharks) but less balanced in other respects. The Avalanche dominated in the face-off circle at 59%, and also in penalty minutes, taking three penalties to the Sharks’ one. Colorado had one shot in their power play, and the Sharks had two in three tries.

The second period saw the shot count tip to Colorado, 12-6. The Sharks took two penalties in the period and had no power plays. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle to 50%.

After five shots off the post, Colorado finally broke through in the third period. Nazem Kadri scored at 9:55. The Sharks had just finished two good offensive pushes and had just changed lines. Colorado converged in the slot and, with Joonas Donskoi down and five bodies in front of Dubnyk, Kadri found himself outside the scramble with a view of an open net corner. Assists went to Brandon Saad and Donskoi.

Moments later, Logan Couture and Brent Burns collided in front of their net, both in pursuit of the same Colorado player. Couture’s skate made contact with Burns’ ankle and he seemed to be in distress on the bench. A few minutes later Burns could still be seen trying to walk it off. He missed a shift or so before getting back on the ice.

Colorado scored again at 11:53 on a three-on-two. Drawing the Sharks to the right, Kadri made a pass across the center to Andre Burakovsky who had just arrived at the net, ready for a deflection. Assists went to Kadri and Saad.

The Sharks had a power play in the final four minutes but couldn’t score, though they pulled Dubnyk for an extra skater and did manage two shots. Then they found themselves killing a penalty with just 1:14 to go after Noah Gregor was called for tripping Gabriel Landeskog. With six seconds left in the period, Nazem Kadri tipped Cale Makar’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Makar and Nathan MacKinnon.

Colorado’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left the game in the first period, with a lower body injury. He was injured after Ryan Donato lost an edge and collided with him.

The Sharks are scheduled to play on Monday. They will be in their temporary home arena in Arizona, playing the Vegas Golden Knights at 6:00 PM PT. There is some doubt about that schedule as the Golden Knights may not play due to COVID-19 exposure.

Avalanche Bury Sharks in 7-3 Win

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The Colorado Avalanche’s center Nathan MacKinnon (29) gets past the San Jose Sharks Mario Ferraro (38) to put the puck on net and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (1) in the first period of Tue Jan 26, 2021 game at the Ball Center in Denver (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 7-3 to the high-powered Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Avalanche goals were scored by Valeri Nichushkin, Brandon Saad (2), Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews and Samuel Girard. Their goaltender, Philipp Grubauer, made 27 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Noah Gregor, Ryan Donato and Logan Couture. Martin Jones made 14 saves on 19 shots before being replaced by Devan Dubnyk, who made 21 saves for San Jose.

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner described the moment he thought the game really started to unravel for his team:

“The most disappointing thing for me was, you know, okay it’s three-one after the first period, we had a good eight, nine minutes and we’re still in the hockey game and then we start on the power play. We turn one over, they go down and get a breakaway. Our next unit comes on, turns one over, it’s in the back of our net, it’s four one. Obviously, that’s when the game opens up a bit and we paid the price for it. You can’t open up against these guys and you can’t mis-manage pucks and that’s exactly what we did.”

Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson said:

“They played a good game today and we did not. I think we started okay but we still defended a lot, even though we got the first goal. I don’t think that was anything we really created. We got a good puck bounce. I think that once they started rolling, we became a little passive and we gave them a little too much room and, you know, we started doubting ourselves a bit. And that’s probably why the game ran away from us against a good team like this.”

The Sharks scored first, a double-tap from Ryan Donato at 10:39. He brought the puck up from the goal line and tried to shoot it through two defenders but it hit a couple of legs. He found it as it bounced and nudged it in for his third of the season. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Logan Couture.

Colorado tied it up at 16:15. Valeri Nichushkin carried the puck down around behind the net and then sent it back to the blue line for a shot by Erik Johnson. Joonas Donskoi skated across in front of Martin Jones just as the shot came in and the puck hit him on the way in. Assists went to Johnson and Nichushkin.

The Avalanche took the lead less that a minute later. Cale Makar put the puck into traffic in front of Martin Jones and Brandon Saad knocked it in. Assists went to Makar and Andre Burakovsky.

Piling it on, Colorado scored a power play goal in the final minute of play. Nikolai Knyzhov was in the box for hooking against Tyson Jost. The Sharks penalty kill held off the Colorado power play for almost a minute before Mikko Rantanen scored with a hard shot from above the face-off circle. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Makar.

At the end of the first, Colorado led in shots 16-9 and the Sharks had a slight lead in face-off wins of 52%.

The Avalanche kept rolling. The Sharks had an early power play in the second period, but half way through it, Valeri Nichushkin snatched the puck in the neutral zone and took it the other way for a short-handed goal.

Samuel Girard scored a few minutes later with a shot through what looked like all available skaters on the ice. Assists went to Tyson Jost and Kiefer Sherwood.

Devan Dubnyk came in to relieve Martin Jones in the Sharks net. After the game, Bob Boughner said: “I think both goalies were left out to dry multiple times tonight. It’s tough to make a goalie evaluation, I think that, you know, some of the plays that they made through the seam, and we actually made some saves on it, they scored on I think it was the second or third one. But you can’t allow seam plays.”

The Sharks’ third line showed some jump and scored one at 7:44. Some quick passes got the puck to the net just as Noah Gregor got there to tuck it in with a backhand. Assists went to Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier.

Near the 13:00 mark, Devan Dubnyk got tangled up with J.T. Compher. He took some time to recover but did not leave the game.

The Avalanche resumed scoring at 13:30 when Devon Toews scored Colorado’s sixth of the night. Towes took a shot from the blue line that did not go in. Toews took another shot, this time into an empty net while Dubnyk was tangled up with another Colorado forward. Assists went to Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar.

Brandon Saad scored his second of the night at 15:01. Johnson, Kadri and Saad entered the zone and got around everyone but Vlasic and in a brief two-on-one, scored the team’s seventh.

The Sharks were outshot in the second 13-6.

Logan Couture got one back for San Jose at 12:43 of the third period. Kevin Labanc made a cross-ice pass to Donato as they entered the zone with Couture between them. Donato moved it back to the middle as they closed on the net and Couture tipped it in. Assists went to Donato and Labanc.

The only stat that favored the Sharks Tuesday was their face-off win percentage, finishing with 53%.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT, against the Avalanche in Colorado again.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: San Jose faces Aves for two in Colorado starts tonite

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Gabriel Landeskog (92) scores for the Colorado Avalanche in overtime against Anaheim for the game winner over the Ducks. The Avalanche will host the San Jose Sharks tonight at Ball Arena in Denver (AP News photo0

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

#1 The San Jose Sharks defenceman Brent Burns got a key goal in the third period that broke a 3-3 tie against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. The Sharks Matt Nieto also added an empty netter to an eventual 5-3 win in Minnesota.

#2 The Sharks also got scoring contribution during the back and forth game from Ryan Danato, Evander Kane, and Noah Gregor. It was an all team effort to get the win on Sunday.

#3 The Wild’s Kevin Fiala tied the game up in the third period four seconds into a power play at 7:20. The Wild who were down 3-1 saw Zach Parise and Nick Bjugstad add a goal each as the Wild came back to tie the game.

#4 Brent Burns made some NHL history scoring his 40th game winning goal making him the eighth defenceman in NHL history to do it.

#5 Coming up the Sharks play tonight in Colorado against the Avalanche and again on Thursday night both games are 6pm face offs.

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