Category: San Jose Sharks

Headline Sports podcast Barbara Mason: Raiders hanging onto playoff hopes by their fingernails; 49ers in mourning over Beathard’s brother’s murder; plus more

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sfgate.com photo: Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is all smiles after throwing a second half touchdown to D’Andre Washington against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sun Dec 22

On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The odds are slim but the Oakland Raiders kept their playoff hopes alive with a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the Southland on Sunday afternoon 24-17

#2 The Raiders are in a must win situation as they have to beat the Broncos next Sunday, then the Texans need to beat the Titans and the Ravens need to beat the Steelers, and the Colts need to beat the Jaguars, and a victory by at least one of these teams Bears, Lions, Chiefs or Patriots

#3 The murder of 49er quarterback CJ Beathard’s brother Clayton stunned not only Beathard but the entire team and they had to prepare for a game the morning they found out about Clayton’s murder and pull off a win and dedicated the game ball to CJ.

#4 The San Jose Sharks now have lost nine of their last ten games. Their latest loss on Sunday to the Vegas Golden Knights a two goal lost 3-1 on home ice.

#5 Golden State Warrior head coach Steve Kerr said that Stephen Curry should be back traveling and helping out the younger players with tips as his hand is improving after having surgery. Curry is expected to get back into the line up by February.

Join Barbara for Headlines Sports podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden Knights Beat Sharks 3-1; San Jose takes ninth loss in ten games

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny (26) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks have lost a third game in a row, again. The 3-1 loss was to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. Vegas goals came from Paul Stasny, Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault. Malcolm Subban made 37 saves for the win. Logan Couture scored the only Sharks goal and Aaron Dell made 34 saves in the loss.

The Sharks have earned the distinction of scoring the fewest goals(19) this December of any team in the NHL. Comparing the team’s performance in November to this abysmal December, Sharks captain Logan Couture said:

We’re finding ways to lose now whereas in November we were finding ways to win. That was the close games, you know. We were getting games to overtime, we were finding a way to score in overtime, we were getting to a shootout, win in a shootout. Now we’re giving up goals in the last ten minutes in a tie game in the third period and losing those games.

Sharks head coach Bob Boughner was not available for the post game press conference, but Associate coach Roy Sommer said: “Another one of those games where we were in it and end up tying it up and I thought positive things were going to come out of it. It’s kind of like you’re waiting for the other shoe to fall off and sure enough that’s what happened. I thought for the most part we battled.”

In the scoreless first period, the Golden Knights out-shot the Sharks 13-7, and had two power plays. The power plays came at the start of the period, a 1:30 penalty to Evander Kane for tripping, and at the end, a 17:17 penalty to Erik Karlsson for sending the puck over the glass. Vegas got credit for four shots during those power plays.

Almost six minutes into the second period, the Sharks had just one shot on goal, taken by Joe Thornton during a breakaway. Vegas goaltender Subban got enough of that shot so that it rang off the outside of the post. By contrast, Vegas had five shots and Aaron Dell was busy in net.

The Sharks finally had a good shift in the offensive zone around a minute later. They added a couple of shots to their count and drew their first penalty of the game- another puck over the glass penalty. The Sharks applied some pressure during that power play but registered just one shot on goal.

About 90 seconds after the Sharks’ power play expired, they were on the penalty kill for an elbowing penalty to Brent Burns. Vegas came up with no shots on that power play.

Vegas broke the tie with just 2:29 left in the second period. Paul Stasny, guarded by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Erik Karlsson both on the same side of the ice, took a shot that went off the post. It bounced out to the other side of the net and Stasny got to it again before either Sharks defenseman could get to him. He also had an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Alex Tuch and Valentin Zykov.

The final minute of the period was spent four-on-four with Brenden Dillon and Ryan Reaves in the box with matching roughing penalties.

Logan Couture tied the game back up at 3:54 of the third. Brent Burns carried the puck around behind the net and sent it through the blue paint across to the open shooter. Assists went to Burns and Tomas Hertl.

Vegas took the lead back at 8:05. William Karlsson had his pas intercepted by a Sharks skate as he moved into the Sharks zone. He turned as if to retrieve the puck but instead left it for Shea Theodore to collect, while Karlsson kept Patrick Marleau clear of Theodore. Theodore took a quick shot from above the face-off circle and beat Dell. Assists went to Karlsson and Nicolas Hague.

The Sharks had a third period power play after that, but could not score.

Vegas expanded the lead with a third goal at 16:35. Reilly Smith got the puck after a neutral zone face-off. He carried it over the blue line and out-skated Erik Karlsson before making a cross-ice pass to Jonathan Marchessault who was closing on the net. Dell could not get across quick enough to stop Marchessault’s shot. Assists went to Smith and William Karlsson.

As they have for three games in a row now, the Sharks closed out the game with a late third period power play and a six-on-four advantage with their goaltender pulled. As before, they did not score.

The Sharks will next play after the Christmas break, on December 27 against the Los Angeles King at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Blues, San Jose 1-3-0 Since Coaching Change

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sfgate.com photo: St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo shoots for a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The Sharks fell 5-2 to the St. Louis Blues Saturday. Blues goals came from Jordan Kyrou, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, and Ryan O’Reilly. Jake Allen made 34 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Brent Burns and Stefan Noesen. This was Noesen’s first game as a Shark after being claimed off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 19. Martin Jones made 23 saves in the loss.

The Sharks are 1-3-0 since Bob Boughner took over as Sharks Head Coach on December 11. In two of those games they gave up five or more goals against. After Saturday’s game, Sharks captain Logan Couture described the Sharks’ offensive zone struggles:

I thought in the offensive zone we didn’t have enough, I guess polish around their net, you know, we weren’t winning enough battles to score enough goals. The pucks were there, he wasn’t handling many of the shots well. There were a lot of rebounds in the slot, we just didn’t get there to got the second opportunities.

Asked for a reaction to these two losses in a row where the Sharks out-shot their opponent, Couture said: “I don’t care about shots on goal, I care about us losing. We’ve been doing a lot of that. So, the feeling sucks, I mean it’s not fun.”

At the other end of the ice, the Sharks fell short as well. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones said: “Made some mistakes that we shouldn’t be making late in the game and they cost us. When you do that you need a save and we’re not getting that either.” Of Jones’s performance, Bob Boughner said: “He was pretty decent. He gave us a chance. I think their first goal was just okay but there’s not much he could do on the other two. We ask our goalies not to try and have to win us a game, just give us a chance. I thought he gave us a chance tonight.”

The Sharks out-shot the Blues in the first period 15-6 but the period ended with the Sharks on a power play and no goals scored.

Brent Burns changed that at the start of the first period, before the Sharks power play expired. He scored his first goal in 16 games with a beautiful shot that went off the post and in. Receiving a pass from Burns in the corner, Erik Karlsson took a moment to settle the puck at the top of the slot before sending the puck back to Burns for the shot above the face-off circle.

The Blues got that back in less than two minutes. Jordan Kyrou entered the zone and split the defense with his formidable speed. One on one with Jones, his back hand went right under the goaltender.

The visitors went on to take the lead at 5:30 of the period during a power play caused by a delay of game penalty to Evander Kane. Brayden Schenn sent the puck right through the blue paint in front of Jones and Jaden Schwartz had his stick free on the other side of the net so he could tap the puck in. Assists went to Schenn and David Perron.

The Sharks tied it back up when Brenden Dillon’s stretch pass found Stefan Noesen just above the St. Louis blue line. Noesen caught it in stride and skated until he was a nose ahead of the Blues defender before he took the shot. He beat Jake Allen on the short side. Assists went to Dillon and Burns. It was Noesen’s second of the season and his first as a Shark.

The shot count was a little closer in the second period, 13-9 Sharks.

St. Louis took the lead back at 11:07 of the third period with a goal from Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev came out of the neutral zone with only Marc-Edouard Vlasic back. Vlasic effectively eliminated the pass so Pietrangelo shot from the top of the face-off circle and put it in the top corner. Assists went to Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn.

The Sharks got a game-ending power play at 16:53, not unlike the end of their last game in Arizona. The Sharks could not score again and this time they also gave up a short-handed, empty net goal. That was scored by Ryan O’Reilly with an assist to Justin Faulk. Alex Pietrangelo scored another at 19:52.

The Blues out-shot the Sharks 13-8 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 7:00 PM PT against the Vegas Golden Knights.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks and Blues face off tonight at SAP; Sharks coming off loss to Arizona

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Photo credit: nbcsports.com

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks loss to the Arizona Coyotes is one of the games that Sharks head coach Bob Boughner would soon like to forget a 3-2 loss that saw the Yotes score a goal in each of the first, second and third periods on Tuesday night.

#2 The Sharks blew a 6-3 opportunity with 43 seconds left after the Coyotes committed two penalties and the Sharks pulled their goalie to try to boost the offense, but they couldn’t take advantage and failed to score and lost the game.

#3 The Sharks have failed to take advantage of the man advantage, scoring only once out of 15 times in their last five games.

#4 Tuesday’s game also saw the Sharks’ Tomas Hertl score twice, but the Sharks couldn’t capitalize as the Coyotes edged out three goals. Hertl put it all out there, but the Sharks just couldn’t get over the edge.

#5 The Sharks, who have lost seven of their last eight games and will try and get in the win column Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. Mary Lisa sets this one up for us.

Sharks podcasts with Mary Lisa are heard every Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks have now lost 7 of last 8 games; Can’t hold Yotes in 3-2 loss

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Not enough offense for the Sharks on Tuesday night, despite scoring a goal in each of the first and second periods at SAP Center against the Arizona Coyotes.

#2 The Coyotes got goals from Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Carol Soderberg, and Derek Stepan. Arizona scored one goal in each of the first, second and third periods.

#3 How frustrating is a loss like this losing by just a goal, playing a close game, but not able to pull the trigger against Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper, who stopped 26 shots against the Sharks?

#4 Head coach Bob Boughner has coached for a total of four games since taking over for former head coach Peter DeBoer and is 1-3.

#5 The Sharks host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at SAP Center as the Sharks and Boughner try to string some wins together.

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Missed Opportunity Costly in Sharks 3-2 Loss to Coyotes, Hall has Game-Winning Assist in Arizona Debut

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Photo credit: @ArizonaCoyotes

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — Despite fresh faces behind the bench drawing up the plays, the San Jose Sharks power play remains dismal. On Tuesday night, it hit the low point of the season against the Arizona Coyotes. Trailing 3-2 at home, the Sharks were gifted a 6-on-3 for 43 seconds after a pair Coyotes penalties and the goalie pull but failed to generate a single shot on goal. San Jose is now 1 for 15 on the man-advantage over their last five games, going 0-for-4 Tuesday with three shots on goal. Tomas Hertl scored the two Sharks goals and Taylor Hall netted a point in his Coyotes debut. Darcy Keumper was named first star with 26 saves.

In a night where officiating was spotty, enforcement of a rule new to the NHL in 2019 that is fairly black-and-white led to the first Arizona penalty in crunch time. Coyotes defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin had his helmet knocked off in a scrum along the boards, but continued to play on after the puck left the corner. In a new rule this season, since he was not directly involved in the play he needed to grab his helmet or exit the ice but he chose to play on. Brad Richardson would cross-check Tomas Hertl in the back during a scrum for a loose rebound to set up the fatal 6-on-3 that ultimately amounted to nothing.

The Coyotes set up a tense final minutes of the game after Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored with 2:37 left in regulation after his shot ricocheted off Brenden Dillon’s shinpad wide of the far post and went in. Before that, Dillon was beat out on a race to a loose puck by Hall whose effort led to a game-winning assist in his first game since being traded to Arizona Monday afternoon.

The Sharks erased Arizona leads twice, once in the first two periods each. Carl Soderberg scored 4:57 into the contest, but Tomas Hertl answered back on a snapshot that rattled around the net behind Keumper with 2:34 left in the first.

Derek Stepan scored his sixth goal of the year and second against the Sharks this year 9:11 into the second, but Hertl again answered, going bar down on Kuemper from the left face-off dot to the blocker side with 6:05 left in the period. Hertl now has four of the seven goals the Sharks have scored since interim head coach Bob Boughner took over three games ago.

Aaron Dell started in his second game in a row after winning against Vancouver Saturday. He made just 16 saves on 19 shots, though he was hardly at fault on any of the goals. The Sharks now have lost 7 of their last 8 and are six points back of Calgary for the final wild card spot.

The Sharks play host to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at 7:30 pm PST.

Headline Sports with Barbara Mason: 49ers can’t hold the lead against Falcons, will this be a concern going forward?; Raiders string four straight losses together; plus more

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Photo credit: nbcbayarea.com

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 The 49ers couldn’t hold another lead, dropping their third loss of the season to the Atlanta Falcons 29-22 at Levi’s Stadium.

#2 The Oakland Raiders suffered a 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Quarterback Derek Carr just couldn’t get and anything going for Oakland in the second half on offense.

#3 For former interim Warriors head coach Luke Walton, it was an important win in defeating his old team as head coach of the Sacramento Kings in the 100-79 victory Sunday night.

#4 Changes in baseball: Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is trying to change the game drastically. First by getting rid of some 42 minor league teams and next by mandating that pitchers must face the minimum of three batters before getting relieved. It certainly will be an issue with the players during contract negotiations for the CBA.

#5 The San Jose Sharks had lost six straight games before winning on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. They host Arizona tonight to try and pick up their second straight win under new head coach Bob Boughner.

Barbara has the Headlines each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Best Canucks 4-2; Six game skid comes to an end

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photo from sfgate.com: The Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes (left) tries to reach around on San Jose Sharks rightwinger Timo Meier on Saturday night at SAP Center.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks celebrated Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1000th NHL game with a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks Saturday. The win ended a six-game losing streak and no doubt made Star Wars night more fun for the fans at the SAP Center. Sharks goals came from Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, Evander Kane and Logan Couture. Aaron Dell made 33 saves in the win. Canucks goals came from Jake Virtanen and Bo Horvat with Jacob Markstrom making 23 saves in the loss.

After the game, Marc-Edouard Vlasic confessed that he did not keep the puck from his 1000th game: “No, that was for Bob. I’ll just pick up a random puck and tell everybody it’s 1000 games. Nobody’ll know the difference.” The win was also Bob Boughner’s first as head coach of the Sharks.

Boughner talked later about the work the team is doing: “We got a practice in yesterday so it was nice to get our lines together and work some offensive zone play that we’re trying to establish. I think that both ends of the ice really, we worked on a little different defensive structure.” He also gave credit to his goaltender:

Deller, you know, he was our best player. You know, he made some key saves at key times and, you know, really kept us in it when we were starting to take on water. And that’s what a goalie does in a win like that. I liked the way we played. We played with some poise. Second period we took on too much but, you know, I thought the third period we responded. Even though they were in our zone a little bit, we didn’t have too many let downs and so many break downs in the slot area.

The first goal of the game came at 10:50 of the first. Joe Thornton got the puck from Kevin Labanc and held it while Tomas Hertl went to the net. Vancouver’s Tyler Meyers dropped to block the pass but Thornton sent it behind him, between the prone defenseman and the goaltender to Hertl on the other side of the net. From there, Hertl had an open net to shoot at and he did not miss. It was Hertl’s 12th goal of the season.

The second period was scoreless with Vancouver out-shooting San Jose 12-7. San Jose had two unsuccessful power plays and one successful penalty kill.

A nice outlet pass from Erik Karlsson found Timo Meier in the neutral zone. Couture, Kane and Meier went into the zone three on two. Meier made a pass to Lane, who passed it right back. Meier wound up taking the shot from just above the goal line and it went in off of Markstrom. Assists went to Kane and Karlsson.

Less than a minute later, Adam Gaudette skated through the neutral zone with the puck, found his way around the Sharks defense and managed to make a quick pass to Jake Virtanen in the slot. Virtanen carried it a few strides before taking the shot and beating Dell on the far side. Assists went to Gaudette and Christopher Tanev.

The third San Jose goal came from Evander Kane at 18:39 of the third. After he missed the empty net twice, his team-mates held the zone and got the puck back to him for a third try. He got that one but did not celebrate. Assists went to Logan Couture and Barclay Goodrow.

The Canucks gave some extra weight to that empty net goal at 19:31 with their goaltender pulled again. Quinn Hughes took a shot from the blue line. Dell stopped that but gave up a trickling rebound. Bo Horvat was there to tuck it in the net. Assists went to Hughes and Brock Boeser.

The Canucks pulled their goalie again. A few seconds later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic stole the puck at the Sharks blue line and found Logan Couture with a pass for another shot into the empty net. The time of that goal was 19:52.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks looking for optimism, hope, with new coaches; SJ trying to break the 6-game skid tonight

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Photo credit: thehockeynews.com

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The looks on San Jose Sharks general Doug Wilson and new Sharks head coach Bob Boughner at Thursday’s press conference was the feel good of optimism, but of major concern for the Sharks organization.

#2 Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson said that the firing of ex-coach Peter DeBoer came as a surprise saying that even though the firing was part of the business, it still came as a surprise for the players.

#3 Mary talks about the replacements for the Sharks. Joining Boughner are assistants Roy Sommer, former Sharks forward Mike Ricci, and goalie coach Evegeni Nabokov.

#4 Boughner and Wilson said they want to clean up two areas that need fixing that is the penalty minutes and allowing chances in the slot that are high-quality.

#5 The Sharks host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday after losing six consecutive games. The Sharks will get a quick crash course from their new coaches and get ready to right the ship on Saturday night.

Mary Lisa is a beat writer for the Sharks and does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose Boughner’s Debut 6-3; Make that six consecutive winless games

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

Meet the new Sharks, same as the old Sharks. In their first game since the firing of Peter DeBoer and a number of other coaching staff moves, the San Jose Sharks still ran into familiar problems of an ineffective power play and subpar goaltending in a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers.

Artemi Panarin scored a hat trick for the Blue Shirts, Mika Zibanejad added a pair and the Rangers had 30 shots to just 18 for San Jose in Bob Boughner’s debut behind the San Jose bench. Tomas Hertl scored playing a hybrid wing-center position, Logan Couture netted a goal and Brenden DIllon scored his first goal in over a year, but the Sharks fell to 0-5-1 over their last six games and now sit five points out of a playoff spot. Joachim Blichfield made his NHL debut and Joe Thornton appeared in NHL career game 1,6000.

Dillon’s goal broke a 2-2 tie 4:12 into the third period and felt like it would be the deciding goal that would spark a Sharks turnaround, but Zibanejad used a Chris Kreider screen on a Rangers power play to tie the game 8:49 into the period. A lackluster defensive effort that saw two Rangers slip behind Sharks defenders for a gigantic screen on Sharks goalie Martin Jones led to another Zibanedjad strike about five minutes later for a 4-3 Rangers lead.

Jones would most likely want the Rangers next goal back as he pulled off his left post with Panarin nearly on the goal line to that side. An all-world sniper, Panarin made Jones pay for the early release from the post with 3:11 left in regulation. He scored on the empty net as well for his 18th of the year and the hat trick to complete a four-goal Rangers third period.

The early response from the Sharks seemed to be a change for the better. Tomas Hertl opened the game scoring first 9:13 into the first period, something the Sharks were having trouble with this season. Jesper Fast and Panarin (another goal Jones would want back after leaving his five-hole unguarded on a lateral push) would score in the second period, but Logan Couture answered back with his 10th goal of the year. San Jose didn’t capitalize though on two power plays, and only mustered 18 shots on the Rangers backup goalie, spelling doom in Boughner’s home debut as Sharks head coach.

The picture of how the Sharks will respond to their coach’s firing may get more clear Saturday night when they take on the Vancouver Canucks. By then, the team should be adjusted to life under four new coaches and systems might be better installed. For now, though, Sharks fans have to continue to settle for a night of unmatched expectations.