Sharks Fall 5-2 to Blackhawks, Devin Cooley Makes NHL Debut in Net

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The Chicago Blackhawks left winger Landon Slaggert (84) gets his shot stopped by the San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (left) in the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Sun Mar 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski, Joey Anderson and Connor Bedard scored for the Blackhawks. Petr Mrazek made 25 saves for the win. Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks. Devin Cooley, in his NHL debut, made 26 saves in the loss.

Of playing his first NHL game, Devin Cooley said: “The experience was obviously amazing, first game, that’s something I’ve been working towards my entire life. Really happy that happened. For it to happen for my hometown team that I grew up watching, that’s pretty special.”

Of the rookie goaltender’s performance, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “I thought he played well. Made some big saves early I thought. I thought he played well and I feel bad that we weren’t able to bring it to the finish line for him ‘cause I thought he deserved it.”

Ryan Carpenter gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first period. Carpenter and Alexander Barabanov skated into zone two-on-one. Carpenter passed the puck across but Mrazek followed it. Barabanov then passed the puck back to Carpenter with a bounce off of Mrazek’s pads, giving Carpenter an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Barabanov and Kevin Labanc.

Klim Kostin made it 2-0 at 16:32. Mikael Granlund had the puck behind the net. He passed it up to Kostin who was able to shoot it under the goaltender and a defenseman to score his fifth of the season. Assists went to Granlund and Mario Ferraro.

Philipp Kurashev cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:02 of the second period. Kurashev, Tyler Johnson and Connor Bedard skated into the zone three-on-two. Bedard passed the puck across the ice to Johnson, who centered it as Kurashev went to the net to score.

Ryan Donato tied the game at 10:39 of the third period. Donato scored his tenth of the season with a slap shot from just inside the faceoff circle. Assists went to Jarred Tinordi and Jaycob Megna.

Kevin Korchinski gave the Blackhawks the lead at 11:51 with a wrist shot from the blue line. An assist went to Lukas Reichel.

Joey Anderson made it 4-2 at 12:02. Anderson threw the puck into the blue paint with a backhand shot, it bounced off of Calen Addison’s skate and into the net. An assist went to Alex Vlasic.

Connor Bedard made it 6-2 with an empty net goal in the final second of the game. An assist went to P Kurashev.

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

Power play falls flat for Barracuda as they lose to IceHogs 4-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Cole Cassels screens goalie Drew Commesso (taken on 3/17/24).

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After losing to the IceHogs on Saturday the Barracuda looked to bounce-back against them on Sunday.

In goal for San Jose was Eetu Makiniemi who heading into this game had a 6-7-0 record with a 3.48 GAA and .887 SV%. On the other side of the ice it was Drew Commesso had a 12-13-4 record with 2.73 GAA and .904 SV%.

The first period was a penalty filled affair as the teams in total combined for five penalties. Unfortunately for San Jose those penalties ended up helping the IceHogs rather than them.

The first goal in this game came on the power play as Mike Hardman scored his 18th of the season only five minutes into the game.

Later in the first Cole Guttman added to their lead with his 11th of the season assisted by Nolan Allan and Rem Pitlick.

Not long before the buzzer San Jose did respond on the power play as Ethan Cardwell one of San Jose’s hottest scorers got his 17th goal.

The middle frame saw the offense slow down considerably as we wouldn’t get a goal until 18:21 into the period. That goal came from the IceHogs as Guttman got his second of the game making it 3-1.

Funnily enough the final frame saw the opposite happen as just 41 seconds in Rockford made it 4-1 as Jackson Cates got his 11th.

That goal ended up being the last one in this game as San Jose only managed to get one past Commesso who had a great game making 34 saves.

A big part of the reason why the Barracuda only put up one goal was their power play as they went 1/5.

With three assists on the night Pitlick improves to an extremely impressive 16 points in just 13 games played for the IceHogs.

The three stars in this game were: 1st: Cole Guttman 2nd: Mike Hardman 3rd: Rem Pitlick

With the loss San Jose falls to 18-29-9 as the IceHogs improve to 28-22-5.

San Jose will look to snap their three game losing streak at home against one of the bottom feeders in the AHL the Gulls on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Headline Sports with Stephen Ruderman: Pitching injuries have turned into an epidemic; Yanks Cole out at least 3-4 weeks with elbow and shoulder pain; plus more news

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Gerrit Cole starting ace for the New York Yankees is dealing with an elbow and shoulder issues and will be out of action for the next three to four weeks (AP News file photo)

On Headline Sports with Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Stephen, there has been numerous pitchers who are having elbow, arm, and shoulder issues that has taken them out of action and it’s not even the regular season yet. Is this a matter of over throwing or just some of the pitches that are thrown causes the injuries?

#2 New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole will be out from three to four weeks due to a nerve irritation and edema in his throwing arm. Cole wants to take his time on the recovery and not come back too fast and re-injure himself.

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani said that playing in the Korean series will be full of memories. It’s been a great week Ohtani who just got married to his wife Mamiko Tanaka. Ohtani who will not pitch this season but will be a designated hitter. The Dodgers will face the Korea Baseball Organization on Mar 16th and on Mar 18 they’ll face Team Korea. On the 20th and 21 the Dodgers will face the San Diego Padres in Seoul.

#4 Former New York Mets pitcher Jim McAndrew who pitched from 1968 to 1973 and was part of that Amazing Mets team who won the World Series in 1969 passed away at 80 years old. McAndrew is remembered for starting a game in September 1969 that he won that put the Mets in first place for the first time in eight years. McAndrew was 36-49 ERA 3.65 and had four saves.

#5 After defeating the San Francisco Giants in arbitration and then the Giants turning around and releasing third baseman JD Davis, Davis was picked up by the Oakland A’s and signed a one year contract for $2.5 million and can pick up another $1.1 million in bonuses. Davis was offered $6.55 million and won a $350,000 pay increase in arbitration to $6.9 million but the Giants turned around and released Davis. Critics have said the Giants bargained in bad faith by releasing Davis.

Stephen Ruderman filled in for Charlie for Headline Sports heard Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda Sat game wrap: Barracuda can’t hold on lose to IceHogs 4-3 in overtime

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The San Jose Barracuda goaltender Georgi Romanov (31), defenseman Shakir Mukhamdullin (85), and the Rockford IceHogs leftwinger Brandon Baddock (13) stay around the net anticipating the puck at the BMO Center in Rockford IL on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

By Titus Wilkinson and Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda (18-28-9-2) picked up a point getting into an overtime stanza with the Rockford IceHogs (27-22-5-2) at Rockford IL in the BMO Center. The Barracuda just couldn’t hold on and ended up dropping their ninth overtime game of the 2023-24 campaign losing 4-3.

The Barracuda’s Ethan Cardwell scored a goal and picked up two assists. To start the contest the IceHogs wasted no time Luke Phillip scored his first goal of the season for a 1-0 lead. This was Phillip’s first game of the season and he hit a ripper while being defended two on one at 2:55.

The Barracuda answered back with a goal from Cardwell at 13:26 in the first period for his 16th goal of the season the goal looked pretty much the same as Phillip’s in a two on one situation. Prior to Cardwell’s goal the IceHogs put eight consecutive shots on net that was defended by Cuda goaltender Geogie Ramanov.

The IceHogs in the second period shut the Barracuda out not allowing them a goal by the well defending netminder of Rockford Stauber Jaxson. On the other hand the IceHogs got by Ramanov with a short handed goal by Cole Guttman his tenth of the season at 3:51 and David Gust who scored his 14th goal of the season at 6:04. The IceHogs took a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

Ramanov ended up shutting the IceHogs in the third period to make it turn abouts fair play while the Barracuda scored two goals to tie up the game from Cole Cassels his eight of the season at at 40 seconds and Tristen Robins scored a crucial tying goal at 3:46 to make it 3-3 forcing overtime.

In the overtime stanza the IceHogs Colton Dach buried his tenth goal of the season at 2:38 to close out the contest as the IceHogs picked up their 27th win of the season.

There’s no time to feel sorry or bad for the Barracuda over this one as they return to the rink on Sunday for a 2:00pm face off at the BMO Center in Rockford.

Titus Wilkinson and Marko Ukalovic are beat writers covering the San Jose Barrracuda at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Brunson’s 42 points puts Knicks past Kings 98-91

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New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson who scored 42 points takes a shot against the Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes (40) at Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings were coming off a win in their last game on Wednesday night. The Kings defeated the Lakers on Wednesday, sweeping the season series between the teams.

The Kings had two days off and were ready for their next opponent. The New York Knicks came to town on Saturday to take on the Kings. The Knicks were 39-27 coming into the matchup, and the Kings were 38-27. Tip-off on Saturday was set for 7 PM PST inside Golden One Center. The Kings would lose 98-91 to the New York Knicks.

In the first quarter, defense was the name of the game. The Knicks and the Kings played solid defense to limit the offense in the first quarter. The Kings scored 22 points in the first quarter to take an early lead against the Knicks. The Knicks only managed 21 points against the Kings in the first quarter. Domantas Sabonis started the game hot, scoring 13 points in the first quarter and five assists.

In the second quarter, offense remained at a premium. However, the Kings had minimal answer for Jalen Brunson on defense. Brunson scored 21 points in the first half to lead the Knicks to a halftime lead over the Kings. The Knicks outscored the Kings 32-26 in the second quarter to take a 53-48 lead going into halftime. Domas Sabonis was the Kings’ leading scorer in the first half, scoring 18 points.

In the third quarter, both teams would trade baskets. Brunson continued to torch the Kings even as they played solid defense. Brunson couldn’t miss. Brunson scored 33 points through the first three-quarters of action. The Knicks outscored the Kings 26-22 in the third quarter. The Knicks would take a 75-74 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, It was a dogfight until the end. Brunson and his magnificent performance was the story of the game, but could the Kings overcome him? Unfortunately for Kings fans, the Knicks defeated the Kings 98-91.

The story of the game was Brunson. Jalen scored 42 points against the Kings on 28 attempts. The Knicks outscored the Kings 17-23 in the fourth quarter to take the win. The Kings leading scorer was Domantas Sabonis, who scored 21 points in the game.

The secondary story of the game was the awful officiating. One play late that was particularly egregious was when Sabonis was trapped in the paint. He would then be hacked, and a no-call would follow, leading to a double-dribble. It was a microcosm in the game of terrible officiating.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday at 7 PM PST. Memphis will be without Ja Morant as he has been out and will be the rest of the season.

Curry Leads Warriors to Win Over Lakers 128-121

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By Barbara Mason

In a crazy game Saturday night the Golden State Warriors (35-31) beat the Los Angeles Lakers (36-32)128-121. Golden State welcomed the return of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Curry did not disappoint shooting for 31 points after a slow first quarter.

Game recap: While we did not get clarity in the opening quarter, Curry set the record straight shooting for 11 points in the second quarter. He was just getting warmed up in the first quarter and really began to heat up in the second.

The Lakers suffered a blow when Anthony Davis headed to the locker room in the first quarter. There was an apparent eye injury to Davis and when he did not return a more severe injury was suspected. The Lakers led after the first twelve minutes 36-30. Golden State answered back winning the second quarter 37-30. At halftime the Warriors were clinging to a 67-66 lead.

The Warriors continued to dominate winning the third quarter 35-27 leading 102-93 with one more quarter of basketball to be played. The absence of Davis had certainly cramped the Lakers style with most of the pressure on the shoulders of LeBron James.

The Warriors were doing a great job of protecting the ball with only six turnovers in the first half and mid-way through the fourth quarter not a single turnover in the second half for Golden State.

The Warriors had as much as a 12 point in the final quarter but the Lakers pulled too within four points with 5:26 left in the game. The Warriors had scored 50 points in the paint since the first quarter of this game with four minutes left on the clock.

With less than two minutes left in the game a barrage of reviews took center stage and this turned into the game that refused to end. 18 minutes elapsed with only 15 seconds coming off the clock.

Head Coach Steve Kerr could only shake his head in disbelief. At first some of the players were amused with the stoppages but it quickly turned into frustration with 20 minutes now elapsed with the shot clock malfunctioning. Curry, Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga spearheaded the

Curry led the team with 31 points. Thompson was solid with 26 points off the bench and Kuminga continued his stellar play with 23 points. After the first quarter warm-up, Curry did not miss a beat. The Warriors are now tied for ninth place in the Western Conference.

Game notes: Saturday night the Golden State traveled down to Los Angeles taking on the Lakers. The two teams battled it out for the last play-in spots with the Warriors currently sitting in tenth place and the Lakers in ninth place in the Western Conference.

Both teams are in fact looking to move out of play-in position but with the season rapidly winding down there is not a whole lot of time to finish where they would ultimately like to finish. Golden State welcomed Stephen Curry and Draymond Green back into the lineup.

Green missed only their last game whereas Curry missed a couple of games. The Warriors lost to the Mavericks and beat the Spurs in Curry’s absence. After being sidelined for a couple of weeks how would Curry come back in this game? He did come back with a vengeance scoring 31 points. It looked like he never missed a game.

Monday night the Warriors will take on the New York Knicks at Chase Center. With only 16 games left on the season the Warriors have a fight ahead of them if they want to move up in the standings. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Quakes stay winless at 0-4; Drop match to Sporting KC 2-1

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The San Jose Earthquakes dueled it out with Sporting KC at Children’s Mercy Park in Kanas City on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (photo from the San Jose Earthquakes)

By William Espy

The winless San Jose Earthquakes visited Sporting KC at Children’s Mercy Park in a rematch of last season’s knockout round when Sporting KC ended the Quakes’ season in penalty kicks. Kansas City was also looking for their first win of the season, drawing their first three matches. The Quakes got edged out by Sporting KC 2-1 on Saturday night at Child’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.

Meanwhile, the Earthquakes still didn’t have a single point, losing all three of their opening games. The mission for each team was clear, KC needed to walk away with their first victory of the season, and the Earthquakes needed to get at least a point to get momentum on their side.

Manager Luchi Gonzalez made some changes for the game, swapping his formation from a 4-3-3 to a basic 4-2-2 and starting Preston Judd for the first time this season. He made a substitute appearance in each of the first three games and scored a goal against his former club the LA Galaxy.

The Earthquakes started off strong with some quality scoring chances, but last-minute desperation defending from Sporting KC kept it a tie early on. In the eleventh minute that changed though, the Earthquakes were finally able to get on the scoreboard with a goal from Vitor Costa de Brito off of a corner.

They crowded the box with six men, and once the ball found Costa there was no chance for Sporting’s goalkeeper Tim Melia. For the first time this season, Sporting KC found themselves trailing in a match. It took until the 16th minute for Sporting to get their first attack of the night, and despite a strong long shot, Daniel was able to keep the ball out of the netting.

The Earthquakes wouldn’t be as lucky on the set piece though, as defender Dany Rosero was able to tie it up on the corner.

During the 28th minute, a great passing play around the Earthquakes defense would eventually find Kansas City’s striker Alan Pulido who would put his team up 2-1 with his first goal of the season. Sporting’s captain Johnny Russell got the assist on the play and the Quakes found themselves in a familiar position this season, trailing.

The first card of the game came when Rosero took down Judd on a hard tackle, he was given a yellow card but it did prevent what would’ve likely been a very highly quality scoring opportunity for San Jose. On the ensuing play, the Earthquakes nearly got a goal but a fantastic save by Melia kept Sporting in the lead.

Paul Marie went down with an injury following accidental contact to the head with Kansas City’s left-back Tim Beibold’s leg. After spending some time down and going through the concussion protocol, Marie returned to the game fairly quickly. At halftime, the Earthquakes trailed 2-1 despite a strong start. KC led in possession at that point, with 57.5%.

Sporting KC lost a key player, Russell less than ten minutes into the second half. After attempting an attack, he took an awkward fall which resulted in an apparent leg injury. Despite him clearly telling the coaching staff that he was okay, they obviously disagreed and substituted him off for Stephen Afrifa.

This came shortly after they took off Memo Rodriguez for Remi Walter. After 15 scoreless minutes in the second half, the Earthquakes made a few substitutions of their own. Jeremy Ebobisse, Amahl Pellegrino, and Judd came off with Benjamin Kikanovic, Jack Skahan, and Ousseni Bouda taking their respective spots.

As we entered the last 15 minutes, San Jose started being more aggressive and running with a more attacking mindset as they looked for an equalizer. Centerback Rodrigues would seemingly tie things up for the Earthquakes off of another set piece but it had bounced off of his teammate’s arm and after consulting the Video Assistant Referee, the goal was overturned and it remaKikanovic nearly got a lucky deflection in the 94th minute, but it went just wide.

On the following corner, Sporting KC broke up the attack and tried to counter with an attack of their own but were unable to get it out of their own half. Some back and forth took place for the final two minutes of stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the Earthquakes as they lost 2-1 and fell to 0-4-0 on the season. It’s only the second time in club history that they’ve started pointless through four games, the first time being in 2019.

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Blue Jackets; CBJs Nylander gets two goals and Tarasov saves 39 shots

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Columbus Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner (38) passes off the puck against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) in the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Boone Jenner, Alexander Nylander, Johnny Gaudreau scored for Columbus, with a second goal from Nylander into an empty net. Daniil Tarasov made 39 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund and Henry Thrun scored for San Jose and Magnus Chrona made 16 saves in the loss.

In a frustrating loss, the Sharks managed an unusual high of 42 shots in the game, and allowed just four shots for Columbus in the third period. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said:

“We had plenty of chances, especially in the third period. Hit a couple posts, made some good saves in the third, but dug ourselves a little bit of a hole with our start. You know, our first period certainly wasn’t anything that we wanted it to be but I thought we gradually got better as the game went on and made a great push in the third period.”

Quinn went into more detail about what went wrong in the first period, saying: “Just really not engaged physically. I thought we gave them way too much room and way too much respect and just, it was easy for them, way too easy. But I thought as the game went on we got more engaged.”

Boone Jenner scored first, late in the first period. Johnny Gaudreau caught a pass in the neutral zone and skated in with Jenner close behind. Gaudreau passed the puck across the slot and Jenner caught it, then skated back across to the other side of the goal and backhanded it in. Assists went to Gaudreau and Damon Severson.

Alexander Nylander made it 2-0 49 seconds into the second period. Ivan Provorov made a pass from the Blue Jackets’ zone to Nylander on the Sharks’ blue line. Nylander skated in and took a quick wrist shot to score his 34th of the season.

Fabian Zetterlund cut it to 2-1 at 11:48. Mario Ferraro sent the puck to the net with a high pass. Provorov knocked it down but Zetterlund was right there to catch the falling puck and knock it into the net. Assists went to Ferraro and Mikael Granlund.

Johnny Gaudreau made it 3-1 at 15:03. Nylander took a shot from the blue line and Gaudreau gathered up the rebound to tuck it between the post and Chrona’s skate. Assists went to Nylander and Jenner.

Henry Thrun got one back for the Sharks at 11:42 of the third period. Kevin Labanc skated into the zone with the puck and made his way through some traffic high in the slot before kicking the puck to Thrun. Thrun took the shot right away and sent it into the far side of the net as Tarasov slid to the near side.

Alexander Nylander scored into the empty net at 18:55 of the third. Gaudreau got an assist.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 3:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks and Blue Jackets battle of two last place teams tonight

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Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) checks the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) into the boards during the second period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks took a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Friday night. The loss was the Sharks second consecutive loss in a row.

#2 The Sharks defense was lacking they skated with only five defenseman. Jacob MacDonald fell ill and had to sit out the game taking away one more defensive player to the already struggling team.

#3 In goal for San Jose was Magnus Chrona who saved 25 shots but allowed five goals. Chrona simply did not get enough protection up front and the Penguins crashed the net once they realized there was a weakness in the San Jose defense.

#4 Sharks head coach David Quinn said that he knew the defense was slow reacting but said he loved the competitiveness and heart the team had in the game. Quinn just had hoped that they could have been a little bit better defending around the net.

#5 The Sharks face off with the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 4:00pm PDT at at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The Blue Jackets are having their own struggles. Their last in the Metropolitan Division at 22-33-11 with 55 points. They have lost five of their last ten games. How do you see this battle tonight the Sharks have 39 points going into this game.

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

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Kings host Knicks Saturday; Sac can win their 3rd straight game

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Sacramento Kings guard Molik Monk (0) asks “whose the man?” in second half action against the New York Knicks at Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The Sacramento Kings (38-27) Domantas Sabonis got a triple double with 17 points, 19 rebounds, and ten assists that helped defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (36-31) 120-107 at Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Wednesday night.

#2 The Kings have had success against the Lakers having won seven of the last eight games against Los Angeles and also swept the Lakers in all four games this season.

#3 The Kings Harrison Barnes scored seven 3 pointers and had 23 points. De’Aaron Fox had 21 points and Keegan Murray had 19 points.

#4 Sabonis keeps adding up those triple doubles picking up his 23rd of the season which leads the NBA.

#5 The Kings host the New York Knicks (39-27) at Golden 1 Saturday night at 7:00pm PDT. The Knicks are fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have won five of their last ten games and have won two straight coming into Saturday night’s game.

Join Jeremiah for the Sacramento Kings podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com