OKC Thunder roll over the short-handed Warriors 128-109; Golden State suffers fifth straight loss

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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) takes a jump shot over the Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) in first half action at Chase Center in San Francisco on Thu Nov 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors (6-7) knew they would have to be at their best to beat the young and talented Oklahoma City (8-4) Thunder squad. Warriors guard Stephen Curry was out of action due to knee soreness, and Draymond Green was suspended for five games.

Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, inserted Jonathan Kuminga and Dario Saric into the starting lineup. Chris Paul was the leader of the first unit. The last time the two teams met in OKC, the Warriors won 141-139.

The Warriors had to find a way to hold down the Thunder offense. Well, the Warriors had seven players in double figures. All the players contributed on offense. The Warriors came back from a seven-point deficit at halftime to climb within a point of tying the game at 84 in the third quarter.

The fans were on their feet, cheering the team on. OKC broke the game open as they were red hot from behind the three-point arc. The Thunder made 19 threes to roll over the Warriors,128-109.

The Warriors started well in the first period. The Warriors led 15-13 when the Thunder went on a 27-9 run to end the quarter leading 39-24. The Warriors didn’t help their cause, as they committed seven turnovers in the period. The Warriors shot 36% from the floor, while OKC shot 56%.

The Thunder continued to roll over the Warriors for most of the second period. OKC increased the lead to 19, 59-40. Dario Saric, Andrew Wiggins, and Chris Paul sent the Warriors on a 20-8 to end the first half trailing by seven, 67-60. The Warriors went to the locker room feeling that they had turned things around.

As mentioned above, The Warriors did play well in the third quarter. They came within a point of tying the game. The Thunder led 84-83. That would be the closest the Warriors would ever get. The Thunder continued to make three-pointers. OKC’s Isaiah Joe was seven-for-seven from downtown. The Thunder closed out the third quarter, leading 94-85.

OKC poured it on in the fourth quarter. They beat the Warriors 34-24 in the fourth quarter to win the Game 128-109.

Game Notes: The Warriors lost their fifth game in a row, and their record is now 6-7. OKC has won five of their last six and are now 8-4. The teams play again on Saturday at the Chase Center,

The good news for coach Kerr was the play of his reserves. Jonathan Kuninga led the Warriors with 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Saric had 12, Andrew Wiggins had 12, Paul had 15, Moses Moody had 12, and Brandin Podzienski had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Kevon Looney was everywhere. Looney scored 13 hard-earned points, and he snagged eleven boards. Thompson played well in most aspects of the game. Thompson moved well without the play, was excellent on defense, set up screens, and assisted on shots.

However, Thompson could not find the basket. He scored five points. He made just one basket from the floor in ten tries. Every time Thompson had the ball in his hands, two OKC Defenders were on him to keep him from taking good shots.

The Thunder had six players in double figures. Isaiah Joe finished the night with 23 points. As mentioned earlier, he made seven threes in seven tries. Shea Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 24. Jalen William had 16, Josh Giddey had 19, Cason Williams had 10, and Chet Holmgren had a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds.

The schedule has not been kind to the Warriors at this point in the season. The Warriors play OKC Saturday night, the resurgent Houston Rockets, The Phoenix Suns on the road, and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Warriors will have to pull out all the stops to get some wins against these teams. Let’s hope that Thompson and Wiggins return to their past greatness.

Sharks Beat Blues In Decisive 5-1 Victory; Three Game Skid Comes To An End

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The San Jose Sharks had lots to be happy about as they’re offense was on as they defeated the visiting St Louis Blues at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Nov 16, 2023 (photo from Hockey News)

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – It’s the San Jose Sharks against the St. Louis Blues in another regular season game and the Sharks are still looking for their third win. The positive for SJ right now in this wild season is that Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks in points and after last game he’s tied with Owen Nolan (206) for fifth on Sharks’ all-time goals list and can take over the spot after tonight. 

The first period was one of the strongest periods for the Sharks this season. Two minutes into the game former St. Louis player Mike Hoffman scored in the slot off a pass from Nico Sturm that put the Sharks up early, 1-0 San Jose.

Last game against the Florida Panthers, Hoffman scored his first goal of the season and now comes back in the building and gets his second. The Sharks had a way stronger attack this period than they did at any point last game plus there’s a sense of chemistry that the Sharks have been looking for from this group.

Another bright spot about this first period was Kaapo Kahkonen who blocked 11 shots this period, but had a couple saves that got big applause from the Sharks crowd. 

San Jose blew the doors open this second period with four goals and it was in outstanding fashion. 17 seconds in Nikita Okhotiuk hits a slapshot and it’s deflected by William Eklund and he gets the second goal. Eklund’s third goal of the season 2-0 SJ.

The rally continued from an “unlikely” source, Givani Smith got his first goal of the season with a wrist shot (assisted by Kunin & Carpenter), 3-0 SJ. A minute after that Luke Kunin scored making it 4-0 and the Blues changed goalies from Joel Hofer to Jordan Binnington, but the game didn’t change even though the goalies did.

The Blues were deflated, but San Jose wasn’t, they were amplified to a level unseen all season. 13:45 into the period and the Sharks scored again. Hoffman got his second goal on a breakaway and the score became 5-0 all the way through the rest of the period.

This second period wasn’t just a showcase of SJ’s best stuff, but it was an improvement on the faults that Coach Quinn wanted them to fix and it seems like they did exactly that.

Kaapo’s continued his great performance stopping everything in his path early in the third period. At this point in the game six Sharks players had multi points (Okhotiuk, Hoffman, Smith, Carpenter, Zadina, and Kunin) and on top of that this was Kunin’s third consecutive game with a goal.

Smith’s goal was the 300th goal scored in franchise history and all these positives resulted in probably the best game of this Sharks season so far. The Sharks couldn’t end their night in a shutout that’s a fairy tale, the Blues get a goal with about six minutes left in the game, but Kaapo still had 39 saves by the time of the goal. 5-1. The clock ran down and the game ended with this 5-1 score and a happy San Jose fan base.

The Sharks get a deserved break before their next game which is November 20th against the Vancouver Canucks Rogers Centre in Vancouver.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Oakland has been a Successful Sports town; Fisher sends Dear John letter to fans

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The A’s have not determined where they’ll play for the 2025-27 seasons but it has been suggested they could play in Mexico City’s ballpark for the interim until their permanent home in Las Vegas is completed in 2028. (photo from CBS Sports)

Oakland has been a Successful Sports town

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Today, the MLB owners unanimously approved Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas. One of the most popular used quotes in the world, not only in baseball but in every walk of life, engraved into our culture, is New York Yankee legend Yogi Berra’s famous, “It ain’t over ’till is over”.

With all respect to “Schools not Stadiums” the teacher’s Union in Nevada, who are still trying to derail the move, let’s face it… it is over. It did not surprise me that all MLB owners voted the same; the Yes vote for the Athletics to move to their fourth city in their storied franchise was expected. The A’s, from Philadelphia, with stops in Kansas City in 1954 and Oakland since 1968, are moving again in 2024.

However, Oakland’s professional sports history is still a very good one. Teams in Oakland won ten championships; the Oakland A’s won four World Series, the Golden State Warriors also won four NBA titles, and the Oakland Raiders won two Super Bowls. The only cities in the country with more combined championships in MLB/NBA/NFL are Los Angeles, Boston, and New York.

A’s owner, John Fisher, sent a letter today to Oakland A’s fans, thanking them for their support.

The Dear John letter’s first paragraph reads: I know that today is a challenging day with the vote by MLB owners allowing for the A’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas. I share many of those emotions – sadness that our team will be leaving its home since 1968, pride in what we have accomplished together on and off the field in Oakland, and hope and optimism about the future of the A’s in Las Vegas.

What else can I say that hasn’t been said yet? To be said, for like ten years now, we have heard all the opinions regarding the situation, and there are still other stories (I am sure) to be written.

Yes, it is sad for everybody here in Oakland and the A’s Bay Area fans, especially those who are very good A’s fans; it is terrible for the economy of Oakland, an economy in a situation today that many political commentators and experts in financial matters are comparing to the year 1979 with high gasoline and food prices, high living expenses, homeless all over the place.

By the way, two crazy wars are going on, and yes, the unemployment probably will get a little higher in Oaktown. A good friend of mine told me today, “BART is going to lose riders to the game and more money”, but it is more than BART. When a city loses a team, they’re losing a part of its identity, part of the fabric of the community, the total name recognition, and especially Oakland, as previously mentioned, has been a very prosperous city in Sports.

Except for one key, keeping them in Oakland. The A’s will play in Oakland in 2024, and my educated guess is that they might still work a deal with the City of Oakland to play in 2025, 2026, and maybe 2027 at the Coliseum until they inaugurate their stadium in Las Vegas.

However, that makes a lot of sense, and common sense is not abundant nowadays. So, who knows where the Athletics will play for the next four to five years since they built in Las Vegas. I even heard the suggestion of Mexico City.

Have a great weekend, and get ready for Thanksgiving!

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Thompson week to week for Sabres; Canucks Soucy out 6-8 weeks with lower body injury; plus more news

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The Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson is week to week due to a upper body injury he got playing against the Boston Bruins on Tue Nov 14, 2023 (AP News file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson is listed as week to week with an upper body injury that he sustained against the Boston Bruins. Thompson stopped a shot from the Bruins Charlie McAvoy in the second period. The Sabres were on the penalty kill. Thompson was came up injured in the Buffalo zone Thompson did tough it out through the play and left the game at 11:05.

#2 Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy who blocked a shot from the Montreal Canadiens with his left foot. Soucy is listed out for the next six to eight weeks with a lower body injury. Soucy missed the first two games this season and now will miss almost two months of play.

#3 Len, anytime you lose your goaltender the head coach, the goalie coach, and the rest fall in line of worry what will they do next. The Washington Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper was injured in practice when he was hit by a puck in an unprotected are of his leg from a shot in practice. Caps head coach Spencer Harbery said it’s not an ideal situation and it was a shot from behind Kuemper that hit him said Harbery.

#4 Len, the Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart had an impressive return. Hart was out with an injury for the last two weeks came back and stopped 31 shots against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in Carolina. Hart was crucial between the pipes on his return who was out due to a back injury and missed five games since Nov 1st against the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-2 loss.

#5 The Pittsburgh Penguins Kris Letang is one point short of reaching his 700th career point. Letang would become the 29th NHL player to join the 700 career points club. Letang is the third active NHL player that would have 700 point joining Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (844 points, 248 goals and 596 assists) and the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (776 points, 183 goals and 593 assists). Ironically Len the two players with well over 700 career points are both defenseman in Burns and Karlsson two former San Jose Sharks.

Join Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast: Done Deal A’s leaving Oakland; MLB owners vote 30-0 to move A’s to Vegas

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Oakland A’s owner John Fisher got the support of all 30 owners to move the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas during a MLB owners relocation vote on Thu Nov 16, 2023 in Arlington Texas (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

MLB owners voted unanimously 30-0 to move the Oakland A’s out of Oakland to Las Vegas to the Tropicana Hotel and Casino location. The A’s had played in Oakland since 1968 and are expected to leave as early as 2025 to a location to be determined while their Las Vegas ballpark is under construction. The A’s will play their final season in Oakland in 2024 and are currently trying to figure out where they’ll play in the interim between 2025-2027 when their new park in Las Vegas will be ready by 2028.

During the process the opposition Oakland A’s fans and one group called the Oakland 68s pushed for a sell the team campaign during the 2023 season which fell on deaf ears at Major League Baseball and with Oakland owner John Fisher.

The A’s have a rich history they won three consecutive World Series from 1972-1974 and another one in 1989. They started to fall off as a competitive team after the Walter Haas Sr family sold the team in 1995 to Ken Hoffman and Steve Schott who later sold the team to Lew Wolf in 2005. John Fisher bought the A’s from Wolf in 2015 and has owned it ever since.

There is only one hope left to prevent the Oakland A’s from leaving Oakland and that is the group Schools over Stadiums. Schools over Stadiums lost a court hearing on Nov 6th in Nevada District Court to circulate a petition to be signed by Las Vegas residents that would prevent public money being used to build the A’s park in on the Las Vegas strip and that money should go to schools and education.

The judge in the Nevada District court case advised Schools over Stadiums to revise the language in the petition that A’s advocates say were misleading and misstatements. Mark Alexander a spokesman for Schools over Stadiums said he would appeal the ruling and redo the petition language for the petition tho meet the District court’s standards to get an acceptable petition.

If Schools over Stadiums succeeds in getting some 102,000 Nevada residents signatures they would be able to put the referendum on the ballot and put it up to vote in November 2024 if the voters vote no for public funds for the A’s stadium then the public money for the Las Vegas site is dead.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Warriors try and put Timberwolves in season battle to rest; Golden State sets up for OKC tonight at Chase Center

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Minnesota Timberwolves Rudy Gobert (back) and the Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson (11) scuffle at the Chase Center in first quarter action on Tue Nov 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry talk about how things got out of hand early and quick in the first quarter on Tuesday night at Chase Center between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors starting with the Timberwolves Jordan McDaniels grabbed the shirt of the Warriors Klay Thompson that just simply started bedlam.

#2 Then there was the Warriors guard Draymond Green who put the Timberwolves Rudy Gobert in a headlock as Gobert was trying to play peacemaker and pull the players apart. Realizing this Green was the one who got tossed out of the game and there was talk that he could face a suspension.

#3 Warriors head coach Steve Kerr now was without Green and Thompson who both were tossed. Green for putting Gobert in a headlock and Thompson for fighting with McDaniels. McDaniels also got tossed as well. Kerr revamped the line up with  rookie Brandin Podziemski as the shooting guard.

#4 The Warriors and Timberwolves had seen each other on Sunday night at Chase Center and got together again on Tuesday night. Do you suppose there was some bad blood leading into the second game on Tuesday that precipitated these fights overlapping from Sunday’s game?

#5 The Warriors play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night at the Chase Center. The game will start at 7 p.m. The Warriors would like to put the memory of they’re in season game with the Timberwolves behind them soon enough.

Join Jerry for the Golden State Warriors podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Manhandles Lakers – Win Fourth In a Row 125-110; Kings beat LA despite LeBron’s triple double in the Southland

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Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) arms raised and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during a time out as the Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wed Nov 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (6-4) had an amazing first quarter en route to a 125-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers (6-6). They handed the Lakers their first home loss of the season as they outplayed them through the first three quarters. This is the first of a six game road trip for Sacramento and a very positive way to start it.

Game recap: The Kings got a great start in the opening quarter scoring 32 points in nine minutes. With less than two minutes left in the first quarter Sacramento had a 37-19 lead. Both Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter had ten points apiece in the quarter. The Kings made six shots from downtown and were looking to continue to control the pace of this game going into the second quarter with a 38-25 lead.

After leading by as much as 20 points in the opening quarter, the Lakers erased that lead pulling to within eight points in the early minutes of the second quarter. Fast break points favored the Kings so far in this game and at 8:59 Sacramento held a 46-35 lead. With 0.1 left on the clocks the second quarter Fox hit a 27-foot jumper and the Kings took a 72-59 lead into the locker room.

Fox already had a 21 point game with Sabonis coming in with 19 points. So far in this game the Kings were dominating the glass. Sacramento finished the half with ten shots from downtown.

Sacramento finished the third quarter with an amazing 16 shots from downtown with Kevin Huerter responsible for six of them. He was having another solid game as the Kings continued to dictate the pace of this game going into the fourth quarter with a 104-80 lead.

The Kings were leading the Lakers in points from the field, shots from downtown, rebounds and only had ten turnovers through three quarters. The 24 point Sacramento lead was the largest they had in the game so far.

The Lakers got a fast start in the fourth quarter scoring six unanswered points. The Kings called a hasty time-out needing to get their offense back on track. It was a horrible start in the final quarter for Sacramento. They let their 24 point lead dwindle to 16. After missing numerous shots to start the quarter the Kings offense started to heat up again although they were committing too many turnovers with five in the quarter.

Both teams were shooting at 50% and the Sacramento offense began to struggle with five minutes left in the game. The 24 point lead that the Kings took into the fourth quarter had been cut in half with the Lakers trailing by a dozen. Sacramento was able to pull it together enough to win this game. This was the Laker’s first home loss of the season.

LeBron James gave his team an outside chance to win this game in the fourth quarter finishing with 28 points. D’Angelo Russell also had 28 points for Los Angeles. The Lakers did have 23 turnovers which hurt them.

Sabonis had the high for the Kings with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Fox and Huerter had 28 points apiece. Harrison Barnes chipped in double digits with 13.

Game notes: Wednesday night the Kings traveled to Los Angeles taking on the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings had embarked on a six game road trip that started Wednesday night. The Kings came off a win over the Cavaliers Monday night 132-120 that saw the long-awaited return of Fox.

Fox did not disappoint and finished with 28 points. Sacramento had four starters with 20 plus points in that game and they extended their winning streak to three games. Huerter had a terrific night with 20 points and going 6 of 9 from downtown against Cleveland. Keegan Murray and Sabonis also had an outstanding game last Monday.

The Kings sure started this road trip on a positive note with the win Wednesday night. They will be looking to extend their four game winning streak Friday night taking on the San Antonio Spurs with a scheduled 4:30 PM tipoff.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: 49ers host Buccaneers in effort to win two in a row

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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) spikes the football after scoring against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second half in Jacksonville on Sun Nov 12, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 Dave, how much of a weight does a game like beating the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3) mean after the San Francisco 49ers (6-3) had lost three games in a row?

#2 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was well celebrated having a great game against the Jaguars going 19-26 for 296 yards with three touchdowns.

#3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) are next up. The Bucs have lost four of their last five games. The Bucs winning their last game 20-6 to the Tennessee Titans. The Bucs have had plenty of problems on both sides of the ball. They head to Santa Clara this Sunday will the 49ers make easy work of the Bucs this week.

Join David Zizmor for the 49ers podcasts Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Falls to Santa Clara 89-77

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Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud lays one up against the Santa Clara Broncos at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Tue Nov 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday night the Stanford Cardinal (2-1) took on the Santa Clara Broncos (3-0) in a battle of the unbeaten. Stanford led by slight margins for most of the game. They had led by as much as 12 points in the first half but it was the Broncos who pushed the pace eventually winning the game 89-77.

Tuesday night the Cardinal took on the Broncos at Maples Pavilion. Stanford is coming off a win Friday night against the (0-3) Sacramento Hornets 91-73. The Broncos are also coming off a win over St. Francis PA last Saturday 82-59.

In that game Carlos Marshall Jr. had the high score for Santa Clara with 25 points. Stanford kept an eye on Marshall. The Cardinal have a solid roster in Brandon Angel, Spencer Jones, Maxime Raynaud and Andre Stojakovic.

Stanford was highly favored. Angel had the high score in their last game against Sacramento finishing with 18 points with Jones, Raynaud and Stojakovic all scoring in double digits. Raynaud finished the game with seven rebounds. Both teams came into this game unbeaten. The Broncos came away with their record perfect and the Cardinal take their first loss.

Stanford hit the court starting this game with a shot from downtown from Stojakovic taking an early 3-0 lead. After taking a 28-16 lead at 12:08 the Cardinal let it all slip away and at 7:29 in the first half they were leading by a basket 30-28.

The Broncos took the lead once in the first half by a single point but Stanford hung onto the lead for the rest of the half. Santa Clara refused to go away threatening throughout the final seven minutes of play in the opening half. Stanford led at the half 46-44. Maxime Raynaud had the high for Stanford with 17 points.

The Broncos took the lead a couple of times in the second half but Stanford took the lead back every time but just could not establish a consistent rhythm and dictate the pace of this game. At 11:45 Santa Clara’s Adama Bal hit a shot from downtown and the Broncos went on to take a 62-57 lead.

This time it was the Broncos that threatened the pace of this game. This time it was Santa Clara that was holding small leads and extending their lead to 83-75 with less than a minute left in the game.

The Cardinal will next take on Eastern Wa again at Maples Friday night with tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Sharks Lose 5-3 to Panthers In Their Return Home

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The San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin (left) celebrates scoring against Florida Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – At the SAP Center it’s the San Jose Sharks who are looking for a third win on the season against the Florida Panthers who are 9-4-1 and second in the Atlantic division. The Sharks lost their last game against the Ducks 4-1, but San Jose had their eyes set on last year’s Eastern Conference champions but couldn’t seal the deal in a two goal 5-3 loss.

Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks with 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) entering tonight’s game alongside William Eklund, the offense looks to shake things up against a defense who isn’t afraid to get physical. Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was pivotal in the Sharks only wins this season, but if the Sharks want any traction, Blackwood can’t be the only defensive presence out there on the ice. 

 The first period was a tale of two parts. The first part was a combination of sloppy play and bad rotation on defense where Ryan Lomberg scored the first goal of the game unassisted. 1-0 Panthers. The Sharks this season are notoriously bad when the opponent scores first (0-9).

The Sharks got the tying goal three minutes after the Florida goal and it was from the Sharks Mike Hoffman, his first of the season (assisted by Jan Rutta and Ryan Carpenter) making it 1-1. The Sharks strengthened up the defense to keep it tied at the end of the period and a sense of optimism was held over the SAP Center. 

The goalies were the highlight for the majority of the second period, both goalies showing out as they controlled the momentum. That changed when a roughing call to Givani Smith led to a power play goal by Panthers points leader Sam Reinhart, who scored his 12th goal of the season so far, assisted by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Tkachuk 2-1 Panthers.

Smith even with the penalty still upheld his role as an enforcer, because his style of play started to frustrate the Panthers. Smith wasn’t the only guy throwing his body around, the Sharks physicality was clearly something to highlight in this period. As the period came to a close a tripping call with 18 seconds left on Panthers center Nick Cousins gave San Jose an advantage going into the third. 

Sharks third period had high hopes. Tomas Hertl scored on a powerplay goal from a beautiful pass by Zetterlund to make it 2-2. Right after that Luke Kunin scored on a rebound with a backhand shot and now it was 3-2 San Jose and the SAP Center was electric. “We Want Tacos!” chants started to circulate as the fans didn’t just want the win, they wanted free tacos, but that would come with a price.

Carter Verhaeghe on a power play hit a diving goal that tied things up and special teams was something that Coach Quinn stressed for his Sharks players, “a focus before the game” he said, but it would end up being a thing that kept them away from victory.

Kevin Stenlund put the Panthers back on top with a redirect on Balinskis shot that went five hole on Blackwood and now it was 4-3. 38 seconds later Sam Bennett appeared to close the game out for Florida, but Coach Quinn successfully challenged the play for offside and it was no goal, still 4-3. With 2:30 left in the game Quinn emptied his net, but the strategy would fail as Barkov scored into an empty net and it was a 5-3 to end the game. 

The Sharks lose another game, but the beauty of the NHL is there’s always a game around the corner and for the Sharks that game comes after one day’s rest. San Jose will be back in the Shark Tank to face the St. Louis Blues, a team that Coach Quinn credits for “having good forwards”. Last time the Sharks were in the Tank they had a two game win streak, but now it’s back to fighting from underneath and trying to find out what works and what doesn’t for this team.