Big night by Karlsson lifts Sharks past Minnesota 5-2

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San Jose Sharks center Noah Gregor is congratulated for his goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, December 22, 2022

Defenseman Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for San Jose Thursday, and was one of seven different goal scorers for the Sharks in a 5-2 win over Minnesota at SAP Center.

Karlsson, Timo Meier, Kevin Lebanc, Oskar Lindblom and Noah Gregor each tallied for the Sharks, while goaltender James Reimer stopped 24 of 26 Wild shots. Karlsson’s three helpers gives him a team-leading 33 in that category.

San Jose, 7th in the Pacific, improved to 11-18-6, 28 points. The Wild, third in the NHL Central, are 19-12-2, 40 points, and tied with Seattle for the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

The Sharks opened the scoring 44 seconds into the first period on Karlsson’s 13th goal of the season, assisted by Jaycob Megna and Alexander Barabanov.

Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game at 1-1 for Minnesota with his 12th goal, coming at 2:20, Gregor’s second goal of the season at 11:37 gave San Jose a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

Meier’s 16th goal of the season, a power-play tally, came at 12:47 of the second period, assisted by Karlsson and Nick Bonino. Prior to Meier’s goal, Mason Shaw of the Wild was serving a 5-minute major for kneeing, in addition to receiving a game misconduct penalty.

The Sharks extended their lead to 4-1 five minutes later on Lindblom’s second goal of the season, from Karlsson and Meier.

Mats Zuccarello pulled Minnesota to within 4-2 with his 15th goal, six seconds b3fore the second intermission.

Labanc closed out the scoring with an unassisted power-play empty net goal at 19:46 of the third period. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was serving a 2-minute minor for slashing at the time of Labanc’s goal.

Filip Gustavsson gave up four of San Jose’s goals while stopping 20 of 24 shots.

After a break for the Christmas holiday, the Sharks return to action on Dec. 27 in Vancouver.

Kings Remove Lebron’s Crown Beat Lakers in California State Capital, 134-120

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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) makes way against the Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) in second half action at Golden One Center in Sacramento on Wed Dec 21, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Michael Roberson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings (17-13) did not welcome Lebron “King” James and the Los Angeles Lakers (13-18) into their kingdom and threw them into the moat surrounding Golden 1 Center 134-120.

The Lakers actually had the advantage after the first 12 minutes of play, 26-25 in a quarter that had 10 lead changes and five ties.

The Kings managed to take the lead at the midway point of the contest with veteran forward and champion, Harrison Barnes led the charge with 14 points and totaled 20 for the game. At the half, 66-58 Kings.

Sacramento blew it open in the third quarter, with a lead as large as 23 points and they went on a 14-0 run in the 3/4 portion of the game, leading by 20, 106-86.

The fourth was just a formality, as the Kings held on to win by 14, despite being outscored by six at the hands of the Lakers, Final tally, 134-120 for the home team.

The Kings had six players in double-figures, spearheaded by guard Kevin Huerter’s 26 points and center Domantas Sabonis’ triple-double (13 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists). Forward Keegan Murray contributed a career high 23 points and star guard De’Arron Fox put up 22 points and 6 assists, but was ejected from the game for amassing two technical fouls.

The Lakers had the entire starting five hit double-figures in points too, but of course led Lebron James’ 31 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Even with the loss in emphatic fashion, James expressed his fondness of Sacramento, because it is the city where everything started with his magnificent career.

The Kings will be in action again, Friday December 23, hosting the Washington Wizards. The Lakers will head back down south to welcome the Charlotte Hornets, also December 23.

Warriors blown out once again by Nets 143-113; Golden State losers of five of last six games

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Brooklyn Nets’ Ben Simmons (10) dunks the ball in front of Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole (3) and Anthony Lamb (40) during the first half at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Wed Dec 21, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN, NY. — The Golden State Warriors (15-18) finished their rough six-game road trip with a back-to-back blowout loss, falling 143-113 to the Brooklyn Nets (20-12) on Wednesday night at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn pummeled Golden State in the first half, scoring 91 points, the third-biggest in NBA history. The Warriors had 51 at the half, without injured Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson, who sat out after facing the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

The Nets made 11 of their first 12 shots and led 46-17 at the end of the first quarter. The 29-point differential was the biggest in any period in the league this season.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said early turnovers, totaling 21 by the end the night, helped the Nets gain momentum.

“We set a bad tone. You can’t, you can’t play defense recovering from a turnover, and so that was the biggest issue to start the game. We were just trying too hard to create plays and getting out of control,” said Kerr. “And then they made everything. They were phenomenal in the first half.”

Former Warriors player Kevin Durant got a technical foul for celebrating on the sidelines after Nets teammate Ben Simmons slammed down a pass. It didn’t matter much, since the Nets were up 68-31 halfway through the second quarter.

Warriors forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., who guarded Durant after a timeout, acknowledged that many young players look up to him.

“At that moment you’ve just got to step up to the challenge. I thought a lot of guys did that tonight,” said Baldwin Jr. “KD is going to be KD, he’s going to hit his tough shots, he’s going to get to his spots, but I thought a lot of guys stepped up and accepted that challenge.”

The Warriors sank to 95-51 after Simmons scored the first two baskets in the third quarter. They did not come close to closing the gap in the fourth.

Golden State’s leading scorer was James Wiseman, who had a career-high 30 points on 12-for-14 shooting.

Wiseman, whom the Warriors recently recalled from the G League and has an uncertain future, said the team had too many turnovers and broke down on defense.

“We just got to have communication and stuff and we’ll be alright,” said Wiseman. “But I feel like we did way better than the last game just in terms of playing and stuff.”

The Warriors (15-18) are on a two-game losing streak after the Knicks beat them by 38 points, and went 1-5 on the road. They return home and have several days off before a Christmas Day game against the Memphis Grizzlies (19-11) at Chase Center. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.

A Win For Cal: Bears blow past UT-Arlington for their first win of the season

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Bears have a win, but they still have a conference schedule to attack as well, so the end of the longest losing skid was partnered with the briefest of celebrations.

“It’s been a tough start, obviously, and they deserve to get a reward,” Fox said.

The Bears’ 73-51 win over Texas-Arlington on Wednesday afternoon brought to an end a saga that defined the team for the first half of their schedule and needed to end before the wins get even more elusive during Pac-12 play.

Simply, the Bears don’t want the streak to define them, so they enter Christmas break with the purpose of being prepared for Utah a week from Thursday.

A one-win team can’t exhale with so much of their season still to play.

Missing Devin Askew because of an ankle injury didn’t prevent Cal’s fast start in which they led by nine at halftime, and pushed their advantage to 22 with 11 minutes remaining.

Joel Brown reprised his role as the team’s aggressive scorer by attacking the basket with tremendous results. Brown introduced himself in Cal’s most recent loss at Santa Clara, and he picked it up on Wednesday.

Brown and Lars Thiemann led the Bears with 17 points each, and Kuany Kuany added 16.

UT-Arlington allowed 57 percent shooting to Cal, the highest number the Mavericks allowed this season. Shemar Wilson led the visitors with 14 points, 11 rebounds.

“This is about as disappointed as I’ve been after a game all season,” UTA coach Greg Young said. “We have to get more mature. We didn’t handle success well after the win at San Francisco, and we didn’t play hard enough tonight.”

Barracuda drop another one on the road against the Canucks 6-3

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. A mass of players piles up in front of Abbotsford goaltender Collin Delia.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose went into Abbotsford and took on the Canucks Wednesday night and proceeded to drop their fifth in a row by a final of 6-3.

The first period saw the Barracuda open up the scoring with Andrew Agozzino scoring his 10th goal of the season. Both Darren Brady and Artemi Kniazev assisted on the goal.

The Canucks rallied back mere minutes later as Phil Di Giuseppe scored his fifth goal of the season and his second in as many games. Vasily Podkolzin and Guillaume Brisebois assisted on the goal.

With the period tied the Barracuda struck back this time Max Verronneau scored getting his first goal of the campaign. The assists on the goal went to Luke Johnson and Ozzy Wiesblatt.

At the end of the first the shots finished in favor of the Barracuda at 14-10.

In the second period the first goal wouldn’t come till the 14:22 mark were Justin Dowling scored his sixth of the season to get the Canucks the lead back.

A little over a minute later the Canucks got the fans up on their feet again as Will Lockwood scored his 12th goal of the season.

The shots still favored San Jose at the end of the second 27-20.

Opposite to the second the scoring in the third happened a lot quicker as at the 4:36 mark Rathbone scored on the power play to bring the Canucks lead up too two goals.

Later in the game the Barracuda pulled their goalie but Chase Wouters scored on it to get his third goal of the season and put the game away.

Despite being down, on the power play Danil Gushchin scored his eight goal of the season to bring the score back to 5-3.

Trying once again to come back San Jose pulled their goalie but once again the Canucks scored on it this time Linus Karlsson scored his eight goal of the season.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Phil Di Giuseppe 2nd: Jack Rathbone 3rd: Vasily Podkolzin

The shots at the end of the game finished in favor of San Jose at 34-25.

San Jose will get a little bit of a break as they won’t play again until Tuesday where they’ll play the Condors at home at 5:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Will the 49ers really consider trading Trey Lance?

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance, right, is carted off the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sun Sep 18, 2022 (AP News file)

On the 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 David, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is the favorite power rankings quarterback going into Saturday’s Christmas Eve thriller between the Washington Commanders (7-6-1) and 49ers. How do you see Purdy matched up with Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

#2 Purdy was well in command against the Seattle Seahawks (7-7) last Thursday Night Football throwing 17-26 for 217 yards, and threw for two touchdowns. Will there be a big difference between the way that Purdy runs the offense, runs the ball, and stays in the pocket against the Commanders as opposed to the way he played against the Seahawks.

#3 The trade talk is already on with fans and media questioning is this the right time to trade injured 49ers quarterback Trey Lance seeing how Brock Purdy has come on the scene?

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

Mets sign Correa, San Francisco drops him after failing physical due to undisclosed reasons

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Former Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa failed two physicals according to the San Francisco Giants thus forfeiting a $350 million deal. Correa came to terms with the New York Mets later on Tues Dec 20, 2022 signing Correa to a $315 million 12 year deal after the Giants deal fell through (AP News file)

By Morris Phillips and Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–Carlos Correa who had signed a $350 million with the San Francisco Giants but the deal was annulled due failing two physicals. Correa who had past back problems it was reported that was not the reason why he failed his physicals.

The Giants and Correa could have negotiated for a lower salary number but that will not be necessary after learning the Giants had decided to drop Correa due to the failed physicals the New York Mets came in and signed Correa to a $315 million 12 year contract.

The Giants were set to introduce Correa to the media on Tuesday morning at 11 AM but the presser was canceled after learning of Correa’s physical results. The Giants would not disclose the specifics of why Correa failed his physical but it sure didn’t make a difference to the Mets who grabbed him right away after learning the Giants no longer were interested in his services.

Upon learning the news about the Giants and Correa no longer doing business together many in MLB and those who cover Correa were shocked upon learning the news on Tuesday. Once Mets owner Stephen A Cohen learned of Correa being back on the free agency market it didn’t take long for the Mets to reach out to him with an offer that he quickly agreed to and signed.

The Mets during the Correa sweepstakes weren’t able to sign him because the Giants had upped the offer to $350 million to the Mets $315 million. The Mets kept the number the same but figuring it was known that Correa failed two physicals and the Mets believed in Correa regardless signed him and hope to rehabilitate Correa inspite of his injuries.

Cohen was in Hawaii when the deal went down, “We need one more thing, and this is it,” Cohen said “This was important … This puts us over the top. This is a good team. I hope it’s a good team!” The Mets general manager Billy Eppler meanwhile kept busy and on Tuesday they also signed another big name pitcher Justin Verlander who had just won the 2022 World Series with the Houston Astros.

Eppler who was at the baseball winter meetings earlier this month on Dec 4-7 in San Diego pursued Verlander and with pitcher Max Scherzer in the rotation the Mets have two of the best starters in baseball for the 2023 season.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips both cover SF Giants baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

On the road Barracuda drop their fourth straight against the Canucks 6-2

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Thomas Bordeleau gets warmed up before a game.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

In Abbotsford the Barracuda took on the Canucks and dropped another one this time by a final of 6-2.

For San Jose it’s been a rough road trip with no wins to speak of and in this one they’d look to reverse their fortunes.

The Barracuda did not get off to a great start however when just 3:58 into the first Kyle Rau scored to get his sixth of the season. The assists on the goal went to both Justin Dowling and Christian Wolanin.

At the 11:07 mark the Canucks doubled up their score by getting another one this time John Stevens scored to get his sixth of the season. Phil Di Giuseppe got the lone assist on the goal.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first as both teams powerplay’s went 0/2.

The shots at the end of the period also favored Abbotsford at 10-4.

Down 2-0 the Barracuda found a response 5:16 into the second as Andrew Agozzino got his ninth goal of the season with both Patrick Sieloff and William Eklund getting assists on the play.

Not long after San Jose got closer the power play unit for the Canucks struck to get the lead back to two with Dowling getting his fifth goal on the year. Both Wolanin and Tristen Nielsen assisted on the goal.

Nick Cicek at the 13:34 mark took a hooking penalty and put Abbotsford’s power play unit back on the ice.

Feeling the momentum of their last power play goal they scored again this time Will Lockwood scored his 11th goal of the season. Dowling and Wolanin joined in again on the scoring both assisting on the goal.

On top of giving up two power play goals Aaron Dell got a surprising ten minute misconduct for abuse of an official. He stayed in the game though and the Canucks did not score on the power play.

At the end of the period the shots still favored the Canucks at 18-14.

In the third just 3:32 in Abbotsford continued the offensive push this Di Giuseppe scored tallying his fourth of the season. John Stevens got the lone assist on the goal.

The Canucks offense was not done yet though as Rau scored his second of the game making it 6-1 with both Lockwood and Dowling assisting on the goal.

With little time left in the third San Jose’s power play hit the ice once again and this time scored as Thomas Bordeleau scored to get his 13th of the season. Eklund and Danil Gushchin both assisted on the goal.

That ended up being the final goal of the game with the score finishing at 6-2.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Justin Dowling 2nd: Christian Wolanin 3rd: Kyle Rau

The shots at the end of the game ended tied at 24.

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow against the Canucks once again in Abbotsford at 7 p.m. 

Calgary scores four times in third period, upends Sharks 7-3

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44) defend against Calgary Flames center Jonathan Huberdeau (10) during the second period at SAP Center in San Jose Tue Dec 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Tyler Toffoli and Nazem Kadri each scored twice and Jonathan Huberdeau assisted on three goals, as Calgary defeated San Jose 7-3 Tuesday at SAP Center.

It was the second game of a home-and-home series – the Flames beat San Jose 5-2 Sunday night in Calgary.

Calgary improved to 15-12-6, 34 points, and 5th in the Pacific Division. They trail Edmonton by two points in the NHL West Wild Card race. San Jose, 7th in the Pacific, dropped to 10-18-6, 26 points.

Calgary opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the first period on Toffoli’s 12th goal of the season. 15 seconds later, Toffoli assisted on the seventh goal of the season for Dillon Dube, giving the Flames a 2-0 lead.

Nico Sturm put the Sharks on the board at 14:58 of the first period, his ninth, from Timo Meier. A minute later, Sturm and Calgary’s Brett Ritchie were assessed five-minute majors for fighting.

The Flames extended their lead to 3-1 midway through the second period on Trevor Lewis’s seventh goal. San Jose pulled to within 3-2 with 37 seconds left in the period when Alexander Barabanov scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Scott Harrington and Matt Nieto.

Meier’s 17 goal of the year, assisted by Erik Karlsson – his 30th, tied the game at 10:04 of the third period. But the Flames went ahead to stay at 10:04 on Kadri’s 12th goal, which blew the game open.

Milan Lucic scored his second goal of the season for Calgary at 16:43, followed by an empty-net tally by Toffoli at 18:22 and Kadri’s second goal of the contest at 18:42.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 of San Jose’s 27 shots on goal, while Sharks’ netminder James Reimer gave up six of Calgary’s seven tallies while making 32 saves.

The Sharks host the Minnesota Wild Thursday, with the opening faceoff slated for 7:30 p.m.

Knicks simply controlled the ball crush Warriors at MSG 132-94

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New York Knicks’ Miles McBride (2) dunks the ball in front of Golden State Warriors’ James Wiseman (33) during the second half at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tue Dec 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK, NY. — The short-handed Golden State Warriors (15-17) suffered a 132-94 blowout loss to the New York Knicks (18-13) at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, in the first of a back-to-back in the Big Apple.

New York scored the first eight points and never trailed the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry due to a left shoulder injury, Andrew Wiggins with a strained right adductor, Andre Iguodala who has not played yet this season, and others.

The Knicks finished the first quarter ahead 33-25. The Warriors got within 35-33, but Quentin Grimes hit a triple with 4:17 left in the second quarter to boost the Knicks up 60-45. Golden State trailed 69-56 at the half.

“The Knicks are in a good groove right now. They totally outplayed us,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “We sank tonight. We’re trying to hang in there and we will. Another game tomorrow.”

With 5:37 to go in the third quarter, Mitchell Robinson scored a couple of free throws that extended New York’s lead to 88-67. Then Immanuel Quickley’s free throws with five seconds remaining brought the Knicks to 100 points. They led 100-81 at the end of the quarter.

The Warriors never closed the gap in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks won their eighth straight game to improve to 18-13.

“We probably could’ve did a better job of making them feel our presence on the three-point line today,” said Warriors guard Jordan Poole. “We got a couple of easy looks early and it’s hard to stop a team once they get going.”

Poole was the leading scorer for the Warriors, with 26 points. Jonathan Kuminga scored 13 points and Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Ty Jerome had 11 each.

The Warriors (15-17) finish their six-game road trip against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m.

Golden State will be even more depleted at Barclays Center, as Kerr confirmed that Thompson will not play in the second of the back-to-back games.

“It’s always tough – the last one on the road’s always tough, especially on a back-to-back. But hopefully we can learn from what we did tonight and we can be better tomorrow,” said Warriors center Kevon Looney.

“Usually when we lose a tough one or we get embarrassed like we did tonight we usually respond well, so hopefully we can go out there and play a little angry and play a little tougher and play better.”

Tuesday night’s result was quite the opposite of the Warriors’ last contest against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last December, when they won 105-96 and Curry became the NBA’s career leader in three-pointers.