Heat upend Barracuda 4-3 with Valimaki’s OT winner

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It takes two to tango the Stockton Heat’s left winger Alex Gallant (20) and the San Jose Barracuda defenseman Montana Onyebuchi (79) mix it up at the Stockton Arena on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Every point is a critical one for the San Jose Barracuda.

They overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period but weren’t able to pick up the second point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Stockton Heat on Saturday evening at Stockton Heat.

Juuso Valimaki scored 52 seconds in the extra session, his second of the season, to give the Pacific Division leaders their 31st win of the season.

San Jose have lost two out of its past three games. Stockton snapped its two-game losing streak and still only have single digit losses in regulation.

Stockton (31-9-4-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Nick DeSimone made one move around a Barracuda defender before firing a wrist shot at the net that was tipped past ‘Cuda netminder Alexei Melnichuk by Luke Philp for his 17th goal of the season at the 3:50 mark.

The Heat doubled its lead just past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Emilio Pettersen centered a pass from behind the net to Walker Duehr who buried a wrist shot past Melnichuk for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:37 mark.

San Jose (16-28-2-0) were even with Stockton on the shot clock with nine shots but weren’t able to get nothing past Heat netminder Dustin Wolf.

The Barracuda cut the lead in half midway through the second period. Dillon Hamaliuk led an odd man rush into the Heat zone. Hamaliuk found Sasha Chmelevski all alone in front of the crease and the Orange County native beat Wolf with a one-timer for his 10th goal of the season at the 10:04 mark.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead late in the middle frame when a big hit at the ‘Cuda blueline led to a two-on-zero that resulted in Pettersen scored his fifth goal of the season at the 17:03 mark.

San Jose scored two goals in the third period to force overtime.

Artemi Kniazev made a backdoor centering pass to a wide open Hamaliuk and he buried a one-timer past Wolf for his second goal of the game.

It was Hamaliuk’s first multi-point game of his AHL career.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer on a three-on-one rush after a turnover by Stockton in their own zone. John Leonard skated in a wired a wrist shot past Wolf for his 13th goal of the season at the 14:15 mark.

Wolf finished the evening stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 34 saves on 38 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams did not have a power play opportunity as neither team drew a penalty during the game.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Valimaki 2) Pettersen 3) Philp

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday 3/6 at 5:00pm at SAP Center.

Sharks Shutout 8-0 by Predators; Eighth loss in ten games for San Jose

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The Nashville Predators Michael McCarron (47) gets congratulations from teammates after scoring a first period goal against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell 8-0 to the Nashville Predators Saturday night in San Jose. Michael McCarron, Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, Matt Luff, Yakov Trenin and Mikael Granlund scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the shutout win. Alex Stalock made 22 saves before being replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who made 6 saves for the Sharks. It was the most goals the Sharks have ever given up in a shutout loss. The Sharks also have also been shutout at home more than any other team this season.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“That was the worst one of the year, for sure. I think, you know, regardless of the score, at three-nothing I thought we were actually playing a pretty competitive game. We were playing pretty hard. We only gave up two chances in the first period and I think we only generated one. So it’s a pretty even first period, regardless of the shot clock. I thought the second period, the chances we did have [Saros] made saves or [we] hit a couple posts, hit a crossbar. Once it got four-nothing we got away from our game.”

Before the game, the Sharks expressed their support of Ukraine by displaying the Ukrainian flag on the jumbotron while playing the Ukrainian anthem. It was also “You Can Play” night at the tank, promoting inclusivity in the sport. The Sharks wore rainbow jerseys during warm-ups and they held a ceremonial puck drop from San Jose sled hockey player Zack Nazareno.

Michael McCarron scored the first Nashville goal at 10:43 of the first period, off of a pass from behind the net. Assists went to Philip Tomasino and Date Fabbro.

Matt Duchene made it 2-0 with a shot up the middle from the blue line. That shot made its way through traffic and into the net at 18:30 of the period. Assists went to Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen.

Well past the ten minute mark, the Sharks were still at three shots on goal. By the end of the period, they had only managed five to Nashville’s eleven.

Roman Josi added a third goal for Nashville at 2:43 of the second period. Assists went to Matt Luff and Philip Tomasino.

Matt Luff made it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period, gathering the puck up as it slipped out of a melee in front of the net. Assists went to Tomasino and McCarron.

Duchene scored his second of the night 4:43 into the third period. He skated into the zone seemingly unnoticed by the Sharks defense and scored with a late backhand. Filip Forseberg and Mattias Ekholm got the assists.

Michael McCarron scored his second of the night at 6:07, redirecting a shot from Luff. Assists went to Luff and Josi.

The Sharks replaced Stalock with Sawchenko after that goal.

Yakov Trenin scored and unassisted goal at 11:13. He picked off a pass by Marc-Edouard Vlasic that came right to him above the blue paint.

Mikael Granlund scored a power play goal at 13:06. His shot from the bluel line went ight up the middle through traffic. Assists went to McCarron and Josi.

The Sharks power play got three shots on goal, and gave up two short-handed shots. Their penalty kill gave up oe goal and four shots.

Rudolf Balcers was back in the lineup Saturday. Erik Karlsson has been practicing but is not expected to play before next week.

The Sharks play again on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 5:00 PM PT.

Piling Up The Points: Pac-12 champion Arizona looks NCAA Tournament-ready in 89-61 pasting of Cal

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By Morris Phillips

Are the Arizona Wildcats the favorite to cut down the nets and win their second National Championship?

If the Cal Bears wanted to be the voice of dissent regarding UA’s chances, they unearthed very little evidence on Saturday afternoon.

No. 2 Arizona (28-3, 18-2) looked the part, shooting a sizzling 62 percent from the floor in dispatching Cal, 89-61 at the McKale Center in Tucson. It didn’t matter that Arizona was playing its fifth game in 10 days, or that they had little to play for after clinching the Pac-12 regular season title on Tuesday at USC.

But what may have most impressive was the Cats put up 89 points despite having to deal with Cal’s plodding pace, and a couple of impressive, but short-lived stretches of play by the Bears.

How’s that possible? Make shots, and Arizona did that in bunches.

Oumar Ballo, the transfer from No. 1 Gonzaga, led the Cats with 16 points on 7 for 7 shooting from the floor. Ballo was the biggest piece of Arizona’s octet of reserves that combined to shoot 18 of 24 from the floor and 7 for 7 from the foul line.

Those bench contributions were the biggest indicator of the hosts’ ability to impose their will. The team picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 before the season literarily outplayed expectations down to their 13th man. Coach Tommy Lloyd, who denied any celebrations prior to Saturday’s final buzzer couldn’t hold back his praise.

“These dudes are unbelievable,” Lloyd said. “What they gave me this year has inspired me to coach forever. They practice their ass off every day and they handle me being on them. It’s such a special group to be around.”

Cal was competitive for the game’s first six minutes, then a 9-0 run for Arizona gave evidence that the visitors were in for a rough ride. The Cats extended their lead to 36-17 on Christian Koloko’s layup with 4:21 remaining at which point the Bears settled in with a 14-4 run to end the half that had them within range, down 40-31 at the half.

But the second half saw Arizona shoot 65 percent and their crowd grow more jubilant with each made basket. Despite their starters playing sparingly UA led by 31 before winning by 28.

“We got a little fatigued and made some costly errors there in the second half defensively,” coach Mark Fox said. “Against a team with as much talent as they have, you cannot afford to do that.”

Jordan Shepherd led Cal (12-19, 5-15) with 16 points. Lars Thiemann had 12 points, five rebounds and Makale Foreman added 11. Thiemann was able to go despite being a gametime decision due to an injury, but starting guard Joel Brown was scratched due to a knee injury.

Cal opens the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday with their opponent to be determined after action concludes on Saturday night, with the Washington Huskies as the most likely opponent in a 7 versus 10 matchup.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Canadiens hosting game with no crowd limit; Leafs won’t deal goalies; plus more

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Montreal Canadien fans can fill up the Rogers Centre in Montreal tonight as they Habs host the Edmonton Oilers for the first allowed capacity game after many years of Covid 19 protocol restrictions (file photo Fox News)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens face off tonight with no crowd limits, mask mandate still in effect. They expect 18,000 fans at Rogers Centre in Montreal. Fans are happy they get to fill the arena how safe will this decision be?

#2 Matt, the Toronto Maple Leafs say they have no plans to deal goaltender Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek. Both goaltenders combined have allowed 31 goals in the last seven games there have been calls in Toronto by fans and the media to trade one of the goalies. Kyle Dubas the Leafs general manager said he doesn’t need to deal either goalie but would like to obtain more defense.

#3 Matt how important is it that the Philadelphia Flyers Kevin Hayes has returned to the line up after missing 15 games and is expected to return this Saturday. Hayes said he had a bad groin infection that spread to his left side. Hayes says he feels pretty good now.

#4 The San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer is week to week with a lower body injury he sustained in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights on Tuesday who played in his 12th straight game. Matt, was it a matter of the Sharks just over played Reimer or some way some how Reimer was going to run out of gas and something was going to happen. Also talk who the Sharks most likely will go with in goal Adin Hill, Zachary Sawchenko, or Alex Stalock?

#5 Matt, the Carolina Hurricanes will get a shot at hosting the Stadium Series on Feb 18, 2023 when they host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium at North Carolina State University in Raleigh NC.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Former head coach DeBoer enjoyed getting career win 500 against former team

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Former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer looks on at his team the Vegas Golden Knights at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas against the Sharks on Tue Mar 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len taking a look at the Vegas Golden Knights and their head coach Peter DeBoer and their win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday 3-1. The win was DeBoer’s 500th career win as a head coach and it had to be sweeter to get it against his old team the Sharks.

#2 DeBoer was fired as Sharks head coach Dec 11, 2019 and the Knights hired DeBoer Jan 15, 2020. Looking back on the DeBoer firing did the Sharks fire him prematurely or they made the right decision to let him go at the right time.

#3 DeBoer also got his 499th win over the Sharks on Feb 20th and it was just as good as 500 said DeBoer, “San Jose, that experience is fresh enough with me that that still gets the juices flowing.”

#4 Len, on Sharks goaltender James Reimer after 12 straight games he got a lower body injury against the Knights and is listed as week to week and the Sharks now will have to depend on Adin Hill, Zachary Sawchenko and Alex Stalock how do you see this tandem going into tonight’s game at SAP Center.

#5 Next up for the Sharks the Nashville Predators (30-19-2) who have lost five of their last eight games and lost their last game to the Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday 3-2. How do you see the Sharks and Predators matching up at SAP Center tonight?

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

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Daniel Dullum: Stanford good first half, lose second half to Arizona 81-69 in Tucson

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Stanford forward Spencer Jones (14) drives on Arizona guard Pelle Larsson at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson on Thu Mar 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Stanford podcast with Daniel:

1 Despite a gallant effort, Stanford bounced back from a horrendous game against Cal and played at least one good half against Arizona.

2 What was working for the Cardinal in the first half, and where did it go south in the second half?

3 How are Stanford’s chances to pick up a win on Saturday against Arizona State to end the regular season on a positive note?

4 What do Stanford’s chances for postseason men’s basketball look like?

5 Meanwhile, Teri Vanderveer just received Pac-12 women’s basketball coach of the year for the 17th time, as the Cardinal women are primed for an extended tournament run.

Catch Daniel for the Stanford podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Pac-12 champion No. 2 Arizona defeats Stanford 81-69

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Stanford guard Michael O’Connell (5) drives on Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson on Thu Mar 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, March 3, 2022

Fresh off clinching the Pac-12 regular season title, No. 2 Arizona returned home to McKale Center in Tucson and held off inspired Stanford 81-69 in men’s basketball Thursday.

Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats with 24 points, followed by Christian Koloko with 21 points and 10 rebounds, as U of A (27-3 overall, 17-2 Pac-12) remained undefeated at home in its first season under Coach Tommy Lloyd. Kerr Kriisa added seven assists and Azuolas Tubelis chipped in with 11 points.

Arizona also clinched its first conference championship in four years.

After defeating No. 16 Southern California on Tuesday in Los Angeles, Arizona came out sluggish against the Cardinal (15-14 overall, 8-11 Pac-12), shooting poorly while Stanford built a nine-point lead in the first half, eventually whittled down to a 39-37 Cardinal lead at halftime. Stanford made more baskets in the first half (12) than they did in their entire loss to California.

But the Wildcats pulled away after the intermission, outscoring the Cardinal 44-30, as Stanford’s late-season tailspin continued with its sixth loss in seven games. Mathurin had a personal 8-0 run against the Cardinal to open the second half that put U of A up 67-58.

Arizona stayed close by making 16 points off 11 Cardinal turnovers. Things didn’t go much better for Stanford in the second half, making 3 of 9 from 3-point range while finishing the game with 17 turnovers.

Spencer Jones led the Cardinal with 22 points, followed by Michael O’Connell with 16 points – all scored in the first half. Maxime Raynaud added 10 points and seven rebounds, and Harrison Ingram led the Cardinal with nine boards.

Stanford made 15 of 28 in the first 20 minutes, including 7 of 10 behind the arc.\

Stanford finishes the regular season in Tempe on Saturday, visiting Arizona State.

Run Ragged: Sun Devils race past Cal in 71-44 romp in Tempe

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By Morris Phillips

How do you characterize the two-game series between Cal and Arizona State this season?

Well, that’s easy. Both teams put forth their best effort, that is if they didn’t fall on their collective faces.

On January 2, the Bears growled menacingly from the start, leading by 18 at the half and winning by 24 as they shot 51 percent from the floor and passed the ball expertly leading to 17 assists.

On Thursday in the rematch in the desert, ASU was off and running, building a brief, double-digit lead in the first half, then burying Cal with a running and shooting barrage after halftime, resulting in an, easy 27-point win.

The common thread in both games was that while each team looked pretty darn good in their wins, they’ll likely beat themselves up remembering how out of character they were in getting blown out.

“As well as we played last Saturday, we played the opposite defensively today,” coach Mark Fox said. “We really collapsed on the defensive end in the second half.”

The Bears survived a rough first half in part by getting a pair of big baskets from Grant Anticevich before halftime to climb within six points of the Sun Devils. But all that effort to get back in the game disappeared after halftime. The Bears allowed ASU to make 18 of their 28 shot attempts, and couldn’t stop run outs or 3-point attempts.

“When you don’t score and they can fast break on every possession, you’re going to have a hard time getting your defense set,” Fox said.

Previously against Stanford in their 53-39 win, and on February 12 at Oregon in Cal’s last road game, a 78-64 win, the Bears played at a methodical pace, made shots when the game was in doubt, and defended as if they were constructing a fortress in front of the hoop.

Against ASU those same Cal Bears put up little resistance and showed hardly any resolve. With all the attention around the program this week and speculation regarding Fox and his now likely return for a fourth year at the helm, the effort and result looked completely out of place.

Furthermore, the Bears (12-18, 5-14) may not get another opportunity to better present themselves. Saturday’s regular season finale at No. 2 Arizona could be a particularly turbulent experience, and a conference tournament opener currently sees them matched up with either Washington or Washington State. Cal dropped both meetings with those two schools.

D.J. Horne was one of five Sun Devils (13-16, 9-10) to score at least 10 points and led the hosts with 13 points. Marreon Jackson and Jay Heath combined to miss 20 shots in the first meeting between the clubs, this time they contributed 11 and 12 points respectively. Arizona State has won 6 of their last 7 after losing 9 of 11.

“We knew what their game plan was going to be, they ranked last in pace of play,” ASU’s Kimani Lawrence said. “We got bigs and guys on the wings at different positions that can run, putting pressure on defense and getting on the fastbreak benefits our offense.”

Jalen Celestine led Cal with 11 points, and the sophomore was the only Bear to score more than 10 points.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Kings rebound pick up big win in San Antonio on Thursday night

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Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) grabs a rebound over San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, right, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Thu Mar 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Jeremiah, talk about the Sacramento Kings Harrison Barnes he had 27 points he was the go to guy as the Kings came away with a 115-112 win over the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Thursday night.

#2 Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had picked up his 1,334th career win but now have lost three straight games and it was an accomplishment that was none too easy for the Kings.

#3 The Kings got scoring help from De’Aaron Fox 26 points, Domantas Sobonis 12 points who also had 12 rebounds and fouled out of the game.

#4 It was the Spurs first home game since Feb 4th because of the San Antonio Rodeo. Could that have made a difference being away so long and given the Kings an advantage?

#5 The Kings head to Dallas and face a very physical and offensive Mavericks team lead by Luca Doncic on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm PST how do you see that match up?

Jeremiah Salmonson does the Kings podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Dallas Wins Season Series Beating Warriors 122-113; Golden State drops fifth out six games

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Luca Doncic (77) of the Dallas Mavericks keeps the ball away from the Golden State Warriors Andrew Wiggins (22) at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Thu Mar 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

Dallas Wins Season Series Beating Warriors 122-113

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the Golden State Warriors (43-20) lost to the Dallas Mavericks (38-25) 122-113 and in a second meeting in less than a week. The way that Dallas is playing right now, they are very real contenders in the upcoming playoffs.

Sunday night after leading by 21 points going into the fourth quarter, the Warriors went cold losing to Dallas 107-101 in a 27 point turnaround. Lack of energy, execution and effort were the downfall of Golden State. Losing on their home court is something that we rarely see but it has been happening lately.

The Warriors tried their luck in the Mavericks building trying to even the score in these last three games. January 5th in Dallas the Warriors lost 99-82. Then again in January on the 25th, the Warriors manhandled the Mavericks 130-92.

That was then and this is now and the Warriors needed to get their act together. Jason Kidd has coached the Mavericks brilliantly and the Warriors need to impose their will instead of visa versa. Better execution and effort will be the order of the day in this game.

They needed to start hitting those open looks and if the three’s are not dropping they have to drive the basket, maybe draw some fouls and stop making the long ball the end all be all. Thursday the team needed help from Klay Thompson who returned to the court. In the one game that Golden State won this season against Dallas, Klay played.

The Warriors opened the first quarter working very hard defensively but it was a slow start offensively. The Mavericks got of to a great start leading 14-7 mid-way through the quarter. Luca Doncic was the driving force for Dallas shooting and drawing fouls. After a single quarter Doncic had scored 19 points. The Mavericks held a 38-27 lead and had shot 60% from the field.

The Mavericks became far too comfortable offensively in the first half. The Warriors had to do something to disrupt their flow in the second half. It was as if the Mavericks could not miss through two quarters. Dallas’ three point shooting was the difference in this game. The Mavericks held a 68-54 half-time lead.

The Warriors made up some ground in the third quarter which became a shooting marathon between both teams. With four minutes left in the quarter Doncic already had 35 points. The Mavericks were having their best three-point shooting night of the season with 15. The Mavericks maintained their lead after three 99-91. The Warriors had made up some ground but still had a lot of work to do.

After being 17 down the Warriors had tied up this game thanks to Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody dropping three’s. These rookies had come to play. With 6:26 left in the game and the score 104 apiece this was anyone’s game.

The Warriors put up a fight but just could not handle Doncic and company. Doncic finished with 41 points and the Mavericks had 17 from downtown in an amazing game. The Warriors had 15 from long which is not at all shabby.

It was just too little too late in yet another game that Golden State was unable to finish. “We did not start out the game the way that we wanted to,” said Head Coach Steve Kerr after the game. “We let him (Doncic) get going,” he said.

The Warriors had a great fourth quarter but it was just not enough to make up for the first half. Jordan Poole was the point leader in the game with 23 points.

It’s onto Los Angeles for the Warriors to take on the Lakers Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.