Tag: Anthony Cirelli

Lightning Scorch Sharks 8-1, Score Five in First period

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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg (78) knocks the puck away from San Jose Sharks Ty Dellandrea (53) in first period action at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Dec 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 8-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Cam Atkinson, Conor Geekie, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix, and Nick Paul scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanecek made 7 saves in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves in the second and third periods.

The Sharks gave up a stunning five goals in the first period. The Lightning outshot the Sharks in the period, but not by an enormous margin (12-9). “Not a great start. I don’t know, we didn’t play to our identity tonight at all. We kind of took our foot off the gas on a lot of little things,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. Of the team’s defensive woes, Ferraro said “I feel like most of it was the chances we gave up were sort of grade A, some shots from the point. So it has a lot to do with our box-outs and then when we recover the puck to be able to get the puck out. “

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky described the game as a reality check: “When you don’t skate, and you don’t compete against really good hockey teams or any team in the National Hockey League, this is what’s going to happen.”

Cam Atkinson tipped in a shot from Conor Geekie 1:26 into the game. Geekie took a pass from Atkinson at the Sharks blue line, then carried the puck in and scored on the blocker side at 7:29. Victor Hedman also got an assist on that goal. That second goal triggered a flurry of three goals in less than 90 seconds.

Brandon Hagel scored at 8:32. Shortly after an offensive zone faceoff, Hagel caught a pass from Jake Guentzel on the blue line. He skated in front of the goal and then backhanded the puck in. Ryan McDonagh got a secondary assist.

Brandon Hagel scored again just 23 seconds later. This time he carried the puck in from the blue line, skated across in front of the goal to the other side before backhanding the puck in. Erik Cernak got an assist.

Jake Guentzel made it 5-0 with a power play goal at 17:45 of the first period. Guentzel tipped in a shot from Victor Hedman with Brayden Point picking up an assist as well.

The Sharks changed goaltenders after the first period, putting Blackwood in net.

Anthony Cirelli made it 6-0 at 4:16 of the second period. He tipped a shot from Ryan McDonagh and Brayden Point picked up another assist.

Nick Perbix made it 7-0 at 18:32. Brayden Point pass the puck up out of the faceoff circle to Perbix high in the slot. Perbix scored with a wrist shot. Point and Emil Lilleberg got the assists.

Alexander Wennberg scored the only Sharks goal 14 seconds into the third period. Fabian Zetterlund carried the puck into the zone, then found Wennberg with a pass in the faceoff circle. Wennberg carried it across the slot and scored with a wrist shot. Assists went to Zetterlund and Jan Rutta.

Nick Paul made it 8-1 at 6:01 of the third. Paul caught a cross-ice pass from Brayden Point, then skated in to score with a backhand shot. Point and J..J. Moser got the assists.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Sunrise against the Panthers at 3:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Lightning 3-2 in OT

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) watches a shot get by him as Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Alex Killorn for a goal during the second period at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Wed Feb 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the win. Rudolfs Balcers and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer, making his fourth start in a row, stopped 29 shots in the loss.

The Sharks defense saw the return of both Mario Ferraro and Jake Middleton. Ferraro, wearing a full face shield, skated 27:21 minutes. He had one shot, five blocked shots, and two hits. Jacob Middleton skated 15:33 and had four hits. Of Ferarro’s return, teammate Brent Burns said: “To step back in and battle through, that’s Mario, he’s just been… he’s that kind of guy all year. That’s the stuff that… it’s huge for teams.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture said:

“What a warrior, man. I was pretty shocked when I got to the rink today and he was getting that visor put on his helmet. I thought he was nuts but he wants to play, he wants to play for the guys in the room and those are leaders. Those are guys that they’ll do anything to help their teammates out in a tough spot. And a lot of respect to Mario.”

A scoreless first period saw each team’s power play go to work, with the penalty kills prevailing. Each power play finished with two shots on goal. The Lightning outshot the Sharks slightly, 9-7. The Sharks had a similarly slim edge in the face-off circle, winning 8 of 15 draws.

Anthony Cirelli broke the ice with a goal at 1:32 of the second period. Cirelli brought the puck into the zone right down the slot before making a quick pass to Brayden Point on his right. Point drew Reimer out of position with a faked shot and then passed it back to Cirelli who was still on his way to the net. Cirelli had an open net to shoot at for his 13th of the season. Assists went to Point and Ryan McDonagh.

Rudolfs Balcers tied it up at 4:50 with his sixth of the season, and the Sharks’ first shot of the period. Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a shot from the point and Balcers redirected it in. Assists went to Vlasic and Logan Couture.

Tampa Bay took the lead again at 18:08 with a power play goal. With a two-man advantage, Steven Stamkos took a shot that bounced into the air. Killorn gloved it down to his stick for the shot. Assists went to Stamkos and Victor Hedman.

The Lightning finished the second period on a power play, but as soon as that expired at the start of the third, Steven Stamkos was called for tripping and the Sharks went on the power play.

Logan Couture tied the game during the first minute of that power play, 1:12 into the period. From the point, Brent Burns sent the puck to Couture for a redirection. Couture was in the slot, half-way up by the hash marks. Assists went to Burns and Alexander Barabanov.

At the nine-minute mark, Brayden Point went down after some contact with Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Unfortunately, he fell right in the path of Alexander Barabanov, who tripped over his head, knocking Point’s helmet off with the front of his skate. Fortunately, the blade didn’t catch Point. No penalty was called on the play.

The Sharks fended off a strong push from the Lightning in the second half of the third but did get the game to overtime. The Sharks missed out on a power play at 2:06 when Meier was called for embellishment as Ryan McDonagh was called for tripping.

Victor Hedman scored the game winner 41 seconds later with a shot from the slot through traffic.

Timo Meier has not scored a goal in the last five games. He scored once after his spectacular five-goal game in San Jose. He had no shots on goal Tuesday and was assessed a double minor and the overtime penalty.

The Sharks next play on February 14 at home, against the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 PM PT.