Tag: Auston Matthews

Sharks Bounce Back to Beat Maple Leafs 3-2 in OT

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San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) and Alexander Wennberg (21) celebrate the game-winning goal against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) during overtime NHL hockey action in Toronto on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg and Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the win. Dakota Joshua and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto. Dennis Hildeby made 29 saves in the loss.

Dakota Joshua opened the scoring at 14:33 of the first period. He tipped a shot from Jake McCabe. An assist also went to William Nylander, who started the play with a pass from behind the net.

The Sharks had two power plays in the first and took no penalties. The shots were even at 11.

Auston Matthews doubled the Maple Leafs lead with a power play goal at 14:32 of the second period. Nylander’s pass from acoss the ice found Matthews near the goal line and ready to shoot. An assist also went to Morgan Rielly.

Less than a minute later, Dmitry Orlov cut the Toronto lead in half. He took his shot from the left face-off dot and put it off the bar. Assists went to John Klingberg and Alexander Wennberg.

The shots were 14-8 Toronto in the second. The Sharks took two penalties and had no power plays.

At 8:54 of the third, Ryan Reaves put the puck in the net, redirecting a shot from Barclay Goodrow. The Maple Leafs challenged the play as offsides. Though Gaudette seemed to have control of the puck while backing into the zone, the challenge succeeded.

With their net empty, the Sharks tied it at 18:35 of the third. John Klingberg scored with a slap shot through traffic. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Wennberg.

Each team took one penalty and the Sharks outshot Toronto 11-5 in the third.

Wennberg capped off his three point night with the overtime game winner 2:49 into the extra frame. Skating into the zone two-on-one with William Eklund, Wennberg scored on the rebound from Eklund’s shot.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins at 12:00 PM PT.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Mary Lisa: A run down for this weekends NHL Playoff games

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Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho celebrates with teammates after the Hurricanes defeat the Washington Capitals on Fri Apr 5, 2024 in Raleigh NC. The Hurricanes face off against the New York Islanders in game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in Carolina on Sat Apr 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary, lets take each of the NHL Playoffs games that are coming up this Saturday and Sunday. The first game New York Islanders (39-27-16) and the Carolina Hurricanes (52-23-7). The Islanders Matt Barzal led with 80 points, Brock Nelson 34 goals, Noah Dobson 60 assists. The Hurricanes Sebastian Aho leads in 89 points, 36 goals, and 53 assists.

#2 Next match up are the Boston Bruins with David Pastrnak leading in all three categories with 110 points, 47 goals, and 63 assists. The Toronto Maple Leafs have Auston Matthews leading in points at 107, 69 goals, and Mitch Marner with 59 assists.

#3 The next pairing are the Tampa Bay Lightning with Nikita Kucherov leading with 144 points and 100 assists and Brayden Point leading in goals with 46. The Florida Panthers Sam Reinhart leads in points with 94 and 57 goals and Matthew Tkachuk has 62 assists.

#4 The Washington Capitals Dylan Stronme leads with 67 points, Alex Ovechkin 31 goals, and 42 assists for John Carlson. For the New York Rangers Artemi Panarin leads in all three categories in points 120, goals 49 and assists 71.

#5 Mary, to round it off just to get your picks for these two more playoff games being played on Sunday with the Colorado Avalanche at the Winnipeg Jets and the Nashville Predators @ Vancouver Canucks.

Mary Lisa is an NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

2024 NHL All Star Game: Team Matthews Defeats Team McDavid 7-4 in Final

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Team McDavid forward Nick Suzuki (14), of the Montreal Canadiens, celebrates his goal against Team MacKinnon with teammates Boone Jenner (38), of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Tomas Hertl (48), of the San Jose Sharks, during the NHL All-Star Game 3-on-3 hockey tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) 

By Mary Walsh

Team Matthews prevailed 7-4 in the 2024 NHL All Star Game at Scotiabank in Toronto against Team McDavid on Saturday. Clayton Keller (ARI), Mitch Marner (TOR), Auston Matthews (TOR) (2 goals), Filip Forsberg (NSH), Alex DeBrincat (DET), and Matthew Barzal (NYI) scored for Team Matthews. Jake Oettinger (DAL) and Igor Shesterkin (NYR) shared the net in the win.

Boone Jenner (CBJ), David Pastrnak (BOS), Leon Draisaitl (EDM), and Tomas Hertl (SJS) scored for Team McDavid. Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) and Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA) shared the net in the loss. As they have done since 2016, teams played 3-on-3 for two ten-minute periods. Goaltenders each played one period. Winners of the semi-final games moved on to the final.

Jim Montgomery (BOS) coached Team Matthews, Peter Laviolette (NYR) coached Team McDavid, Rick Bowness (WPG) coached Team MacKinnon and Rick Tocchet (VAN) coached Team Hughes. The teams also had celebrity captains: Justin Bieber for Matthews, Will Arnett for McDavid, Tate McRae for MacKinnon and Michael Bublé for Hughes.

Team McDavid won the first semi-final 4-3 in a shoot-out against Team McKinnon. Boone Jenner (CBJ), David Pastrnak (BOS) and Connor McDavid (EDM) scored for Team McDavid. Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) and Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA) shared the net in the win. Nathan McKinnon (COL) scored twice and Oliver Bjorkstrand (SEA) scored for Team McKinnon. Jeremy Swayman (BOS) and Alexander Georgiev (COL) shared the net in the loss.

Team McDavid was down 3-1 with less than a minute left in the game. They pulled their second period goaltender, Bobrovsky, for a fourth skater. Pastrnak started the comeback with 31.5 seconds left and McDavid tied it 3-3 with 5.4 seconds left.

McDavid and Pastrnak went on to scored in the shoot-out against Jeremy Swayman. Swayman stopped a shot from Leon Draisaitl (EDM). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped shots from Sidney Crosby (PIT) and Nathan MacKinnon.

In the second semi-final, Team Matthews defeated Team Hughes 6-5, also in a shoot-out. Alex DeBrincat (DET) and Filip Forsberg each scored twice and Mitch Marner added a fifth for Team Matthews. Jake Oettinger (DAL) and Igor Shesterkin (NYR) shared the net in the win. Frank Vatrano (ANA) scored twice and Nikita Kutcherov (TBL), Elias Petterson (VAN), and Brady Tkachuk (OTT) scored for Team Hughes. Thatcher Demko (VAN) and Cam Talbot (LAK) shared the net in the loss.

Alex DeBrincat scored the only goal in the shootout, against Thatcher Demko (VAN). Igor Shesterkin (NYR) stopped shots from Kyle Connor (WPG), Nikita Kutcherov (TBL), Elias Petterson (VAN) and J. T. Miller (VAN). Thatcher Demko (VAN) stopped shots from Filip Forsberg, Auston Matthews and William Nylander (TOR).

Mary Walsh is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Buried 7-1 by Maple Leafs, Losing Streak at 12

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The Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and forward Mitch Marner (16) scramble for the puck against the San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund (72) in the first period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tue Jan 9, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Morgan Reilly, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Pontus Holmberg, Jake McCabe and Nicholas Robertson scored for Toronto, with Marner scoring twice.

Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win. Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks, his first goal in the NHL. Kaapo Kahkonen made 16 saves on 20 shots before being relieved by Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 22 saves in the loss.

Morgan Reilly opened the scoring at 16:48 of the first period, a wrist shot from low in the slot. Tyler Bertuzzi was creating a good screen right in front of the Sharks goaltender. Assists went to William Nylander and TJ Brodie.

Auston Matthews made it 2-0 with a slap shot on the power play at 17:22. Low in the faceoff circle, Matthews sent the puck between Kahkonen and the post. Assists went to Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

Mitch Marner scored just 54 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0. From just above the goal line, and facing away from the goal, Marner pushed the puck behind him into the blue paint where it slipped by Kahkonen. Assists went to Jake McCabe and Timothy Liljegren.

Pontus Holmberg scored the fourth goal at 2:06. Skating into the zone, Holmberg held Kyle Burroughs off with his left hand while guiding the puck with one hand on the stick. Assists went to Bobby McMann and David Kampf.

The Sharks changed goaltenders after that goal, bringing in Mackenzie Blackwood.

Henry Thrun got one back for the Sharks at 7:21 of the second. Thrun tipped a shot from Mikael Granlund on the power play, scoring his first goal in the NHL. Assists went to Granlund and Anthony Duclair.

Jake McCabe made it 5-1 at 1:27 of the third period. Off a faceoff win, Marner’s pass found McCabe out in the open and a snap shot beat Blackwood. Assists went to Marner and Simon Benoit.

Marner scored his second of the game at 4:00 of the third period. The first of two goals they would score during a 4-minute major penalty against the Sharks, Marner pushed the puck over the line after Morgan Reilly’s shot was slowed down by Blackwood. Assists went to Reilly and William Nylander.

The second goal for that power play was scored by Nicholas Robertson at 5:54. His shot came from the faceoff dot through some traffic. Assists went to Matthew Knies and Jake McCabe.

The Sharks had Scott Sabourin in the lineup, his debut with the team. The forward had five hits in 11:12 of ice time and took one penalty, that four-minute penalty in the third period. He was called for a high-stick to the face of Simon Benoit.

The Sharks were out-shot badly, 45-23. this was most conspicuous in the first period when they had just five shots to the Leafs’ 16. In the face-off circle they struggled too, winning only 38.7% of the draws. Neither team did well with their penalty kills, as both teams were perfect on the power play.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Maple Leafs

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena Friday. Toronto goals came from Jake Muzzin, Morgan Reilly, Ilya Mikheyev and Auston Matthews. Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 15 saves for the win. The lone Sharks goal was scored by Kevin Labanc, while goaltender Martin Jones made 24 saves in the loss. It was Patrick Marleau’s 1500th game as a Shark.

The Sharks had to kill five penalties in the game, and only had one power play. Captain Logan Couture talked about how the team handled this second game in two nights, and third in four days:

I thought we put ourselves in a position to win a game. Obviously too many penalties, but the kill was great, kept us in it. Joner made big saves when we had breakdowns on it. You’re gonna have nights like tonight when, you know, you’re not feeling it and you’re not getting much offensively. We were close to pulling out a point there. It’s tough we couldn’t get one but I liked our kill and I liked our defensive, I guess, desperation.

The penalty problem was something the Sharks had discussed before the game. Head Coach Peter DeBoer said:

I think we talked coming in, in 3 in 4 and a back-to-back, that we needed to do a few things and one of them was stay out of the penalty box. You know, you can’t, you got a little bit of a tired team, we took, what, five minors? It’s hard and I thought we ran out of gas in the third killing all those penalties. Made it tough on ourselves with the penalties.

Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon was asked about a hit he made on Auston Matthews during the game: “Obviously you want to be physical on the good players but I never want to see a guy get injured like that. I saw him leave, I was happy to see him come back in the third. Kinda said, you know, didn’t mean to catch him like that but at the same time, you know, you gotta be hard on those guys, they’re such good players.”

The Sharks started the scoring midway through the first period. Tomas Hertl made a quick play up the boards to Brent Burns at the blue line and Burns took a shot at the net. Kevin Labanc got a piece of it as it went in the net for his fourth of the season. Burns and Hertl got the assists.

Through the second period, the Sharks successfully killed two penalties but only managed three shots on goal. The score stayed 1-0 until the final minute of the second.

Jake Muzzin scored for Toronto with just 3 seconds left in the period. As Muzzin skated to the net, the puck came to him from the corner off of Jason Spezza’s stick. Assists went to Spezza and Ilya Mikheyev.

Toronto took the lead in the third period with a goal from Morgan Reilly at 14:31. William Nylander, Alexander Kerfoot and Cody Ceci entered the zone at speed, drawing the attention of the Sharks defense. Morgan Reilly trailed and Nylander found him as he came across the line. Reilly had also started the play with the first pass in the defensive zone.

Two more goals came from Ilya Mikheyev and Auston Matthews in the final minute of the third. Mikheyev’s goal was into an empty net, with and assist to Mitch Marner. Marner also got an assist on the Matthews goal.

The Sharks next play on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators at 4:00 PM PT.