Tag: Brent Burns

NHL All-Star game podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks have three players in All-Star game, who are all building up anticipation

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the NHL podcast with Joe:

#1 The NHL All-Star Game is on Saturday, January 26th at SAP Center is one of the most exciting things about the game is the three-on-three.

#2 What’s this All-Star Game going to be like without the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin?

#3 The Sharks have three All-Stars. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Karlsson says he’s anxious to get in front of the San Jose crowd and show his All-Star ability.

#4 What’s been the difference from the West vs. East format to the division teams format in the All-Star Game?

#5 Joe takes a look at how special it is to attend and cover an All-Star Game.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

Sharks’ Win Streak at 6, Beat Senators 4-1

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks extended their win streak to six games with a 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators Saturday. The game was scoreless through almost two periods, but starting with a goal at the end of the second, the Sharks found their scoring touch. Sharks goals came from Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson. Martin Jones made 27 saves in the win. Ryan Dzingle scored the lone goal for Ottawa, while goalie Anders Nilsson made 28 saves.

Sharks defenseman Justin Braun was back in the lineup after missing a few games due to injury. With Radim Simek also back recently, only Marc-Edouard Vlasic is still out from the Sharks’ blue line. Early in the first period Saturday, though, forward Joonas Donskoi was injured. Donskoi did not return after a collision with Mark Borowiecki. After the game, their was little news about the injury apart from the fact that it was an upper body one.

All these lineup adjustments have not slowed the Sharks down as they made their way through this winning streak. After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski credited the team’s structure for their resilience: “We’ve got a good structure. I think the group understands what we’re trying to do. Guys are able to slot in, just playing hard, doing things the right way. You need that, for a stretch like this right now, against some good teams.”

The game was scoreless for most of two periods Saturday. The Sharks took and killed two tripping penalties in the first two periods but that was it for the score sheet until late in the second.

The Sharks scored the first goal with just over two minutes left in the second period. Joe Pavelski caught a pass a little awkwardly as he skated into the zone. As soon as he had the puck settled, he took the shot and beat Anders Nilsson with a shot to the top corner. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Brenden Dillon.

The Sharks scored again at 6:17 of the third period. Brent Burns took a shot from the boards and it went off of Nilsson and then Christian Jaros and in. Kevin Labanc and Justin Braun got assists on the goal.

The Senators got one back 21 seconds later from Ryan Dzingle. The Senators intercepted a clearing attempt by the Sharks and Bobby Ryan found Dzingle on his way across the slot. His shot got past Jones’s glove and went in. Assists went to Bobby Ryan and Zach Smith.

The Sharks had another penalty to kill at 9:44 of the third. Joe Pavelski was called for slashing Chris Tierney after Pavelski’s stick got tangled up in Tierney’s legs. Painful as the result was for Tierney, it did look closer to another trip than a slash.

The Sharks got their first power play at 13:26 of the third, a holding penalty to Jaros. The Sharks did not score on the power play but they did score just after it expired. A blue line shot from Timo Meier hit an Ottawa defender and then went under Nilsson’s pad and in. Joe Thornton helped the puck make its way in for his ninth goal of the season. Assists went to Timo Meier and Brent Burns.

Melker Karlsson added an empty-net goal at 18:39.

The shot count was close throughout the game, and in the end the Sharks held a small edge at 32-28. In the face off circle, the Sharks prevailed 65% of the time.

The Sharks will next play on Tuesday against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat the Canadiens 3-1 in Montreal

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished the road trip with a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Sunday. It was the Sharks’ first road win since October 28. Sharks’ goals came from Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski. Jeff Petry scored the Canadiens’ lone goal. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 39 saves for the win, while Canadiens goalie Carey Price made 26 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

We had a little bit of desperation to our game. We got the first goal, I think, which relieved some pressure. I thought we had a pretty good start in Ottawa and couldn’t find a goal early and got behind. We’ve been chasing the game a lot on this trip. So, you know, we were in front. And I thought the only thing I would have liked to have done better was extend it in the second. We had three or four chances to maybe extend that lead by one and make the third maybe a little bit easier on ourselves. But, a lot of good stuff.

Justin Braun opened the scoring at 2:55 of the first, giving the Sharks that early lead. He intercepted a pass to Michael Chaput near the Montreal blue line, took a couple of strides into the zone and let fly a long shot at the net. It beat Price for an unassisted goal, Braun’s first of the season.

The second goal came from Brent Burns, a power-play goal at 10:29. The Sharks were playing with a two-man advantage after Mike Reilly cross-checked Barclay Goodrow, and then Michael Chaput caught Logan Couture with a high stick just under a minute later. Erik Karlsson sent the puck to Joe Pavelski who was down by the goal line. Pavelski sent the puck quickly back to Burns in the slot. Burns took a moment to line his shot up and sent a missle into the top corner. It was Burns’ fourth goal of the season, with assists to Karlsson and Pavelski.

Over the course of the first period, the shot count was nearly even, with the Sharks leading 11-9.

Jeff Petry got one back for Montreal 12:15 into the second period. The Canadiens entered the zone three-on-two but the Sharks’ defense pushed them back to the outside. The Canadiens regrouped. On a broken play with a failed pass, Petry found the puck in front of the net and put it by Jones’ glove. Assists went to Jonathan Drouin and Andrew Shaw. Logan Couture got the puck below the goal line and sent it up the boards to Brent Burns, who found Joe Pavelski in the slot for a quick shot through on short side. It was Pavelski’s 17th of the season with assists to Burns and Couture.

During the second period, the shots were again very close, with the Sharks leading 11-10. During the third period, the Canadiens outshot the Sharks 22-7, but Martin Jones was up to the task.

After the game, Jones said: “I thought we played a way better game, despite the shots, it’s the two-on-ones and the odd man rushes that have been hurting us. So I thought we did a great job tonight.”

The Sharks next play on Wednesday in San Jose against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Rout Islanders 4-1

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting New York Islanders 4-1 Saturday night. Sharks’ goals came from Timo Meier, Joonas Donskoi, Brent Burns and Logan Couture, while Tomas Hertl earned three assists. Sharks goalie Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win, while Islanders goalie Robin Lehner made 37 saves on 41 shots in a losing effort.

The lone Islanders goal came from Brock Nelson. The Islanders did not take the loss quietly. As if in tribute to the Elton John tune, the game devolved into numerous fights and skirmishes before it was over.

The Sharks scored first as Timo Meier notched his fourth of the season at 7:59. Despite two Islanders crowding him, and eventually helping him fall to the ice, Tomas Hertl got the puck to Logan Couture at the top of the faceoff circle. Couture sent a quick pass to Meier, who was right at the edge of the blue paint. Lehner stopped Meier’s first shot but Meier was able to pick the puck back up and put it over Lehner’s outstretched pad. Couture and Hertl got the assists.

After a busy but unsuccessful power play at 16:59, San Jose gave up a goal with just 33 seconds left in the period. Josh Bailey skated into the Sharks’ zone and neatly avoided Justin Braun to make a pass to Brock Nelson. Nelson had avoided Burns and wound up with a clear shot at the net, which he took and hit his mark. Assists went to Bailey and Anders Lee.

At the end of the period, the Sharks had a slight lead in shots, 11-6, but a significant advantage in the faceoff circle at 67%-33%.

Evander Kane and Timo Meier both had good chances early in the second, but it was Joonas Donskoi who got the first second period goal at 4:59. Antti Suomela rushed the net and took a shot that was blocked by a sliding Scott Mayfield and Lehner’s stick. Suomela was too far beyond the goal line to get a good shot, so he sent it in front of the net. Donskoi was there in a flash to tap it over the line. Suomela got the only assist.

Just past the halfway mark, a scuffle followed a collision with Lehner in the Islanders’ net. After it was sorted out, Kane went to the box for roughing and Mayfield went to the box for cross-checking Kevin Labanc. The teams played four-on-four for two minutes. With three seconds left in that, Brent Burns took the puck and skated away from Jordan Eberle on the boards, and then took a shot around Tomas Hickey and Lehner to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Assists went to Hertl and Donskoi.

With 3:50 left in the period, Barclay Goodrow and Scott Mayfield engaged in some fisticuffs, then left for intermission early.

The Islanders got a late power play when Kane was called for slashing at 17:29. The Sharks’ penalty killers did an exceptional job in the first 1:15 of the penalty, spending a lot of time in the Islanders’ zone. That was thanks in large part to Hertl getting the puck across the line and carrying it all the way down and around the offensive zone.

At the end of the second period, San Jose had the 3-1 lead, a shot advantage of 26-14 and were still ahead in the faceoff circle, winning 61% of the draws.

Hertl helped Couture score the Sharks’ fourth goal. Hertl bounced the puck off of the back of the net while he made a quick reversal to lose an Islanders defender. Free of that burden, he was able to get back in front of the net and took a shot that went under Lehner and out the other side. Couture was there waiting for it and put it over the line. Assists went to Hertl and Joakim Ryan.

At 9:52 of the third, Kane was given a four minute roughing penalty after being taken down at the blue line and objecting strongly. His objection drew like responses from Lee and Mayfield, who each got two minutes for roughing against Kane.

At 12:08, a Cal Clutterbuck hit inspired just about everyone on the ice joined in to the fighting/roughing club: Clutterbuck, Burns, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas all received misconducts. Burns also got a tripping penalty. Martin and Clutterbuck also got roughing penalties.

The sum total of the penalties put the Sharks on a power play, but it did not produce any more goals.

Shortly after Kane’s penalties expired, Kane was back on the ice and challenged Lee to fight right off the next faceoff.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Preseason 2018: Vegas Beats Sharks 5-2 With 3 SHG

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

With a 5-2 loss Sunday to the Vegas Golden Knights, the San Jose Sharks finished the 2018 preseason with four losses in a row. Vegas goals came from Nick Holden, Reilly Smith, Tomas Nosek (2), and Max Pacioretty. Those last three mentioned goals were short-handed. For San Jose, Erik Karlsson and Kevin Labanc scored, both on the power play.

Both teams had their starting goaltenders in net, with Martin Jones for the Sharks and Marc-Andre Fleury for the Golden Knights. The rest of the lineup for the Sharks looked much as it might for Wednesday’s opening game, including Finnish newcomer Antti Suomela. Jones stopped 22 of 27 shots for the Sharks, while Fleury stopped 33 of 35 for the win.

The first goal came late in the first period. Joakim Ryan tried a pass behind the net to Brent Burns, but Jonathan Marchessault was right behind him to snatch the puck away and get it to Holden, who had just pinched in from the blue line. The shot went over Jones’ glove and in at 18:44.

The Sharks responded early in the second period during a power play. Ryan Reaves was in the box for throwing a broken stick into Joe Pavelski’s path. It was either subtly done or accidental, but the whistle blew nonetheless. The Knights’ penalty killers pushed the Sharks out after a couple of shots and then stopped them at the blue line as they tried to re-enter, twice in quick succession. Finally, the Sharks got their power play set up and Labanc played catch with Karlsson a little before Karlsson was able to score from just above the goal line at 5:41. Labanc and Timo Meier got the assists.

At 12:58 of the second, Marc-Edouard Vlasic went to the Sharks’ room after being called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kevin Labanc served the minor penalty in Vlasic’s place. Vlasic did not return until the start of the third period.

The Sharks killed off the Vlasic penalty but Vegas pushed back hard in the middle minutes of the period, leaving the Sharks’ special teams in a shambles.

Pacioretty broke Evander Kane’s stick with a slash, cutting their own power play short by some seconds. The Sharks power play was at work in the o-zone when Burns tripped along the blue line. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare picked up the loose puck and got it to a breaking Nosek. Now two-on-none with Bellemare, Nosek carried it in and beat Jones under the blocker at 9:39.

Vegas scored just seven seconds into a power play at 11:25. Joe Pavelski was in the box for hooking. The puck came high out of the corner, William Karlsson’s pass ramping off of Brenden Dillon’s stick. If fell to Reilly Smith in front of the net and he put it by Jones without hesitation. Assists went to William Karlsson and Ryan Miller.

With under five minutes left in the second period, the Sharks started a power play after Marchessault went to the box for slashing Marcus Sorensen. The power play went pretty well for the first minute, with the Sharks entering the zone without too much trouble. They were retrieving the puck after shots and moving around well. In the second minute, the puck got by Erik Karlsson at the blue line and the Sharks had to retrieve it. Vegas was doing an excellent job of keeping them out and the Sharks were on their second try when Pacioretty stripped the puck from Hertl who was already being pressured by Paul Stastny. Pacioretty skated to the Sharks’ net with Meier and Burns closing in on him. He got a shot off close to the blue paint, then tapped his own rebound around Jones’ skate. The short-handed goal was unassisted at 17:10.

The Sharks had another power play 1:25 into the third period. Just 16 seconds into that, Nosek and Bellemare struck again. Bellemare broke up a play and knocked the puck out of the zone and chased it down in the Sharks zone. While Couture and Burns closed in on him, he sent the puck out to the zlot where Nosek was moving in. Nosek put the puck over Jones’ blocker. Karlsson had spotted Nosek, but did not catch him quickly enough to stop the shot.

The Sharks survived two more power plays and a penalty kill in the third, without giving up another goal. At 14:33, Collin Miller was called for tripping and the Sharks started their fifth power play of the game. The second unit was on the ice, with Labanc, Kane, Hertl, Meier and Vlasic. With six seconds to go in the power play, Labanc was just above the goal line, almost at the wall when he drove the puck through the short side. Assists went to Vlasic and Hertl.

The Sharks will play their season opener on Wednesday in San Jose against the Anaheim Ducks at 7:30 PM PT.

Couture Scores in 2OT, Sharks Tie Series 1-1 with 4-3 Win in Vegas

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Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks tied the series at 1-1 against the Golden Knights with a 4-3 2OT win at the T-Mobile Arena Saturday. Logan Couture scored the game-winner and a regulation goal, while Brent Burns also scored twice in regulation. William Karlsson scored twice for the Golden Knights, while Nate Schmidt tied the game in the third for Las Vegas. Martin Jones made 26 saves for the win, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 43 saves for Las Vegas.

Not only did the Sharks lose Game One in a big way on Thursday, but they lost one of their most prolific forwards when Evander Kane was suspended for one game after cross-checking Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the head. Barclay Goodrow drew into the lineup for Game 2.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski discussed how the Sharks came back and played a better game Saturday:

You want to play with that lead, you don’t want to chase the series all the time. So for us to come out in the second, start getting a little momentum going, score a few goals, understand what can work for us and… just overall our compete level was better, our details were better. They still played a good game, it came right down to the end and a few plays and it went our way.

Martin Jones, after being in net for the 7-0 loss Thursday, explained how he resets after a loss like that: “My confidence isn’t going to get shaken from one bad game. It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad game. Yeah, I mean, you put that behind you. That’s why you have a routine and you have the way you prepare for games. That’s so you can kind of lean on that and you just get ready for the next one.”

The Sharks outshot the Golden Knights 9-5 in the first period, only to keep the score even at zero for most of the period. Martin Jones made some saves, including a remarkable one on Tuch. The teams were playing their second four on four when Deryk Engelland made a pass across goal to Alex Tuch. Having to move all the way across the crease, Jones stretched to get a pad on it for the save.

Not long after that, Las Vegas scored. The goal came off an offensive zone turnover to William Karlsson, who passed it back to Nate Schmidt on the blue line. Schmidt passed it the length of the blue line to Colin Miller, who sent a shot wide. The shot went off the boards behind to net to Karlsson, who took the shot from a bad angle. Assists went to Miller and Schmidt.

Just 26 seconds into the second period, Karlsson scored again with just a hint of a screen from Reilly Smith, who had also prevented Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s clear seconds earlier. Smith got the only assist.

A holding the stick penalty put the Sharks on the power play at 1:56. Four seconds into that penalty, Brent Burns scored with a blast through traffic. Joe Pavelski got the assist.

At 4:17, William Carrier hit Dylan DeMelo knee on knee, sending DeMelo off the ice balancing on one leg. Carrier went to the box for kneeing. DeMelo returned to the bench quickly. The Golden Knights killed the penalty off.

The Sharks were back on the power play for a third time at 6:47 when Collin Miller was called for hooking Eric Fehr. That power play did not start well and ended with an interference call to Tomas Hertl. The Sharks had a couple of shots during the ensuing four on four, and then successfully killed off the very short Vegas power play.

A brief tussle between Vlasic and Marchessault put both players in the box at 9:54 for two minutes and yet more four-on-four hockey. A little less than a minute into that, Logan Couture scored off a well-placed pass from Tomas Hertl. Hertl got the only assist but Dylan DeMelo played a big part as well, sending the puck to the net and going after it. Driving to the net, he pushed Engelland out of position so Hertl could take the puck. Hertl had to fend off two more Knights before he could make the pass, so a third might have tipped the balance.

A third goal for the Sharks came from Brent Burns at 14:07, while the teams were playing four on four for the fifth time. This time it was for matching roughing penalties to Brenden Dillon and David Perron. The two stepped away from a group mauling in the corner and fell to the ice in the blue paint.

Joe Pavelksi won an offensive zone faceoff and got it to Timo Meier, who tapped it to Burns just above the faceoff circle. Seeing a gap along the board, Burns carried the puck down behind the net and put in with a wrap around. Assists went to Meier and Pavelksi.

Las Vegas challenged the goal, as Timo Meier was pushed into Fleury by Colin Miller. Fleury was outside the crease at the time of the collision, making it impossible for him to get back in time. The goal held up.

At 19:34, Jon Merrill was called for hooking Hertl, giving the Sharks 1:31 of power play time to start the third period.

That power play didn’t produce, and at 13:28 of the period, Las Vegas tied the game. The shot came right off a faceoff from Nate Schmidt and went off of Melker Karlsson’s skate. Shea Theodore and Erik Haula got the assists.

At the end of regulation, the teams were tied at three on the scoreboard, though the Sharks had outshot the Golden Knights. The goaltenders went into this playoff overtime with a significant experience advantage to Fleury. He had won 10 of 11 overtime games, while Martin Jones had just two wins in five games.

Las Vegas started overtime with several quick shots off of speedy zone entries. In just over five minutes, the teams had already taken four icing calls, a sign of the frenetic pace at both ends of the ice.

Just over four minutes in, Barclay Goodrow got a great breakaway chance but was stopped by Fleury. That chance started a push from the Sharks, including a slippery try by Pavelski. The Knights pushed back hard but the Sharks did not give them many second chances.

That was not the case by the end of the period, when the Knights got three shots in a row. The third one went in and was reviewed after Marchessault made contact with Martin Jones’ arm and stick, pulling him out of position. The goal was overturned.

Going into the second overtime period, the Sharks had three defensemen (Vlasic, Burns and Braun) with over 30 minutes of ice time. None of the Golden Knights had played that much in the game. Paul Martin had spent the first overtime on the bench while Pete DeBoer rotated five defensemen.

The Mikkel Boedker took a stick to the face in front of the Vegas net, giving the Sharks an early power play in the period. The Sharks got two shots and some close calls but did not score. The Golden Knights gave the Sharks another try with a hooking penalty at 5:05.

The Sharks finished it off with a power play goal at 5:13. Kevin Labanc made a beautiful, patient pass across the crease through skates and sticks to Logan Couture, who took a similarly patient shot that squeezed through on the short side. Assists went to Labanc and Burns.

Conference semifinal Game 3 between the Sharks and the Golden Knights will be on Monday in San Jose at 7:00 pm PT.

Sharks Lose 6-3 to Wild, Will Start Playoffs On Road in Anaheim

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photo from at mnwild: San Jose Sharks Timo Meier (28) tries to put the puck on net is defended from behind from the Minnesota Wild’s defenceman Jonas Brodin (25) while the Wild’s goaltender Devan Dubnyk (40) watches

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Sharks lost 6-3 to the Minnesota Wild for their final regular season game of 2018. Goals for Minnesota came from Matt Cullen, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund, Eric Staal, and two from Jason Zucker. Sharks goals came from Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, and Timo Meier. Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves for the win. Martin Jones made 14 saves on 19 shots before being replaced by Aaron Dell, who made 4 saves on 4 shots for San Jose.

The loss puts the Sharks in third place in the Pacific, so they will start the playoffs on the road in Anaheim. The Sharks came close to falling into a Wild Card spot, but the Los Angeles Kings lost to the Dallas Stars Saturday. Of starting the playoffs on the road, Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski said:

I mean, home ice is always nice. It’s not do or die by any means for us, for this group. We’ve always believed in our road game here, we’ve backed it up. We have some results, past results. But this is a new team and this is a team that has to find that identity each and every night. You know, that’s what it takes to win on the road, is just a hard-nosed detailed game. And it’s not something I don’t think we’re up to the challenge for.

The Sharks stumbled through the first period, getting only three shots on goal while giving up two goals to Minnesota. After the game, Pavelski said: “Obviously, they were on us. We weren’t very good the first ten, twelve, fifteen minutes. It was really good to see the guys settle down and get a couple, answer right back. It felt light we had a lot of momentum at that point.”

The first Minnesota goal came at 10:53 from Joan Brodin. Charlie Coyle evaded the Sharks defense along the boards until he could get the puck to Brodin at the blue line. Brodin’s shot went right by Sharks goatender Martin Jones. Assists went to Coyle and Tyler Ennis.

Four minutes later, Matt Cullen put the Wild up by two. A scramble around the net drew attention away from Cullen as he moved away from the crowd and shot into an almost open net. Assists went to Tyler Ennis and Louie Belpedio.

The period looked like a complete loss until Brent Burns cut the lead in half with a shot from the blue line. Dylan Gambrell helped win the puck along the boards in the offensive zone and went to the front of the net. He may have screened Burns’s shot, and at first it looked like he had tipped it in. One review, the goal went to Burns with assists going to Marcus Sorensen and Joel Ward.

With just 3:28 left in the period, Pavelski tied it up. Mikkel Boedker, under defensive pressure, sent the puck in Pavelski’s direction as Pavelski skated in from the blue line. Pavelski caught the pass with his skate and moved it to his stick for a quick shot, beating Dubnyk on his glove side.

At the end of the period, the shot count was 12-5 Minnesota, with the score tied at 2.

The score remained tied until 11:19 of the second when Mikael Granlund made it 3-2, using Dylan DeMelo as a screen. Assists went to Jordan Greenway and Nick Seeler.

Jason Zucker made it 4-2 just 29 seconds later. Niederreiter caried the puck in on a quick entry and made a made across the slot to Zucker. Zucker was moving across in front of Jones and his backhand shot caught Jones moving. Assists went to Neiderreiter and Matt Dumba.

Zucker went on to make it 5-2 3:22 later. Zucker and Eric Staal escaped the Sharks zone with the puck and went in against Justin Braun two on one. Assists went to Neiderreiter and Belpedio.

The shot tally was even during the second period, just seven shots from each team.

Aaron Dell replaced Martin Jones for the third period. The Sharks pushed hard, ultimately outshooting the Wild in the third 18-5. Still, most of the period was scoreless.

In the last two minutes of the period, Kevin Labanc took a slashing penalty during a Sharks power play. The teams played for almost a minute four on four, and when that time expired, Pete DeBoer pulled Dell. With the net empty, playing five on five, a Dylan DeMelo shot was tipped by Timo Meier, bringing the score to 5-3. Assists went to Dylan DeMelo and Brent Burns.

The point was DeMelo’s 20th, making him the fifth Sharks defenseman to reach the 20 point mark this season.

Eric Staal scored into the empty net to make it 6-3 Minnesota at 19:34.

In the last couple minutes of the third period, Logan Couture was struck by a Brent Burns shot in the wrist. He left the ice briefly but did return to the game. He said later that he had gotten the all clear from the doctor before returning.

San Jose Sharks-Anaheim Ducks playoff schedule:

#1 Thu Apr 12 @ Anaheim

#2 Sat Apr 14 @ Anaheim

#3 Mon Apr 16 @ San Jose

#4 Wed Apr 18 @ San Jose

#5 Fri Apr 20 @ Anaheim (if necessary)

#6 Sun Apr 22 @ San Jose (if necessary)

#7 Tue Apr 24 @ Anaheim (if necessary)

 

Feature: Sharks In Desperate Need of More Power Play Opportunities

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Peter Elliott

CHICAGO–Peter DeBoer’s squad was deprived of something other than a win on Friday night: opportunities on the power play.

The Sharks only had one chance to execute on the man advantage in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It lasted 22 seconds.

San Jose’s only time on the ice with less than five red sweaters was during the third period, when Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy was booked to the penalty box with an interference minor. 22 seconds later, Brent Burns was sent off to the Sharks penalty box on a holding minor, offsetting the Sharks’ 5-on-4 upper hand. If I haven’t stressed it enough, 22 seconds is not enough time to type a tweet, much less let alone score a goal.

The power play had been a strength for the Sharks all season and a reason for their high offensive benchmarks. But lately, not so much.

The team is suffering through a scoreless 0-19 stretch in the power play category, an unusual drought for a team that has been so stellar on the man advantage for the majority of the season. The Sharks still remain among the best in the league in the category, up there with division leaders Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay. But if their recent struggles continue, they surely won’t keep up with that company for very long.

“We need to get a little bit of that confidence back, stepping over the boards and understanding that it can win us some games,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski of his team’s power play scoring skid, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “We need to be better there. Bottom line is we need to execute, make another play, stick one in the net.”

As noted, it’s absence has been sorely missed on the offensive side of the ice recently. Especially on Thursday night during a 7-1 blowout at the hands of Nashville, in which DeBoer’s squad failed to net on a single goal during their five power play opportunities. The Sharks undoubtedly just need both more opportunities and repetitions with the power play. 

Success will come soon.

The power play magic that has helped the Sharks postseason aspirations is currently M.I.A., but luckily for the Sharks, they’ll have time to re-discover it before a Sunday evening game against Minnesota. The Wild boast a pedestrian penalty kill percentage of 80.8%, which makes the playoff contending Wild a ripe target for a power play resurgence.

San Jose has been able to maintain a 6-5 record in the month of February, although that is not ideal for a team in the middle of a tight playoff race. A stronger showing on the man advantage certainly could have alleviated some of those deficits.

The Sharks are set to square off against the Blackhawks again on March 1 in San Jose. Maybe then, the Sharks can get a power play that lasts a whole 30 seconds.

Sharks Fall to Canucks 4-3 in Overtime; Gagner gamer puts Vancouver over the top

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Canucks center Sam Gagner (89) scores the winning goal in overtime during the NHL game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada. Dom Gagne/CSM (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

by M. Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost in 4-3 overtime to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. Two Vancouver goals came from Markus Granlund, one from Brock Boeser, and the game winner from Sam Gagner. For the Sharks, Brent Burns scored twice and rookie Marcus Sorensen scored once. Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves on 37 shots for the Canucks, while Martin Jones made 36 saves on 40 shots for San Jose.

The Sharks were coming off a win the night before against Calgary, but they were facing a hungry opponent. Vancouver snapped a four game losing skid with the win, a skid capped off by a 7-1 loss to Nashville on Wednesday.

“This sets up all the things for them to have an A game and they did. They were outstanding early and Jonesy gave us a chance to hang around and we found a way to get an important point on a night we probably didn’t deserve one,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer.

At 4:34 of overtime, Sam Gagner scored on a breakaway to win the game with a quick backhand over Martin Jones’ right shoulder. It was a tough loss after a valiant effort from the goalie to keep his team in the game. The Canucks outshot the Sharks 40-37, with 22 in the first period alone. DeBoer was asked if the three goals that Jones allowed were cause for concern. He said:

You can’t play any better than he played tonight. We didn’t give him a lot of help tonight. In defense of our guys, an emotional win last night in Calgary, the we fly in here on a back to back against a team that’s ready to go. So sometimes that’s what it looks like.

Logan Couture left the game early following a hit from Alexander Burmistrov in the third period. Burmistrov’s shoulder appeared to make contact with Couture’s face. The hit came about five minutes into the period. Couture has had an outstanding season this year, leading the team in scoring with 15 goals and 10 assists through 30 games. After finally getting most of the team healthy again, losing Couture for an extended period would be a big setback for a team that is just getting its game back. There was no update on Couture’s status after the game.

The first goal came on a Vancouver power play just 44 seconds into the game. The zig-zagging play started with Henrik Sedin on the blue line, went to a touch pass by Daniel Sedin and ended as little more than a tap-in for Granlund. Half way into the period, Brent Burns tied the game, again on a power play. His shot went through so many players that it seemed unlikely that it had not touched any of them, but it did not. Assists went to Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski.

The second Vancouver goal came just after a power play expired, while the Sharks penalty killers were trapped and perhaps out of gas in their own zone. A shot came from Daniel Sedin above the faceoff circle. Henrik caught it just above the blue paint and found Granlund. Gralund put the puck between Justin Braun and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and past Jones.

The Canucks scored again at 11:46 of the second period, again on the power play. The Sharks started the penalty kill well with a clear just three seconds in. After retrieving the puck, the Canucks came back fast, with Brock Boeser carrying the puck through the neutral zone and weaving past two Sharks defenders to give himself a short breakaway. That shot did not go in but 12 seconds later Boeser caught a pass in the faceoff circle and with a clear shot at the net he did not miss. Assists went to Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

With under two minutes left in the second, Braun, Jannik Hansen and Sorensen outnumbered the Canucks in a quick rush created when Sorensen intercepted a pass from Troy Stecher. Sorensen scored on a rebound from Braun’s shot after their odd man rush cused a little chaos by the Vancouver net. Assists went to Braun and Hansen.

The tying goal came almost right off of a faceoff in the Canucks zone. Joel Ward won the faceoff back to Burns, whose shot was at least partially screened by Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl fighting for position in front of the net. Like his first goal, it made its way through a lot of traffic but did not hit another Shark. The only assist went to Ward.

The overtime point puts the Sharks in third place in the Pacific Division standings with 38 points. The Calgary Flames and the Anaheim Ducks both have 35 points, which is good for fourth and fifth place in the Pacific. Both wild card spots are held by Central Division teams with 37 points.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 6:00 pm PT in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Sharks Come Back to Pick Up Point, Lose to Wild in OT 4-3

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Minnesota Wild’s Nino Niederreiter, left, celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Eric Staal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell in overtime to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at SAP Center on Sunday night. The point was hard won as the Sharks had to come back from a three goal deficit. Eric Staal scored twice for Minnesota, Ryan Murphy added another goal and Nino Niederreiter notched the overtime winner. Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored two goals for the Sharks. San Jose goaltender Martin Jones made 20 saves on 24 shots, while Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock made 31 saves for the win.

After the game, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

It was a gutsy effort by us. It was our sixth game I think in ten nights, including traveling back from the East last week. Back to back, against a team that was rested and waiting for us. I knew we would probably start slow, we didn’t expect to be down three but I thought it was a gutsy effort to get some points tonight.

Three times in the past four days, the Sharks fell behind by three goals and came back to tie the game. In Sunday’s game, there was no back and forth in the score. It was all Wild, then all Sharks.  DeBoer was asked why the Sharks tend to score in bunches after falling behind by two or more goals:

We have a resilient group, a confident group. In all those situations, we’ve shortened the bench and we have our top players are top players. And when they get that extra ice time and the ability to play without worrying about the score, thy have the ability to create some offense and put a lot of pressure on the other team. Unfortunately though you can’t ride those guys 25 minutes a night. So we’ve got to stop putting ourselves in those holes and for me, get a little but more out of the depth of the lineup.

The Sharks gave up two goals early in the first period. The first was a power play goal from Ryan Murphy at 4:19 with assists to Jason Zucker and Eric Staal. Murphy scored after a beautiful two pass sequence starting at the blue line, then going to the goal line and back up to the far side of the net. The execution was perfect, but the Sharks probably should have gotten in the way of one of those passes.

The second goal came at 10:27 from Eric Staal with assists to Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund. A key factor was a bump to Brent Burns near the blue paint from Staal. He pushed Burns into Jones and the two Sharks both went down. Staal retrieved the puck and took the shot before Jones could get back in position.

The third Minnesota goal was a wraparound from Staal. Staal jammed the puck between Jones’ skate and the post. The NHL reviewed the play and confirmed it. DeBoer followed up with a challenge for goaltender interference, but it was rejected. Assists went to  Murphy and Granlund.

The Sharks got a surprising opportunity during a penalty kill with less than three minutes left in the second period as Dylan DeMelo was in the box when Eric Staal and Ryan Murphy went to the box at the same time. Murphy’s penalty was delayed and Staal’s holding penalty came during the delay. With just six or seven seconds left in the five-on-three portion of the power play, Burns took a shot from the faceoff circle and scored. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl.

Two minutes into the third period, Gustav Olofsson went to the box for tripping. Forty seconds into the penalty, Burns took a shot from the center of the blue line and beat Al Stalock over the left shoulder. The lone assist went to Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks tied the game after a series of three astonishing attacks on the Minnesota net. Tim Heed took a shot that Stalock stopped, but he dropped the puck and it was in play again–with the Sharks swarming. Finally, Hertl’s shot found its mark. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Dylan DeMelo.

At the end of regulation, the shot count was 33-22 Sharks, with the third period count 14-7 in favor of the Sharks.

Overtime started with some energy from the Sharks, but in the second minute it fell into a lull with the Wild, circling the Sharks in the Sharks’ zone. After what seemed an interminable period, the Sharks finally broke out, but they had barely been able to change when Niederrieter broke in and took a shot for the win.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames at 6:00 pm PT.