Tag: Cale Makar

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025: Ovechkin closes in on Gretzky now 7 short of record as Caps edge Flyers; Taveras’ two goals help Leafs beat Rangers 3-2; plus more NHL news

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42 year old Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin (8) celebrates his 888th career goal putting him seven goals behind NHL goal scoring leader Wayne Gretzky against the Philadelphia Flyers Thu Mar 20, 2025 at the Capital One Center in Washington DC (AP News photo)

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025:

#1  Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin lit the lamp for a career 888th time and now moves within seven goals to break former NHL great Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record at 894 goals. The Caps defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena in Washington on Thursday night 3-2.

#2  The Toronto Maple Leafs edged the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night 4-3 and got some big help from John Tavares who had three points to reach 1,100 points for his career total. Taveras also scored two goals and got an assist to become the eighth NHL player to achieve 1,100 points.

#3 The Ottawa Senators have cooled off after winning six in a row dropped their second straight game this time to the visiting Colorado Avalanche at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa 5-1 on Thursday night. The Aves Brock Nelson scored the first two goals of the game. Cale Makar scored a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon also scored. The Avalanche are on a roll having won nine of their last 11 games.

#4 The New Jersey Devils couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead as the visiting Calgary Flames came back with flurry scoring four times in the third period to defeat their hosts at the Prudential Center 5-3 in Newark NJ. It took the Flames 15 third period shots on net to convert four of them for goals. Scorers for Calgary Connor Zary, Danil Miromanov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Nazem Kadri.

#5 It was a battle that carried over into overtime at Nationwide Arena in Columbus between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers resulting in a 1-0 Panthers win on Thursday night. The Jackets Alexsander Barkov scored from the top slot. The Jackets Kirill Marchenko at 19:30 put the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game and Barkov afterward ended up scoring the game winner. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for the shutout his fifth this season.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 7-3 to Avalanche, Celebrini Scores 20th

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San Jose Sharks gets blown out by the Colorado Avalanche 7-3 at the Ball Center in Denver on Thu Mar 6, 2025 (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 7-3 to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Joel Kiviranta, Cale Makar, Jonathan Drouin, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the win against his former team. Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves in the loss to his former team.

The first goal of the game was a short-handed one from Colorado. Joel Kiviranta scored it at 4:19 of the first period. Cale Makar knocked the puck away from Macklin Celebrini in the Sharks’ zone. Kiviranta carried it all the way to the other end for the shot.

A few minutes later, Colorado scored on the power play. Skating in from the blue line, Cale Makar caught a pass from Jonathan Drouin and scored on Georgiev’s stick side. Assists went to Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon.

Fabian Zetterlund got one back for the Sharks, on the power play at 10:08. Lurking just outside the blue paint, Zetterlund rediretced a shot from Collin Graf behi8nd Blackwood.

Jonathan Drouin made it 3-1 in the last three seconds of the period. Martin Necas passed the puck through the blue paint to Drouin for the goal. An assist also went to Artturi Lehkonen.

Martin Necas scored another power play goal just 40 seconds into the second period. Cale Makar set up the slap shot for Necase. An assist also went to MacKinnon.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the first even strength goal of the game at 10:54 of the second. Cale Makar shot it in and it went wide, then off of the backboards. It boucned right to MacKinnon next to the goal mouth for a snap shot. Assists went to Makar and Josh Manson.

In the final second of the second period, Keaton Middleton put the puck in the net but it was called off due to goaltender interference. It would have been Middleton’s first NHL goal.

MacKinnon scored another even strength goal at 5:21 of the third period to make it 6-1. On a rebound, the puck came right to MacKinnon as he skated to the net. Lehkonen and Makar got the assists.

Macklin Celebrini scored one for the Sharks at 8:10, putting the puck in the top of the net on a power play. It was Celebrini’s 20th goal for the season. Assists went to Will Smith and William Eklund.

Cale Makar restored the five-goal lead with a wrist shot less than a minute after Celebrini’s goal.

William Eklund scored the third Sharks goal at 17:24, the Sharks’ first even strength goal of the game. Three Colorado players were trying to corral the puck right in front of the blue paint. Eklund slid in between them and poked it into the net. Assists went to Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg.

Colorado out-shot the Sharks 13-9 in the first period. In the second period, it was 13-6 Colorado. In the third period the Sharks made a push, out-shooting Colorado 19-6.

The Sharks next play on Saturday back in San Jose against the New York Islanders at 7:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Charanbir Mahal (INDTVUSA): Despite Sharks hard efforts the loss to Avalanche a tough one to swallow

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San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) tries to stop the puck shot by the Colorado Avalanche’s right winger Mikko Rantanen (96) at SAP Center on Sat Oct 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Charanbir Mahal:

#1 Despite the hard efforts by San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood with his 51 saves the Colorado Avalanche pulled off a one goal shootout overtime 2-1 victory at SAP Center last Saturday.

#2 Charanbir, the Aves Cale Makar scored the tying goal of the game forcing the overtime 1-1. The Avalanche had to be relieved that the game didn’t get away thanks to Makar’s goal.

#3 The Makar goal couldn’t have come at a better time for the Avalanche with just a minute left in the regulation got a wrister shot that got past Blackwood. If not for that the Sharks would have won a remarkably played game by a 1-0 score.

#4 It’s amazing how the turn of events with the Makar goal can turn things around after the Sharks had carried the lead for all but the last minute of the game?

#5 The Sharks host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. The Hurricanes went deep in the post season before being eliminated by the Florida Panthers and being disqualified from getting in the finals. The Hurricane are 2-1-1 coming into tonight’s game against the Sharks will this be another nail biter?

Charanbir Mahal is a anchor for INDTVUSA is a San Jose Sharks contributor for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Seattle excited to be in post season in second year of existence; Bruins Bergeron questionable for tonight; plus much more

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Seattle Kraken left wing Jared McCann (19), right wing Jordan Eberle (7) and center Matty Beniers (10) celebrate after McCann’s goal during the second period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Mon Apr 3, 2023 (AP News file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Marko:

#1 Just an amazing year for the Seattle Kraken (46-28-8) their second year in the league and they make post season. The Kraken open up a best of seven series against the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night in Denver. The Kraken have some scorers Jared McCann 40 goals, Matty Beniers 24 goals, and Daniel Sprong 21 goals.

#2 Marko, talk about the Boston Bruins Patrice Bergeron who might miss the first playoff game against the Florida Panthers tonight due to an upper body injury. The Bruins set the record for the most wins in NHL history with 65.

#3 The Colorado Avalanche Cale Makar and Josh Manson are expected to be in the line up against the Seattle Kraken Tuesday night in Denver. Makar didn’t skate on Sunday and has missed the last seven games of the season. Manson has missed the last 23 games of the season for the Avalanche.

#4 Minnesota Wild defenceman John Klingberg is in question for tonight’s game 1 against the Dallas Stars. Klingberg is suffering from a lower body injury in practice he sustained on Saturday. Wild head coach Dean Evason said that Klingberg had issues during practice. Klingberg looks like he’ll be a game time decision.

#5 Winnipeg Jets defenseman Nikolaj Ehlers skated on his own but did not practice with the team because of an upper body injury. Ehlers is also questionable for tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Jets head coach Rick Bowness says that Ehlers is day to day and is being watched carefully during his skates.

Join Marko for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL All-Star Game podcast with Len Shapiro: Splash Shot skills happens at Ft Lauderdale beach; Sabers Thompson out with upper body injury; plus more

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The NHL All Star Game will host the Splash Shot skill competition at Ft Lauderdale Beach on Fri Feb 3, 2023 (photo from NHL.com)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The NHL Splash Shot takes place Friday night in the 2023 All Star Skills at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, participants include Sid Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

#2 The Atlantic Division added Ramus Dahlin defenceman who will replace Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabers. Thompson is suffering an upper body injury. On Wednesday Thompson sat out at Key Bank Arena in the Buffalo Sabers 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Thompson leads Buffalo with 34 goals and 34 assists.

#2 The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is out indefinitely due to having back surgery on Tuesday. Stone while playing against the Florida Panthers injured his back on Jan 12. Stone has 17 goals and 21 assists in 43 games this season.

#3 The Columbus Blue Jackets Gustav Nyquist suffered a shoulder injury on Jan 25 during overtime against the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-2 win over the Oilers. Nyquist left the game in the first period at 2:56.

#4 The St Louis Blues Vladimir Tarasenko said despite the Blues five game losing streak there is “belief in the room.” Tarasenko is still pushing the Blues to move up in the standings while he’s been part of trade rumors to help another club who are in playoff position.

#5 Len, You’ve been in the NHL a long time and Gary Bettman Commissioner of the NHL was addressing diversity in the league and Emmanuel Umoffia center from the University Florida Memorial basketball team is at the NHL All Star week and said he was surprised to see the number of black people and diversity in the league. You’ve been in the NHL since the 1970s how far has the NHL come along becoming a diverse league?

Join Len for the NHL podcasts regularly Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 5-3 to Avalanche in Hard Fought Game

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Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) lights the lamp for the game winner in the third period against San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) at SAP Arena in San Jose on Fri Mar 18, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost to the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 on Friday. Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, and Darren Helm scored for the Avalanche. Pavel Francouz made 25 saves for the win. Jeffrey Viel, Rudolfs Balcers and Erik Karlsson scored for the Sharks. Zach Sawchenko made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It was a fairly even game for the first two periods. We just got to capitalize on our chances. Same thing as last night. We didn’t have any goal support. But defensively, we did some right things until we started opening it up a little bit at the end. Obviously we gave a few breaks but all in all, you know, it was a hard-fought game. I thought the guys battled hard, especially after a back-to-back, against the best team in the League.”

Sharks forward Rudolfs Balcers talked about how the veteran leaders helped the team rally in the third period, despite being down 4-1: “They’re our leaders. They’ve been around for a while, you know. That’s the guys you rely on every night, and, you know, when you see them go out there and battle until the end, you know, I think it just motivates the whole bench.”

One of those leaders, Logan Couture, seemed to score the first goal of the game at 6:07 of the first. Unfortunately, the Avalanche challenged the goal for offside. Upon review, the officials saw that Couture did cross the line a hair before the puck.

The first goal, then, went to the Avalanche on a power play at 10:08. Nazem Kadri tipped Mikko Rantanen’s pass from about eight feet above the blue paint. a second assist went to Cale Makar.

Darren Helm made it 2-0 at 14:14, when he picked up a puck that Erik Karlsson lost control of in the Sharks’ zone. Helm slipped by Karlsson and lifted the puck over Sawchenko. An assist went to Andre Burakovsky, who poked the puck off of Karlsson’s stick.

Jacob Middleton fought Kurtis MacDermid after the first goal. J.T. Compher and Marc-Edouard Vlasic had matching roughing minors in the final seconds of the period.

Those matching minors put the teams four-on-four to start the second period. Cale Makar scored 34 seconds in. He took a shot from above the circle, then gathered up his own rebound just above the goal line to score. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews.

Valeri Nichushkin made it 4-0 at 15:29. Initially, he redirected pass from Cale Makar, but Sawchenko stopped that. The goalie left a rebound and Nchushkin was still there to lift the puck in. Assists went to Makar and MacKinnon.

Jeffrey Viel got the Sharks on the board at 19:19, tipping a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. A secondary assist went to Nicolas Meloche.

Rudolfs Balcers scored 13:02 into the third period. He knocked the puck loose with a hit along the boards and then took it to the net for a look-away shot, aided by Vlasic who was there to make it a two-on-one and sell the look. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl.

With 3:21 remaining, the Sharks pulled Sawchenko for an extra skater. Erik Karlsson made it 4-3 with a goal at 18:35. Logan Couture knocked down a high clearing attempt and then passed it to Karlsson. Karlsson seemed to fumble the pass a bit, then gathered it for a wrist shot into the far corner.

Valeri Nichushkin scored into the empty net when he and Nathan MacKinnon went two-on-one against Brent Burns.

The Avalanche out-shot the Sharks 29-28, with the shot count close in each period. On the power play, the Sharks had five opportunities and six shots. They also gave up five short-handed shots. The Sharks had one penalty to kill, and gave up one shot, one goal and had one short-handed shot. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 54% of the draws.

James Reimer was backing up Sawchenko Friday, and Adin Hill is injured.

The Sharks next play on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, in San Jose at 4:00 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Caps Ovechkin back in line up after missing practice; Leafs Marner and Engvall back after Covid protocols; plus more

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The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin who hasn’t missed a game this season was out from Friday’s practice due to an upper body injury and who started for the Caps today against the New York Islanders (NHL.com file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin is back he returned after missing practice Friday after suffering from an upper body injury. Ovechkin made it to Saturday morning’s skate and played against the New York Islanders in the afternoon. Ovechkin has not missed a game this season.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs Mitchell Marner and Pierre Engvall are both expected to return tonight against the St Louis Blues both missed three games due to Covid 19 protocols. The Leafs are glad to have them back in the line up Marner has 21 points and Engvall with ten points in 32 games.

#3 The Anaheim Ducks Troy Terry is a question mark for today’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Terry was out on Covid 19 protocols. The Ducks 19-14-7 second in the NHL Pacific.

#4 Aisha Visram made NHL history becoming the first woman to serve behind the bench in an NHL game as head trainer for the Los Angeles Kings. Visram got the call to serve after members of Kings staff were placed on Covid 19 protocols.

#5 Matt, the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov, the New York Rangers Adam Fox, and Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar were three of 18 first time All Star selections for Sat Feb 5th’s All Star game in Las Vegas. The trio has had themselves quite a first half.

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

Avalanche Shut Out Sharks 3-0

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The San Jose Sharks Erik Karlsson (65) tries to control the puck as the Colorado Avalanche’s left wing Andre Burakovsky gives pursuit at SAP Center on Fri Apr 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver Friday. Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen scored for Colorado, and Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves for the shut out win. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 33 saves in the loss.

The Sharks are clearly giving prospects a good look now and several played in Friday’s game. Left wing Ivan Chekhovich made his NHL debut with the Sharks Friday. He had one blocked shot in 10:55 of ice time. Center Alexander True made his third appearance of the season. He had one shot on goal and took one penalty in 13:01 of ice time.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “These young guys that are playing on the road in a tough building, against a good team, there was quite a few fans here tonight, so there was some atmosphere and it’s a good experience for them.”

Also getting a good look, the more experienced left wing Alexander Barabanov played his third in a row since joining the team at the trade deadline. He had a goal and two assists in his first two games. On a line with Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane Friday, he had one blocked shot, one hit and one penalty in 19:15 of ice time.

Boughner said, of Barabanov: “He slows the game down a bit, and his skill takes over. We’re asking a lot of him, playing on that top line against those players and he doesn’t look out of place defensively.”

The first goal came on a Colorado power play at 11:13 of the first period. Cale Makar took a shot down the slot and Gabriel Landeskog subtly tipped it into the net. Assists went to Makar and Mikko Rantanen.

Landeskog was in front of Jones for the next goal as well, on another power play at 13:13. This time Makar’s shot went past Landeskog and in. Assists went to Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi.

The Sharks had one power play in the first period, and got two shots on goal with the man advantage. Colorado had two power plays and got six shots with the extra man. Colorado outshot the Sharks 13-6 in the first.

The second period saw the Sharks kill off two penalties, one abbreviated by a Colorado penalty. Colorado’s power play got two shots in the period and the Sharks got none in their minute or so of power play time. The Avalanche out-shot the Sharks 12-8 in the period.

The Sharks put the puck in the net midway through the third period but Colorado challenged it as off side. Alexander Barabanov had knocked the puck out of the air above the blue line and after a review the goal was called back.

The third Colorado goal came at 18:21 of the third, when Mikko Rantanen scored into an empty net. Assists went to Landeskog and Carl Soderberg.

The Sharks power play took four shots in two tries in the third. The Avalanche still out shot the Sharks 11-7.

In keeping with attention to prospects, the Sharks’ AHL team was also playing Friday, in San Jose. Lengthy look-ins on that game were broadcast during intermissions of the Sharks game. The Barracuda won 6-4.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, again in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche at 5:00 PM PT.