San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks-Islanders battle of two last place teams

It’s a battle in front of the net with the San Jose Sharks Nico Sturm (7) and the Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dimitri Voronkov (10) both reach for the puck in the first period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Fri Jan 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a win over the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday. The win extended the Jackets win streak to six game. It’s the longest Columbus win streak since January 2020.

#2 The Jackets Kent Johnson scored and got an assist for Adam Fantilli picked up his eighth point and scored a goal. Van Riemsdyk got empty net goal with 2:01 left in the game which resulted in Van Riemsdyk second goal of the game.

#3 The Sharks Tyler Toffoli scored and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev saved 30 shots and the Sharks who had won six straight games have now lost four of their last five games and are in dead last place in the Pacific Division.

#4 On Thursday Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1300th career game. Vlasic has been with the Sharks since the 2006-07 season. The Sharks are the only team that Vlasic knows.

#5 The Sharks now move onto the New York Islanders on Saturday. The Islanders like the Sharks are a last place team and sit in the cellar of the Eastern Conference with at 17-20-7 and have lost six of their last ten games.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Nylander scores game winner in OT for Leafs; Caps Ovechkin now 21 shy of Gretzky’s goal record; plus more NHL news

Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander (88) scored the game winning goal against the New Jersey Devils, he is joined in the celebration with teammates Jake McCabe (22) and Phillipe Myers (88) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander scored the game winning overtime goal at 1:10 to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. Nylander on a Mitch Marner stretch pass and shot the puck for a goal past New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom glove side from the blue line.

#2 Alexander Ovechkin scored the game winner for the Washington Capitals for his 874th career goal at 3:07 in overtime to defeat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Ovechkin is now 21 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record at 894. Ovechkin took a pass from Ramus Sandin on a two on one and beat the Sens Leevi Merilainen with a snap shot.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel scored in the shootout to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning’s Brayden Point scored, Victor Hedman picked up his career 600th assist. The win puts the Lighting at 3-1-1 in their last five games. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 34 shots.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Cam Talbot stopped 41 shots on a busy night to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Talbot had the hot hand stopping 23 shots in the third period. The Wings Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist to keep the offense going.

#5 The Columbus Blue Jackets kept their win streak alive with a convincing 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Bank Arena in Columbus on Thursday. The Jackets James van Riemsdyk scored twice and Zach Werenski picked up his 18th consecutive home point.

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

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Blue Jackets in Vlasic’s 1300th Game; CBJs extend win streak to six

Columbus Blue Jackets James van Riemsdyk (21) takes a shot on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) in the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday. Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves in the loss.

The game was Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1300th in the NHL. He had one shot, blocked two and played 14:49. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Quite the achievement, and to do it with one team is even more remarkable. True pro and he’s really helped our group since coming back from being hurt.” Sharks goaltender Georgiev said:

“You love playing with guys who are so solid, He hasn’t played for a while and then came back into the lineup. Just good patience, smart decisions every time. He’s in good positioning, from my point of view at least. So, it’s amazing the accomplishment he got. We’re very happy for him.”

The rest of the game left the Sharks with little to celebrate. Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli said: “I don’t think we were very good executing anything. You know, passes, we weren’t forechecking, we weren’t breaking pucks out and obviously turned some pucks over and they capitalized. And obviously we gave them too many chances.”

Zach Werenski intercepted the kind of pass that Toffoli mentioned, then carried the puck all the way down the ice with Adam Fantilli, two on one. Near the goal line, Werenski passed the puck to Fantilli in front of the blue paint for the goal. That was at 12:11 of the first period.

Sean Kuraly knocked the puck away from Mario Ferraro with a hit behind the net. He carried the puck up to the faceoff dot before passing it to Kent Johnson at the net so he could make it 2-0 with a snap shot. The time of that goal was 16:17.

The Sharks were outshot 13-6 n the first period, and had the only power play. The shot count got worse in the second period, ending 12-2 Columbus.

James van Riemsdyk scored the only goal of the second period. From just inside the faceoff circle, he redirected Damon Severson’s shot into the net. Assists went to Severson and Johnson.

The Sharks had two power plays in the second period and took one penalty.

The Sharks got on the board at 7:32 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini sent the puck to the net from the boards and Tyler Toffoli was there to put it away with a wrist shot. Assists went to Celebrini and William Eklund.

James van Riemsdyk scored his second of the night into an empty net from just below the blue line.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Elmont against the New York Islanders at 4:30 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Slavin gets game winning goal for Hurricane; Rangers Quick stops 32 shots to edge Bruins 2-1; plus more news

The Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) and Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scuffle as linesman Tommy Hughes tries to break it up in the second period at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Jaccob Slavin got the game winning goal for the Carolina Hurricane in the third period at 7:30 to break a 1-1 tie which the Hurricane won by a final score of 3-1.Slavin’s wasn’t without a battle as there was a pile up in front of the net as the Hurricane’s Jesperi Kotaniemi slid into Florida Panther goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who was down at the crease in front of the net when Slavin made a rebound shot from the left circle for the goal.

#2 The New York Rangers edged the Boston Bruins 2-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Ranger goaltender Jonathan Quick was able to stop 32 shots and the Rangers snapped a four game losing streak. It was career win 399 for Quick and it was Quick’s first win since Nov 30th. If Quick wins his next game he will pick up his 400th win and become the first US born goalie to win 400 games.

#3 The Washington Capital Alexander Ovechkin scored his career 871st goal. Ovechkin needs just 24 more goals to catch Wayne Gretzky to become the number one goal scorer of all time. In spite of Ovechkin’s goal the Capitals lost in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild when Matt Boldy scored the game winner as the Wild took a 4-3 win.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Jonatan Berggren scored a game winning goal with 36 seconds left in the third period to edge the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thursday night. The win improves the Wings win streak to three games. Alex DeBrincat scored and had two goals to contribute to the Red Wings cause.

#5 The Toronto Maple Leafs Bobby McMann scored twice as the Leafs defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 in New York. The Leafs Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots. The win marks the second time in a week the Leafs have defeated the Isles and the Leafs have now won three times in four games against the Islanders.

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

Sharks Beat Blue Jackets 2-1 in OT, Wennberg With 2nd OT Winner; Celebrini is back from injuries

San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) returned after suffering a hip injury his presence has fired up the team in their win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime Tuesday. Jack Thompson and Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose. This was the second time this season that Wennberg scored the overtime winner. Vitek Vanecek made 49 saves for the win. Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets and Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves in the loss.

Vitek Vanecek was the difference in the game, keeping the Sharks in it despite a very lop-sided shot count. After the game, forward Alexander Wennberg talked about Vanecek’s performance: “He made so many good saves and key saves as well that makes us stay in the game. So, we wouldn’t win this game without him. So it’s just great to have that goaltending that you really can rely on.”

Macklin Celebrini made his return to the roster Tuesday. In 17:06 of ice time, he had three shots and one penalty. He also won 7 of 13 faceoffs. Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of Celebrini’s performance: “I thought you could see the rust in his game. Kinda what we expected. Obviously impacted the game in some other ways in a positive side.”

The first period saw several penalties. The Sharks had one power play and killed two penalties. The shot count at the end of the period was 13-6 Columbus.

Carl Grundstrom seemed to score his first as a Shark and the first of the game midway through the second period. The goal was called back as offside after a coach’s challenge from Columbus.

The first goal of the game came very late in that period, Just as a Columbus penalty expired, Jack Thompson scored his first NHL goal. He caught a cross-ice pass from Will Smith and put the puck in the net with a wrist shot at 18:49. A secondary assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

In the second period, Columbus took the only two penalties. The shot count for the period was 17-11 Columbus.

The Sharks took a timeout at 8:06 of the third period. Columbus had just come very close to scoring, requiring four quick saves from Vanecek. After the timeout, Columbus continued to apply pressure and finally broke through with a goal at 9:17.

Kirill Marchenko gathered up a rebound from Damon Severson’s shot. He dragged the puck around Vanecek and poked it in on the far side. Assists went to Severson and Yegor Chinakhov.

The Sharks had a late power play but had no shots goal with the man advantage. The shot count at the end of regulation was 49-25 Columbus.

Alexander Wennberg scored the overtime winner 3:11 into overtime, skating around and between all three Columbus skaters before shooting into the top corner. Assists went to Zetterlund and Vanecek.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the Minnesota Wild.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks back on track host Canucks tonight at SAP

San Jose Sharks center Will Smith (2) is congratulated taking a skating lap in front of the Sharks bench after scoring a second period goal against the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center on Thu Oct 31, 2024 (AP News photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 San Jose Sharks Will Smith who scored twice on Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 3-2 win inspiring the Sharks who picked up their third straight win at SAP Center.

#2 After losing nine straight the Sharks winning three straight face a Blackhawks teams who were struggling losing five of their last six games.

#3 Smith had such a good game in the middle of the second period scored what would be the winning goal with a wrister on a shot that deflected for a goal off the crossbar.

#4 Mary, talk about the goaltenders in this one for the Blackhawks Petr Mrazek stopped 26 of 29 shots and allowed three goals for the Sharks MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 26 of 28 shots and allowed two goals in a very close game.

#5 The Sharks host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night for a 7:00pm PT. The Canucks after winning three straight have dropped their last two on Monday night to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime 4-3 and getting shellacked by the New Jersey Devils at Rogers Centre in Vancouver 6-0. The Sharks are coming into Saturday’s game with momentum and the Canucks are coming off a couple of loses how do you see this one tonight?

Mary Lisa does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Blue Jackets; CBJs Nylander gets two goals and Tarasov saves 39 shots

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner (38) passes off the puck against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) in the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Boone Jenner, Alexander Nylander, Johnny Gaudreau scored for Columbus, with a second goal from Nylander into an empty net. Daniil Tarasov made 39 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund and Henry Thrun scored for San Jose and Magnus Chrona made 16 saves in the loss.

In a frustrating loss, the Sharks managed an unusual high of 42 shots in the game, and allowed just four shots for Columbus in the third period. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said:

“We had plenty of chances, especially in the third period. Hit a couple posts, made some good saves in the third, but dug ourselves a little bit of a hole with our start. You know, our first period certainly wasn’t anything that we wanted it to be but I thought we gradually got better as the game went on and made a great push in the third period.”

Quinn went into more detail about what went wrong in the first period, saying: “Just really not engaged physically. I thought we gave them way too much room and way too much respect and just, it was easy for them, way too easy. But I thought as the game went on we got more engaged.”

Boone Jenner scored first, late in the first period. Johnny Gaudreau caught a pass in the neutral zone and skated in with Jenner close behind. Gaudreau passed the puck across the slot and Jenner caught it, then skated back across to the other side of the goal and backhanded it in. Assists went to Gaudreau and Damon Severson.

Alexander Nylander made it 2-0 49 seconds into the second period. Ivan Provorov made a pass from the Blue Jackets’ zone to Nylander on the Sharks’ blue line. Nylander skated in and took a quick wrist shot to score his 34th of the season.

Fabian Zetterlund cut it to 2-1 at 11:48. Mario Ferraro sent the puck to the net with a high pass. Provorov knocked it down but Zetterlund was right there to catch the falling puck and knock it into the net. Assists went to Ferraro and Mikael Granlund.

Johnny Gaudreau made it 3-1 at 15:03. Nylander took a shot from the blue line and Gaudreau gathered up the rebound to tuck it between the post and Chrona’s skate. Assists went to Nylander and Jenner.

Henry Thrun got one back for the Sharks at 11:42 of the third period. Kevin Labanc skated into the zone with the puck and made his way through some traffic high in the slot before kicking the puck to Thrun. Thrun took the shot right away and sent it into the far side of the net as Tarasov slid to the near side.

Alexander Nylander scored into the empty net at 18:55 of the third. Gaudreau got an assist.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 3:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks and Blue Jackets battle of two last place teams tonight

Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) checks the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) into the boards during the second period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks took a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Friday night. The loss was the Sharks second consecutive loss in a row.

#2 The Sharks defense was lacking they skated with only five defenseman. Jacob MacDonald fell ill and had to sit out the game taking away one more defensive player to the already struggling team.

#3 In goal for San Jose was Magnus Chrona who saved 25 shots but allowed five goals. Chrona simply did not get enough protection up front and the Penguins crashed the net once they realized there was a weakness in the San Jose defense.

#4 Sharks head coach David Quinn said that he knew the defense was slow reacting but said he loved the competitiveness and heart the team had in the game. Quinn just had hoped that they could have been a little bit better defending around the net.

#5 The Sharks face off with the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 4:00pm PDT at at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The Blue Jackets are having their own struggles. Their last in the Metropolitan Division at 22-33-11 with 55 points. They have lost five of their last ten games. How do you see this battle tonight the Sharks have 39 points going into this game.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks open four game homestand starting with Columbus tonight at SAP Center

The San Jose Sharks Justin Bailey is dazzled after scoring a second period goal against the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Filip Zadina scored two goals and had two assists and scored a career high four points in the Sharks 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night a contrast from their loss to the Winnipeg Jets the night before on Wednesday night 1-0.

#2 Zadina did point out that his line hadn’t scored in awhile but was glad to get the points and help the team, “We haven’t scored as a line in a little bit but we got rewarded for the work we’ve done recently.”

#3 Zadina did have a break out game on Thursday he had only one goal and two assists in his previous 18 games before facing off against the Flames.

#4 The Sharks did have a good offensive night against the Flames with Luke Kunin scoring twice and Justin Bailey with a goal and two assists it was Bailey’s first multi point game. Mikael Granlund also contributed with a goal.

#5 The Sharks have a go with the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center in San Jose tonight for a 7:30pm PT face off. The Jackets are last in the Metropolitan Division at 16-26-10 with 42 points. They oppose the Sharks who are 15-33-5 and have 35 points. The Sharks are opening a four game homestand.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Canadiens overcome deficit defeat CBJ’s 4-2; Rangers two goal third period defeats Wings 3-2; plus more news

The Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia (right) scores on the Columbus Blue Jackets Elvis goaltender Merzlikins (left) and defenseman Erik Gudbranson in third period in Columbus on Wed Nov 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 Len, the Montreal Canadiens got the hot hand and scored twice in the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-2 win in Columbus. The Habs Joel Armia got the go ahead goal at 17:03 to make it 3-2 for what would be later the game winning goal.

#2 The New York Rangers erased a 2-1 lead against the Detroit Red Wings scoring two goals in the third period to catch the Rangers and get the win 3-2. The Rangers Jimmy Vesey got a rebound and shot a backhanded goal at 4:15 against the Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso for the winner.

#3 The Los Angeles Kings five game win streak came to an end on Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals losing it 2-1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Capitals got goals from Connor McMichael and Anthony Mantha and Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 37 shots.

#4 The Vancouver Canucks dealt Anthony Beauvillier to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Beauvillier had eight points on the season for the Canucks. Beauvillier was dealt to Chciago for a fifth round draft pick going to Vancouver.

#5 The Minnesota Wild acquired defenseman Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a seventh round draft pick, the Lightning traded Calen Anderson to the San Jose Sharks for Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth round draft pick.

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