Tag: Connor Hellebuyck

Sharks Fall 2-1 in OT to Jets, Winnipeg Win Streak at 10; San Jose loss steak reaches six

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Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele (55) scored the game winning goal in overtime on San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Mon Feb 24, 2025 (Canadian press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 2-1 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets, despite holding a lead for more than 40 minutes. The win was the tenth in a row for the Jets. For the Sharks, it was the sixth loss in a row. Josh Morrissey and Mark Sheifele scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves for the win. William Eklund scored for the Sharks and Vitek Vanacek made 33 saves in the loss.

Vitek Vanacek was a big part of the reason that the Sharks hung in there for as long as they did. After the game, William Eklund said, of the goaltender: “Yeah, he was outstanding tonight.” Of his teammates, Vanacek said that “I think the guys played really well.” The Sharks came away from the loss disappointed but not ashamed of their effort.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said that the team:

“Worked extremely hard, each and every period, with things we talked about this morning. To fall short is a kick in the gut. Disappointed we don’t get the result but I’m really extremely proud of our group. Back to back, get in late last night, to have that type of effort against arguably the best team in the League.”

William Eklund started the scoring with a power play goal at 15:07 of the first period. Macklin Celebrini made a cross-ice pass to Eklund for a slap shot from the face-off dot. Celebrini and Will Smith got the assists.

Winnipeg outshot San Jose 10-6 in the first period. The teams took matching roughing minors near the middle of the period. The Sharks had the only power play of the period. The Jets outshot the Sharks 10-8 in the second period and 13-3 in the third. The Sharks had two power plays in the second period and killed one penalty. The Sharks had the only penalty in the third period and killed that.

Eklund’s goal gave the Sharks a lead that lasted until the final minute of the third period, when Josh Morrissey tied the game with the Jets’ net empty. Morrissey caught a bounce off of the side board and put the puck in the net on the short side from the top of the faceoff circle.

1:33 into overtime, the Jets extended their win streak when Mark Sheifele picked up a rebound right in front of Vanacek and poked it over the line. Assists went to Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor.

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

Jets Shut Out Sharks 1-0, Ferraro and Granlund Return, Hertl and Couture Out

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Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) deflects the puck that goes wide as the Jets Dylan DeMelo (2) defends against the San Jose Sharks Mikeal Granlund (64) at Canada Life Center in Winnipeg on Wed Feb 14, 2024 (The Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were shut out 1-0 by the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. Morgan Barron scored the only goal in the game and Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves for the shutout win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen said, of the many shots he faced: “They’re a pretty high shot volume team but overall I think what we did well was, even though they got a lot of shots on net, I think we boxed out, we kinda kept them outside so that was good for me.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn had a more dismal view of what the Sharks were doing with the puck:

“We had plenty of opportunities to make crisp passes and didn’t do it, I thought our puck play was really slow. I thought we were standing still when we got pucks. That really was the story to me of the night. I didn’t think we had any pace to our game with the puck.”

The Sharks started well in the first period, getting four shots on net before the Jets had any. The Jets turned that around and had 15 shots without allowing the Sharks any more in the period.

With 2:13 left in the period, the Jets scored. Morgan Barron deflected Adam Lowry’s shot from the point for his ninth goal of the season. Assists went to Lowry and Neal Pionk.

The Sharks took one penalty in the first period and allowed one shot to the Jets power play.

At 17:10 of the second period, it looked like Anthony Duclair might have tied the game. A review showed that the puck was stopped by Mark Sheifele, who had slipped in behind his goaltender.

The Jets again out-shot the Sharks in the second period, 16-8. Each team took a penalty in the second period. The Sharks allowed one shot to the Jets power play, and had one short-handed shot. They had no shots in their own power play.

Midway through the third period, Nico Sturm left the game after a hit from Logan Stanley, Stanley’s knee came up behind Sturm’s legs as Sturm fell, causing Sturm to hit the ice head and shoulders first.

In the final minute, Kaapo Kahkonen sustained what appeared to be a lower body injury. He was able to get to the bench so the Sharks could add an extra skater.

The final shot count was 40-18 Jets. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 38.5% of the draws. Nico Sturn led the team in shots with four.

Mario Ferraro and Mikael Granlund were back in the lineup after being injured before the All Star break. Both Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture were out. Hertl had scheduled knee surgery after the All Star Game. The team had advanced notice and, while the surgery was not emergent, it was needed. Logan Couture is having problems with the same lower body injury that kept him out for most of the season.

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

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Canucks are a playoff team says prez; Bruins Marchand takes captaincy; plus more news

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Vancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (8) is congratulated for his goal against the Arizona Coyotes during the first period on Thu Apr 13, 2023 ASU in Tempe AZ. Canucks team president Jim Rutherford says the Canucks are a playoff team coming into the 2023-24 season. (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The Vancouver Canucks team president Jim Rutherford said that this is a playoff bound team but Rutherford feels not all the pieces are in place yet. Rutherford said to be a playoff team everything has to go right, the goaltending, special teams, and you can’t get a lot of injuries.

#2 Brad Marchand forward for the Boston Bruins has taken over as team captain, Marchand said that he’s proud to wear the C for the Bruins. Marchand takes over the captaincy for Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. Bergeron retired on July 25th and Chara was team captain from 2014-2020.

#3 Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele had 31 game season and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck are trying to focus on the coming 2023-24 season. Hellebuyck in his ninth season with the Jets this is the last year of his contract. Also Scheifele after this season becomes a unrestricted free agent. How important is it for the Jets to sign these two players?

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander has moved from right wing to center opening training camp on Thursday. Nylander according to Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is a high priority signing. Nylander is in the final season of his six year $41.4 million contract averaging $6.9 million a season.

#5 San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture is listed week to week with a lower body injury. Couture will miss the start of training camp and no doubt he’ll have to sit out some of the pre season games which starts Sep 24th. Couture was injured while training in the off season saying it frustrating and he’ll miss playing with the guys.

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

Sharks Lose to Jets 4-1; Third loss in four games

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Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt (88) scores the go ahead goal in the second period as Josh Morrissey (44) celebrates with Schmidt against the San Jose Sharks in Winnipeg on Thu Nov 11, 2021 (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Jets at Winnipeg Thursday. Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt, Jansen Harkins and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the win. Andrew Cogliano scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 30 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Assistant Coach John MacLean was not willing to attribute the loss to fatigue: “I don’t know if [we] ran out of gas… I thought we had a couple of opportunities, we just weren’t able to bury it. And, you know, it was a close game there for a bit.” He also mentioned the lopsided penalty calls: “They get some power plays, we never really got any special… we never got any power plays. It was just one of those things, guys tried and it just didn’t come our way.”

The roster and the bench will likely look different for the next game, as players and staff will be returning from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. McLean assessed the performance of the team in the absence of those players:

“After a loss you’re not really pleased, I mean you wish, there’s a couple of opportunities there missed as well in that. So, I will say that I’m pleased with the total effort that these guys showed throughout this, you know, the guys who got called up and the guys who were here. I mean I think overall they all buckled down and gave us an opportunity each night to win.”

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, at 6:28 of the first period. Brent Burns picked up the puck near the boards and carried it across into the slot, then made a quick pass to Andrew Cogliano who was on the far side of the net. Cogliano lifted it into the short side for his second of the season.

Kyle Connor tied the game at 11:38. As the Jets entered the zone, Evgeny Svechnikov passed the puck from the right wide to Dubois in the middle of the ice. Dubois tok a shot that went off of Reimer’s pads for a short rebound. Connor was right there to shoot it back in behind Reimer.

The Sharks penalty kill gave up one shot on a single penalty for the period. The teams were dead even at ten shots each. It was the Sharks’ best face-off period, at 69%.

The second period started with an early fight, between the Sharks’ Jonah Gadjovich and the Jets’ Adam Lowry. The Sharks took a delay of game penalty at 7:24, and then matching roughing penalties at 10:02 went to Dominic Toninato and Ryan Merkley. Again, the Sharks penalty kill gave up just one shot.

The Jets took the lead at 14:11, with a shot from the blue line by Nate Schmidt. Assists went to Josh Morrissey and Blake Wheeler.

Jansen Harkins made it 3-1 at 19:16 of the second. Harkins and Adam Lowry got behind the Sharks for a two-on-one. From low in the slot, Lowry made a pass to Harkins for a deflection.

The Jets out-shot the Sharks 13-8 in the second, but the Sharks continued to dominate in the face-off circle at 60%. The third period saw the Sharks slip in that area, winning only 44% of the draws. The Sharks penalty kill allowed two shots during the single third-period Jets power play.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his eighth of the season into an empty net at 19:27 of the third. Assists went to Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Sharks’ next game will be in Colorado against the Avalanche, on Saturday at 6:00 PM PT.

COVID-19 Protocols Purge Roster, Sharks Beat Jets Anyway 2-1

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San Jose Sharks left wing Alexander Barabanov (94) and Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) make contact while chasing the puck in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Oct 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in overtime Saturday. Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 34 saves for the win. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves in the loss. That could be the result of a Sharks game on most nights, but Saturday was distinctly different from regular regular season Sharks games.

Late Saturday afternoon, the Sharks roster looked a lot like a preseason game. A slew of players, eight in total, were pulled from the lineup at the last minute and seven were replaced by call-ups from the AHL Barracuda. Andrew Cogliano, Jonathan Dahlen, Erik Karlsson, Jacob Middleton, Matt Nieto, Radim Simek, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Head Coach Bob Boughner were all held out of the game due to NHL COVID-19 protocol. Logan Couture was alsoout due to illness but not in COVID-19 protocol.

Seven players had just hours notice that they would be playing Saturday. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka made his NHL debut, with Ryan Merkley, Nicolas Meloche, and Jaycob Megna making their season debut on the blueline. The forwards making their season debuts were RW Nick Merkley, LW Jonah Gadjovich and LW John Leonard. Mike Ricci stepped in behind the bench to fill out the coaching roster.

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said that a crazy day like Saturday can be good for a player who is making a debut with an NHL team: “Sometimes that’s the best thing. So those guys got to play their first game with not a lot of time to think about it and they get a good result in it and I think that can just really help all those guys.”

After the game, Sharks assistant coach John Maclean talked about the team’s response to these strange circumstances:

“They had great energy and they all knew that they had to play. Everybody got ice. It was like, the bench was lively, they were pretty much coaching themselves. They were excited to get out there and play. So that’s always fun to see.”

The first period shot count was very close, 14-13 San Jose. The Sharks power play got two shots on net. In the face-off circle the Sharks struggled. Nick Bonino won 60% of his draws and Jasper Weatherby won 50%, but Tomas Hertl was around 20%. As a result, the Sharks won just 25% of their draws in the first.

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, 54 seconds into the second period. Barabanov carried the puck down the wall to the goal line, where he spun and threw it at the net. The puck went off of Timo Meier’s stick and across the goal mouth to Tomas Hertl, who was able to put it away. Meier and Barabanov got the assists.

The Sharks out-shot the Jets 13-7 in the second period. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle to 54%, but Hertl still seemed outmatched, especially against Pierre-Luc DuBois, who he drew against 7 times in the first two periods, and won only once.

Sharks Defenseman Santeri Hatakka did something about that at 3:43 of the third period, drawing a high-stick from DuBois. DuBois earned a double-minor and Hatakka went to the box for cross-checking. Still, the Sharks did not get credit for a single shot during that power play, and their face-off numbers did not improve.

The Jets tied the game at 16:48 of the third. DuBois drew the Sharks defense to himself as he drove the net. His shot bounced into the slot, where Nikolaj Ehlers picked it up for another try. Reimer stopped that too but Kyle Connor found the puck and put it in the net before Reimer could get across. Assists went to Ehlers and DuBois.

By the end of regulation, the only Shark with a better than even win percentage was Jasper Weatherby, who only took nine draws. He won six (67%) of those. Bonino had dropped from a high of 60% to 41% and Hertl went from 20% to 21%. All around, it was not a good night for the Sharks in the face-off circle. In shots, the Jets out-shot the Sharks 15-6 in the third.

Thirty seconds into overtime, Nikolaj Ehlers was called for interference on Brent Burns and Timo Meier scored the game winner 1:07. Burns sent the puck to Labanc near a face-off dot. Labanc skated with it to the top of the slot and then made a subtle touch-pass to Meier for the winning shot.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday, in San Jose against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT.

Jets Sink Sharks 3-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell to the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose. Jets goals came from Gabriel Bourque, Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers, with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck making a heroic 51 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Barclay Goodrow and Tomas Hertl with Martin Jones making 16 saves in the loss.

“It’s probably up there with our best game of the season. Disappointing to lose,” said Sharks captain Logan Couture, after a game in which the Sharks grossly outshot the Jets, 53-19.

The game might have gone to overtime with the teams tied 3-3 but for a disallowed goal in the second period.

“At the same time, we had a lot of other opportunities to put the puck in the net and we didn’t,” said Sharks forward Evander Kane, who had 7 shots on goal in the game and scored the disallowed goal.

Winnipeg struck first with a goal at 13:34 of the first period. Kyle Connor took advantage of a bouncing puck that eluded Brent Burns in the Sharks’ zone. He got control of it along the boards and then found Gabriel Bourque coming into the zone. Bourque skated up the middle and beat Jones on the glove side. Connor got the assist.

The Sharks too the first penalty of the game, an interference minor to Logan Couture at 19:06. The Sharks successfully killed the penalty for the rest of the first and the beginning of the second period. The Jets got three shots on goal during the power play.

They followed that up with a goal at 3:18 of the second. A pass from Marc-Edouard Vlasic found Jonny Brodzinsky in the neutral zone. He made a pass at the Jets’ blue line, finding Barclay Goodrow in the slot. Goodrow skated to the net and shot the puck by Hellebuyck on the short side. Assists went to Brodzinsky and Vlasic.

The Sharks’ first power play came just over a minute later. They got credit for two shots on goal

Evander Kane put the puck in the net at 7:22 of the second. He started by carrying the puck into the zone and around behind the net. He gave it to a defender, who sent it back around and to the point. the puck came back to Kane behind the net and he got it out in front for Labanc and Hertl to shoot, but Labanc was taken down in the crease and the puck came back to Kane as he emerged form behind the net. He quickly lifted it over the now-prone Hellebuyck and into the net.

The Jets challenged for goaltender interference and the goal was overturned.

Moments later, Blake Wheeler scored off a pass from Mark Scheifele at 7:53. Scheifele and Kyle Connor got the assists.

The Jets had a second power play at 9:41, in which they got one shot on goal.

The Sharks had a second power play starting at 17:11 when Mathieu Perrault was called for tripping Erik Karlsson. The Sharks tallied eight shots on goal and still could not score.

During the second period, the Sharks outshot the Jets 28-9.

The Sharks did finally tie it with a deflection from Tomas Hertl 49 seconds into the third period. Kane took the initial shot with a second assist going to Kevin Labanc.

With three minutes left in the third, the Jets only had 3 shots to the Sharks’ 12. The shot count for the game was 51-18 Sharks.

Nevertheless, the Jets scored next, taking a 3-2 lead at 18:36. Nikolaj Ehlers . Assists went to Jack Roslovic and Bryan Little.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender right after that, but couldn’t get by Hellebuyck again.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:00 PM PT against the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose.

Jonny Brodzinsky was in the lineup for the first time since October 8, with Dylan Gambrell and Lukas Radil out as healthy scratches.