Sharks Lose Last Game of Season 5-1 to Flames

The Calgary Flames forward Matthew Caronato (27) stops a shot by the San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (1) at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Apr 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their final game of the season 5-1 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. Adam Klapka, Blake Coleman, Oliver Kylington, Kevin Rooney and Mackenzie Weegar scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 16 saves in the win. Fabian Zetterlund scored the lone Sharks goal. Devin Cooley made 18 saves for the Sharks before being pulled. Georgi Romanov made 14 saves in relief. The Sharks finished the season with a record of 19-55-9.

Mikael Granlund finished the season on a 13 game point streak. The game was also noteworthy for being the first to see two Bay Area born goaltenders start in an NHL game. After the game, Devin Cooley said, of playing against Wolf:

“I don’t know him personally, but I’ve been following him for a while, obviously, in the American League. He’s had a great career so far and it’s really awesome to see how far youth hockey has come in Northern California and in the Bay Area. It was really cool to be able to play against him tonight and I hope we continue to see more guys from the Bay Area make the NHL.”

Fabian Zetterlund played his 82nd game of the season, the only Shark to do so this season. Of this accomplishment, Zetterlund said: “I mean, obviously that’s nice, you know, I feel fresh every game. I try to stay in shape, ready to go every night. That was my goal before the season and, yeah, I made it.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said, of the season’s final games:

“We’ve made a lot of changes, there’s a lot of new faces here. It’s tough to learn on the go, in a short period of time, what’s expected of you. You know, it’s just hard. But we’re not the only team that’s gone through it. As I’ve said repeatedly, we’re in a situation where we kind of understood that this was going to be a difficult year but we will be better for it moving forward.”

All of the Flames goals came in the first two periods, not unlike the Sharks loss on Monday. Adam Klapka scored his first NHL goal at 12:13 of the first period. His wrist shot through traffic gave Calgary the lead.

Blake Coleman made it 2-0, redirecting a shot from Connor Zary. The goal came at 14:40, just as a Flames power play expired. Assists went to Zary and Rasmus Andersson.

The Sharks were outshot 16-5 in the first period. Early in the second period, Givani Smith and Adam Klapka squared off for a fight. Klapka lost his balance in the fight and both retired to the penalty box.

Oliver Kylington made it 3-0 about a minute after the fight. Andrew Mangiapane acted as a screen for Kylington’s shot from above the faceoff circle. An assist went to Andrei Kuzmenko.

Kevin Rooney made it 4-0 at 5:59. His shot from the slot went through several Sharks defenders and into the far side of the net. Assists went to Martin Pospisil and Matt Coronato.

MacKenzie Weegar scored the Flames’ fifth goal of the night at 6:56, for a total of three goals scored in 3:03 of play. It was another shot through traffic that went by Cooley on the glove side. Assists went to Daniil Miromanov and Blake Coleman.

The Sharks pulled Cooley after that goal and put Georgi Romanov in net. Romanov stopped all the shots he faced for the remained of the game. The Sharks were outshot 13-6 in the second period and 8-6 in the third.

Fabian Zetterlund scored a power play goal in the final ten seconds of the game. He scored his 24th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Collin Graf.

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

Oilers Rout Sharks 9-2, McDavid Earns 100th Point of Season

The San Jose Sharks William Eklund (72) taking a shot that was blocked by the Edmonton Oilers Evan Bouchard (2) in the third period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Mon Apr 16, 2024 (The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

Connor McDavid, Adam Henrique, Warren Foegele, Dylan Holloway, Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for the 9-2 win over the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Connor McDavid earned his 100th assist of the season in the game, only the second Oiler and the fourth NHL player to do so.

Danil Gushchin and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. Mikael Granlund extended his point streak to 12 games with an assist. Devin Cooley made 14 saves on 22 shots before being pulled in the second period. Georgi Romanov made 15 on 16 shots saves in his NHL debut.

For the third time this season, the Sharks allowed nine or more goals. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “We never looked like we were really… thought we had a chance. That’s kinda what it felt like. We were slow, very slow in everything that we were doing. We were losing a lot of battles and it was a lot of hesitation in our game.”

Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said: “That was really what I thought went wrong today, is we maybe looked at the lineup on the other end and we played scared in the first period. And obviously it was a snowball effect.”

Sharks center Luke Kunin talked about the disappointing game and how the team let goaltender Devin Cooley down: “We didn’t help him out at all. With the odd-mans, how many looks he was getting, with the way that we started the game. You know, try to say a few things to him, obviously he’s a competitive guy as well, it wasn’t his fault by any means.”

Connor McDavid started the scoring just 53 seconds into the first period. McDavid carried the puck into the zone at speed and as he approached the goal line, he centered the puck for Zach Hyman. The pass did not get through. Instead, it hit Marc-Edouard Vlasic and went into the net. An assist went to Darnell Nurse.

Adam Henrique made it 2-0 at 4:01. Catching a Brett Kulak pass from the blue line, Henrique settled the puck down in traffic before lifting it over Cooley for the goal.

Warren Foegele added another at 10:40. Skating in two-on-one with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Foegele scored with a wrist shot from inside the faceoff circle. An assist went to Leon Draisaitl.

At this point, the Sharks still only had one shot on goal. By the end of the period, they had six shots ot the Oilers’ 10.

At 19:35, Dylan Holloway tipped in the fourth Oilers goal off a shot from Adam Henrique. Assists to Henrique and Nurse.

The Sharks got on the board at 1:58 of the second period. Danil Gushchin took a shot from the goal line that snuck between the Skinner and the post. An assist went to Thomas Bordeleau.

Less than three minutes later, Foegele scored his second of the night to make it 5-1. Foegele redirected a shot from Nugent-Hopkins. Cooley stopped that but the puck got away from him and Foegele followed up and poked the puck over the line. Assists went to Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl.

Corey Perry made it 6-1 near the midpoint of the period. Evan Bouchard went for the shot and Cooley came out to stop it. But the puck went past him and Perry was lurking by the other post to poke the puck in. Assists went to Bouchard and Holloway.

Cody Ceci made it 7-1 at 13:18. Trailing the play and then going ot the net, Ceci redirected a pass from Henrique. Assists went to Henrique and Hyman.

Evan Bouchard made it 8-1, just 31 seconds later. In a play almost exactly like the prior one, Corey Perry sent the puck across the ice for Bouchard to redirect past Cooley on the glove side. Assists went to Perry and Holloway.

The Sharks pulled Cooley after that one and put rookie Georgi Romanov in net.

A little less than a minute later, Zach Hyman scored to make it 9-1. In another two-on-one, Connor McDavid and Hyman skated in. McDavid a short pass for Hyman to nudge in. Assists went to McDavid and Nurse.

That was it for the Oilers. The Sharks scored one in the third period. Mikael Granlund carried the puck in two-on-one with Fabian Zetterlund. Granlund took a shot while skating through center ice. Skinner stopped that. William Eklund got a stick on it but it did not go in. The puck bounced around in the blue paint before Zetterlund got his stick on it and scored with a backhand shot. Assists went to Eklund and Granlund.

The Sharks will play their final game of the season at 6:00 PM PT on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames.

Sharks Beat Kraken 3-1, Devin Cooley Makes 49 Saves

San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (1) is congratulated by teammate defenseman Kyle Burroughs (right) after the Sharks defeated the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thu Apr 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1 on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Luke Kunin, Kyle Burroughs and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. Devin Cooley made 49 saves for the win. Brian Dumoulin scored for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 20 saves in the loss.

This was Devin Cooley’s fourth NHL game, his second win and his first road win. After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro talked about the goaltender’s performance: “Obviously they got a lot of shots tonight, they got a lot of grade A chances and without him in net who knows what the result of the game would have been.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said:

“Outstanding. I mean he was unbelievable. Especially in the first period. I think we got better as the game went on but they certainly set the pace and the tempo for the most part tonight. We were very opportunistic but our goalie was outstanding. There’s really not much more to talk about really.”

Luke Kunin opened the scoring to give the Sharks a lead at 8:07 of the first period. Kunin redirected Henry Thrun’s shot from the left point. Assists went to Thrun and Klim Kostin.

Brian Dumoulin tied the game at 9:22. Catching a pass as he skated through the faceoff circle, Dumoulin slipped between the Sharks defense and beat Devin Cooley with a quick wrist shot. Assists went to Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz.

Despite having the only power play in the period, the Sharks were outshot by the Kraken 20-11.

The Sharks had just one shot on goal at the midpoint of the second period, while the Kraken had 12. The Sharks had their second shot of the period at 12:51.

With their third shot of the period, the Sharks took a 2-1 lead at 14:46. Kyle Burroughs entered the zone late and caught a pass from William Eklund in the slot. Burroughs sent the puck through traffic into the far top corner.

Fabian Zetterlund made it 3-1 at 15:37. Mikael Granlund centered the puck from the goal line and Zetterlund was on hand to lift it into the net. Assists went to Granlund and Eklund.

The score remained unchanged through the third period. The Sharks were outshot again, 16-7 in the period. The final shot count was 50-23 Kraken.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in San Jose against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Blackhawks, Devin Cooley Makes NHL Debut in Net

The Chicago Blackhawks left winger Landon Slaggert (84) gets his shot stopped by the San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (left) in the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Sun Mar 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski, Joey Anderson and Connor Bedard scored for the Blackhawks. Petr Mrazek made 25 saves for the win. Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks. Devin Cooley, in his NHL debut, made 26 saves in the loss.

Of playing his first NHL game, Devin Cooley said: “The experience was obviously amazing, first game, that’s something I’ve been working towards my entire life. Really happy that happened. For it to happen for my hometown team that I grew up watching, that’s pretty special.”

Of the rookie goaltender’s performance, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “I thought he played well. Made some big saves early I thought. I thought he played well and I feel bad that we weren’t able to bring it to the finish line for him ‘cause I thought he deserved it.”

Ryan Carpenter gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first period. Carpenter and Alexander Barabanov skated into zone two-on-one. Carpenter passed the puck across but Mrazek followed it. Barabanov then passed the puck back to Carpenter with a bounce off of Mrazek’s pads, giving Carpenter an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Barabanov and Kevin Labanc.

Klim Kostin made it 2-0 at 16:32. Mikael Granlund had the puck behind the net. He passed it up to Kostin who was able to shoot it under the goaltender and a defenseman to score his fifth of the season. Assists went to Granlund and Mario Ferraro.

Philipp Kurashev cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:02 of the second period. Kurashev, Tyler Johnson and Connor Bedard skated into the zone three-on-two. Bedard passed the puck across the ice to Johnson, who centered it as Kurashev went to the net to score.

Ryan Donato tied the game at 10:39 of the third period. Donato scored his tenth of the season with a slap shot from just inside the faceoff circle. Assists went to Jarred Tinordi and Jaycob Megna.

Kevin Korchinski gave the Blackhawks the lead at 11:51 with a wrist shot from the blue line. An assist went to Lukas Reichel.

Joey Anderson made it 4-2 at 12:02. Anderson threw the puck into the blue paint with a backhand shot, it bounced off of Calen Addison’s skate and into the net. An assist went to Alex Vlasic.

Connor Bedard made it 6-2 with an empty net goal in the final second of the game. An assist went to P Kurashev.

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