Tag: Florida Panthers

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Pens to face Rangers in first round; Sabers overtime win against Blackhawks 3-2; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues (9) scores on Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender J-F Berube (30) in first period action at PPG Paints in Pittsburgh on Fri Apr 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Pittsburgh Penguins (46-25-11) advanced to the playoffs with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets (37-38-7) 5-3 on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will face the Rangers for the Eastern Conference first round in game 1.

#2 Both the Buffalo Sabers (32-39-11) and the Chicago Blackhawks (28-42-12) concluded their regular season with the Sabers getting an overtime win over the Blackhawks 3-2 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo Friday. The Blackhawks started out with a 2-0 lead but the Sabers came back and tied it up in the second period 2-2. The Sabers Casey Mittelstadt got the overtime game winning goal at 2:53.

#3 The Boston Bruins lost their last game of the season to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night 5-2 and will face off with the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Leafs will play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

#4 It was the first win for Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price since game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Finals. It was a landslide of goals scored by the Canadiens 10-2 over the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the Belle Centre. Price stopped 37 shots and it was his 700th start and 712th game with the Canadiens for his 361st career win.

#5 In his first game in five seasons for the Detroit Red Wings goaltender Magnus Hellberg it was like riding a bike you just don’t forget. Hellburg stopped 20 shots by the New Jersey Devils to help in a 5-3 win at the Prudential Center on Friday night. Hellberg played five years in the Kontinental Hockey League before signing an Apr 13th free agent contract with the Red Wings.

Join Matt throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the NHL podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Caps Ovechkin scores tying and winning goals; Kreider scores twice for Rangers in 5-1 win over Pens; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, left, gets congratulated by teammates right wing Tom Wilson (43), defenseman Martin Fehervary (42) and left wing Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (45) after scoring the game winner in the overtime shootout at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo on Fri Mar 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Washington Capitals (36-20-10) Alex Ovechkin can do it all he scored his 41st goal of the season a real bullet no time for the Buffalo Sabers goalie Dustin Tokarski to get a glove on the top shelf goal and later Ovechkin scored the winning goal in the shootout against the Sabers (23-33-9) for the 4-3 win at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo on Friday night.

#2 The New York Rangers (41-19-5) Chris Kreider took it to the Pittsburgh Penguins (39-17-10) with two goals in a four goal win 5-1 for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mika Zibanejad picked up his 500th career point and Andrew Copp scored his first goal with the Rangers.

#3 Another disappointing finish for the Montreal Canadiens (17-37-10) who were eliminated on Friday night when the Capitals defeated the Sabers. The Canadiens who sit in 16th and last place in the Eastern Conference will have to go home after the regular season and figure it out for next season.

#4 Patrik Laine made his Winnipeg (31-25-10) return in the Columbus Blue Jackets (32-29-4) uniform for the first time since being traded to the Jackets back on Jan 23, 2021. Laine had four shots on goal and three shots blocked by the Jets on Friday night. The Jets edged the Jackets in overtime 4-3.

#5 The Chicago Blackhawks (24-32-9) Jonathan Toews will play in his 1000th game against the Florida Panthers (43-14-6) next week Thursday and it did not come easy as Toews missed all of last season because of chronic immune response syndrome and this year had to deal with concussion issues missing 11 games. Is Toews facing the end of his career he says he’s not sure what he will do after this season.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Competitive game Sharks get edged against a good team in the Panthers

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Florida Panthers Nick Vatrano’s overtime shot finds the back of the net as the San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer is caught off guard at the SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa please talk a little about Nick Vatrano no doubt the number one star for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at SAP Center. Vatrano scored a tying goal in third period and at 1:11 in the overtime stanza scored the game winner for the Panthers 3-2 win.

#2 Vatrano was skillful as well as fast beating goaltender James Reimer to the net to get a top slot goal. It was a tough chance for Reimer to try to defend the puck.

#3 The Sharks had the lead for two periods before Vantrano’s one man come back to extend the Panthers for their seventh win after getting behind after two periods.

#4 Vatrano said that the Panthers have been coming back and winning games all season long and Tuesday night’s overtime is just another example of the success they have had.

#5 The Sharks will play the Los Angeles Kings for the third time in their last four games and the Sharks have beat them all three times this season on Thursday night at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA a 7:00 pm PDT puck drop.

Join Mary Lisa for the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Panthers, Reimer Returns

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Florida Panthers center Frank Vatrano (77) jumps into the arms of his teammates at the SAP Center in San Jose after scoring a goal in overtime to win a narrow contest against the San Jose Sharks on Tue Mar 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell to the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday. Frank Vatrano scored twice, including the game winner, and Jonathan Huberdeau scored once for Florida. Spencer Knight made 24 saves for the win.

Logan Couture and Nicolas Meloche scored for San Jose and James Reimer made 31 saves in the loss. Joe Thornton, in his first return to the Shark Tank, had 10:03 of ice time for Florida.

The Sharks took the lead at 8:19 of the first period, on the power play. Tomas Hertl moved the puck up from below the goal line and Logan Couture redirected it in. Assists went to Hertl and Timo Meier. During the penalty kill, Florida’s Gustav Forsling blocked a shot with his ankle. He stayed down for a bit, made it to his feet, but had to be helped off the ice after the goal. He was out for the rest of the period but came back for the second.

Jonathan Huberdeau tied the game with a short-handed goal at 11:21. He intercepted a pass to nobody in the defensive zone, carried the puck to the other end, two-on-one. He didn’t have a pass so he took the the shot. It was the ninth short-handed goal of the season for Florida.

Nicolas Meloche got the lead back for the Sharks at 13:58. Marc-Edouard Vlasic caught up with a puck on its way out, whipped it back to Hertl, who passed it right on to Meloche. Meloche had some speed as he was moving into the zone and his shot zipped by Knight on the glove side.

Tomas Hertl had a chance to make it 3-1 near the end of the second period but it went off of the near post. That had to sting as he was in pretty close to miss that one.

The Panthers tied it again at 3:29 of the third with a goal from Frank Vatrano. Noel Acciari intercepted a clearing attempt by Logan Couture and centered the puck for Vatrano to rifle past Reimer.

The Panthers put the puck in the net at 8:52 but the Sharks challenged it for goaltender interference. Mason Marchment carried the puck in and took the shot but in the process he knocked both Eetu Luostarinen and Marc-Edouard Vlasic into Reimer. The goal was called back.

For the second time this season, the Panthers beat the Sharks in overtime. Frank Vatrano scored at 1:11 with a slapshot from high in the slot. An assists went to Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart.

The Sharks out-shot the Panthers 11-7 in the first and 12-9 in the scoreless second. In the third, the Panthers out-shot the Sharks by wide margin, 16-3. The Panthers spent a lot of time in the penalty box in the first two periods. The Sharks had to kill two penalties in the game, while the Panthers had to kill five, including some five-on-three time. The teams played four-on-four twice in the second period.

In all, the Sharks power play got eleven shots and one goal. The Panthers power play got four shots, but their penalty kill got two shots and a goal. The Sharks prevailed in face-offs, winning 55% of the draws, though they were better in the first two periods, winning 61% and 75%.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Panthers 5-4 in OT

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) puts the game winning puck on net in overtime to beat the San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise on Sat Jan 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-4 in overtime to the Panthers in Florida on Saturday. Gustav Forsling, Alexander Barkov, Mason Marchment, Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bbrovsky made 30 saves for the win. Matt Nieto and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose and Jonathan Dahlen scored two power play goals. James Reimer made 45 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach talked about the loss to one of the league’s top teams:

“I’m proud of our guys, I thought we battled hard. We had ourselves in position to get two points. You could tell we got tired as the game went on. When we lost Mario it was tough on our D. You know, we made some mistakes, we also had a couple good chances. I mean, Bobrovsky made a great save on Bonino.”

Early in the game, Sharks defensman Mario Ferraro left the game after taking a puck to the face. Boughner had some information about the injury after the game:

“It looked pretty serious to me. I know that he’s getting evaluated by dentists. And they’re trying to figure out what the next step is here so that’ll be really all we have tonight. We’ll know more in the morning but, yeah that’s obviously a big injury if it’s anything long term.”

Rudolfs Balcers also left the ice with an injury but returned before the game ended.

Tomas Hertl scored 6:10 into the first period. After passing the puck to Rudolfs Balcers below the goal line, Hertl made his way to the net. Balcers got the puck back to him so he could tuck it past Bobrovsky by the post.

Jonathan Dahlen made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 17:17. Noah Gregor made a quick back-hand pass around Jonathan Huberdeau to get the puck to Dahlen at the blue line. Dahlen took a quick shot right down the middle through traffic. Assists went to Gregor and Nick Bonino.

Gustav Forsling made it 2-1 at 19:06 of the period. Forsling took the shot from just above the hash marks. The puck went through traffic and past Reimer on the blocker side. Assists went to Sam Reinhart and Mason Marchment.

Matt Nieto scored the only goal in the second period just 1:31 in. Nieto caught up with the puck along the boards and then sent it across the ice to Nick Bonino. The pass missed Bonino but Marc-Edouard Vlasic was there to clean it up and send it back to Bonino. While that was going on, Nieto made his way to the net in time to catch the pass from Bonino for the shot.

Alexander Barkov scored at 1:26 of the third. Jonathan Huberdeau passed the puck to him inside the face-off circle. Barkov leaned around Radim Simek for the shot and scored his 20th of the season. Assists went to Huberdeau and Carter Verhaeghe.

Jonathan Dahlen scored his second of the night at 4:40. This time, he took the shot from the right face-off dot, again through traffic with a nice screen from Jasper Weatherby. Assists went to Brent Burns and Nick Bonino.

At 5:31, the Panthers got the puck in the net but the goal was called back for offside.

Mason Marchment brought Florida within one at 7:30. With the puck trapped behind Reimer and the post, Sam Reinhart poked at it until it came loose and Marchment nudged it in over the line. It was Marchment’s sixth of the season.

Jonathan Huberdeau tied the game at 9:38. From a prime shooting position, Verhaeghe made a pass that went under Brent Burns to reach Huberdeau on the other side of the slot. With all the attention on Verhaeghe, Huberdeau had an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Verhaeghe and Mackenzie Weegar.

Sam Bennett scored the game-winner 1:08 into overtime. Huberdeau held the puck behind the net for quite a while until Bennett was available to receive the pass and take the shot. Assists went to Huberdeau and Forsling.

The Sharks won the face-off battle in two of three periods, and finished with 51% of the wins. Their power play got three shots on goal and scored on both power plays. Their penalty kill allowed four shots and had one shot short-handed. They held their own on the shot clock in the first period, which ended 17-16 Panthers. But, in the second and third periods, they were out-shot 20-10 and 12-8. The Panthers had the only shot in overtime.

Joe Thornton had two shots on goal in 11:41 TOI for the Panthers.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Carolina against the Hurricanes at 2:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Will former Shark Kane correct some of his past mistakes in Edmonton?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Newest Edmonton Oiler Evander Kane who met with the Edmonton media on Fri Jan 28, 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton for an introduction presser will make his Oilers debut against the Montreal Canadiens on Sat Jan 29, 2022 at the Belle Center in Montreal (photo by Canadian Press via AP)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len, how much of clean slate is it for former San Jose Shark Evander Kane to correct some of the mistakes or misunderstandings that he went through while he played in San Jose now that he’s with the Edmonton Oilers.

#2 TSN 1050 Toronto talk show host Jeff O’Neill said that Kane should fix his relationship with his daughter, O’Neill on the air called Kane an idiot, jerk and a goof. Kane responded by saying that he wished that O’Neill played in the NHL right now and he didn’t know anything about his relationship between Kane and his daughter.

#3 Kane said during Friday’s press conference at the Rogers Centre in Edmonton for fans, teammates, and the Oilers front office to be patient and “see what I bring to the table”

#4 The San Jose Sharks (22-19-2) who surprised the Washington Capitals (23-12-9) on Thursday night with a 4-1 win the Sharks face off against a very good Florida Panthers (30-9-5) team at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise this afternoon talk a little about today’s contest?

#5 The Sharks and Carolina Hurricanes (29-9-2) share something in common they both will be playing back to back games this Saturday and Sunday the Sharks coming from Florida tonight and the Hurricanes play the New Jersey Devils tonight. The Sharks and Hurricanes face off at 2:00 pm PST at PNC Arena Sunday.

Join Len Shapiro for the San Jose Sharks podcasts Saturday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Covid outbreaks effects numerous NHL teams; Jets Lowry takes over as interim coach; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Nashville Predators left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) watches as teammate left wing Filip Forsberg scores on Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz (39) Thu Dec 16, 2021 in Nashville (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 Not since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic in March 2020 has the NHL seen so many games postponed. The NHL has postponed two more teams all games for the Colorado Avalanche (17-8-2) and Florida Panthers (18-7-4).

#2 The Calgary Flames (15-7-6) have shutdown their operations extending it from Dec 24-26. The Flames announced that they have had no further positive tests today. The Flames next scheduled game is against the Edmonton Oilers (17-11-0) on Dec 27th.

#3 Winnipeg Jets (13-11-5) head coach Paul Maurice resigned on Friday saying the team needs a new voice. That new voice was found when Jet’s general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff called new interim head coach Dave Lowry to take over on Thursday. Lowry is the father of Jets forward Adam Lowry.

#4 The Vegas Golden Knights (19-11-0) Jonathan Marchessault got the game winner in round three of a shootout against the New York Rangers (19-7-4) at Madison Square Garden for a 3-2 win. The win was the Knights third straight win.

#5 The St Louis Blues (17-8-5) picked up a home and home sweep against the Dallas Stars (13-12-2) 4-1 on Friday night in St Louis. The Blues Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals and goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 shots.

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

Audio clears up at 0:22

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Kraken Fluery gets first two goal game; Canes Andersen gets first shutout; Panthers Quenneville may never coach again; plue more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Seattle Karken’s defenseman Haydn Fluery (4) takes the puck down ice against the Minnesota Wild on Thu Oct 28, 2021 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The Seattle Kraken’s Haydn Fleury picked up his first two goal game of his career as Seattle won it’s third game of the season against the Minnesota Wild 4-1.

#2 Carolina Hurricanes get a 3-0 shutout and win their first six games the best start in their team history at 6-0-0. The Canes goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 33 shots by the Boston Bruins. The Hurricanes are doing so well that Andersen became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to win each of the Hurricanes first six games to start the year.

#3 The Colorado Avalanche edged the St Louis Blues 4-3 at the Enterprise Center in St Louis. The Aves got help from J.T. Compher who scored two goals. It was the first time the Blues have lost a game this season.

#4 The Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom saved 45 shots against the Pittsburgh Penguins for a shutout at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh for the Flames fifth win of the season. The Flames are in first place in the Pacific division getting a 4-0 win.

#5 The resignation of former Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville sent shockwaves throughout the NHL. Quenneville was head coach in 2010 of the Chicago Blackhawks when Kyle Beach made claims of being sexually assaulted by assistant coach Brad Aldrich. Aldrich threatened Beach that if he reported the assault his NHL career would be over. Beach went ahead and made the complaints and nothing really was done about it as the Blackhawks were focusing on winning the Stanley Cup at the time.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Panthers Ekblad out for 12 wks; Predators one of the hottest teams; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) seen scoring a goal on the Dallas Stars goalie  Anton Khudobin (35) in an overtime game on Sat Mar 27, 2021 broke his leg the next day Sun Mar 28, 2021 against the Stars at the American Airlines Center in Dallas (AP News photo)

#1 The biggest news in the NHL is the Florida Panthers (22-9-4) defenseman Aaron Ekblad will be out for 12 weeks due to a fractured leg. Ekblad was removed from the game in the second period on Sunday when the Dallas Stars (11-12-9) Esa Lindell checked Ekblad and Ekblad clutched his left leg that was under him. Ekblad was removed from the ice after medics put a brace on his leg.

#2 Len, the Nashville Predators (18-17-1) are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now they took a six game winning streak into tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. There’s nothing like a lot of experience and Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne has been key those wins in his last game he stopped 27 shots allowed two goals in the 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (16-15-5).

#3 Len, try as hard as they can the Buffalo Sabers (6-23-5) just can’t win for losing. Their on a 16 game losing streak and on Monday night couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat losing to the Philadelphia Flyers (17-13-4) in overtime 4-3. The Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark faced a barrage of shots from the Flyers 36 in all. For Ullmark is it a matter of not getting enough defense up front or is he just getting beat at the net.

#4 The Vegas Knights (24-8-1) make it look so easy on Monday night they picked up another easy win with a 4-1 three goal victory over the Los Angeles Kings (13-14-6) at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas. The key to the win was goaltender Robin Lehner who stopped 24 Kings shots.

#5. The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maples have had a couple close games with the Leafs taking the first game of the two game series 4-3 and the Oilers taking game two 3-2.

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Blues get 4-2 win over Kings; Bruins clobber Flyers 6-1; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The St Louis David Perron (57) goes for the victory skate lap after scoring a second period goal against the visiting Los Angeles Kings in St Louis on Sat Jan 23, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The St Louis Blues (3-1-1) got a two goal win over the Los Angeles Kings (1-2-2) 4-2 on Saturday night. The Blues got scoring from Torey Krug (1), Vince Dunn (1), David Perron (1), and Jayden Schwartz (1).  Blues goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 21 LA shots and allowed two goals.

#2 The Boston Bruins (3-1-1) had the offense scoring two goals in the second period and three goals in the third period to get a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored two goals.

#3 The Montreal Canadiens (4-0-2) lead for most of the game 2-0. The Habs scored three goals in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks scored two in the third for the 5-2 win. The Canadiens goalie Carey Price allowed two goals and stopped 23 shots.

#4 The Columbus Blue Jackets (2-2-2) got a 5-2 win over one of the best teams in the NHL over the Tampa Bay Lightning (3-1-0). The Jackets jumped to a 3-2 in  the first period and scored two goals in the third period.

#5 The game between the Florida Panthers and Hurricanes was canceled due to a lack of available players on the Hurricanes due to Covid-19 related issues. The Canes were missing five players key forwards Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen, top defencemen Jacob Slavin also forwards Warren Foegele and Jordan Martinook.

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