San Jose Sharks podcast Fernando Abarca Wed Apr 16, 2025: Oilers-Sharks meet up for final game of the season for San Jose at SAP Arena

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrates with William Eklund (right) and Will Smith (left) after scoring a third period goal against the Los Angeles Kings on Mon Nov 25, 2024 at SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks play their last game of the season against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center on Wed Apr 16, 2025 (AP News file photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast Fernando:

#1 Fernando, this is the last game of the season for the San Jose Sharks this was a season that had lots of positives and lots of negatives.

#2 Will Smith, William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini are the future of this franchise try as hard as they did there was only so much they could do.

#3 The Sharks once again finished last in the NHL Pacific Division and had the worst record at 20-49-12 and had only 52 points in the Western Conference.

#4 One of the big things for an NHL franchise is goaltending, the Sharks future relies on good defense and who protecting the net between the pipes talk about the job that goaltenders Alex Georgiev and Georgi Ramanov did this season?

#5 The Sharks conclude this 2024-25 season tonight at SAP Center against the Edmonton Oilers this is the third meeting between the two teams since April 3rd. The Oilers have taken the first two games of the three with this last game and having seeing the Oilers twice already does that somewhat give the Sharks a prospective on the Oilers that they could take this game tonight?

Fernando Abarca is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Flames, Toffoli Scores 30th

San Jose Sharks’ Tyler Toffoli (73) scores on Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf (32) during first period NHL hockey action in Calgary on Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-2 to the Calgary Flames Sunday. MacKenzie Weegar, Adam Klapka, Yegor Sharangovich and Matt Coronato scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 28 saves for the win. The win preserves playoff hopes for Calgary fans as the team avoided elimination. Tyler Toffoli and Jan Rutta scored for San Jose. Toffoli’s goal was his 30th of the season, for the third season in a row. Georgi Romanov made 25 saves in the loss. It was the ninth loss in a row for the Sharks.

After the game, Tyler Toffoli talked about the season’s many losses:

“We’ve been in so many games this year and blown so many leads in stupid ways, that I think if everyone reflects in the right way going into the summer and comes into training camp next year it could be a completely different season.”

Jan Rutta also commented on the team’s tendency to lose: “We’ve been playing well enough to win a lot of games and always found a way to lose.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky was asked what he wanted the young players to learn from these losses. He said: “How hard it is to win in this league, how you can’t get caught taking a breath at any moment, that it’s a fine line between winning and losing.”

The Sharks took the lead at 3:09 of the first period. Tyler Toffoli scored his 30th of the season with a wrist shot from right in front of the blue paint. Assists went to Lucas Carlsson and Noah Gregor.

Calgary tied it up with their fourth shot of the game at 9:24. After the Sharks twice failed to clear the zone, MacKenzie Weegar scored with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Adam Klapka and Jonathan Huberdeau.

Calgary took the lead at 14:15 with a goal from Klapka. Klapka skated to the net as Nazem Kadri carried the puck in along the boards and then centered it for the snap shot. An assist went to Huberdeau as well.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks led in shots 15-6. The only penalty in the period went against the Sharks for too many men on the ice.

The Sharks tied it up 4:20 into the second period. Jan Rutta scored with a backhand as he skated by the net. Assists went to William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli.

The second period was as lopsided as the first, though this time the shots favored Calgary 16-5. The Sharks again took the only penalty of the period, a high-stick against Timothy Lijegren.

Calgary took the lead back with their third goal 1:30 into the third period. Yegor Sharangovich scored with a snap shot for his 100th career NHL goal. Assists went to Morgan Frost and Brayden Pachal.

The Flames padded that lead with a fourth goal at 10:55, a wrist shot in front of the net from Coronato. Assists went to Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.

Sharangovich scored his second of the game into an empty net at 17:16. Rasmus Anderson got the assist.

The Flames took their two penalties of the game in the third period but it did not hurt their result, with the shots nearly even at 10-8 Sharks.

The Sharks will play their final road game of the season on Monday in Vancouver against the Canucks at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Oilers, Losing Streak at Eight

San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) looks for an opening against Edmonton Oilers’ goalie Calvin Pickardback right, while under pressure from Max Jones (46), and Matvey Petrov, front right, during second-period NHL hockey game action in Edmonton, Alberta, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press via AP)AMBER BRACKEN/AP

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Evan Bouchard, Ty Emberson, Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored for Edmonton. Connor McDavid had assists on all four goals. Calvin Pickard made 22 saves in the game. The win clinched the Oilers’ position in the playoffs at third in the Pacific Division. Will Smith and Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks. Georgi Romanov made 30 saves. The loss was the eighth in a row for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“You would never know we only have 20 wins. I give a lot of credit to our group. We’re competing. Little slow start but we got it going there, had some good chances, good chances to tie it up. I gotta give a lot of credit to the group. They’re continuing to compete. They’re not looking at their record.”

On the other hand, Warsofsky pointed out that the team made some familiar errors, taking too many penalties: “If you put a team on the power play five times, it doesn’t matter if it’s McDavid or anyone else in the League, they’re gonna make you pay. That’s what happened tonight.”

Alexander Wennberg talked about that penalty problem, in particular the stick penalties: “Obviously, some of the calls we kind of disagree with but it’s part of the game as well. Obviously, play a little more to the body, get your sticks together and be more careful.”

Evan Bouchard started the scoring for Edmonton with a power play goal at 6:47 of the first period. After passing back and forth high in the zone with Connor McDavid, Bouchard took the shot from the slot through traffic. McDavid and Adam Henrique got the assists.

Ty Emberson made it 2-0 at 15:41. McDavid sent the puck to the net just as Emberson arrived there for a tip-in. McDavid and Bouchard got the assists.

Will Smith trimmed that lead with a goal at 17:13. Smith dumped the pucj in from the neutral zone sand then followed it in. Nikolai Kovalenko won the puck near the boards and passed it to Smith for a shot through traffic.

The Sharks were badly outshot in the first period, 14-6. The Sharks took two penalties and had one power play at the end of the period.

Henry Thrun tied the game at 5:44 of the second period. He gathered up the puck along the boards and shot it into traffic from a tight angle. It was the defenseman’s second of the season. William Eklund got the assist.

The shots were closer in the second, 12-9 Oilers. The Sharks again took two penalties to the Oilers’ one.

Corey Perry scored the game winner on the power play at 7:32 of the third period. He tipped a Connor McDavid shot that came from the boards. An assist also went to Adam Henrique.

Connor Brown scored on a breakaway into the empty net at 19:34. Assists went to Darnell Nurse and Connor McDavid.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Calgary against the Flames at 5:00 PM PT.

Kings Pulverize Sharks 8-1, SJ’s Lund Scores Again

San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev had a busy evening trying to stop Los Angeles Kings shots. Here the Kings Adrian Kempe scores on Georgiev in the second period at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sun Mar 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 8-1 on Sunday night, losing to the NHL’s best home team at this point in the season: the Los Angeles Kings. Phillip Danault, Adrian Kempe (2), Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele (2), Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings.

David Rittich made 22 saves in the win for LA. Cam Lund scored for the Sharks, his second in his third NHL game. It was also the second time Lund scored the Sharks’ only goal in a loss. Georgi Romanov made 28 saves in the loss.

While the Kings held a significant advantage in the standings over the Sharks, they had incentive to win. First, the Sharks were leading the series due to some wins early in the season. Secondly, the Kings are racing the Oilers for home ice in the playoffs. They were not likely to drop this game.

The Kings scored first, just at the expiration of a power play at 5:35 of the first period. Quinton Byfield caught Trevor Moore’s pass from below the goal line and sent it across the ice to Phillip Danault for a slap shot goal.

The Sharks had a two man advantage for over 90 seconds at 10:37 but could not convert. They were hampered by missed shots and failure to keep the puck in Los Angeles got a power play shortly after the Sharks’ one expired.

Adrian Kempe scored during the final seconds of that power play, making it 2-0 at 15:13. Anze Kopitar set Kempe up by carrying the puck to the net and then passing it back out to Kempe for a snap shot. Drew Doughty also earned an assist.

At the end of the first period, the shots were 8-7 Los Angeles.

The Sharks were back in the penalty box less than three minutes into the second period, after Cam Lund tripped Quinton Byfield. This time, the Sharks killed the penalty and pushed back hard enough to score.

Cam Lund came out of the box and gathered up the puck by the Sharks blue line, then went the other way. He dropped it to Ferraro just inside the zone and went to the net. There, he caught the rebound created by Ferraro’s shot and put it away.

Three minutes later, Trevor Moore made it 3-1 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Kopitar and Andrei Kuzmenko.

Less than three minutes later, the Kings were back on the power play with Ferraro in the box for hooking Kempe. The Sharks killed that off and, 12 seconds later, Ferraro went back to the box for tripping Kevin Fiala.

Late in that power play, Warren Foegele made it 4-1 with a third power play goal. Assists went to Brandt Clarke and Byfield.

In the last minute of the second period, Foegele scored his second of the night with a redirected shot that trickled under Romanov. Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty got the assists.

With just 23 seconds left in the period, Kempe scored his second of the night. Vladislav Gavrikov and Andrei Kuzmenko got the assists.

The shots were 17-8 Kings during the second period.

Almost four minutes into the third period, a fight resulted in multiple penalties, giving the Sharks a power play. They could not convert but they had a chance to stem the bleeding.

At 14:49 of the third, Andrei Kuzmenko scored with a wrist shot from high in the slot, shooting through two Sharks defenders and over Romanov’s shoulder. Assists went to Kopitar and Gavrikov.

At 15:22, Trevor Lewis made it 8-1 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Jacob Moverare and Jordan Spence.

A giveaway by the Sharks gave Romanov a chance to stop a breakaway by Jeff Malott, one-on-one. He did so.

Roster notes: Jimmy Schuldt unavailable to play, but Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the lineup for his 18th game of the season on his 38th birthday. This game was Romanov’s second career NHL start and his fifth NHL appearance.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 7:00 PM PT in Anaheim against the Ducks.

Barracuda Fall 4-3 to Reign, Reign Score 2 in Final 90 Seconds

San Jose Barracuda center Filip Bystedt (18) celebrates a goal scored with teammate forward Kasper Halttunen (14) at the Toyota Center in Ontario on Sun Oct 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Barracuda fell 4-3 to the Ontario Reign Sunday. It was Ontario’s first win of the season. Tyler Madden, Martin Chromiak and Samuel Helenius scored for the Reign. Phoenix Copley made 19 saves for the win. Tristen Robins, Colin Graf and Filip Bystedt scored for the Barracuda. Georgi Romanov made 35 saves in the loss.

Tyler Madden scored the first goal of the game, giving Ontario an early lead at 1:33. During a delayed penalty call, Madden gathered up a rebound at the corner of the net and lifted it past Romanov. Assists went to Martin Chromiak and Jakub Dvorak.

The teams were skating four-on-four when Tristen Robins tied the game at 4:24. Robins took tha shot from a bad angle to the right of the net. Assists went to Jimmy Schuldt and Jake Furlong.

Collin Graf gave the Barracuda the lead at 11:04. On a breakaway, he took a shot in front of the net, caught his own rebound and lifted the puck past the goaltender.

The Reign had a significant lead in shots at the end of the first period, 14-7. There was just one penalty that resulted in a power play in the first, and it went against San Jose.

Filip Bystedt added to San Jose’s lead at 1:50 of the second period. Tristen Robins carried the puck in and passed across the ice to Bystedt for a quick goal.

Martin Chromiak cut the lead down with a goal just 22 seconds later. Tyler Madden made a cross-ice pass and Chromiak took the shot from above the faceoff dot.

In the second period, the teams were even in shots at 9-9. The Reign had three power plays and the Barracuda had two but both penalty kills were perfect. The same held true for the third period, when Ontario had two power plays and San Jose had one but neither team could score.

San Jose held their 3-2 lead until 18:44 of the third period, when Samuel Helenius tied the game with an extra skater on for the Reign.

With the game looking like it would go to overtime, Helenius scored a second goal at 19:26 to win the game. Jeff Malott got the assist.

San Jose pulled their goaltender with less than 30 seconds to go but they ran out of time. The shot count in the third period was 16-6 Ontario.

The Barracuda next play on Saturday the 19th back in San Jose against the visiting Iowa Wild at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Win in Preseason, Beat Ducks 3-2 in OT

San Jose Sharks left wing Colin White (16) chases the puck against the Anaheim Ducks in pre season action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thu Sep 26, 2024 (photo by nhl.com)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their first game of this preseason, 3-2 over the Anaheim Ducks in overtime on Thursday night. Tristen Robins, Klim Kostin and Luca Cagnoni scored for the Sharks. Georgi Romanov made 32 saves for the win. Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson scored for the Ducks. Lukas Dostal and Calle Clang shared the Anaheim net. Dostal made 12 saves and Clang made 4.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky talked about Georgi Romanov’s performance:

“I thought he was awesome. I thought he was tracking pucks, he just looks more of a completed goalie as far as structure. He’s not flopping, he’s very square to pucks, he’s tracking pucks. He’s trying to just be a little more calmer in the net. I think [Goaltending Director Evgeni Nabokov] and Thomas Speer have done a really really good job.”

The Ducks scored the lone goal of the first period. Mason McTavish tipped a shot from Trevor Zegras at 19:42. A secondary assist went to Tristan Luneau. The teams finished the first period very close in shots, 9-9 Anaheim. There were a smattering of penalties, two for Anaheim and one for San Jose.

In the second period, it was the Sharks’ turn to score the lone goal. Tristen Robins scored with a wrist shot at 2:31, assisted by Danil Gushchin and Ethan Cardwell. The second period shots favored Anaheim, 14-7. There were just two penalties in the second period, one for each team.

The Ducks took the lead again at 5:21 of the third period with a power play goal from Leo Carlsson. Assists went to Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry. The Sharks tied it again at 17:19 with a power play goal from Klim Kostin. Assists went to Gushchin and Kasper Halttunen. The overtime winner came from Luca Cagnoni at 2:08. Assists went to Cardwell and Klim Kostin.

Each team took two penalties in the third period and the Sharks were outshot 11-3. Cagnoni’s shot and goal was the only shot of the overtime period.

The Sharks will play their next preseason game on Tuesday October 1 at 7:00 PM PT, in San Jose against the visiting Utah Hockey Club.

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.