Tag: hockey

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Will going on an almost two week layoff for Vegas and San Jose have them fresh or will their timing will be off?

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The NHL first round is not quite over yet, giving both the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights some six days off at this point as the Eastern Conference continues their first round playoffs.

#2 Does the six days rest give fresh bodies on the ice once the second round starts or does that mean their timing could be off kilter when they come back?

#3 What are some of the factors for the Sharks to get the sweep in the first round?

#4 Talk about the Sharks offense and what you see them bringing to the second round of the playoffs against a team like the Knights?

#5 Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer had his struggles in the regular season, but after sweeping the Ducks and what he’s brought in post season he has this team prepared.

Len Shapiro does the SJ Sharks podcast each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs/San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks ready to put the finishing touches on Anaheim; Teams face off tonight at SAP for Game 4

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks are on the brink of advancing to the second round. All they need is Game 4 to advance and sweep the Ducks.

#2 Was it that easy for the Sharks to win the first three games in Game 3? It wasn’t even a contest with a 8-1 win.

#3 You can pick anyone of the Sharks who could be the number one star. It seems like a total team effort for them to go up 3-0.

#4 The Ducks stars, in particular Richard Rakell, whose the Ducks’ leading scorer has pretty much been mesmerized by the Sharks’ optical illusion of defense.

#5 So here it is Game 4 tonight at SAP and this could be the Sharks chance to advance to the next round. Mary Lisa tells us how they will do.

Mary Lisa is a beat writer for the San Jose Sharks and does the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda get two debut goals to shoot down Gulls in a 4-0 shutout victory

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The saying goes you only get one chance to make a good first impression. For the San Jose Barracuda (29-26-4-4), the debuts of Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekovich couldn’t have come at a better time for the team. Both scored in their Cuda debuts to help the Cuda dominate the San Diego Gulls (35-24-3-1) in a 4-0 shutout victory on Wednesday evening at the SAP Center.

Both players got the first two goals of the game for the Cuda. Adam Helewka started a 3-on-1 rush inside the Gulls zone. Captain John McCarthy then sent over a sweet backhand pass over to Chmelevski, drafted by San Jose Sharks in sixth round of 2017 draft (185th overall), who was wide open in between the circles. Chmelevski then made a nifty move around Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle (18-11-2) and buried the puck into the empty net for his first AHL career goal at 5:15 of the first period.

“I saw that I had a lot of ice so I just screamed for it (the puck),” said Chmelevski about his goal. “Luckily he (McCarthy) got it over to me and I was able to be creative and score a goal. It’s pretty surreal. It’s something you dream about as a kid to play professional hockey and I couldn’t be more happy.”

Chekovich, who was drafted by the Sharks in the seventh round of the 2017 draft (212th overall), was able to pick-pocket the puck off Julius Nattinen that bounced over to Rourke Chartier. Chekovich was able to get the puck back and fired a wicked wrist shot past Boyle into the lower right corner for his first goal of his AHL career at the 14:50 mark. Chartier received the only assist on the goal.

“The kids did real well (in their debuts),” said head coach Roy Sommer. “It’s hard to score in this league. Both of them got their first goals in the first period. So that was nice to see.”

“I just closed my eyes and shot the puck,” Chekovich said jokingly about his goal. “My first experience (playing) in a pro league, I was pretty excited.”

San Jose had a chance to increase their lead with a minute left in the first period with two great scoring chances by Heleweka and Rudolfs Balcers. Helewka skated in around the Gulls defense for a point-blank shot saved by Boyle. Balcers then had an empty net to shoot at seconds later only to be stoned by Boyle. The Cuda dominated the play in the first period, outshooting the Gulls 14-5.

Antoine Bibeau (20-14-4) made a sprawling leg save on Nattinen with just over 10 minutes left in the second period.  A shot ricochet over to Nattienen and his wrap around attempt was stopped by the Cuda netminder.

Balcers increased the lead to 3-0 at the 12:19 mark of the second period when he was rewarded for crashing the net. Tim Heed, sent down by the Sharks today, made a nice play by keeping the puck inside the blue line. He then sent a pass over to Radim Simek who one-timed the puck from the middle of the point. Balcers who was screening Boyle on the play was able to push home the rebound after Boyle failed to freeze the puck. It was Balcers’ team-leading 19th goal of the season.

The Gulls tried to climb back in the game early in the third period with Simek in the sin bin for tripping. Kalle Kossila, the Gulls leading scorer, was all alone in the left slot when he took a cross-ice feed, however, his shot that was headed into an empty net was sticked away at the last second by Bibeau, in what arguably could be the save of the year for Cuda.

“I didn’t have time to get my whole body (over to the left side),” said Bibeau. “I just tried to put some equipment in front and made the save.”

Baclers would get his second of the game and team-leading 20th of the season on a 5-on-3 power play. Chmelevski won the faceoff that Helekwa was able to kick over to Balcers, who lasered a wrist shot past the five-hole of Boyle at the 10:04 mark. The goal came just two seconds after Corey Tropp went into the penalty box to produce the 5-on-3 opportunity.

“(After) I scored, I was laughing (afterward),” said Balcers. “The puck just came out to me, the d-man was there and I just tried to whack it on the net and it just went through his legs.”

Bibeau was spectacular in the net, stopping all 27 shots he faced for his fifth shutout of the season. Boyle stopped 29 out of 33 shots in the loss.

“He was really good tonight,” said Sommer about his goaltender. “Especially on that save on the penalty kill (on Kossila). He deserved the shutout, well deserved.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/5 on the power play.

While San Diego, the league’s best power play, went 0/2.

“We talked about it. You gotta stay out of the box against them as that’s the key against that team. They can light you up,” said Sommer on limiting San Diego’s power play opportunities.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! Emerson Clark and Mike Liambas exchanged fisticuffs 16 seconds into the second period. Clark also got into it with Boyle later on in the second period after Boyle shoved Clark in attempt to help out his teammate who was tussling with Clark after the whistle had blown. Colby McAuley and Corey Tropp also exchanged pleasantries with one another at the 12:23 mark of the third period.

The announced crowd was 3,395.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel up to Stockton to take on their NorCal rival, the Heat, to start a home and home series on Friday, April 6 at 7 pm PT.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda need to answer the bell tonight against San Diego after getting KO’d in Rockford

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sjbarracuda.com photo: The Rockford Ice Hogs center Matthew Highmore (9) and San Jose Barracuda goaltender Stephon Williams (29) look stickside for the puck last Saturday night at BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 How concerned should the Barracuda be after facing the Rockford Ice Hogs in their last game to four unanswered goals in a 5-3 loss?

#2 Do the Barracuda figure rookie goalie Stephon Williams’ lack of experience playing in his second game was part of the reason for some of the unanswered goals. Williams stopped 25 shots last Saturday in Rockford.

#3 Earlier on, the Cuda had a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play when they got goals from Brandon Mashinter and Caleb Herbert.

#4 It didn’t hold as Rockford in the third period got a goal from left winger Lance Bouma and Hendrik Samuelson who scored a game-tying goal at 17:49. The Ice Hogs’ Luc Snuggerud scored a go-ahead goal, which turned out to be the gamer.

#5 The San Diego Gulls skate against the SJ Barracuda tonight at SAP Center. What will the Cuda expect in this matchup?

Marko Ukalovic is the San Jose Barracuda beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Stars Score Four Unanswered, Stun Sharks 4-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

Through two periods Tuesday night, the San Jose Sharks were a juggernaut. Unfortunately, there are three in a game, and a three-goal third period by the Dallas Stars sent the stunned Sharks down with a 4-2 loss at the SAP Center.

Dallas trailed 2-0 up until the final half minute of the second period and were being outshot 30-11 then the Stars reeled off four unanswered goals.

Jamie Benn potted a hat trick for Dallas, Mike McKenna subbed in for Kari Lehtonen midgame and picked up the win and John Klingberg picked up his 57th assist. Brent Burns tied Klingberg for second in defenseman scoring on a pair of assists (65 points apiece). Logan Couture scored his career-high 33rd goal of the year and Timo Meier scored his 20th of the year but the Sharks failed to put space between themselves and the Los Angeles Kings in the race for home-ice advantage to open the playoffs.
One game after an abysmal showing by the power play, the man advantage proved a benefit. Logan Couture used a perfect screen from Tomas Hertl to beat Lehtonen 9:21 into play for his 33rd goal of the year. Timo Meier added to the lead 2-0 with 4:44 left in the first after he drove to the net on a Burns point shot, scooped up a rebound and beat Lehtonen from the sharp angle for his 20th goal of the season.
The Sharks would continue to bombard Lehtonen until he exited the game 15:54 into the second period on a stinging shot. In stepped Mike McKenna, Dallas’ third string goalie dressed thanks to a Ben Bishop injury. McKenna hadn’t played in the NHL since his lone appearance in the 2014-15 season, a 5-2 loss as a member of the Arizona Coyotes against the Colorado Avalanche on February 16th, 2015. McKenna was perfect in his return to the show Tuesday, stopping 17 Sharks shots for his first win since December 23rd, 2013.
The Stars, out of the playoffs in a disappointing finish to a season they thought they were all in on, rallied back after the appearance by McKenna. Klingberg fired a perfect shot-pass from the point to Benn who was crashing the Sharks net on the far post. All Benn had to do was redirect the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones, something the former Hart Trophy candidate did with ease with just 31 seconds left in the second period.
Gemel Smith scored Dallas’ second goal of the game with 5:18 left in the third after Devin Shore lost the puck while driving to the net and trying to place the puck on his backhand. The puck slid out to Smith waiting on the halo for the faceoff dot. Smith hammered the puck past Jones before he could recover from Shore’s attempt to tie the game.
It didn’t take long for Dallas to break the Sharks down. Benn scored his second goal of the game after Tomas Hertl turned the puck over at the Sharks blue line. Hertl was skating out with the puck, but Benn managed to poke the puck off his stick then finish off the breakaway with a backhander to beat Jones. Benn finished off the hattrick on a empty-netter from the boards in his own end to pick up his 32nd goal of the year.
Though the Sharks clinched a playoff berth while in active Monday night, San Jose now sits just two points ahead of the Kings with two games remaining on the schedule for both teams. The winner of the standings race would get home ice in the probable first round playoff meeting.

IceHogs score four unanswered goals to down Barracuda 5-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

Hawaiian Night was underway at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Ill., on Saturday night and the San Jose Barracuda took on the Rockford IceHogs.

Apparently, the Barracuda and IceHogs got to witness flowers on the ice, which was a pleasant, tropical sight to see on a chilly 48 degree evening in the Windy City.

Cuda goalie Stephon Williams made his second start for the club and made a noteworthy save on a short-handed breakway early in the opening period. After that, the Cuda played 4-on-4 hockey following an IceHogs penalty.

The IceHogs made the unfortunate mistake of leaving the puck unattended at the blue line and Sam Warning picked up the first goal of the game, beating IceHogs goalie Jeff Glass, at the 12:11 mark of the period. Noah Rod collected the lone assist on Warning’s fifth goal on the season.

But the IceHogs were able to score just three seconds into their power play as Adam Clendening fired a long wrist shot from the high slot that beat Williams to get his team on the board and tie the game at one apiece with 4:22 left in the period.

Both teams were tied at one apiece after 20 minutes of play. In addition, the Cuda had some fun on Twitter by coming up with a random poll in the first intermission. The Cuda asked: “Thoughts on bacon?” and 83% answered “Really delicious” while 17% answered “Delicious.”

The Cuda scored two quick goals to start the second period. Brandon Mashinter got his 11th goal on the season at the 13:02 mark of the period. The assists on Mashinter’s goal went to Radim Simek and Rourke Chartier. Just 32 seconds later, Caleb Herbert scored on the power play to make it five straight games in which the Cuda have scored on the man advantage. Warning collected the lone assist on Herbert’s second goal on the season.

The Cuda thanked the IceHogs via Twitter for the nice tribute for left winger Brandon Mashinter in Rockford.

The Cuda led the IceHogs 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The IceHogs’ “Rally Crab” apparently helped the home team dominate in the third period. IceHogs left winger Lance Bouma scored a goal to pull his team within one just 41 seconds into the period. Clendening and Chris DiDomenico got the assists on Bouma’s fifth goal on the season. Then, Henrik Samuelsson scored the game-tying goal at the 17:49 mark of the period. Highmore Luc Snuggerud got the assists on Samuelsson’s eighth goal on the season.

The IceHogs continued to pour in the goals as Snuggerud scored the go-ahead goal, his fifth on the season, and Matthew Highmore expanded the lead to 5-3 with his 22nd goal on the season.

The Cuda pulled their goalie (Williams) for an extra attacker late in the game. That didn’t help the road team at all.

The Cuda lost to the IceHogs 5-3. Williams allowed five goals and made 25 saves in a losing effort for San Jose. Meanwhile, Glass stopped 19 of 22 shots in a Rockford win.

Notes
Barracuda starting lineup: Adam Helewka, Manny Wiederer, Jon Martin, Jacob Middleton, Nick DeSimone and Stephon Williams.

IceHogs starting lineup: Matthew Highmore. Tyler Sikura, Henrik Samuelsson, Viktor Svedberg, Cody Franson and Jeff Glass.

Up Next
The Barracuda return home to host the San Diego Gulls Wednesday night at 7:00 pm PST.

Barracuda lose 3-2 in shootout against Griffins

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The hourglass has just about ran out on the San Jose Barracuda’s (28-25-4-4) playoff chances. Their latest loss was to the Grand Rapids Griffins (38-24-1-7) by a score of 3-2 in a shootout on Friday evening at the Van Andel Arena. The victory extended the defending AHL champions’ point streak to six games.

Grand Rapids controlled the game during the 1st period as they outshot San Jose 19-6. However, the strong play of Cuda goalie Antonie Bibeau (19-14-4) kept the period scoreless after the opening 20 minutes.

The Griffins would break the deadlock just 16 seconds into the second period when Dylan Mcllarth scored his fifth goal of the season after firing home a rebound past Bibeau after a Dominic Turgeon. Mcllarth snapped a 30-game scoreless drought.

Jacob Middleton would tied the game up while the teams played 4-on-4. Middleton took a pass from Adam Helewka and blasted a shot from the point passed Griffins goalie Tom McCollum inside the far right post for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:15 mark of the second period.

In the third period, Grand Rapids would regain the lead when Colin Campbell found Ben Street wide open along the right side and was able to slide the puck into an open net for his 18th goal of the season at the 7:10 mark.

The Cuda wouldn’t go away quietly as the evened up the game with a power play goal from Alex True. Nick DeSimone fired a shot from the point that True was able to tip past McCollum for his 12th goal of the season at the 13-minute mark.

The final 12 minutes of the game, including the overtime, would remain scoreless. In the shootout Matt Puempel would send the 9,860 fans home happy when his goal in the fourth round of the shootout clinched it for the Griffins.

McCollum earned the victory making 33 saves on 35 shots. Bibeau suffered the tough luck loss making 36 saves on 38 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 1/3 on the power play, while Grand Rapids was 0/2.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel to Rockford to take on the IceHogs on Saturday afternoon at 4 pm PST.

NHL podcast with Joe Lami: Emergency goalie sets NHL record; Canucks get a comeback win; Sharks drop two straight; plus more

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Photo credit: @BarDown

On the NHL podcast with Joe Lami:

#1 What could you say about emergency goalie Scott Foster, a 36 year old accountant by day, back up goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks by night? Foster, who stopped seven shots after the Hawks’ first two goalies were hurt, helped in defeating the Winnipeg Jets 6-2. Foster set the NHL record for length of time played by an emergency goalie. The previous record was under 60 seconds. Foster was put into a situation where he was greatly needed as opposed to previous emergency goalies who played for just a few seconds and got the job done.

#2 The Vancouver Canucks got by the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. The Canucks’ goals from Sam Gagner and Derrick Pousiot were all that was needed. The Canucks were down 1-0, but came back with goals in the second and third periods.

#3 The Minnesota Wild made no doubts about who was going to dominate this game as they got three goals in the second period. The Wild got two goals from Zach Parise.

#4 The San Jose Sharks dropped their second straight game. This time to the Nashville Predators 5-3. Coming out of a 2-2 tie after the first period. the Preds got to work with a goal in second period and scored twice in the third period.

#5 It was all Blue Jackets in a 5-1 win past the Calgary Flames. Columbus’ Pierre Luc DuBois got a hat trick in the contest.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks didn’t go on without a fight in loss to Blues to snap win streak

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On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

#1 The loss by the San Jose Sharks to the St. Louis Blues to end their eight-game win streak didn’t go without a fight as the game was forced into overtime by the Sharks as they tried to keep their streak alive.

#2 St. Louis Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko took a pass from Vladimir Sobotka from behind the net. Sobotka took the puck in front of the net and passed it to Tarasenko show put it past San Jose goalie Aaron Dell, who was expecting it long side; but Tarasenko got the goal short side at 2:33 in the overtime stanza to get the Blues past the Sharks.

#3 Dell was left off balance on Tarasenko’s shot thinking he was going to get to the puck, but the game-winner made it in.

#4 Tarasenko is the Blues’ leading scorer with 31 goals and has also shot for 30 or more in each of the last four years.

#5 The Sharks head into Nashville for Thursday night’s contest. The Predators snapped a three-game loss streak on Tuesday loss streak and are looking to start putting a win streak together with the Sharks coming to town. This should be one of the best games of the week head-to-head.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Crunch time for postseason as Cuda head for two-game road trip

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 With 4:28 left in the San Jose Barracuda’s last game on Tuesday in the first period, the Cuda took a 2-0 lead with a Juilius Bergman goal that beat the Tucson Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill.

#2 The Roadrunners cut the Cuda lead at 16:50 in the second period when Lanson Carson scored his 10th goal of the season.

#3 Manuel Wiederer scored his seventh goal of the season. Cuda led by two, 3-1.

#4 The Cuda won Tuesday’s contest in Tucson  3-1. Both Roadrunners and Cuda had 16 shots on goal.

#5 The Barracuda open a two-game road trip starting this Friday night in Grand Rapids against the defending champion Griffiths and then fly onto Rochester to face off against the Americans. This is expected to be one of the toughest road trips for the Barracuda this season. Two excellent teams that their playing on back-to-back nights on the road.

Marko Ukalovic does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com