Tag: James van Riemsdyk

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Blue Jackets in Vlasic’s 1300th Game; CBJs extend win streak to six

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Columbus Blue Jackets James van Riemsdyk (21) takes a shot on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) in the second period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday. Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves in the loss.

The game was Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1300th in the NHL. He had one shot, blocked two and played 14:49. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Quite the achievement, and to do it with one team is even more remarkable. True pro and he’s really helped our group since coming back from being hurt.” Sharks goaltender Georgiev said:

“You love playing with guys who are so solid, He hasn’t played for a while and then came back into the lineup. Just good patience, smart decisions every time. He’s in good positioning, from my point of view at least. So, it’s amazing the accomplishment he got. We’re very happy for him.”

The rest of the game left the Sharks with little to celebrate. Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli said: “I don’t think we were very good executing anything. You know, passes, we weren’t forechecking, we weren’t breaking pucks out and obviously turned some pucks over and they capitalized. And obviously we gave them too many chances.”

Zach Werenski intercepted the kind of pass that Toffoli mentioned, then carried the puck all the way down the ice with Adam Fantilli, two on one. Near the goal line, Werenski passed the puck to Fantilli in front of the blue paint for the goal. That was at 12:11 of the first period.

Sean Kuraly knocked the puck away from Mario Ferraro with a hit behind the net. He carried the puck up to the faceoff dot before passing it to Kent Johnson at the net so he could make it 2-0 with a snap shot. The time of that goal was 16:17.

The Sharks were outshot 13-6 n the first period, and had the only power play. The shot count got worse in the second period, ending 12-2 Columbus.

James van Riemsdyk scored the only goal of the second period. From just inside the faceoff circle, he redirected Damon Severson’s shot into the net. Assists went to Severson and Johnson.

The Sharks had two power plays in the second period and took one penalty.

The Sharks got on the board at 7:32 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini sent the puck to the net from the boards and Tyler Toffoli was there to put it away with a wrist shot. Assists went to Celebrini and William Eklund.

James van Riemsdyk scored his second of the night into an empty net from just below the blue line.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Elmont against the New York Islanders at 4:30 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Flyers 3-2 in OT With Hertl Hat Trick

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The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl is jubilant after nailing the game winning goal in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia on Sat Jan 8, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in overtime, again, on Saturday. It was the same score as on December 30 in San Jose. Tomas Hertl scored all three Sharks goals and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the win. Brent Burns had 3 assists and led the team with 29:35 TOI. James van Riemsdyk scored both Flyers goals and Martin Jones made 44 saves in the loss.

Logan Couture and Lane Pedersen are still out on the COVID list. Erik Karlsson, James Reimer, Rudolfs Balcers and Jacob Middleton are all out with injuries.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how Tomas Hertl helped balance out those absences:

“What I loved about it, even when we got down 2-0, even in the last two games, he’s taken on a huge void, leadership role, And he’s saying ‘it’s alright, we’re still in this, we’ve got this, let’s keep going, let’s keep working. We’re playing well.’ So Tommy was just more than being the player of the game, you know, he was pretty inspirational in the locker room and on the bench tonight.”

The games was scoreless for 40 minutes. The shots were close, 15-13 Flyers in the first, 13-10 Sharks in the second. Each team had one power play. The Sharks power play had two shots and their penalty kill gave up one. With the teams so close in so many aspects, it was no wonder they were tied at 0 going into the final frame.

The Sharks had some good chances in the first minute of the third, but, just as that minute expired, James van Riemsdyk got around Marc-Edouard Vlasic and broke away for a shot from the face-off circle. The puck went by Adin Hill and into the top corner. Assists went to Oskar Lindblom and Kevin Hayes.

The Flyers scored again at 6:47, this time on the power play. Cam York sent the puck to the net and it went off of van Riemsdyk, then bounced over Hill. Assists went to York and Cam Atkinson.

Tomas Hertl got one back for the Sharks at 7:47. Timo Meier made a quick back-hand pass from just above the goal line. Hertl was at the net ready to put it away. Assists went to Meier and Brent Burns.

Hertl put the puck in the net again at 14:29. In the midst of net-front traffic, he kicked the puck to his stick for a backhand past Jones on the far side. Assists again went to Meier and Burns.

The Sharks out-shot the Flyers 20-5 in the third period. Each team had a power play. the Sharks had two shots on theirs and the Flyers got one that went in.

Hertl completed his hat trick with the Sharks’ first shot in overtime, 24 seconds in. Brent Burns won the puck in the corner at the Sharks’ end and got the puck to Hertl. Hertl carried it the other way, and by the time he reached the Flyers blue line, Timo Meier was there for a two-on-one.

The face-off battle went back and forth from period to period. The Sharks won 61% in the third, but the Flyers won 52% in the first and 75% in the second, and the only face-off in overtime.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in San Jose against the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 PM PT.

In other news, the Sharks announced that they have put Evander Kane on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. The statement specified that this was “for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols.”

If that termination goes through, the Sharks will be free from all salary obligations to Kane and his salary will come off of their salary cap.