Tag: Joe Pavelski

Pavelski’s Hat Trick Leads Sharks to 5-3 Win Over Red Wings

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 at Little Caesars Arena Sunday. Joe Pavelski scored three unanswered goals, after goals from Tim Heed and Brent Burns. The Red Wings got goals from Darren Helm, Gustav Nyquist and Mike Green. The Sharks’ Aaron Dell made 20 saves for the win while Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves in the loss.

The Sharks passed some milestones in Sunday’s game. Joe Pavelski earned his 350th (and 351st) NHL points, Marc-Edouard Vlasic earned his 300th and Brent Burns passed the 70 point mark in 65 games for the season. Burns became the first defenseman to do that since 1994 when Ray Bourque did it.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Tim Heed described the team’s approach to a fast Detroit team: “Like you said they have a really speedy team and a lot of skills. In the first period they were all over us, then in the second and third I thought we took away their time and space and that’s… after that I think we took over the game.”

Tim Heed gave the Sharks an early lead with a goal at 3:46. Initially it looked like Joe Thornton had tipped Heed’s blue line shot but the puck actually went off of a defenseman’s skate. Assists went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Kevin Labanc.

The Red Wings responded with goals at 14:39 and 19:23. Darren Helm tied the game with a shot off of a breakaway, narrowly avoiding Brent Burns’s stick. Assists went to Justin Abdelkader and Mike Green.

Gustav Nyquist gave the Red Wings a lead in the final minute of the period. A backhand pass from Tyler Bertuzzi near the blue line found Dylan Larkin on the goal line. Larkin quickly moved it to the net where several Sharks and Red Wings descended upon it. Aaron Dell wound up down on the left side of the blue paint with Burns on the ice behind him. Burns stopped a couple of shots but Nyquist finally found the puck in the open and put it away. Assists went to Larkin and Bertuzzi.

At the end of the first, the Sharks had just five shots on goal to Detroit’s 15. The Sharks had some zone time but the Red Wings did a good job of limiting shot opportunities and blocking the ones the Sharks attempted.

One minute into the period, the Sharks were on the penalty kill after Brenden Dillon was called for high sticking Dylan Larkin. The Detroit power play lasted just 14 seconds before Dylan Larkin was called for hooking Tomas Hertl.

The Sharks made some adjustments for the second period, including some extra time on the ice for Evander Kane. In the first five minutes, the Sharks had five shots to the Red Wings one. Nevertheless, the Red Wings scored again at the 8 minute mark.

Mike Green found himself very much in the open with all the attention on the other side of the ice, where Justin Abdelkader had the puck in the corner. Abdelkader made a pass through traffic and across the goal mouth to Green. Dell tried to get across but could not get there in time. Assists went to Abdelkader and Anthony Mantha. That was Detroit’s third shot of the period and their last.

The Red Wings held the two goal lead until 13:50 of the second. Logan Couture won an offensive zone faceoff and Timo Meier helped the puck get to Brent Burns at the point. Burns’s shot went right through for his 13th of the season. Assists went to Meier and Couture.

Joe Pavelski tied the game at 15:50 on the power play. The Sharks spent a lot of time moving around the offensive zone before Joe Thornton finally took a shot. Bernier stopped it but the rebound didn’t travel far. Joe Pavelski was right in front of the goaltender and, while falling to his knees, he pushed the puck around the goalie and in. Thornton and Burns got the assists.

Pavelski gave the Sharks the lead at 16:45, deflecting a Vlasic shot while standing eight feet or so outside the slot. Assists went to Vlasic and Hertl.

The Sharks had 16 shots in the second to Detroit’s 3 in the second. In the third, the Red Wings got their first shot near the 14 minute mark, on a power play. The Sharks had 12 by then for the third period.

The only goal of the period came in the final minute, an empty net goal right off the faceoff. Joe Pavelski completed a natural hat trick with an almost casual backhand from the neutral zone. Logan Couture picked up an assist on that goal.

The faceoff was preceded by an off side call on the Red Wings, which followed a strange collision at the bench between players changing and the goalie leaving the ice. Kronwall seemed to get the worst of it, being knocked down. The extra skater in the final minute did little to help.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Boston against the Bruins at 4:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks start four-game roadie with Pittsburgh tonight

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sfchronicle.com photo: The Boston Bruins Charlie McAvoy (73) is jubilant after scoring go ahead goal against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night at SAP Center

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks Joe Thornton scored a hat trick against his old team the Boston Bruins on Monday night at SAP Center the Bruins no easy customer

#2 The Bruins despite Thornton’s hat trick got a game winning goal from extra skater Charlie McAvoy with 1:01 left for the 6-5 win

#3 The Bruins swept all three California teams on this last road trip Kings, Ducks and Sharks

#4 Joe Pavelski had three points and Logan Couture picked up two in the loss. Neither San Jose’s Martin Jones (14 saves)

#5 The Sharks have lost two out of their last three games and open a four game road trip tonight in Pittsburgh Mary talks about how she sees this game

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Beat Canucks 3-2, Erik Karlsson Returns

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Saturday. The win matches Calgary’s Saturday win to keep the Sharks tied in points with the Western Conference leaders to the North. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, who happened to be playing on the same line. Martin Jones made 32 saves for the win. Vancouver got goals from Antoine Roussel and Brock Boeser, while Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves in the loss. Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson made his return from injury with an assist and 24:44 time on ice.

Timo Meier put the first goal on the board at 3:45 of the first on a power play. The second power play unit of Meier, Evander Kane, Joe Thornton, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic moved the puck well all around the offensive zone for some time before Karlsson found Meier in front of the net. Assists went to Karlsson and Evander Kane.

Antoine Roussel tied it up for Vancouver 57 seconds later, when the Sharks lost track of him in the neutral zone and Alex Biega found him with a good pass. He broke away ahead of the Sharks defense and beat Martin Jones before anyone could catch up with him.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks had scored on one of two power plays, while Vancouver had not scored on either of their power play chances. The shot count was 11-8 for the Sharks and the Sharks had won 52% of the faceoffs.

The score remained 1-1 until Logan Couture scored for the Sharks 11:08 into the second period. the play developed after Erik Karlsson broke up a Canucks rush across the Sharks blue line. After breaking up the pass, he sent the puck the other way for Burns to move it through the neutral zone. He sent it to Pavelski, who got it across the blue line line and handed it off to Couture. Couture carried it to the net, waited for his shot and took it.

That goal was followed up by a fight between Barclay Goodrow and MacEwen at 11:10.

The Canucks out shot the Sharks in the second period 18-6. The Sharks killed almost two penalties, the second being cut short by a high sticking penalty to Vancouver. That 90-second power play for San Jose was the only penalty Vancouver had to kill in the second period. The Sharks faceoff win percentage improved to 58% by the end of the second.

The Canucks tied it up again at 4:31 of the third. Brock Boeser bought the puck out from behind the Sharks net and paused as if to make a pass. This lured Martin Jones into moving forward and away from his post. As no one prevented it, Boeser put the puck between Jones and the post. Assists went to Elias Pettersson and Derrick Pouliot.

The Sharks took the lead back with a goal from Joe Pavelski at 13:06. Timo Meier took a shot as he moved across in front of the net but Markstrom kicked that back out. Pavelski was in Meier’s wake and that rebound came right to him for the shot. Assists went to Meier and Logan Couture.

The Canucks pulled Markstrom for the extra skater with just under two minutes left in regulation. Final score, 3-2 Sharks. The Sharks won the faceoff battle 61% of the time, with Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl responsible for most of those.

Marcus Sorensen had to leave the ice for a spell after taking a stick to the face in the final five minutes of the second period. He returned to play for the start of the third period.

The Sharks next play on Monday in San Jose against the visiting Boston Bruins at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Coyotes 3-2 in OT

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks returned from their post-All Star break to beat the Coyotes 3-2 in overtime. Sharks goals came from Kevin Labanc, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns. Coyotes goals came from Josh Archibald and Conor Garland. Sharks goalie Martin Jones made 31 saves in the win, while Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves in the loss.

The first penalty of the game went to San Jose at 3:53, a slashing penalty to Brenden Dillon. The Sharks killed that off efficiently and came out of it with some energy. Offensive pressure from the Sharks produced a Coyotes penalty at 7:30, a holding penalty to Ilya Lyubushkin. The power play did not produce much

In the last three minutes of the first period, Evander Kane had a great chance which he pretty much created with his speed on the way to the net. Kuemper stopped most of the shot but it did slip underneath him. It would have gone in had the goaltender not spun around, spotted the puck and swatted it away.

In the final five seconds of the period, Arizona’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson was called for interference on Joe Pavelski. As a result, the Sharks finished the first and started the second period on a power play.

At the end of the first period, the shot count was 10-8 Sharks.

Tim Heed was carrying the puck out from behind the Sharks net when Christian Fischer came up behind him and knocked the puck off of his stick. The loose puck was snatched up by Conor Garland, who caught Martin Jones out of position for the first goal of the game. That was 9:56 into the second period.

The Sharks responded at 12:09. Kevin Labanc and Joe Thornton converged on the Coyotes net while Marcus Sorensen carried the puck around the boards. Sorensen gave the puck to Brent Burns in the middle of the blue line. Burns took a shot which got to Thornton but did not go in. Labanc found it as it came out on the other side of the goal mouth and knocked it in from a tight angle. Assists went to Thornton and Burns.

They added a second goal just 44 seconds later. Timo Meier attacked the net after Logan Couture poked the puck through the neutral zone for him. Meier’s shot did not go in but Joe Pavelski was a few strides behind Meier and he arrived in position just in time to shoot the rebound in. Assists went to Meier and Couture.

The Coyotes scored under 30 seconds later, but the goal was called back after a standard review for whether or not the net was off its moorings (it was not), followed by a coach’s challenge for goaltender interference. Richard Panik, the shooter, did make significant contact with Jones, pushing him into the net.

Tim Heed was called for holding with just over five minutes to go in the second. The Coyotes had an extended delay on the penalty, before Barclay Goodrow finally blocked a shot and disrupted the unrelenting Arizona possession. The Sharks penalty kill was very aggressive, not giving the Coyotes any time to speak of in the o-zone. At 18:47, Justin Braun was called for holding, and that penalty kill was a little less effective. The Coyotes were able to set up and spend some time on the attack. The power play would carry over into the third period.

The shot count for the second period was dead even at 14 each.

The Sharks killed the rest of that penalty off but at 1:46, Brent Burns was called for high sticking. While he was trying to knock down a high puck, he caught Josh Archibald with the heel of his stick. With all but 40 seconds of that killed off, a line change between Logan Couture and Evander Kane caused a too many men penalty to the Sharks and a brief 5-on-3 power play for Arizona.

As the two man advantage ended, Brent Burns came out of the box at speed and caught a pass for a short-handed breakaway. Not long after, Couture and Hertl had a two on one short handed chance but they didn’t score either.

The ensuing even strength play tilted gradually in Arizona’s direction. Their fourth line finally broke through to tie the game with a goal from Josh Archibald at 7:10. Assists went to Mario Kempe and Lawson Crouse.

Arizona kept the pressure on and the Sharks had their hands full on defense for some shifts. As the period wore on, the game moved faster until the final couple of minutes during which there was so much north-south movement it almost looked like three on three. If that was an attempt to avoid overtime, it failed.

Arizona outshot San Jose in the third 11-9.

To start overtime, the Sharks seemed to have trouble making their passes connect. Luckily for San Jose, the Coyotes did not have much better luck in that regard. Finally, both teams tightened up, but it was San Jose who made it count. Tomas Hertl dropped the puck to Brent Burns, who pulled the puck in to draw the goalie to him, then pushed the puck back out in front of him and put it in the net off the far post. Hertl got an assist on the goal. The time of the goal was 3:14.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the lineup paired with Tim Heed, while Justin Braun was with Brenden Dillon. Vlasic had 23:59 of ice time, one shot on goal and finished a minus one in the game.

The Sharks will now head out for a four game road trip, starting on Tuesday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 5:00 PM PT.

2019 NHL All-Star Skills Competition Results

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Photo credit: @ScoutingTheRefs

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The 2019 NHL All Star Skills Competition featured six events in front of a big crowd at SAP Center Friday evening. In the first event, the Fastest Skater, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won for the third time in a row, this time with a time of 13.378. In second place, Buffalo’s Jack Eichel completed the course in 13.582, with the Islanders’ Matthew Barzal third at 13.778. The first skater in the competition was Kendall Coyne Schofield of the US Women’s National Team. Her time was 14.346.

The second event was demonstrated by Rebecca Johnston of the Canadian Women’s team. The Puck Control race started with a stick handling test, followed by a puck carrying exercise though cones. The third test was to put the puck through three variable gates. One of three gates in each pillar would light up as the skater finished the preceding test. At the end, they had to put the puck in a regular net. Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau took the prize with a time of 27.045. Chicago’s Patrick Kane skated first but came in second with a time of 28.611. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux finished third with a time of 30.270.

In the Save Streak competition, each goaltender would face a shot from each skater on an opposing team, with the order of go to repeat if the goalie stopped a shot by a Divisional Captain. If he did not stop that shot, his turn was up. Henrik Lundqvist went last and won with 12 saves against the Atlantic Division.

Pekka Rinne was in the net first, making two saves in a row but no longer streak than that against the Pacific Division. Andrei Vasilevsky made 8 saves before Seth Jones scored from the Metro Division. John Gibson made 3 saves against the Central Division. Devan Dubnyk made 7 saves against the Pacific Division. Braden Holtby defended against the Atlantic Division but did not make more than 2 saves in a row. Jimmy Howard made 2 saves against the Metropolitan Division. Marc-Andre Fleury got the extra shots by making a save on the Central Dvivision captain, but he let in the very next shot and did not reach the eight-save threshold set by Vasilevsky.

Briana Decker of the USA Women’s National Team demonstrated the Premier Passer race. Contestants had to hit the sticks of three cutout skaters with a pass, then put pucks in four mini nets with a saucer pass over a low barrier. Finally, the skater had to hit five of six targets which would light up, signalling him to shoot at that one. If he did not hit the target before the light changed, it did not count. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl won it with a time of 1:09.088. The second best time was 1:18.530 from Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, and the third best was St. Louis’s Ryan O’Reilly with 1:25.897.

Washington’s John Carlson won the Hardest Shot contest with a 102.8 mph shot. San Jose’s Brent Burns came next with a 100.6 mph shot, while Columbus’s Seth Jones was third with a 99 mph shot. Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos was the only other shooter and his best was 96.2 mph. San Jose’s Sharky won the mascot hardest shot with 85.2 mph.

The Final Event was Accuracy Shooting. Renata Fast from the Canadian Women’s National Team demonstrated the new setup. Instead of plates that break, the targets were LED lit and they only stayed lit for 3 seconds before going dark. Of course, they had to be hit while lit or it did not count. The standing record for five-target accuracy shooting is 11.1. Boston’s David Pastrnak won it this year with a time of 11:309. Kris Letang and Drew Doughty came in second and third with times of 12.693 and 13.591 respectively. San Jose’s Joe Pavelski finished with a respectable 14.423.

The NHL All-Star Game will start at 5:00 PM PT Saturday.

NHL All-Star game podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks have three players in All-Star game, who are all building up anticipation

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the NHL podcast with Joe:

#1 The NHL All-Star Game is on Saturday, January 26th at SAP Center is one of the most exciting things about the game is the three-on-three.

#2 What’s this All-Star Game going to be like without the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin?

#3 The Sharks have three All-Stars. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Karlsson says he’s anxious to get in front of the San Jose crowd and show his All-Star ability.

#4 What’s been the difference from the West vs. East format to the division teams format in the All-Star Game?

#5 Joe takes a look at how special it is to attend and cover an All-Star Game.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

Sharks Come Back for 7-6 OT Win Over Capitals in Washington

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks ended a three-game losing streak with a 7-6 overtime win against the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at the Capital One Arena. Sharks goals came from Tomas Hertl (3), Evander Kane (2), Joe Pavelski, and Logan Couture. It was Hertl’s third career hat trick, and the first in Sharks history to include an overtime goal. Capitals goals came from Alex Ovechkin (3), Andre Burakovsky, T. J. Oshie, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Sharks’ power play went 2-6 while the Capitals scored one power play goal in three tries. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 33 saves on 39 shots, while the Capitals’ Braden Holtby made 36 saves on 43 shots.

After the game, Sharks forward Logan Couture talked about their defensive lapses: “We shouldn’t have checked out defensively like we did tonight. We weren’t there in our own end, leaving our goaltender out to dry on many occasions and in overtime there he made some big time saves for us to win that game.”

Asked about the team’s ability to bounce back despite all that, he said: “We’re in a difficult spot here. You’re in the third period, you’re down a few goals on the back to back on a long travel day. All the guys in here could have easily looked forward to tomorrow and our break, but we decided to play hard for the third and found a way to tie it up and win it.”

Joe Pavelski started the scoring just 12 seconds into the game Tuesday. An early icing call gave the Sharks an offensive zone draw, which Pavelski won, getting the puck up to Burns at the point. Burns shot the puck, it bounced off of Timo Meier in front of the net, and landed in front of an open net for Pavelski to knock it in. Meier and Burns got the assists.

The Capitals tied it up at 10:41 of the period with a power play goal. Tim Heed was in the box for hooking. Martin Jones made two stops before the puck trickled out to the side of the net, where Alex Ovechkin was tracking it down. He popped the puck in before Jones could get back for the stop. Assists went to Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie.

Andre Burakovzky gave the Capitals the lead less than two minutes later, at 12:11. Burakovsky took a shot off the rush, beating Jones on the glove side through some traffic. Assists went to Chandler Stephenson and Travis Boyd.

Tomas Hertl tied the game back up with a power play goal at 14:27, while T.J. Oshie was in the box for tripping Timo Meier. The Sharks gave up a short-handed chance early in the power play but, once back in the Capitals’ zone, executed a nice tic-tac-toe play. Hertl found Thornton at the mid boards, Thornton passed to Pavelski below the goal line, and Pavelski sent it back to Hertl, who was low in the slot. Hertl’s one-timer went right over Braden Holtby’s shoulder. It was Hertl’s 20th goal of the season, with the assists going to Pavelski and Thornton.

T.J. Oshie exited the box and in less than a minute got the lead back for Washington. Ovechkin carried the puck into the zone and then fed Oshie with a pass that escaped the pursuing Sharks. Oshie drew Jones to the left, then shot to the right side of the net. Assists went to Ovechkin and John Carlson.

Less than a minute into the second period, Evander Kane tied the game again. Timo Meier retrieved the puck behind the net, then reversed direction and got the puck to Kane on the left side of the net. Kane’s first shot did not go in, but by the time the puck bounced up and across the goal mouth, Kane was in position to shoot it back in. Assists went to Meier and Brent Burns.

Washington grabbed the lead back again at 2:53. Martin Jones had just stopped a shot from Jakub Vrana, but the rebound went to the goal line where Evgeny Kuznetsov pulled it in and shot it past Jones. The Sharks defense was not very helpful for Jones on that goal. Assists went to Vrana and Tom Wilson.

Alex Ovechkin extended the lead to 5-3 at 5:41. Backstrom made a drop pass to Ovechkin at the top of the faceoff circle, while drawing Justin Braun away and creating a moving screen. Ovechkin’s shot went by Jones’ glove side. Assists went to Backstrom and Oshie.

Logan Couture got one back at 14:39. The Sharks had just killed a penalty when Logan Couture followed a puck through John Carlson at the Sharks blue line. He headed through the neutral zone with Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns trailing him, three on none. Couture slipped the puck under Holtby with a backhand shot for his 19th goal of the season.

The teams traded penalties to start the third period, before Ovechkin completed his hat trick at 5:52. The Capitals drove through the neutral zone, ending up 4-on-2, then 4-on-3 against the Sharks’ defenders. Kuznetsov passed the puck to Vrana on the right, who passed it back across the ice to the trailing Ovechkin. He took the shot from the slot for his 36th of the season. Vrana and Kuznetsov got the assists.

Tomas Hertl scored his second, another power play goal, at 10:02 of the third. John Carlson was in the box for holding Joonas Donskoi. This play was like Hertl’s first goal, in that Couture’s pass found Pavelski below the goal line, and Pavelski found Hertl open for the shot in the slot. It looked a little faster than the first one, but very similar. Assists went to Pavelski and Couture.

Evander Kane sent the teams to overtime with his second of the game at 19:59. Martin Jones left the net with just over 1:30 left, giving the Sharks a sixth skater. The Capitals cleared the puck three times, but did not hit the empty net. Pavelski took a shot from the boards, it slowed down when it hit Hertl’s stick, then bounced in front of Kane and an open net.

Hertl completed his hat trick with the overtime game winner 1:48 into the extra period. Hertl carried the puck through the neutral zone and then gave it to Couture at center. Couture hesitated a moment, then gave it back to Hertl, who took the shot from just below the hash marks.

The Sharks will resume after the All-Star Game on February 2 against the Arizona Coyotes in San Jose. Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns will join the other All-Stars in San Jose, starting Thursday. Erik Karlsson’s participation is less certain.

Sharks’ Win Streak at 6, Beat Senators 4-1

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks extended their win streak to six games with a 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators Saturday. The game was scoreless through almost two periods, but starting with a goal at the end of the second, the Sharks found their scoring touch. Sharks goals came from Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson. Martin Jones made 27 saves in the win. Ryan Dzingle scored the lone goal for Ottawa, while goalie Anders Nilsson made 28 saves.

Sharks defenseman Justin Braun was back in the lineup after missing a few games due to injury. With Radim Simek also back recently, only Marc-Edouard Vlasic is still out from the Sharks’ blue line. Early in the first period Saturday, though, forward Joonas Donskoi was injured. Donskoi did not return after a collision with Mark Borowiecki. After the game, their was little news about the injury apart from the fact that it was an upper body one.

All these lineup adjustments have not slowed the Sharks down as they made their way through this winning streak. After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski credited the team’s structure for their resilience: “We’ve got a good structure. I think the group understands what we’re trying to do. Guys are able to slot in, just playing hard, doing things the right way. You need that, for a stretch like this right now, against some good teams.”

The game was scoreless for most of two periods Saturday. The Sharks took and killed two tripping penalties in the first two periods but that was it for the score sheet until late in the second.

The Sharks scored the first goal with just over two minutes left in the second period. Joe Pavelski caught a pass a little awkwardly as he skated into the zone. As soon as he had the puck settled, he took the shot and beat Anders Nilsson with a shot to the top corner. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Brenden Dillon.

The Sharks scored again at 6:17 of the third period. Brent Burns took a shot from the boards and it went off of Nilsson and then Christian Jaros and in. Kevin Labanc and Justin Braun got assists on the goal.

The Senators got one back 21 seconds later from Ryan Dzingle. The Senators intercepted a clearing attempt by the Sharks and Bobby Ryan found Dzingle on his way across the slot. His shot got past Jones’s glove and went in. Assists went to Bobby Ryan and Zach Smith.

The Sharks had another penalty to kill at 9:44 of the third. Joe Pavelski was called for slashing Chris Tierney after Pavelski’s stick got tangled up in Tierney’s legs. Painful as the result was for Tierney, it did look closer to another trip than a slash.

The Sharks got their first power play at 13:26 of the third, a holding penalty to Jaros. The Sharks did not score on the power play but they did score just after it expired. A blue line shot from Timo Meier hit an Ottawa defender and then went under Nilsson’s pad and in. Joe Thornton helped the puck make its way in for his ninth goal of the season. Assists went to Timo Meier and Brent Burns.

Melker Karlsson added an empty-net goal at 18:39.

The shot count was close throughout the game, and in the end the Sharks held a small edge at 32-28. In the face off circle, the Sharks prevailed 65% of the time.

The Sharks will next play on Tuesday against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Ground Lightning with 5-2 Win

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — With a 5-2 win, the San Jose Sharks handed the Tampa Bay Lightning their first regulation loss in 16 games at SAP Center Saturday night. Evander Kane scored his 199th and 200th NHL goals in the game, while Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Lukas Radil also added goals for the Sharks. Lightning goals came from Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev. Martin Jones made 17 saves for the Sharks, while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves for the Lightning.

After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said: “I thought it was a solid sixty minutes for us. I thought we got big contributions, I thought our big guys were really good, especially Karlsson and Burns and Brenden Dillon on defense. Jonesy made some saves when he had to. Special teams were good and I thought all four lines contributed. You know, when you’re playing the best team in the league, we knew we needed that kind of effort and we got it.”

San Jose had some lineup challenges to overcome before the game. With three of their regular defensemen (Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Radim Simek) out with injuries, the blue line included regular seventh defensmen Tim Heed and Joakim Ryan. Playing in his first NHL game, Jacob Middleton filled out the blue line six. Ryan played with Brent Burns while Heed and Middleton made up a third pair.

After the game, DeBoer talked briefly about the blue line adjustments: “It’s hard to take three defensemen out of your line up and survive and it’s a credit to the young guys who came in. I thought Middleton came in, gave us some good minutes. I thought Joakim Ryan played a real good game and so did Heeder.”

The Sharks opened the scoring at 9:27 of the first. Erik Karlsson’s pass found Timo Meier on his way through the neutral zone. As he crossed the blue line, Meier got a pass to Logan Couture just above the faceoff circle. Couture took the shot as he passed the hash marks and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy. Meier and Karlsson got the assists.

Moments later, at 10:01, Joe Pavelski added one with an impressive turning (and falling) shot right in front of the blue paint. Brent Burns got the assist for finding Pavelski with the pass.

Victor Hedman got one back for the Sharks during an ill-tied line change from the Sharks. Steve Stamkos found him flying up the slot and the Sharks were not quite ready for Hedman to be in position so quickly. Assists went to Stamkos and Ondrej Palat.

The Lightning outshot the Sharks 8-4, but the Sharks won 63% of the faceoffs in the first.

Those faceoff wins helped Evander Kane and the Sharks power play retake a two goal lead early in the second period. Pavelski won an offensive zone faceoff, getting the puck to Erik Karlsson at the point. Karlsson sent it across the ice to Brent Burns, who bumped it back across to Kane. Kane was not far below the blue line and Joe Pavelski had moved to the net, where he screened Vasilevskiy’s view of the shot. Assists went to Burns and Karlsson.

Just seconds later, Mathieu Joseph got by Tim Heed on his way into the Sharks zone. He caught Mikhail Sergachev streaking to the net with a pass and trimmed the Sharks lead to one again. A second assist went to Ryan Callahan.

The second period saw two more penalties killed, one for each team. The Sharks out shot the Lightning in the second period 12-9 but their faceoff win percentage slipped to 56%.

The Sharks got an early power play in the third period, but could not score on it. About half way through that power play, Tomas Hertl sustained an injury during an inadvertent collision. He did not leave the game.

The Sharks did score at 5:18. Evander Kane carried the puck across the blue line, moving past Stralman. Joonas Donskoi kept stride with Kane, staying between him and Stralman as Kane skated below the hash marks and took the shot to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead. An assist went to Brenden Dillon.

Kane went to the box a couple of minutes later for high-sticking Nikita Kucherov, but the Sharks killed the penalty off.

Lukas Radil extended the Sharks lead to 5-2 at 12:20, after Timo Meier tipped a Brent Burns shot. The tip bounced behind Vasilevskiy and out of the blue paint, landing just in front of Radil by the post. Radil lifted it neatly into the net. Assists went to Meier and Burns.

By the end of the game, the faceoff win percentage was dead even between the teams.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 7:30 PM PT against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

Sharks Fall to Kings 3-2 in OT; Kovalchuk Scores 2 Goals

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in overtime to the visiting Los Angeles Kings Saturday. Ilya Kovalchuk, just returned from a 10-game absence, scored twice for Los Angeles, including the overtime game-winner. Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings, while goaltender Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in the win. For the Sharks, goals came from Lukas Radil and Joe Pavelski, and goaltender Martin Jones made 28 saves in the loss.

The Sharks’ special teams were both defeated by the Kings, though each team only had one power play in the game. The faceoffs were fairly even through the game at 51% to 49% for the Sharks. It is worth noting that the Kings blocked 29 shots to the Sharks’ 11.

The first goal for Los Angeles came on a power play at 4:28 of the first from Ilya Kovalchuk. Timo Meier was in the box for hooking Jake Muzzin when Brendan Leipsic carried the puck behind the Sharks net to send it back up to Alex Iafallo at the point. His pass found Jake Muzzin in the slot, but he didn’t have a clear shot. So he passed it to Kovalchuk at the bottom of the faceoff circle, and his shot beat Jones on the short side. It was Kovalchuk’s sixth of the season, with assists going to Muzzin and Iafallo.

The Kings led the Sharks in shots in the first period, 15-8.

At 8:09 of the second period, Oscar Fantenberg had a goal taken away for goaltender interference by Dustin Brown. Brown was in the blue paint, behind the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon. He could have argued that Dillon kept him in the paint, crowding Jones, but he got into that paint on his own.

The Sharks had a power play opportunity near the end of the second period, but did not score. The Los Angeles penalty kill did an excellent job of controlling the puck and play in general.

The Sharks did outshoot the Kings during the second period, 13-6, but still trailed 1-0 to Los Angeles.

The Kings started the third period mostly playing keep away from the Sharks, to good effect. For good measure, they scored a second goal at 5:15. Dustin Brown carried the puck below the goal line, then sent it to Iafallo for a perfect shot over Martin Jones. It was Iafallo’s eighth of the season, with assists to Brown and Nate Thompson.

The Sharks finally got one by Jonathan Quick at 10:18 of the third period. Lukas Radil, skating across the goal mouth, deflected Timo Meier’s shot from the boards. The puck went over Quick’s shoulder and off the crossbar for Radil’s third goal of the season. Assists went to Meier and Erik Karlsson.

San Jose left the tying goal until the final minute. With the Sharks net empty, Erik Karlsson passed the puck to Brent Burns, waiting just below the blue line. He sent the puck to the net, where Joe Pavelski was waiting to deflect it in. It was Pavelski’s 23rd goal of the season, with assists to Burns and Karlsson.

The overtime period lasted 2:29, at which point Kovalchuck put the puck behind Jones to end the game.

Erik Karlsson could possibly hear from the Department of Player Safety regarding a hit he made on Austin Wagner during the second period. Wagner did not return to the game after that hit.

That question will be answered before the Sharks next play, on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT, when they will host the Arizona Coyotes.