Tag: Joe Thornton

Sharks Fall to Senators 4-2

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo Sens Kyle Turis pushes the Sharks Marc Edouard-Vlasic during first period battle for the puck in Ottawa

The San Jose Sharks lost the third game in their current road trip, falling to the Ottawa Senators by a score of 4-2. As they had the night before in Toronto, the Sharks scored first and then gave up the lead. Unlike the Toronto game, they followed up on a weak second period with a worse third. The Sharks gave the swift Senators too many opportunities, odd-man rushes and power plays. That translated into four goals, three scored in the third period. Those goals were scored by Bobby Ryan, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Chris Wideman and Erik Karlsson. The Sharks’ goals came from Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.

The first period went by scoreless, with just two penalties called in the final five minutes. Both went against Ottawa, but their penalty kill kept the Sharks off the board. In their first power play, a hooking call against Kyle Turris, the Sharks recorded no shots. The closest they came was a Thornton shot that went off off Joel Ward in front of the net. The second power play carried over to the second period, the result of a tripping call against Mark Stone at 19:18. It is worth noting that the penalties were drawn by Joonas Donskoi and Melker Karlsson. After the first period, the Sharks had a slight lead in shots at 13-12.

Ottawa and San Jose both tend to win when they score first, so the first goal was eagerly anticipated, if misleading. It came 29 seconds into the middle frame, during the carry over penalty time. Though they lost the opening faceoff, the Sharks regained control quickly. The top power play unit established themselves in the offensive zone and a quick pass from Brent Burns near the right faceoff circle found Joe Thornton on the opposite side. Thornton’s shot was quick and went through the traffic cleanly into the net. Assists went to Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski.

Just over a minute later, Tomas Hertl was called from tripping, giving the Senators the first of three power plays in the second period, including a five on three. The Sharks killed the penalties but gave up an even strength goal at 4:46. Justin Braun caught a puck in the defensive zone and seemed to be trying to pass it off the boards to Marleau. Bobby Ryan was quicker to the puck than Marleau. He skated in and around Braun and then beat Stalock to tie the game.

It was a bad spot in Stalock’s game, which did have some bright spots. Near the end of the second period, Brent Burns had a puck jump by him on the Senators blue line, allowing Ottawa defenseman Dave Dziurzynski and forward Alex Chiasson to go the other way, with only Paul Martin in position to defend. Martin stayed with Dziurzynski but could not prevent his pass below the faceoff circle. Alex Stalock read the play perfectly and came to the top of his crease to reach out and block the pass with his stick. He caught the puck up and tapped it in the direction of Brent Burns, who by now had come back to help out. It was a good indication of alertness and confidence from a goaltender who has not played a lot of games this season.

The game remained tied through until 8:19 of the third period. After a shot by Diurzinsky went off of Stalock’s mask, Pageau picked up the rebound and put a shot through Stalock. Stalock sensed that it was behind him, and turned to try to catch it, but it got by. Assists went to Dziurzynski and Cody Ceci.

Stalock made a quick trip to the bench after, where heStalock got a new mask. Evidently the shot to the head did some damage to his armor.

The Sens stretched their lead with just over seven minutes left. Dennis Wideman took a shot from the blue line, while Chris Neil blocked Stalock’s view. Two Sharks and another Senator were also in the goaltender’s line of sight, so he probably did not see the shot at all as it flew by into the top corner. Assists went to Curtis Lazar and Shane Prince.

Ottawa added to the lead when some offensive zone action from the Sharks left the ice open for another two on one against, this time by Karlsson and Hoffman, with Brenden Dillon trying to defend. Hoffman drew Stalock to the right, then sent a pass around Dillon to Karlsson. 4-1 Senators. Assists went to Hoffman and Bobby Ryan.

With 2:24 left, Brent Burns got one back for the Sharks. Hertl, Goodrow and Wingels got the play started and Burns skated in to finish it up with a shot from in front of the net.

The Sharks had a 20 second power play when Mark Borowiecki was called for boarding Joel Ward. It was not long enough to make a difference.

Final score: 4-2 Senators.

Goalie Craig Anderson made 31 saves on 33 shots for the Senators. Alex Stalock made 31 saves on 35 shots for the Sharks.

Brent Burns led the team by a significant margin with seven shots on goal. Joel Ward had four hits and four shots. The Sharks were outshot by the Senators 35-33.

Some of the Sharks lines looked different Friday. Dainius Zubrus skated with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski again, while Tomas Hertl skated with Barclay Goodrow and Tommy Wingels. Measuring by ice time, that second group made up Friday’s fourth line. Matt Nieto was promoted to the line with Marleau and Ward. As previously mentioned, Chris Tierney centered Melker Karlsson and Joonas Donskoi. Despite their stats in Friday’s game, that line looked pretty good. They drew penalties and showed promise as a unit.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 4:00 PT.

Early Deficit Undoes Sharks in Homestand Finale with Islanders

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. –True to recent form, a poor start once again took a bite out of the San Jose Sharks chances for a win Tuesday night at SAP Center. The Sharks (7-8-0) allowed two goals to the New York Islanders in the opening five minutes and never managed to dig themselves out of the quick hole they found themselves in, falling 4-2. Joel Ward and Brent Burns tallied the Sharks goals, while Alex Stalock made 20 saves in a relief appearance. Perennial Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares netted a pair of goals to lead the Islanders (8-5-3) to victory.

“We wanted to get a better start and it just didn’t happen,” said Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski after the game. “A bad bounce or bad change, it happens. You’ve got to fight through it.”

San Jose has now lost 7 of 9 games this season when allowing the opponent to score first. The Sharks scored first in their first 5 games of the season, but have yet to score first in consecutive games since. Over the last 10 games, the Sharks netted the first goal only twice. Their record over the last ten games now stands at 3-7-0.

Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones’ night ended after facing just three shots. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer had seen enough from Jones and opted to pull his netminder for Alex Stalock after goals from John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski in the first 3:30 of play.

“We need a momentum change,” said Jones. “Alex stepped in the last couple games and played great. It’s no fun being pulled but I’m not surprised.”

“You’ve always got to be ready,” said Stalock. “That’s the job of a back-up, injury or change of pace.”

The Islanders captain Tavares struck the opening blow on a rebound of a Brock Nelson shot, the first two shots of the game, at the 36 second mark. Three minutes later, Grabovski managed to turn a defensive zone faceoff into a rush up ice and a wrist shot for his third goal of the season.

“You can give up a bad goal in this league and recover,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “You can’t give up two goals and expect to win.”

Joel Ward regained a stake of the team lead in goals in the second period on a piece of strong forechecking against Travis Hamonic. Ward lifted Hamonic’s stick along the boards, picking the Islander’s pocket before power to the net. The veteran beat former Shark Thomas Greiss in the crease for his 8th goal of the season at the 10:14 mark of the period.

“We got within one, which gives us a chance,” said Pavelski. “But we want to be playing with the lead.”

Despite only cutting the deficit in half, the Sharks second period performance gave plenty of hope to fans and coaches alike. San Jose outshot the Islanders 14-6 in the frame, drawing the 16,558 fans in attendance to a standing ovation following one specific spectacular shift.

All the momentum built up from a strong second was zapped from the building with another quick strike to open the third. Isles defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored his second goal in as many games, rocketing one of his patented slap shots past Stalock clean for a 3-1 lead 45 seconds into the final frame of regulation.

“I thought it was going to hit my pads,” said Stalock. “It’s a bad feeling when you have no sensation of a puck.”

Brent Burns made the game interesting late, taking a Thomas Hertl pass from behind Greiss and slicing it past Greiss pad for his 5th goal of the season with 5:11 left to play. Despite an offensive surge for the Sharks, Greiss managed to hold on for the win following his 34 save effort. John Tavares added an empty net goal to ice the win for New York.

With the Sharks going 1-3 on a recent homestand, they’ll be looking forward to the road. They’ve fared much better away from SAP (4-3) than at home. They’ll open a six-game road trip with back-to-back contests in Detroit Friday night and a meeting with Jack Eichel’s Buffalo Sabres Saturday afternoon. The six city trip will also make stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Notes: The Sharks had one power play on Tuesday and failed to score, running the streak to 21 straight power plays at home without a goal. They have yet to score on the man advantage at home this season…Melker Karlsson returned to action with the Sharks, playing almost 16 minutes and registering 3 shots on goal while primarily playing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. On having Karlsson return to the line-up DeBoer said: “I thought he was good. First game in a long time. You can see that he’s an NHL player. He can help us”.…The loss puts the Sharks below .500 for the first time all season.

Ducks Defeat Sharks With Ferocious Start

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost a hard-fought game to the Anaheim Ducks Saturday. They lost by just one goal, the only goal scored in the game. The Sharks remain without a power play goal at home, despite having four chances on Saturday. That one goal was scored by Corey Perry.

The Sharks did not come out with intensity to match a desperate Ducks team. After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

I thought the first ten minutes, they obviously had the jump on us. We were standing around watching, I don’t know why. But from that point on I thought we played a hell of a game. I thought our goalie was great, we put a lot of pressure on them, put a lot of pucks on the net, had a lot of opportunities. Obviously our power play didn’t click but it’s not like we’re not establishing possession, getting in, looking dangerous, getting chances. So we just got to stick with it, and know that eventually those are going to go in for us.

Ducks goaltender Anton Khudobin made 30 saves for the shutout win. Martin Jones made 16 saves on 17 shots for the Sharks. That the Sharks could limit the Ducks to so few shots after the first period was a feat, but not enough to change the outcome.

The only line change from the previous game was to the fourth line. Thursday, that line included Matt Nieto, Bryan Lerg and Michael Haley. Saturday, it was Mike Brown, wearing a cage, instead of Lerg. The power play also saw a couple of changes, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic moving to the top unit, and Joel Ward moving back to the second.

The Sharks looked quite outmatched for the first five minutes of the game. The Ducks had played the night before, but they started with more jump than the Sharks.

At the 4:56 mark, Corey Perry escaped detection as he lurked along the boards, then darted through the neutral zone. He received a pass from Ryan Getzlaf just outside the Sharks’ blue line and skated in to beat Martin Jones. Assists went to Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon.

By the midpoint of the period, the Sharks were being outshot 7-2.

Four minutes later, the Sharks had added a couple of shots, but the Ducks had added four more. With 6:09 left in the period, Sharks goalie Martin Jones had to make not one but three stops in a row as Ryan Kesler and Chris Stewart shot the puck at will.

With 4:42 left, Tommy Wingels drew a penalty as Jakub Silfverberg was called for interference. The new first power play unit (Vlasic, Burns, Marleau, Pavelski and Thornton) held the zone and took a couple of shots but at the first stoppage were replaced with the second unit: Braun, Burns, Wingels, Ward and Hertl. Evidently, as Brent Burns is already leading the team in ice time, he will play all the power play time too. The second unit also took a couple of shots, though they got ousted from the zone before the penalty expired.

What the power play did, and the Sharks did for the final minutes of the period, was stop the Ducks from shooting. When the first 20 minutes expired, the teams were tied at 11 shots each.

The Sharks came out with a lot more energy in the second period. Early, the fourth line had an excellent chance but Matt Nieto was moving too fast as he came to the net. He just missed a chance to put the puck in as it bounced around in front of the blue paint.

Another excellent chance came at 7:28, when Tommy Wingels broke through the neutral zone and beat the Ducks defenders to the circle. He took his shot from there, which Anton Khudobin slowed down but did not stop. The puck twirled through the air, hit the corner of the crossbar and came out again. The goal light went on, everybody cheered and the official review took it back.

The Sharks got their second power play at 11:20 of the second. Kevin Bieksa went for interference. The power play lasted 13 seconds before Joe Thornton was also sent away for interference. For the ensuing 4 on 4, Hertl skated with Donksoi, Vlasic and Braun. Goldobin and Pavelski replaced Hertl and Donskoi before the penalties expired.

As the second period wound down, the Sharks had taken a 16-13 lead on the shot clock, had not allowed another goal, and in general were showing more energy. With 3:22 left, Clayton Stoner took Joe Thornton down with what may have been a slew foot. It was at least the second time he bothered Thornton, and Michael Haley took issue with that. A fight ensued, and then another between Brendan Dillon and Chris Wagner. Wagner and Dillon both received game misconducts along with fighting majors.

Shortly after play resumed, Justin Braun was called for slashing. The Sharks penalty killers kept the Ducks at bay and during the few seconds left after the penalty expired, San Jose did take the game to the other end. At the end of the second, the Sharks still led on the shot clock 18-15.

They say that, in the case of back-to-back games, a team does not really feel it until the third period. As the third began, the Ducks still did not look especially tired. They closed the gap in shots and kept the Sharks off balance for the first five minutes of the period.

During the next five minutes, the Sharks looked more promising. They even mustered a breakaway for Marleau, and Khudobin had to scramble to stop him from scoring.

Coach DeBoer has not done a lot of line juggling during games this season, but to start the third period, he moved Matt Nieto up to the third line with Tommy Wingels and Nikolay Goldobin. That moved Tierney down to the fourth line. By the middle of the period, Tierney was back on the ice with the third line. By necessity, the defense pairs were a mix and match, since the Sharks were without Dillon.

The Sharks had some good chances in the second half of the third, but Khudobin fended them off with some impressive saves.

With almost five minutes left, Andrew Cogliano tripped Thornton near the boards and Thornton went down for a spell. He did get back up and was on the ice to start the power play. The Sharks got another chance at 17:36 due to a delay of game to the Ducks. Despite pulling their goaltender and having two more skaters than the Ducks had, the Sharks still could not get a puck by Khudobin. They finished the game leading in shots 30-17 but still trailing by that lone goal scored back in the first.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at SAP Center, against the New York Islanders. Puck drop shortly after 7:30 PT.

It was hard to ignore the trade rumors about Patrick Marleau that were buzzing around before the game. The presence of several scouts at SAP Center spurred those rumors. Whatever Patrick Marleau’s future, the day’s NHL-AHL double-header gave scouts a chance to see Sharks and Ducks prospects all in action. There were a lot of players for them to look at Saturday.

Of course the question came up post-game. Asked if he had heard the rumors, Marleau observed jovially that they were “starting early this year.” Asked whether the Sharks had asked him to waive his no-trade clause, he said no. Beyond that, he would not confirm or deny the possibilities that he may or may not be willing to consider a trade.

Sharks Pounce on Panthers for 5-2 Win

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo SJ Sharks Joonas Donskoi (27) scoring against Florida Panthers

SAN JOSE- The Sharks defeated the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Thursday. It was a great response to a very disappointing loss two days earlier against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was also a noteworthy game for some other reasons. Joonas Donskoi scored a goal in his first game against the team that drafted him, and earned the first star of the game. It was Sharks defenseman Justin Braun’s 300th game. It was goaltender Al Stalock’s first home start of the season, and rookie forward Nikolay Goldobin earned his first NHL assist.

Al Stalock’s first home start began with a flurry of red and white. The Panthers began the period with a relentless attack that lasted several minutes. Less than 3 minutes in and recent Sharks call up Micheal Haley fought Shawn Thornton. This may have been a response to the Sharks being mostly trapped in their own zone for the span before that.

The Sharks finally did push play into the other end. After a few forays, the Sharks got serious. Brent Burns made a behind the back pass across the crease, and the puck was thrown at the net repeatedly by Joe Thornton, Joonas Donskoi and Burns too. They kept Florida goaltender Al Montoya jumping. The crowd was still exclaiming disappointment that none of those shots went in when Brent Burns took another shot and did score.

The second goal was scored by Joonas Donskoi, with assists to Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. The puck only crossed the line after several bodies piled up in the blue paint, mostly Panthers. One Panther even launched himself over the paint into the net, as if to prevent a goal. But Donskoi just fell after him and knocked the puck in anyway. The goal stood up after a review.

The third goal was scored by the Panthers. After mostly winning a faceoff in the Sharks’ zone, Vincent Trocheck chased the puck to the crease and shot it past Stalock, who was a little too far from the net to get back in time.

Near the end of the first period, coach DeBoer started mixing up his defensive pairs. Vlasic skated with Burns, while Martin was on the ice with Dillon and then Braun was out there with Dillon. The defenseman shuffle did not carry over to the second period. Whatever occured to keep Matt Tennyson off the ice in those later minutes of the first, he was back with Dillon when their shift came in the second.

The second period again started with a strong push from the Panthers, but it did not take the Sharks long to push back.

At 3:48, Patrick Marleau skated in with the puck, going around a defenseman and cutting back across the crease. He had to make a hard turn to get back from the goal line and to the front of the blue paint. The maneuver looked unlikely to succeed. Maybe the goaltender thought so too, because he was not ready for Marleau put the puck in the far side of the net. Assists went to Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl.

The first penalty was called at 10:47 of the secod, a slashing call to Florida’s Dmitri Kulikov. The Sharks could not do anything with that. The next penalty came at 13:26, this time to Donskoi for interference on Jaromir Jagr. The Panthers did make something of their power play and with a minute and 20 seconds remaining in the penalty, they won a faceoff, made a quick cross-ice pass and Brandon Pirri sent it in from well above the circles. Assists went to Brian Campbell and Jussi Jokinen.

That seemed to galvanize the Sharks and a hush fell over the Tank for several shifts. Joe Thornton took an especially long shift and finally found himself in the zone with his linemates. A pass across the slot from Thornton to Donskoi resulted in a fine-looking goal. Unfortunately, Florida coach Gerard Gallant challenged the play as offside. The goal was overturned after the review.

In a three on one with trailing Panthers, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Nikolay Goldobin descended on Montoya. A fine pass from Goldobin to Vlasic set up Vlasic’s first goal of the season. It was also Goldobin’s first NHL assist.

At the end of the second, the shots were tied at 22.

1:33 into the third, Tommy Wingels was called for roughing. The Sharks penalty kill was very efficient, limiting the Panthers to one and done attacks. As soon as Wingels was released, the Sharks went the other way and got set up for a couple of emphatic shots.

At 3:56, Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad went to the box for hooking. The Sharks had some trouble getting set up and even had to go back to their own zone when a pass went awry and came up icing. When they finally did get set up, they only got a couple of shots on net before the Panthers pushed them back out.

At 12:20, Dillon went to the box for tripping Garrett Wilson. The Panthers did not get a shot on net during the power play, and the Sharks went right to the attack at the end of the penalty. Play was in the Panthers’ zone when the next whistle blew.

The Panthers pulled their goalie with a couple of minutes left. With just over a minute left in the game, Chris Tierney scored an empty-net goal. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.

Final score 5-2, San Jose.

Apart from the score, the game was very close in many regards. The shot count was 33-32 Florida, with the teams being tied at 11 each in each of the first and second periods. The Panthers outhit the Sharks 25-17, and won just one fewer faceoffs, with the Sharks leading 28-27. The Sharks blocked a few more shots, with 18 to Florida’s 13. With all of that counted and calculated, it is safe to say that Al Stalock had a better game than Al Montoya did.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 when they host the visiting Anaheim Ducks. The San Jose Barracuda will also play at 1:00 pm for the season’s first double header at SAP.

Pavelski Scores a Pair But Sharks Stumble Against Blue Jackets

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks saw Tuesday night’s contest at SAP Center against the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets as an opportunity to take advantage of a team in turmoil. Instead, the Sharks (6-6-0) now find themselves looking answers after losing 5-2 in a match-up against a team with only a pair of wins on the season.

Joe Pavelski scored both goals for the Sharks and goalie Martin Jones struggled through a 17 save, 4 goal performance against a Columbus team that recently fired their coach and was struggling under new coach John Tortorella.

“It was not good enough,” said Jones. “We played a backwards game, let up an early goal and let in a few soft ones in the 2nd. We need to be better. Everyone needs to be better. We got outworked tonight.”

The Sharks dug an early hole after committing two penalties in the opening five minutes. They managed to kill off a Chris Tierney stick infraction a minute and a half into the game, but weren’t as lucky after defenseman Brenden Dillon skated to the box 4:23 into the game.

With the man advantage, Brandon Dubinsky skated to the left faceoff dot and took a shot on Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Jones stopped the initial attempt, but Brandon Saad was waiting in the goal crease to tuck the loose puck home for a 1-0 lead with 12 seconds left on Dillon’s infraction.

“We got the first kill,” said Pavelski. “We almost got through the second one which would have given us a boost. We were on our heels early. It has to change, we have to break this mold where we’re getting scored on first.”

The Sharks Captain matched the team-best of 7 goals on the season in the waning seconds of the first period. Pavelski crept into Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease, redirecting a point shot from Justin Braun past the Russian netminder with 1:04 left in the period.

The Blue Jackets regained their lead nearly halfway through regulation after Scott Hartnell beat Jones for his 5th goal of the season at the 8:54 mark. Hartnell started the play behind the Sharks net, skated out towards the faceoff dot to Jones’ right then spun around and ripped a shot rapid-fire that beat Jones over the near post shoulder.

Pavelski again drew the Sharks three minutes later, receiving a backhand feed from Joonas Donskoi before deking out Bobrovsky to move past Joel Ward for the team lead in goals.

Pavelski’s goal was the result of a heads-up forecheck from Donskoi along the offense boards. Donskoi snuck behind Nick Foligno preparing to move the puck out of the Columbus defensive end and sent it back towards the goal line for Pavelski’s tally. The assist on the play was Donskoi’s 2nd career NHL point and first since returning from injury October 28th.

“It’s hard to come back after an injury,” said Donskoi. “I think it’s getting better but I’m not happy. We still lost. It’s disappointing.”

The tie was short lived due to miscommunication by Jones and defenseman Brent Burns. Jones went to play a dump-in behind his net and settle the puck for Burns. Burns, however, didn’t react in time to stop an advancing Blue Jacket from springing the puck loose. Columbus forward Boone Jenner snuck in to net his 7th goal with 1:28 left in the 2nd.

If the Jenner goal didn’t deflate the Sharks heading into the 2nd intermission, defenseman Ryan Murray’s strike with 59 seconds left in the period certainly did. Murray slid a point shot through a crowd in front of the net to put Columbus up 4-2 and chase Jones from the contest.

“I think it went off one of our guys’ gloves,” said Jones. “It was a bit of a deflection, a bit of a screen.”

Over his 40 minutes of ice time Jones allowed 4 goals while making 17 saves. His replacement, Alex Stalock, faced only 2 shots over the final period, but Matt Calvert scored an empty netter for the final 5-2 marker.

At the other end of the ice, Bobrovsky stood on his head for most of the contest to earn his third win of the season. The former Vezina trophy winner turned aside 41 of 43 shots he faced, keeping the Sharks power play off the board after four opportunities.

“For our power play we demand a lot out of ourselves,” said Pavelski. “We expect a lot. It’s just unacceptable. It was a big momentum swing for us. We’ve created some momentum off it when we’ve had chances. It doesn’t do anything for the wins.”

“Everybody goes through tough stretches,” said Jones. “We know we have a good group in here. We know we’ll respond. We’ve got the group in here to do it. The main thing is to show up tomorrow, have a good practice and move on.”

The Sharks will have to move on quickly with the Florida panthers coming to town Thursday night followed by a visit from another reeling team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Southern California rivals come to town Saturday night with a lowly 2 wins and six points, tied for the lowest mark in the NHL.

Another Preseason Win Looks Good on Sharks

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 in Glendale on Friday. The preseason game lineup proably closely ressembles the group that will start the regular season next week. The forward lines were: Donskoi-Thornton-Pavelski, Marleau-Couture-Ward, Nieto-Hertl-Wingels and Goodrow-Tierney-Brown. The defensive paris were: Vlasic-Braun, Martin-Burns and Tennyson-Dillon. Martin Jones was in net for the shutout. There will probably be only a couple of changes to that lineup when the Sharks play Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Joonas Donskoi distinguished himself again as a deserving member of the top line. His performance included good defensive sense and a few surprising offensive moves, including one pass that was so surprising it even caught Joe Thornton unawares.

Tomas Hertl’s preseason time as a center has not been wasted. He is to be handling the position well, and his game overall shows much improved confidence and strength.

The Coyotes took the first penalty of the game, as Michael Stone pulled Joonas Donskoi down at 5:29. The first Sharks power play unit included Burns, Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau and Couture. A pass from Marleau to Pavelski ended the power play just 17 seconds in to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Assists went to Marleau and Couture.

The Sharks took a penalty at 12:16, after two on one was thwarted by some smart speed from Joonas Donskoi. Matt Tennyson was called for hooking Steve Downie. The Sharks penalty kill was effective, but Brenden Dillon took a cross-checking penalty against Matthias Plachta shortly afer the Tennyson penalty expired. The Sharks killed that off as well, but lost most of their early lead on the shot clock. By the time the second penalty was over, the shots stood at 12-10 Sharks.

Three minutes into the second period, the Coyotes took another penalty, this time to Antoine Vermette for tripping Mike Brown. The Sharks did not score on that power play, and as it ended, Joel Ward was called for hooking Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Sharks killed that off too, protecting their lone goal lead.

Tomas Hertl added to the Sharks lead early in the third period. Just after a line change, Matt Nieto and Tomas Hertl took off in a two on one against Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy. A short hesitation from Nieto gave him a chance to pick his spot before passing it to Hertl, who put the puck away. Assists went to Nieto and Dillon.

A second goal from Pavelski was essentially the nail in the Coyotes’ coffin. Thornton, behind the Arizona net, made what appeared to be a blind pass to Pavelski. Pavelski wasted no time putting the Sharks up 3-0.

The Coyotes had a chance to redeem themselves with a power play at 13:42, when Brenden Dillon was called for tripping. They did not score and the teams went into the obligatory 3-on3 overtime session with a final score of 3-0 Sharks.

The Coyotes did score in the overtime period, which may have done something for their confidence but did not change the game result. The goal was scored by Anthony Duclair, off a feed from Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The Sharks next play in Anaheim on Saturday at 6:00.

Friday, the Sharks recalled nine players from the AHL Barracuda. Many will likely play Saturday, avoiding the unnecessary stress of back to back preseason games for the regular NHL players. The group includes four players with fewer than three seasons in the AHL: goaltender Troy Grosenick, forwards Ryan Carpenter and Jeremy Langlois, and defenseman Gus Young. Karl Stollery more seasoned than those four, with just over three seasons of experience in the AHL. Forwards John McCarthy and Frazer McLaren have both spent significant time on the Sharks roster and were mainstays in Worcester. Forwards Micheal Haley and Bryan Lerg have over five seasons of professional experience as well.

The San Jose Barracuda, in a preseason game against the Stockton Heat, lost 4-2 at Sharks Ice on Thursday. Petter Emanuelsson and Julius Bergman scored for San Jose, the game featured four fights and 66 penalty minutes. Troy Grosenick and Aaron Dell shared the net, with Grosenick making eight saves on nine shots and Dell making 14 save son 17 shots. Peter Emanuelsson left the game after taking a hit from behind. The Barracuda will play another exhibition game in Bakersfield on Saturday against the Condors. The game will start at 7:00 pm and be aired on KDOW at AM 1220 and online at http://www.KDOW.biz.

Jones, Penalty Killers Lift Sloppy Sharks to 2-1 Preseason Win Over Canucks

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

A win is a win any time of the year, even preseason, so Tuesday night’s 2-1 San Jose Sharks win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks is a great final result. How the Sharks got there, however, was a different story.

“It’s a good thing it happened in the preseason,” said Sharks forward Tommy Wingels on the team’s sloppy effort Tuesday. “It’s good that we grinded it out and found a way to win the game. You don’t have your best at all times but certainly lots tonight we have to improve on.”

“It’s not the kind of game you’d like to have,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer. “We found a way to win but we were sloppy with our puck management. We have a lot of things to work on. The good news is I thought our goaltending was excellent and our penalty killing was excellent.”

The Sharks scored a goal each in the first two periods, then used a 4-for-4 penalty kill effort and a 30-save outing from Martin Jones to cling to a 2-1 advantage and improve to 3-1-1 in the exhibition schedule with one last weekend road trip still remaining.

“(Assistant coach Johan Hedberg) has done a great job with these guys,” said Wingels on Jones and returning goalie Alex Stalock. “They’ve been at the top of their game from day one.”

Wingels tipped in his first goal of the preseason at the midway point of the first period, redirecting a Paul Martin point shot past Canucks netminder Ryan Miller.

“You don’t want to get too cute,” said Martin on the goal. “We’ve seen that, when you put the puck on net, good things happen. We have guys that are good around the cage and make plays down there.”

The lead would be short-lived, with the visitors scoring in the final minutes of the period. Winger Matt Nieto picked up a loose puck in the corner boards of the defensive end and spun a drop pass in front of Sharks keeper Martin Jones to jump start the rush. Instead, the puck was picked up by opportunist Jared McCann. The unmarked McCann ripped a shot over Jones’ shoulder for a goal with 1:26 remaining in the period.

The Sharks leading scorer in the preseason put them back on top at the 7:43 mark of the 2nd period. Brent Burns received a pass from Mirco Mueller and skated up the left side, burying a wrist shot between Miller’s pads for a 2-1 edge. Burns has a team-high 2 goals and 4 points over 3 preseason contests playing on a pairing with offseason acquisition Paul Martin.

“He definitely makes my job easier,” said Martin. “The hockey sense and the size with the skill he has being that big is impressive.”

“Coach has been great keeping us together, allowing us to grow our chemistry,” said Burns on his rearguard partner. “There are going to be reads that happen in a game in a split second where you’ve got to know what the guy is thinking. It takes time.”

The Canucks threw their weight around in the third period, drawing two power plays, including a 4-on3 to try to tie the game, but a valiant effort from the San Jose penalty kill kept the Sharks ahead. Chris Tierney, Justin Braun and Tommy Wingels all blocked shots shorthanded with just over 5 minutes left in the period. In total, the Canucks outshot San Jose 9-2 in the third (31-22 total), a period that saw DeBoer shuffle all four lines from the starting lineup.

“We wanted to give some guys some different looks in some different spots,” said DeBoer. “We weren’t really happy with where we were at in the game. We tried to shuffle the deck and it didn’t really work.”

The Sharks wrap up the preseason with two weekend road games, Friday in Arizona followed by a Saturday match-up in Anaheim. DeBoer is hoping to see a better performance out of his team, but understands knowing the team’s weaknesses before opening night in Los Angeles on October 7th is more important.

“You’re better having that now then next week,” said DeBoer. “We will know what we have to do better to have success on a consistent basis.”

Notes: After Joonas Donskoi received the opportunity on Friday to play on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, it was rookie Nikolay Goldobin’s turn Tuesday. The 19-year-old Russian had one assist and was +1 with a shot on goal. “He did a good job. He definitely showed that he’s skilled enough to play with those guys,” said DeBoer… Chris Tierney left the ice early in the 2nd period after skidding into the Vancouver goal. He missed just one shift while visiting with the trainer and returned to play on his next shift…Tommy Wingels tongue-in-cheek after a successful night in the faceoff dot “I think we should expect that every night.”

Torres Returns, Donskoi Shines, in Sharks Preseason Win

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks won their first preseason home game on Friday night. They defeated the Arizona Coyotes squad 3-1, or 4-1, depending on whether you count the exhibition overtime session. Sharks goals were scored by Brendan Dillon, Joe Pavelski, Joonas Donskoi and Ben Smith. The Coyotes goal was scored by Antoine Vermette.

Raffi Torres returned to the lineup in the team’s third game of the preseason. He was on the starting line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton but after that Joonas Donskoi played on that top line. Donskoi has impressed in training camp, and his performance Friday continued to show why he is a serious contender for a spot on the NHL roster. Goaltender Al Stalock made his first preseason appearance as well, after sitting as backup for Martin Jones in Vancouver.

The first goal of the game came from Brendan Dillon less than five minutes in to the game. It was a shot from near the point, which bounced aloft in traffic in front of the net, before skipping over Anders Lindback’s shoulder. Assists went to Tommy Wingels and Dylan DeMelo.

At the ten minute mark, the Coyotes had just one shot recorded, to the Sharks’ 8. The Coyotes got another shot in the following minute. A fight and a small melee followed, landing Tommy Wingels, Brendan Dillon, and Arizona’s Brendan Shinnimin in the box. Wingels got two minutes for roughing, Shinnimin got two for slashing, and Dillon got two for cross-checking. The Coyotes had the first power play of the game. The Sharks penalty kill held up pretty well, considering how much trouble they had getting the puck cleared. Stalock made a couple of very stretchy saves to make up for the glitches in the system and preserve the lead.

The Sharks also took the second penalty, this one an interference call on Justin Braun. A penalty kill unit of Donskoi, Vlasic, Tierney and Mueller made efficient work of the first shift. Pavelski, Torres, Dillon and DeMelo finished up the kill for the Sharks.

With two minutes left in the first, the Sharks got their first power play. It was a penalty on Steve Downie for roughing. The Coyotes had less trouble clearing the puck out than the Sharks did. They cleared it a few times before the period and the power play ended, still 1-0 Sharks.

The Coyotes had almost evened the shot count by the end of the first, and did draw even in the first 30 seconds of the second, at 9-9.

The first five minutes of the second showed the Coyotes to advantage. They had several chances attacking the Sharks net, and Stalock was busy. The Coyotes took their second penalty of the game, at 7:23 of the period. It was a holding penalty to Lucas Lessio. The first power play unit again consisted of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Joonas Donskoi.

Matt Tennyson, Chris Tierney, Tommy Wingels, Brenden Dillon and Matt Nieto made up the second power play unit.

A blink after that penalty ended, the Sharks got another chance when Arizona’s Dakota Mermis went to the box for holding the stick. This time the power play started with Goldobin, Tennyson, Tierney, Wingels and Mueller. Thornton, Pavelski, Donskoi, Vlasic and Braun were on the second unit, the one that scored.

Vlasic’s shot from the point was deflected by Joe Pavelski in front of the net. The second assist went to Joe Thornton.

In the last five minutes of the period, Mike Brown was called for goaltender interference. The Sharks’ penalty kill seemed to find its feet this time around, pushing the Coyotes out quickly and even mustering a short-handed chance in the first minute.

That penalty kill was tested again, with just over two minutes left in the second. This time the penalty went to Mirco Mueller, two minutes for tripping Steve Downie. There were 28 seconds left in the period when the Coyotes finally got on the board. The power play goal was scored by Antoine Vermette. While partially screening Stalock, he tipped a shot from Connor Murphy. The second assist went to Max Domi.

By the end of the second, the Sharks were well ahead on the shot clock again, 26-18. The score was 2-1 Sharks.

The third period saw the teams off to an even start. In the first ten minutes, there were six shots, three from each team. Mirco Mueller got a round of applause for a fine hit, but there was little other clear advantage to cheer about. The teams seemed very even.

The line of Goldobin, Meier and Smith had a very good shift with around seven minutes left. Meier and Goldobin are well met when it comes to moving the puck around through traffic. It was not the most elegant showing but they showed tenacity and quickness enough to regain control many times.

With just over six minutes left in regulation, Tommy Wingels carried the puck to the net and bumped Lindback. No whistle blew, no horn went off. But the Coyotes went right back the other way and pushed Vlasic into Stalock. The penalty went to Joe Vitale for interference on Vlasic.

On the ensuing power play, Joonas Donskoi scored on the last of three tries by several Sharks in front of the net. His shot was quick and clean and from right in the slot. It was his first goal of the preseason. Assists went to Dylan DeMelo and Joe Thornton.

The final score, before the obligatory 3 on 3 overtime session, was 3-1 Sharks. The shot count stood at 37-26 Sharks. DeBoer started Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic as the first trio for the Sharks. The second group were Donskoi, Wingels and Braun. Goldobin, Nieto and Tennyson went third.

For good measure, the Ben Smith scored in the final two seconds of overtime, so the Sharks own the game and the extra game.

The even-strength lines were fairly consistent throughout the game. They were:
Tierney, Wingels, Nieto
Thornton, Pavelski, Donskoi
Goldobin, Meier, Smith
Torres, Lerg, Brown

The defense pairs were:
Tennyson, Mueller
Dillon, DeMelo
Vlasic, Braun

The Sharks shot leaders for the game were Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joonas Donskoi. Justin Braun and Vlasic led the team in ice time. Al Stalock made 25 saves for the win.

For the Coyotes, Max Domi and Lucas Lessio led in shots, while Connor Murphy and Stephan Elliott lead the team in ice time. Anders Lindback made 34 saves for his team.

The Sharks play again Saturday at 6:00 pm.

Sharks Ready for Restart

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

In the past, GM Doug Wilson has used the phrase “refresh, reset” instead of “rebuild” to describe what he was trying to do with the San Jose Sharks. Last year, “rebuild” creapt into the sound bites, but there were no standout changes to go with it. Now, with a new coaching staff and new players in key roles, the team faces something akin to an operating system upgrade.

As with an upgrade, many little glitches may just go away, while some handy shortcuts will have to be put back in place. For a while at least, the system will seem cleaner simpler than previously. How much reward the Sharks will reap from the changes will depend on some very familiar factors, from individual player performance to the mental resilience of the group. This is the conundrum that has faced the Sharks for years: they have been good enough to expect that they could do more, but they haven’t. New Head Coach Peter DeBoer has said he won’t tear everything down because there is a lot of good in the team and the way they do things. How much of that good can he salvage without also preserving the bugs and glitches?

One of the familiar questions is leadership. Tommy Wingels was asked about the captaincy issue on the first day of camp. He said:

I think it’s important that someone does wear the C. That being said, that guy’s not going to be the only guy that’s a leader on this team. One guy wears the C but we’ve said around here that this is a team of leaders. If you have one guy doing it all, you’re not going to be great.

The leadership question carries over from last season. That captainless experiment did not exactly devolve into mob rule, but it was far from a well-organized attack unit. That DeBoer plans to put letters on leaders may just be a band-aid but it is a hole that needs to be plugged. It is an obvious first step to bringing the team into a semblance of order. It is just the first of many changes that need to be made.

Joe Pavelski said that the changes to the team are palpable:

There’s a good energy in the room. When you walk into the building and you see the new hallway and the new locker room, it just adds that energy. Even when we were away in the summer and we added those pieces, there was an energy I could feel, excited to get back when I got back and see everybody and get on the ice. Like the signings we’ve had and the improvements and we’ll move forward from that and hopefully it will be positive.

The changes to the locker room decor are a strong visual signal: this is not the same as before. It was not a complete redesign, but changes in wall covering and paint colors are enough to make the room almost unrecognizable. It reminded me of the attention given to the dressing rooms at 49ers Stadium last year. Perhaps that experience drove home the importance of little things like color and texture, the effect they can have on the psyche. That particular game, played out of that particular room, may not be worth repeating, but the new look will be a daily reminder that this season is not last season or the one before that.

Ironically, a fresh start is what a team wants every season. In that regard, newness is not new. Tommy Wingels described the challenge of the clean slate goal:

I think that’s the mindset every player needs to have every year when training camp starts. I don’t think you can expect to be in a certain position based on the previous year. You got to re-earn it every single year, every practice, every exhibition game, into the start of the season. I think Pete has come in and made it clear that what you did in the past doesn’t matter, you’ve got to earn your opportunity this year.

Joe Thornton does not think it will take the team very long to adjust to the new systems under the new coach:

Hopefully just exhibition, hopefully Game One we’ll be ready to go. But who knows, I don’t think it’s going to take a long time to get used to his system. It’s relatively the same as Todd’s, but who knows? Hopefully the more we play games, get six or seven exhibition games under our belt, we’ll be ready to play his system.

This morning, who knows how long it will take? Once the Sharks play a couple of games, they will probably know.

The Sharks will play in Vancouver tonight, one of those exhibition games Thornton mentioned. If the changes are change enough, I would not expect a smooth performance right away. If they play well and win, great. If they play badly and lose, or even play badly and win, it could mean they are figuring out a new way of doing things. The only real failure possible would be if the team looks too much as they have always looked. Even then, they have a few more exhibition games to get their new act together.

Sharks Lose 5-1 in Final Home Game of Season

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– In their last home game of the season, the San Jose Sharks fell to the Dallas Stars 5-1. Before the game finished, both the Sharks and Stars were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Minnesota Wild, putting the Jets out of reach for Dallas or San Jose. The Los Angeles Kings obliged the Sharks by losing in overtime to Vancouver. That makes it just possible that the Sharks could have the opportunity to play spoilers to the Kings’ last minute scramble into the 2015 playoffs. Probably that is not much motivation for the Sharks today. It is not clear what would motivate the Sharks at this point.

Joe Thornton scored the Sharks’ only goal on Monday. Jamie Benn scored the game winner for Dallas. Jason Demers was roundly applauded by the Sharks fans when he was featured on the jumbotron. The Sharks gave away a lot of signed jerseys and gifts for fan appreciation night. It is possible that those last two facts are more significant than the first two.

It did not matter, as far as playoffs go, who won Monday. Still, one team was more eager to win than the other.

28 seconds into the game, Jason Demers took a shot from the blue line. Al Stalock stopped it but kicked it out to Colton Sceviour, who was waiting, unmolested, between the blue paint and the faceoff circle. Sceviour scored, assists went to Demers and Vernon Fiddler. A few seconds later, Mike Brown and Antoine Roussel fought. They both went to the box and the score was still 1-0 Stars.

The Sharks took the first penalty of the game, a tripping penalty to Melker Karlsson. The Sharks killed the penalty off and by the midpoint of the period, they were near even on the shot clock.

At 9:51, Mike Brown was called for charging Trevor Daley, a call that did not go over well with the crowd or Brown. The hit was a beat late but Daley did just release the puck. The hostile encounter with Roussel just after the hit on Daley could have been called roughing, but the ref opted to go with the hit on Daley. The Sharks killed that penalty too.

The Sharks finally got a power play when Shawn Horcoff went to the box for holding the stick at 14:21. The power play generated some good chances but did not change the score.

The Sharks went back on the penalty kill with just 2:50 left in the period. Barclay Goodrow was in the box for elbowing Tyler Seguin. While everyone was mulling over that call, the Stars scored. They had some help from a couple of Sharks skaters who crowded their own goalie and did not help him out. Patrick Eaves had a clear shot at the net, though Logan Couture did try to impeded him from behind. Eaves got the goal, with assists going to Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza.

At the end of the first, the score was 2-0 Stars, with the Stars leading on the shot clock 11-9.

The Sharks made it to 6:12 of the second period without taking another penalty or giving up another goal. This time, Joe Pavelski went to the box for hooking. Al Stalock was not happy about the call, since he had just gotten a shoulder to the face from a falling Dallas Star. Perhaps the officials felt the hook caused the fall. In any case, back to the penalty kill went the Sharks.

With 46 seconds left in that penalty, Brent Burns joined Pavelski in the box for slashing. It was a fairly blatant slash, breaking Eaves’ stick.

Logan Couture, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon and Al Stalock managed to kill 26 seconds of the five on three, but with 20 seconds left, Jamie Benn scored from the faceoff circle. Assists went to Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza.

At 11:29, Shawn Horcoff went to the box for interference. The Sharks power play looked stymied by the Stars’ penalty killers and spent too much time chasing rushes the other way. In the final two seconds of the power play, one of those short handed rushes trapped two Stars in the Sharks’ zone while Chris Tierney went the other way with the puck. He dropped it to Thornton at the Stars’ blue line and charged ahead one on two to add to a screen in front of Jhonas Enroth. Joe Thornton followed him in and shot through the three-man wall to put the Sharks on the board. The assist went to Tierney.

At the end of the second period, the Stars led 3-1 and 20-15 in shots.

Just over four minutes in to the third period, the Sharks showed some life on a delayed penalty, maintaining control of the puck in the Stars’ zone for over 20 seconds before the whistle blew and their power play officially began. They did not score on that power play.

Tommy Wingels went to the box for boarding at 9:15. The highlight of that penalty kill, possibly the second best Sharks play of the game, was a short-handed breakaway by Barclay Goodrow and Chris Tierney. They didn’t score but they looked very dangerous.

Their efforts did not go unnoticed. A shift from the Thornton line followed and they looked rejuvenated. That was not enough to change the course of the game, but it did help slow the Stars down.

The Sharks held the Stars scoreless for 15:08 of the period. With 4:52 left in the game, Patrick Eaves evaded Brenden Dillon along the boards in the Sharks zone. He was clear just long enough to get a pass to Jamie Benn, who was loitering below the faceoff circle. 4-1 Stars.

With the three-goal lead, Ryan Garbutt decided it would be a good idea to elbow Matt Irwin in the neck as the Sharks defenseman skated into the Dallas zone. The Sharks power play did not score.

Ryan Garbutt did score at 18:00, on a breakaway with a backhand.

The Stars took another penalty with 37.3 seconds left in regulation. Shawn Horcoff went to the box for the third time, this time for goaltender interference.

Final score 5-1 Dallas. Shots 25-24 Dallas.

Matt Irwin led the Sharks in shots with six. Mike Brown and Tommy Wingels led the team in hits with four each. Karl Stollery and Brenden Dillon led in blocked shots with four each. Al Stalock made 20 saves on 25 shots.

Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn led the Stars in shots with four each. Antoine Roussel led the Stars in hits with three. Jyrki Jokipakka led in blocked shots with four. Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves for the win.

The Sharks next play in Edmonton on Thursday at 6:30 PT.