NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Yotes snap 4-game skid with 4-3 win; McDavid gets 2 goals, Oilers upend Flyers; Jets pick up OT win, down Hawks 4-3; plus more

freep.com photo: Arizona Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski (33) skates against New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Arizona Coyotes’ Derek Stepan, the former New York Ranger, got a chance at revenge and defeated his old team in overtime with a goal at 4:28 to help the Yotes snap out of a four-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden. The Coyotes were behind 3-0 at one time, but scored four unanswered goals for the comeback.

#2 The Oilers’ Conner McDavid is one you could count on scoring two goals and an assist and teammate Leon Draisaitl had three assists as the Oilers got a three-goal win over the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.

#3 The Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele with 50 seconds into the overtime scored the game-winning goal to edge the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Scheifele scored two goals in the game for the Jets fourth win in a row and the Hawks have now lost nine of their last ten games.

#4 The Ottawa Senators got offensive help to get by the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. The Sens’ Mark Stone scored a third period goal, Chris Tierney added a goal on a empty-netter.

#5 In overtime, New Jersey’s Nico Hischier got the game-winner after 41 seconds. New Jersey came back from three goals down to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3.

Matt does the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Satisfying win against Canucks, will it pick up momentum going into five-game road trip for the Sharks?

photo from citizens-times.com: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton (19) shoots the puck during the first period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Nov. 23, 2018.

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 After taking a tough loss to the Edmonton Oilers (10-10-2) on Tuesday the San Jose Sharks (12-7-4) came right back on Friday night and shutout the struggling Vancouver Canucks (10-13-2) 4-0. Was this a game of the Sharks showing improvement over Tuesday’s game or the Canucks, who now have lost eight straight, are just a bad club?

#2 San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell save 19 shots and didn’t allow a goal in net for the Sharks.

#3 The Sharks’ Joe Thornton hit a milestone with his 1,035th assist 750 of those with San Jose, eclipsing former Pittsburgh Penguin Mario Lemeiux.

#4 The Sharks got goal help from Logan Couture first period at 10:54 (8), Timo Meier (13) at 19:50, third period Erik Karlsson (2) at 3:43 and Melker Karlsson (1) at 9:35.

#5 The Sharks hit the road starting tonight in Vegas (11-12-1) for the first of five games. How do you see them faring on this current trip?

Len does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sabres’ OT goal sinks Habs 3-2; Ducks gain confidence in win over Oilers after losing two; Tuch gets key goal in Vegas’ shutout over the Flames; plus more

photo from yahoosports.com: Buffalo Sabres’ Sam Reinhart (23), Jeff Skinner and Jck Eichel (9) celebrate a goal during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Buffalo N.Y.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Buffalo Sabres’ Jeff Skinner had himself an evening against the the Montreal Canadiens, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to hand the Sabres a 3-2 victory. Skinner also scored a goal late in third period as the Sabres have won eight straight games.

#2 The Anaheim Ducks reassured their confidence with a win over in overtime over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. The Ducks had lost two straight games to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks’ Richard Rakell scored in first 14 seconds of the overtime stanza to beat the Oilers.

#3 At the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights’ Alex Tuch nailed a goal and an assist as the Knights got a 2-0 shutout win over the Calgary Flames Friday night.

#4 In a match that was physical to say the least between the Minnesota Wild and the Winnipeg Jets, the Wild got a go-ahead goal that proved to be the gamer when Eric Staal got a goal with just 2:54 left in the regulation. The game saw it’s share of penalties and the Wild were up on the Jets 2-0 after two periods. Wild win it 4-2.

#5 The Washington Capitals got goals from Michal Kempny and Alex Ovechkin at 1:56 in the third period to help defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Caps have won four straight and the Wings are 10-10-2 with 22 points sixth place in the Atlantic Division.

Join Matt for the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Jackets on a roll, get ninth win past Caps; Leafs with five-goal win, 6-1, over New Jersey; NHL matchups for tonight

Photo credit: nhl.com/bluejackets

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Columbus Blue Jackets (9-6-1) got by the Washington Capitals 2-1 Friday night. The Jackets got a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand at 17:16 in the first period and Anthony Duclair got goal number seven of the season at 5:09. Not much offense from the Caps.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs (11-5-0) and the New Jersey Devils (6-7-1)  skated to a 6-1 five-goal Leafs victory Friday night. The Leafs scored four goals in the second period and they’re not slowing down.

#3 The Vancouver Canucks (10-7-1) are in Buffalo (9-6-2) tonight. How dangerous, how improved are these Canucks this season?  The Sabers won it by a goal 4-3 in a shootout beating a tough Canucks team after having a two goal deficit.

#4 The Chicago Blackhawks (6-7-3) face the Philadelphia Flyers (8-7-1) at the Wells Fargo Center. Is this an evenly matched game or do the Flyers have the home ice advantage when the puck drops tonight? The Flyers blanked the Blackhawks 4-0 for the Hawks seventh straight loss.

#5 Tonight, the Golden Knights (7-8-1) are in Montreal (8-5-3). Taking a look at the Knights’ offensive leaders: Jonathan Marchessault leads the team with 14 assists, seven goals, and William Karlsson eight assists, and for the Montreal Canadiens, Max Domi 19 points, nine goals, and Jeff Petry with 11 assists.

Matt does the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks fall to Golden Knights 5-4 in a shootout

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks were back to business at the SAP Center versus the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. In case you need a refresher, San Jose was knocked out by Vegas in the second round of the 2018 NHL Playoffs after sweeping the Ducks in the first round that postseason.

The official introduction of star defenseman Erik Karlsson broke the internet this week. The Karlsson trade changed the Sharks’ defensive pairings, as Karlsson will likely join a fifth in 2018. Karlsson also made headlines for not speaking to the Ottawa Senators’ management since last November when they asked for his no-trade clause. And, of course, the fact the CBA could derail Karlsson’s future in San Jose.

But, let’s focus on what happened on Saturday night inside the SAP Center.

Both teams picked up where they left off. The Sharks and Golden Knights played with a lot of grit, and at times, physicality. Vegas drew first blood as Max Pacioretty scored the opening goal just 43 seconds into the first period. Assists were handed to Erik Haula and Paul Statsny. San Jose, however, tied the score 1-1 just 40 seconds later. Brent Burns scored the game-tying goal. Assists were handed to Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with 5:45 left in the first period. Meier’s goal helped put the Sharks in front. A lone assist was handed to Hertl.

Both teams played fairly rough, but the Sharks led the Golden Knights 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were tied 10-10. But the score wasn’t the only positive for San Jose, who got their first in-game sighting of Karlsson, who spoke to in-game host Jon Root for an entertaining interview.

Sharks fans gave a standing ovation as soon as Joe Thornton made his first appearance since January 23rd to open the second period. Thornton was happy to be back on the rink.

Barclay Goodrow scored a penalty shot goal to extend the Sharks’ lead to 3-1 at the 13:27 mark of the second period. The Golden Knights quickly made it a one-goal game as Oscar Lindberg made a top corner shot. A lone assist was handed to Alex Tuch.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones made a noteworthy glove save to fend off a potential Golden Knights goal with 2:11 left in the second period.

The Golden Knights’ Erik Brannstrom was called for holding, and as a result, the Sharks went on the power play. Logan Couture then worked his magic with a short-handed goal with just 58 seconds left in the second period. A lone assist was handed to Hertl.

The Sharks carried a 4-2 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 18-16 in favor of San Jose.

The remaining 17 seconds of Joe Pavelski’s slashing penalty was carried over into the third period. The Sharks killed off their captain’s penalty, but the Golden Knights gave the home team a hard time as they pulled within one again. Lindberg earned credit for the goal, which was his second of the night, 5:05 into the third period.

The Golden Knights weren’t far from quitters, as Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored a short-handed, game-tying goal to tie the score 4-4 (and his team killed their penalty, too) with less than two minutes left in the third period.

The score remained in a 4-4 tie, and both teams went to overtime for the first time this preseason.

Neither team was able to score in overtime, so the game had to be decided by a shootout.

In round one, Pavelski was the first shooter, but Golden Knights goalie Maxime Lagace made a notable save to prevent a potential Sharks point. In round two, both Couture and Tuch scored. In round three, neither Pacioretty or Evander Kane scored. In round four, neither Hertl or Brandon Pirri scored. In round five, neither Burns or Lindberg scored. In round six, Thornton missed his shot, while Brannstorm scored the shootout winner to lift the Golden Knights to a 5-4 win over the Sharks.

Notes
Sharks’ starters: Brenden Dillon, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Joe Thornton and Justin Braun.

Sharks’ scratches: Ryan Merkley and Sasha Chmelevski.

Tonight’s featured player was Logan Couture.

Tonight’s attendance was 15,496.

Sharks Fan Fest will be held on Sunday, September 23 from 1-7 pm PDT. More information can be found at sjsharks.com/fanfest.

The San Jose Barracuda will begin the 2018-19 AHL season on Friday, October 5. More information can be found at www.sjbarracuda.com/news/detail/barracuda-home-opener-two-weeks-away-oct-5.

Up Next 
The Sharks head to Calgary to take on the Flames in a preseason tilt on Tuesday, September 25 at 6:00 pm PDT.

Jones Shuts Out Golden Knights 4-0; Sharks Even Series 2-2

Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks turned their best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights into a best-of-three, beating the visitors 4-0 Wednesday night at the SAP Center to even the series 2-2. Martin Jones authored a 34-save shutout, his second of the playoffs, while helping San Jose’s penalty kill go 5-for-5.

Tomas Hertl scored his team-best fifth goal of the playoffs, Joonas Donskoi lit the lamp in his return to the lineup after a one-game layoff and Marcus Sorensen scored the game-winner. Joe Pavelski broke out of his mini-slump with his first goal since Game 3 of the Anaheim Ducks series and Logan Couture dished a pair of assists.

The spring of Sorensen continued, with the Swede forward scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs 15:37 into the first period in a superhuman effort. Sorensen circled the Vegas net, working his way back into the slot before losing his balance on a Colin Miller trip to Fleury’s right. He still managed to fire the puck mid-fall à la Bobby Orr top-shelf before the Golden Knights’ keeper could ever make his push across the net for a 1-0 San Jose lead.

“It was huge,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the game-opening strike. “We’ve been chasing the lead the whole series. We talked about it, but it’s easier said than done. We’ve had chances in the last two games to get out front but [Marc-Andre] Fleury’s been exceptional early in games in order to keep us off the board. It’s nice that we stuck with it. Hopefully, we see some cracks.”

The Sharks looked like they were going to head to the locker room with a one-goal lead, but another fantastic individual effort from a San Jose forward led to a 2-0 cushion with just six seconds left in the first. Joonas Donskoi, absent from the lineup in Game 3, went coast-to-coast before beating Fleury over his glove with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt trying to close in on him in the slot. Brenden Dillon picked up his second assist of the game after serving up a helper on Sorensen’s strike as well.

Tomas Hertl had arguably his best game of the series, firing three shots on net over 18:58 minutes while being a force around and behind the Vegas net. The Sharks forward scored his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason after parking himself in front of Fleury and shoveling a loose puck past through the scrambling netminder 5:35 into the second. Mikkel Boedker picked up an assist after firing the initial shot and Logan Couture had a secondary assist with the Sharks leading 3-0.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal of the series, just his second of the playoffs, on the powerplay late in the third period after Fleury challenged Pavelski on the edge of the crease. Pavelski jammed at the puck till it flipped around Fleury’s left pad for a 4-0 lead with 8:17 in regulation. Couture drew his second assist on the goal while Brent Burns picked up a helper as well.

“They won the netfront battle at both ends,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. “When you do that you win the game.”

Vegas vented its frustration in the final minutes, collecting a pair of penalties to put the Sharks on a 5-on-3 man advantage as time expired, but Team Teal couldn’t convert. In total, Vegas committed 22 minutes worth of penalties, with post-season hits leader William Carrier drawing a 10-minute misconduct to go with a roughing double-minor with 1:52 left in regulation.

The Sharks lineup remained a mystery up till puck drop, with Evander Kane missing the morning skate and Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow flanking Joe Pavelski on the top line at the morning practice. Ultimately, the only lineup change besides the return of Donskoi was the insertion of Joakim Ryan in Paul Martin’s place at defense. Martin was victimized most notably on William Karlsson’s overtime winner in Game 3 while Ryan showed promise in Game 4, including covering for Brent Burns to breakup a breakaway in the first period. Ryan finished the night with one blocked shot over 11:55 of ice time in his first career postseason contest.

“He did a good job,” said DeBoer of Ryan. “We didn’t win tonight because of Ryan, we didn’t lose last time because of Paul Martin. Our team game the last three games has been really good. The difference tonight was they were 0-5 on the power play and we snuck some goals in.”

The series shifts to Vegas Friday night, but the Sharks victory assures at least one more home game. If the Sharks were to win Game 5 in Vegas, they’d have a chance to finish out the series on home ice Sunday. The best guess will be that DeBoer rides the same 18 skaters for Friday’s tilt.

Sharks stymied for first time in NHL playoffs in 7-0 shutout by Golden Knights

Photo credit: nhl.com/goldenknights

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks became the one to suffer a 2018 Stanley Cup playoff loss first, as they were shut out 7-0 by the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western Conference second round at the T-Mobile Arena Thursday night.

Both teams were playing for the first time in over a week after they swept their previous opponents. It was a much more lopsided game than in the teams’ previous meetings and the Knights’ first win these playoffs by more than one goal.  

Vegas scored four goals in the first period, the first two just 26 seconds apart to set up the win along with three more goals on three shots.

Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves on the defensive end. It was his third shutout this postseason and second straight shutout.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones was removed during the game and Evander Kane received a game misconduct for cross-checking Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the face while staring at him face-to-face.

11 different Knights had points. Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and two assists, Erik Haula, Alex Tuck and James Neal each had a goal and assist, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith each had three assists and David Perron had two assists.

After San Jose held Vegas on an early power play, the Knights exerted their strength beginning at 4:31 until 6:02.

Cody Eakin and Haula scored their second of the playoffs and Marchessault his first.

The game continued to trend downward for the Sharks when they followed their power play opportunity at 6:49 with a penalty 37 seconds after the end.

48 seconds later, San Jose went down to three men with another infraction. Tuck capitalized, as he weaved his way through four defenders to make it 4-0 at 11:43.

The Sharks got their own 5-on-3 chance later, but were unable to find the net.

San Jose ended the period with a flurry of shots versus Fleury (17 during the period) and Vegas had 15 blocked shots.   

Jones made two saves in the second, 14 seconds apart. However, Shea Theodore took Jones out of the game 40 seconds later, with the Knights’ fifth goal. Smith started the play by intercepting a pass at the other end. Theodore’s goal came at 3:28.  

Neal nearly had Vegas’ sixth goal and second on the power play at the end of the period, but it was negated.

While there were already a number of penalties in the game, the atmosphere was not chippy until the penalties at 3:25 of the third. First, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski received a slashing call after he just came out of the box 17 seconds earlier for interference. The bigger concurrent penalty came to Kane for cross-checking Bellemare in the face twice, which was a game misconduct.

This resulted in the Knights’ second 5-on-3 advantage and Colin Miller made San Jose pay with his first career playoff goal at 4:32.

Neal then got his goal with Vegas’ second straight on the power play, a quick wraparound.

The Sharks’ shots were few at first in the closing period, the first coming with 17:13 (shorthanded), 10:50 and 8:24 left.

Game Notes: It was San Jose goalie Aaron Dell’s playoff debut. He made 19 saves off 21 shots and his counterpart Jones made eight saves off 13 shots. The Knights’ William Carrier had a game-high eight hits. The Sharks’ Logan Couture had a game-high six shots on goal. Bellemare had a game-high five blocked shots.

Up Next: Game 2 will reconvene in Vegas at 5 pm PT Saturday.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Thornton out for Game 1 Thursday night; Speed the key for Sharks in series where Knights have home ice

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks will play Game 1 of the second round in Vegas after some seven days off after playing their last game in San Jose against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday.

#2 Nothing official has been announced yetm but Game 2 in Vegas on Saturday, Games 3 and 4 in San Jose on Monday and Wednesday nights.

#3 The Knights’ head coach Gerard Gallant says the Knights are ready and are anxious to get started like San Jose is. Gallant said they’ve been waiting too long for round two to get started.

#4 Talk about the Sharks’ key players for this second round and how they match up for this series with Vegas. Also, the Sharks will be without Joe Thornton for Game 1.

#5 The Knights have one of the toughest goalies in the NHL, Marc-Andre Fleury. How do you see the Sharks faring against him?

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

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

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Popovich in mourning over wife’s death will miss tonight’s game against Golden State; How tragedy will effect Spurs; plus more sports headlines

On the Sports Headlines podcast with Tony:’

#1 San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s wife Erin 67 had passed away on Wednesday. Popovich will not be coaching tonight’s game in San Antonio. Assistant coach Ettore Messina is scheduled to coach tonight’s game three for San Antonio. Popovich and the Spurs were headed to San Antonio to prepare to face the Golden State Warriors down in the first round of the playoffs 2-0. Popovich had been married to Erin for over four decades. Spurs and Warriors front office, coaches, players and fans all feel his pain. The Warriors Kevin Durant said, “The whole NBA family is supporting him, got his back through it all,” Durant said. “Feel so bad for Pop.”

#2 During Game 2 on Monday night Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson for Golden State have been the Warriors’ one-two punch with Durant scoring 32 and Thompson 31 to lead the Warriors to their second win in the series.

#3 Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was a real show stopper with 46 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavs defeated the Indiana Pacers 100-97. The Cavs, who lost Game 1 of the series, felt the pressure of getting the win after the Pacers pretty much controlled the first game and LeBron got fired up and carried most of the load.

#4 If the Oakland A’s can’t get a new stadium built in at either Howard Terminal or the Coliseum, would the A’s consider selling to Portland? A Portland group is interested in buying the A’s.

Tony Renteria does the Sports Headlines each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com