Tag: Marc-Edouard Vlasic

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

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

By Mary Walsh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT, Vlasic Scores Third Game in a Row

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The San Jose Sharks center Nico Sturm (7) gets to the door step but can’t score on Anaheim Ducks goaltender Josh Gibson (36) in the second period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Wed Jan 31, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated in overtime 3-2 by the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry and Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks. John Gibson made 26 saves for the win. Anthony Duclair and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in the loss.

The Sharks had a lead through most of the game. To lose after that had to be frustrating. After the game, Sharks Captain Logan Couture said “I thought we were the better team for a lot of the game but third period they kind of took over. They had a lot of looks, we looked tired at the end there.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said that the team is playing well now, despite this loss: “The one thing that you feel good about right now is how we’re playing now and our compete and we’re not giving up a lot of goals and just overall playing better hockey.”

Anaheim celebrated as if they had scored at 1:58 of the first period. But the whistle had blown and the puck only went into the net as Kahkonen was pushed in as well.

Less than 20 seconds later, the Ducks did score. Isac Lundestrom slipped behind the defense and scored with a wrist shot at 2:12. Assists went to Mason McTavish and Jakob Silfverberg

Anthony Duclair tied the game with a power play goal at 6:59. Shakir Mukhamadullin took a slap shot from the blue line and Duclair caught the rebound. Assists went to Mukhamadullin and Mike Hoffman. That was Mukhamadullin’s first NHL point in his third game.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored from the blue line with a slap shot at 17:57 of the second. Assists went to Kyle Burroughs and William Eklund. The goal extended Vlasic’s goal streak to three games.

With the Ducks net empty, Troy Terry tied the game at 18:59 of the third period. With a scrum in front of the net, Terry found the puck and put it in. Assists went to Leo Carlsson and Adam Henrique.

Frank Vatrano scored the overtime winner 4:07 into overtime. His wrist shot went past Kahkonen’s blocker as the goaltender tried moved across the goal mouth.

The Sharks were out-shot 34-28 by the Ducks. In the face-off circle, they won 45.5% of the draws. Alexander Barabanov was injured half way through the game. After the game, Quinn said that he did not believe the injury was “too serious.”

The Sharks next play on February 14 at 4:30 PM PT in Winnipeg against the Jets.

Sharks Lose to Senators 5-4; Sens Tarasenko gets gamer with 5 seconds left

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The Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot (72) celebrates with teammates after scoring on the San Jose Sharks in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sat Jan 13, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-4 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Claude Giroux, Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Senators. Joonas Korpisalo made 14 saves for the win. Anthony Duclair, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kevin Labanc and Filip Zadina scored for the Sharks. Mackenziie Blackwood made 36 saves in the loss.

The scoring was back and forth through all three periods and then ended with a goal in the last three seconds. After the game, Anthony Duclair talked about the importance of playing every second of the game: “Obviously, it’s tough to go down that way, especially in the last few seconds there but that’s a thing we’ve got to continue improving on is playing the full 60 right to the end there.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “I’m just really disappointed because, you know, we did a lot of good things in Montreal and didn’t follow it up tonight.” He went on to describe what was lacking in Saturday’s game:

“I just thought it was our lack of compete, really, throughout the night. I didn’t think we competed anywhere near the level we needed to, regardless of your opponent. I thought our puck play, we really struggled. There just weren’t many areas that we were real efficient in tonight.”

Claude Giroux scored the first goal of the game at 4:12 of the first period. Finding the puck lose in traffic in front of the net, he snapped it over the goalie. Assists went to Brady Tkachuk and Artem Zub.

Thomas Chabot made it 2-0 for the Senators at 9:58 with a slap shot from the faceoff circle. Assists went to Vladimir Tarasenko and Tim Stützle.

Anthony Duclair got the Sharks on the board at 12:35 with a slap shot from high in the slot. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov and Mario Ferraro.

The Sharks and Senators were close in shots for the first period, at 9-8 Sharks. In the second period, however, the Senators out-shot the Sharks 22-4. Nonetheless, the Sharks scored with two of those shots.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied the game at 3:53 of the second. Following up a 2-on-1 by Anthony Duclair and Mikael Granlund, he scored his first goal since January 2023. Assists went to Duclair and Granlund.

Kevin Labanc gave the Sharks the lead at 6:20 with a wrist shot off a sneaky backwards pass from Mario Ferraro. Assists went to Ferraro and Mike Hoffman.

Brady Tkachuk tied the game again at 7:11. Drake Batherson made a pass from the slot to Tkachuk as Tkachuk skated into the zone from the bench. Assists went to Batherson and Tim Stützle.

Batherson gave the Senators the lead at 12:59. He scored with a wrist shot off a rebound that came to him at the edge of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Artem Zub and Tim Stützle.

Filip Zadina tied the game again at 16:56 of the third period. He scored with a slap shot off a cross-ice pass from Tomas Hertl. Assists went to Hertl and Mario Ferraro.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored the game-winner. He caught a rebound off off Zub’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Artem Zub and Tim Stützle.

The Sharks were out-shot 11-5 in the third period for a total shot count of 41-18 Senators. The Sharks won 42.6% of the draws. Their power play had two shots in two opportunities and gave up one short-handed shot. They gave up four shots on two penalty kills and had one short-handed short.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 9:00 AM PT in Buffalo against the Sabres.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Matthews picks up hat trick and 100th career goal in Leafs win; Skjei scores game winner for Canes; plus more NHL news

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The Toronto Maple Leafs Austin Matthews (34) gets congratulated by his teammates in the third period. Matthews ended up scoring a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wed Oct 11, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs Austin Matthews scored a hat trick and had a quite a night and also scored his 300th career goal. Matthews got the tying goal and the Leafs later defeated the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

#2 Defenseman Brady Skjei scored a goal and got an assist for the Carolina Hurricanes to come back on the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena in Carolina on Wednesday for a 5-3 win. The Hurricanes got a goal each from Jordan Staal, Michael Bunting, Teuvo Teravainen, and Jacob Slavin.

#3 The Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard scored his first NHL goal in a loss to the Boston Bruins, The Bruins David Pastrnak scored two goals. It was the Bruins 100th season and they won their opener 3-1 at TD Waterhouse Garden in Boston.

#4 The Vegas Golden Knights Brett Howden was suspended for putting a head check to the head of the Seattle Kraken’s Brandon Tenev at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas. Howden rather than go low or below the shoulder for the check hit Tenev helmet to helmet which turned Tenev’s head and the NHL ruled it an illegal check. As a consequence Howden has been suspended for tonight’s game in San Jose and the next game on Sat 14th in Anaheim.

#5 In what many oddsmakers predict the San Jose Sharks will have a worse season this season than last year. The Sharks struggled all last season and that was with the help of former defenseman Erik Karlsson who is now with the Pittsburgh Penguins. This year they have to depend on a handful of veterans, Marc- Edouard Vlasic, Nico Sturm, Logan Couture, Ryan Carpenter, and Thomas Hertl as they open tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights in San Jose.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda to face Bakersfield Friday for pre season and Saturday for opener

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (34) blocks a shot by San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (72) during the third period at SAP Center on Thu Oct 28, 2023. Eklund is back from his time playing in Sweden during the summer. Eklund has been suited up for all the Sharks pre season games and a big help for the San Jose Barracuda last season. (AP file photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda will play 72 games for the 2023-24 season and will play 36 of those at home. How much of a home ice advantage do you see the Barracuda having this season?

#2 Marko some of the Barracuda participated in some of the San Jose Sharks pre season action. For the Sharks Henry Thrun got to skate with the big club he scored two goals in his first 20 minutes during the Sharks first pre season game on Sun Sep 24 vs. the Vegas Golden Knights.

#3 Nathan Todd who was with the Springfield Thunderbirds (Florida Panthers parent club) last season. Todd has played eight games for the Sharks last season, will most likely play most of this season with the Barracuda.

#4 Daniel Gushchin had a great 2022-23 season with 22 goals for San Jose. Gushchin as assisted Thrun on his second goal against the Knights. Gushchin had a remarkable rookie year with 22 goals last season.

#5 Last week Tuesday the Sharks William Eklund has 19:26 leading all forwards in ice time, Eklund and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored in the loss to the Anaheim Ducks in San Jose’s second exhibition game. Shakir Mukhamadullin got an assist on Eklund’s second goal.

Join Marko for all the latest on SJ Barracuda hockey the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: NHL draft is days away who will guide the ship for SJ?

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San Jose Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic might have his contract bought out as the team feels his talents have declined . Vlasic feels he can help another team with more playing time. (file photo from USA Today)

On the Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len, with former San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner, and assistants John McLean and John Madden all departed the Sharks have another task and that’s trying to fill their jobs with the NHL draft coming around the corner on July 7th.

#2 The Sharks had a number of games where they were struggling but not enough where the Sharks could have worked some off season deals that could have kept Boughner and his staff on board. Do you think the Sharks could have given Boughner another season to see if things would work out?

#3 Scott Mellanby was a finalist for the general manager’s job but dropped out and that leaves two top candidates Ray Whitney and Mike Grier two former NHL players and two former Sharks. Grier and Whitney looks like the finalists for the job which direction do you see the Sharks going and what are the strengths of Whitney and Grier if they step into the general manager’s role.

#4 There’s talk that the Sharks might buy out defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract saying that his talents have faded, that his value has declined and in a post game interview after the last game of the season Vlasic said “imagine if I could play more” does he have enough talent to stay in the NHL at this point.

#5 With the Sharks possibly about to make a general manager announcement they need to get a head coach in place with just a few days left before the draft that’s a short window to get that decided and see what is in front of them for the NHL draft.

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Sink Ducks 4-1, Meier Scores Hat Trick

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San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) tries to get the puck away from Anaheim Ducks center Trevor Zegras (46) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 26, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Saturday. It was Anaheim’s ninth loss in a row. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks, Meier with the hat trick. James Reimer made 27 saves for the win. Gerry Mahew scored for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves in the loss.

The Sharks started slowly on Saturday, taking two first-period penalties and getting just six shots in the first. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about his goaltender’s performance:

“I thought Reims really kept us in it, at the beginning of the game, made some huge stops, especially on the penalty kill. We were just a little sloppy. But we used that, Reims’ saves, and we settled down and played a pretty good hockey game after that.”

Marc-Edouard Vlasic gave the Sharks the lead with his third goal of the season, at 14:48 of the first period. Ryan Merkley made a pass from just above the goal line back up the ice to Vlasic for the shot. Assists went to Merkley and Scott Reedy.

Timo Meier made it 2-0 at 1:41 of the second period. Meier got the puck from Alexander Barabanov near the boards, then carried it out to the slot for the shot. It was his 28th of the season.

Gerry Mahew got the Ducks on the board at 1:05 of the third period. Dominik Simon caught a turnover in the neutral zone and went the other way. Mahew followed in a hurry and Simon dropped the puck to him for the shot.

Timo Meier scored his second of the night on the power play at 3:56 of the period. Meier gathered up the puck from a cross-ice pass across the ice then skated closer to the net and shot the puck right by the goaltender. Barabanov and Hertl got the assists.

Meier completed his hat trick at 15:55. Tomas Hertl carried the puck into the zone and almost to the net before making a pass back to Meier, through three defenders. The pass was a little behind Meier so he reached his stick back and tapped it between his skates to set up for the shot. Hertl and Burns got the assists.

The Sharks power play had three shots and one goal in three opportunities. Their penalty kill gave up five shots in four penalties. The Ducks out-shot the Sharks 28-24. In the face-off circle, the Ducks won 57% of the draws.

Logan Couture was out of the lineup with the upper body injury sustained on Thursday.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday against the Coyotes in Arizona at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Win 4-3 Against Flames in Calgary; Couture and Barbanov score key goals

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San Jose Sharks’ Alexander Barabanov, center, celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames with Timo Meier, left, and Tomas Hertl at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Tue Mar 22, 2022 (Photo by The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 Tuesday in Calgary. The Sharks are 3-0 against the Flames this season. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Timo Meier, Alexander Barabanov and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 28 saves for the win. Johnny Gaudreau, Dillon Dube, and Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames, Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“As the game went on we got a couple bounces and I think it gave us a little bit of energy. I thought the guys played hard for each other. I thought that we had some energy out of the Gadjovich Viel line. Every time they were one the ice. It took us a while to get going but once we did I thought we played a pretty responsible game. That’s a great team offensively obviously and [Reimer] came up huge at the end with some stops.”

He observed that the circumstances of the game were noteworthy: “Coming into this building after the trade deadline, having guys injured and out of the lineup, Nieto and [Dahlen] and guys like that and some young guys in pretty big roles tonight, I thought it was a great team effort.”

Johnny Gaudreau started the scoring at 4:17 with a power play goal. He stopped the puck with his skate and lifted the puck into the top corner. Assists went to Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm.

Dillon Dube made it 2-0 at 8:16. Tkachuk kept the puck in and sent it back to the slot where Dube was ready to take a quick shot.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the Sharks on the board at 14:54 with shot from the point. He had just kept the puck in and threw it on net. It snuck by Markstrom on the blocker side.

The Sharks had two penalties to kill in the first. They gave up the one goal and allowed two shots. They had one power play that got three shots on goal. The shot count for the period was 14-9 Sharks.

Mikael Backlund scored at 4:08 of the second period, restoring Calgary’s two-goal lead. Johnny Gaudreau took advantage of a neutral zone turnover and carried the puck in two-on-one with Backlund. Gaudreau made the pass across the slot and Backlund took a backhand shot close in to the net.

Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot at 14:59 after Brent Burns slashed him. Reimer caught the shot in his glove.

Timo Meier trimmed the Flames lead back to one at 17:30. Burns took a shot from above the circle that it a defenseman. The rebound went out to Timo Meier just above the goal line by the boards. His bad angle shot found its way into the net. Assists went to Burns and Alexander Barabanov.

The Flames outshot the Sharks in the second period 12-10. The Sharks had the only power play in the period and got five shots on goal.

Barabanov tied the game at 11:07 of the third, after Tomas Hertl lifted the puck between defenders from behind the net to make a pass to Barabanov. Barabanov was right in front of the blue paint and he lifted it over the goaltender for his tenth goal of the season.

Logan Couture gave the Sharks the lead less than 30 seconds later. Noah Gregor carried the puck to the et and took a shot. Markstrom stopped that but the rebound went to Couture who as following Gregor. Couture’s shot trickled under the goalie for Couture’s 21st of the season. Assists went to Gregor and Sasha Chmelevski.

Calgary pulled their goaltender with about 90 seconds left but the Sharks held them off. The final shot count was 38-31 Sharks but the Sharks only won 46% of the face-offs.

In the final minutes of the game, Timo Meier left the ice with a lower body injury.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Ducks, Sawchenko Gets the Start

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Zach Sawchenko, right, stops a shot by Anaheim Ducks center Adam Henrique in second period action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

ANAHEIM- The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks Sunday. Adam Henrique, Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim and Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves for the win. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose and Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves in his first NHL start.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about Sawchenko’s performance:

“Sawzy, I thought he stood tall. I thought that he gave us the saves we needed early, he made some big saves to keep the momentum on our side. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the two points for him. But for his first full start I think he should be pretty happy with it.”

Undrafted, Sawchenko played for the San Jose Barracuda and the Allen Americans from 2019 to 2021 before signing with the Sharks at the end of last season.

The goaltender talked about making his first start: “It was a long road to get here. I think it’s that much more special, doing it here with the same team that I started with whatever it was, four years ago or three years, whatever the number is.” Sawchenko is of Ukrainian descent and he was asked about the performance of the Ukrainian anthem that played before the game. He said: “Obviously it’s cool. It was cool to hear that yesterday in San Jose too.”

The game-winning goal came after a very convenient line change by the Ducks, and Boughner was not happy about it:

“It’s just a complete, disastrous blown call. And the thing that pisses me off the most is they don’t even come over to the bench, they race off the ice. Just, the respect to come and explain it. Everybody missed it, no review, if you watch it, the replay, it’s too many men all day long.”

The game started with a fight between Jeffrey Viel and Sam Carrick.

Logan Couture made it 1-0 Sharks at 7:47. Couture carried the puck in, looking for the pass but took the shot instead and sent the puck right under Stolarz. Assists went to Timo Meier and Santeri Hatakka.

The Sharks came out of the first period with the lead and a shot lead of 10-9. The Sharks had to kill three penalties and had one power play in the period. Their penalty kill gave up just one shot and had two short-handed shots. Their power play got two shots on goal.

The Ducks tied it up at 1:41 of the second period. Max Comtois’s shot went off of Sawchenko and then off of Adam Henrique and into the net. Assists went to Comtois and Troy Terry.

A little over a minute later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the lead back for the Sharks with a shot from the blue line through traffic. The puck wet off of Kevin Shattenkirk’s leg and into the net. Nicolas Meloche got the assist.

Sony Milano tied it up again with 20 seconds left in the period. The puck came out of a scrum in front of the net and Milano was right there and in the clear to put it away. Assists went to Adam Henrique and Cam Fowler.

The second period had just two penalties called, one to each team. Each power play got just one shot in. The Sharks were badly outshot in the period, 13-6 Ducks.

At 7:03 of the third period, Jacob Middleton puck the puck in the net during a penalty kill but the play was called offside and the goal was called back. Middleton was about half a stride ahead of the puck that Nieto was bringing over the line. To follow up on that valiant effort, Middleton took a stick to the face at the end of the penalty kill to give the Sharks a power play.

Nine seconds into overtime, Logan Couture was covering Adam Henrique while the Ducks had the puck. Couture took an eye off of Henrique, who was near the bench. While Couture was looking away with Henrique behind him, Rickard Rakell jumped on the ice at the other end of the bench, giving himself a good lead on Couture and Burns both. Rakell skated into the zone alone and beat Sawchenko over the glove. Assists went to Terry and Fowler.

After the game, the teams conferenced about the play. It could have been a too-many men on the ice play since Henrique was lackadaisical about getting off the ice. But the goal held up.

The Sharks struggled in the face-off circle Sunday, winning just 38% of the draws. They improved in the third, winning 53% of them. The Sharks excelled at blocking shots, however, blocking 28 to the Ducks’ 7.

The Sharks lost Radim Simek to injury late in Saturday’s game, giving Santeri Hatakka a chance in the lineup Sunday.

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

Sharks Fall to Lightning 3-0; fourth loss in six games

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photo from sbnation: The San Jose Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell (30) under fire from the Tampa Bay Lightning as the Sharks get shutout 3-0 on Saturday night

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Saturday at the SAP Center. Goals were scored by Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Curtis McElhinney made 30 saves in the shut-out win, while Aaron Dell made 32 saves in the loss.

It was the Sharks’ first game since Tomas Hertl’s most recent injury, which will keep him out for the rest of the season. Additionally, Joel Kellman was injured Saturday. As of the post game report, he was still being evaluated.

The Sharks recognized Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1000th NHL game with a silver stick ceremony. Vlasic is the first defenseman to have played all 1000 games with the Sharks.

In the first period, the Sharks had just two shots on goal to Tampa Bay’s 13. Tampa Bay had power plays at 3:32 (Dylan Gambrell for holding), and 8:51 (Erik Karlsson for hooking). The Sharks had one at 6:56 (Cedric Paquette for roughing against Melker Karlsson).

The teams played four on four at 15:56 when Brenden Dillon went to the box for hi-sticking Yanni Gourde and Yanni Gourde went for roughing back. Two of Tampa Bay’s shots came with the man advantage.

Joel Kellman went into the boards during the first, with some help from Kevin Shattenkirk. Kellman got up slowly, and only skated one shift in the second period before leaving the game.

The Sharks went on a power play just 53 seconds into the second period. Erik Karlsson drew a tripping penalty that put Ondrej Palat in the box. The Sharks got three shots on that power play. They went on to out-shoot Tampa Bay for the first half of the period 10-4.

Nonetheless, Steven Stamkos scored at 4:04, after a lengthy play in the Sharks zone and a cross-ice pass from Kevin Shattenkirk that went between two Sharks defenders. The puck found Stamkos right in his old hangout around in the faceoff circle, and the shot went by Brent Burns and Aaron Dell and into the net. Shattenkirk and Mikhail Sergachev got the assists.

The Sharks killed off another Tampa Bay power play at 8:29 when Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for hi-sticking Stamkos. The Sharks had their third power play at 13:30, when Tyler Johnson went for slashing Evander Kane.

By the end of the period, the Sharks had outshot the Lightning 18-8.

The third period was penalty-free and Nikita Kucherov put the game away at 17:57 with a backhand off as he skated out of the slt in traffic. Assists went to Stamkos and Brayden Point.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender with almost two minutes left and Ondrej Palat scored an empty net goal at 19:43. An assist went to Anthony Cirelli.

The third period shot count was 14-10 Tampa Bay. The face-off edge in the game went to the Sharks, who won 54% of them.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Calgary against the Flames at 6:00 PM PT.