Tag: Martin Jones

Sharks Break Buffalo Curse With 2-1 OT Win

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By Mary Walsh

photo credit AP Sharks Joe Pavelski scores first period goal vs. Red Wings

The Sharks finally defeated the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, breaking a ten year losing streak with an overtime win. Before Saturday, the Sharks had only won one game in Buffalo and that was in 2005. After the win, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

It’s a good feeling. It’s a big weight to carry around: ten years. I didn’t know it was that long until kinda dug into it here today, so I think the guys were happy to get that monkey off our back. It was a hard fought game, we pushed out early and they came back at us. Both goaltenders I thought were excellent. It was a good game.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski picked up his 500th NHL point. It was just the second time that Sharks goaltender Martin Jones played in back-to-backs, and the second time he won both games. It was just the second time the Sharks went to overtime this season, and they won both games.

The game was remarkably even, though each team had moments of dominance. The shots were 32-31 Sharks, faceoffs were 31-29 Sabres. Each team had three power plays, and the Sharks scored on one. The teams were within one on giveaways and takeaways, and the Sharks blocked eleven shots to the Sabres’ eight. It was only fitting that such a close game go to overtime.

The Sharks drew a penalty in the first minute of play, when Tommy Wingels skated into the Buffalo zone and was slashed by Jake McCabe. As a result, the Sharks took the lead on a power play goal from Marc-Edouard Vlasic, at 1:48. Patrick Marleau screen Buffalo goaltender Chad Johnson. Assists went to Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns. It was Pavelski’s 500th career point.

The Sharks took their first penalty at 8:26, for having too many men on the ice. Just 34 seconds into that, Marc-Edouard Vlasic made contact with Ryan O’Reilly’s upper body, and was called for tripping. Martin Jones, Paul Martin, Joel Ward and Brent Burns weathered some close calls during the five on three time. Pavelski, Dillon and Hertl went out for the second part of the kill, and finished it off.

With 1:36 left in the period, Joe Pavelski was called for tripping Jake McCabe. The Sharks had a steady penalty kill, leaving the Sabres with just 26 seconds left of power play to start the second period. at the end of the first, the Sharks held a 9-8 lead in shots as well as the 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.

The Sabres took their second penalty at 7:34 of the second period. Carlo Colaiacovo was called for tripping Joe Pavelski. San Jose’s second power play was much less effective than their first. The Sabres penalty killers not only kept the Sharks out of the zone, but backed them into the defensive own zone and took a shot or two.

In the final four minutes of the period, Mike Brown went to deliver a check on Tyler Ennis. Ennis seemed to lose his footing before being hit and fell backwards awkwardly into the boards. He appeared to be shaken up but he did not leave the game.

The Sabres dominated play in the final minutes of the period, but could not beat Martin Jones. Except for the one penalty, the second period was quite even. The shots were tied at nine each for a total of 18-17 Sharks.

Early in the third period, coach DeBoer started adjusting his lines, moving Matt Nieto into Goldobin’s spot and alternating others with the fourth line. Late in the second period, Goldobin lost track of the puck at an inopportune moment, allowing a dangerous scoring chance for Buffalo. That seemed like a forgivable offense but in general his play had not been as strong as prior games Saturday.

At 4:33, Buffalo defenseman Cody Franson left the game after sliding into the boards feet first.

While Goldobin’s second period miscues did not result in a goal against, the new second line was on the ice at 6:27 when Ryan O’Reilly won the puck away from Paul Martin near the Sharks blue line. O’Reilly had time to take a clean shot past Jones on the far side. Assists went to Rasmus Ristolainen and Josh Gorges.

At 14:35 of the third period, Tommy Wingels lined up Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons for an open ice hit, but Girgensons seemed to duck and Wingels sailed over him. Wingels may have caught Girgensons in the head with a knee as he fell over his target. Girgensons stayed down. Colaiacovo went after Wingels, and was called for the roughing. Girgensons went to the dressing room.

The Sharks power play started pretty well, and Brent Burns had a chance one on one with the goalie, but his shot caught the edge of the goalie’s pad and wound up hitting the post. The Sharks spent the rest of the power play in the offensive zone but could not score.

In the final 20 seconds of regulation, Jack Eichel took the puck and skated end to end around every Shark that tried to get in his way. Eichel did get a shot off but Jones stopped it. The Sharks that had been chasing Eichel almost ran over Jones as he tried to corral the puck. He did keep it out.

The teams headed to overtime three on three. DeBoer opted to start with Thornton, Pavelski and Burns. The Sabres started with Ristolainen, Gionta and O’Reilly. Hertl, Vlasic and Marleau went next for the Sharks, then Vlasic, Wingels and Karlsson. Cody Franson had to defend all three Sharks skating into the zone, and opted to fall over Wingels’s stick to prevent a shot or a pass.

With 2:10 left in overtime, Tomas Hertl had the puck along the boards. He fell but held on to the puck and managed to turn and skate into the slot to take a shot. The rebound started a flurry of shots from the Sharks. Vlasic took a slap shot from the blue line that created a rebound for Marleau to pick up near the net. He put the puck over Johnson for the game winner.

Patrick Marleau led the team in shots with five, Tommy Wingels led in hits with six. Martin Jones made 30 saves on 3 shots for the win.

The only change to the Sharks lineup was on defense, where Mirco Mueller got a look, in Matt Tennyson’s spot with Brenden Dillon. Mueller and forward Nikolay Goldobin, both rookies, skated very limited minutes in the game but neither were on the ice for goals against.

Zemgus Girgensons led the Sabres in shots with five, and Josh Gorges led the team in hits with four. Former Shark Jamie McGinn had three shots and three hits. Chad Johnson made 30 saves on 32 shots.

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

Sharks Start Road Trip With 3-2 Win in Detroit

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings on Friday by a score of 3-2. It was an excellent start to a six game road trip. Sharks goals were scored by Matt Nieto, Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson. Five Sharks defensemen had points in the game, and goaltender Martin Jones stopped 26 of 28 shots for the win. For the Red Wings, Dylan Larkin made an excellent impression skating in his first NHL game. He set up the Tomas Tatar for Detroit’s first goal. The other Detroit goal came from Teemu Pulkkinen in the final minute of the game.

The Sharks gave up the first goal early in the game, something they have been doing a lot lately. Despite giving up the first goal yet again, Martin Jones had a good bounce back game. After the win, he said:

I’ve got to find a way to come up with a save early in the game. That’s a lot of games in a row that we’re coming from behind here so… It makes it tough on us. You know, the guy makes a good shot but I’ve got to find a way to come up with a save early.

The most noteworthy change to the Sharks lineup was that Patrick Marleau moved to center the second line, with Joel Ward and Nikolay Goldobin on the wings. Melker Karlsson started on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Tomas Hertl centered the third line with Tommy Wingels and Joonas Donskoi. That left a fourth line centered by Chris Tierney with Matt Nieto and Mike Brown.

For the Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk entered the lineup for the first time this season.

The Red Wings opened the scoring at 3:13 of the first period. A three on two was slightly aided when an official got in the way of Joe Thornton. Dylan Larkin carried the puck into the zone, then made a pass to Tomas Tatar on the wing. Tatar took the shot from above the circle and beat Jones on the far side, in the top corner. The goal went to Tatar with assists to Larkin and Niklas Kronwall.

Nikolay Goldobin earned the Sharks a power play by falling down and having it mistaken for a trip. It took Detroit almost a minute to clear the puck the first time. Later in the power play, Tommy Wingels was called for holding Darren Helm. That gave the teams 33 seconds of four-on-four play before the Red Wings power play. The Sharks penalty kill stopped the Red Wings from getting set up and gave them very little time to play in the offensive one.

Just as the power play ended, Sharks defenseman Matt Tennyson passed the puck out of the Sharks zone to Joe Thornton in the neutral zone. Thornton carried it in, pushed a weak shot at the net, then retrieved it behind the net, fighting off Drew Miller and Mike Green. As Thornton slid the puck back around in front of the net, Melker Karlsson arrived and popped it over Jimmy Howard’s pad to tie the game. Assists went to Thornton and Tennyson.

The Sharks survived another Detroit power play at 8:56, when Joel Ward was called for tripping. It was the first penalty of the season for Ward.

The Sharks took the lead late in the first, when Matt Nieto caught the puck on the left side of the net, carried it behind the net for a wrap around try, which did not go. He was ready for that, caught the rebound and put a shot up under the cross bar. The assists went to Brenden Dillon and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Nikolay Goldobin was still on the second line to start the second period. The way he was pulled off the first line in earlier games, his continued presence on the second line suggests that his coach is gaining confidence in him. The first half of the second period was relatively uneventful. There were no penalties and no goals.

Just past the halfway mark, The Sharks looked like they were getting set up in the offensive zone. Paul Martin saw an early opening and took a shot from the blue line as Joe Pavelski was skating across in front of the net. Pavelski turned and skated backwards to get his stick in position, then deflected the shot perfectly past Howard. The assists went to Martin and Justin Braun. The goal put Pavelski one away from 500 career points.

With less than a minute left in the period, some rough stuff in front of the Red Wings net put Joe Thornton and Luke Glendening in the box with two minutes each for roughing. Actually, it sent them to the dressing room since there were only 56.7 seconds left.

At the end of the second, the shots were 22-11 Detroit, the score 3-1 San Jose.

The third period rolled along without penalties or additional scoring. The Sharks only got credit for three shots during the period, but they limited the Red Wings to just six in the period.

With their goaltender pulled and 1:52 left in the game, the Red Wings closed the gap. With all of the Sharks and a couple of Red Wings lined up in the slot, Tomas Tatar passed the puck to Jakub Kindl at the point. Kindle passed it along the blue line to Teemu Pulkkinen, who slapped it into the top corner. Assists went to Kindl and Tatar. After that, the Sharks pushed back a little harder and tried, unsuccessfully, for the empty net.

Final score: 3-2 Sharks.

None of the Sharks had more than two shots, and those with two were Brent Burns, Tommy Wingels and Matt Nieto. Justin Braun and Melker Karlsson led the team in hits with four each. Marc-Edouard Vlasic led the team in ice time with 26:54.

Pavel Datsyuk led the Red Wings in shots with four. Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader led the Red Wings in hits with four apiece. Jimmy Howard made 11 saves on 14 shots.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PT in Buffalo against the Sabres.

Ward Hat Trick Leads Sharks to 5-2 Win

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Sharks ended a three-game losing streak by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Saturday. To get them there, Joel Ward scored three goals. It had been quite a long time since anyone other than Joel Ward scored for the Sharks, nearly three games. So it was fitting that he be front and center when the team finally got back on the winning side.

It was not the most elegant win, but it was a win and Joel Ward certainly deserved his hat trick. Sharks goals were also scored by Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels, and San Jose goaltender Martin Jones stopped 32 of 34 shots for the win. For the Hurricanes, Justin Faulk and Riley Nash scored.

With Paul Martin back in the lineup and Joe Thornton still in it, the Sharks are starting to look like the team that started the season. Their opponent was not in top form, having played the night before, and the Sharks were able to capitalize on that early in the game. If you blinked at the wrong moment, like right after Tomas Hertl’s shot was stopped by Carolina goaltender Eddie Lack, you would have missed Joel Ward tucking the rebound in. It was not much of a rebound, more of a gently loose puck, but it was free enough for Ward to get his stick on just 1:21 into the game. Assists went to Patrick Marleau and Hertl. It was Joel Ward’s 100th career goal.

The Sharks’ second goal was also Ward’s. This one was challenged by Hurricanes coach Bill Peters. There was no question of interference, but rather a missed offside call. After reviewing the video, the referees verified that the play was onside. Thanks to Ward, the Sharks were up by two before the ten minute mark. An assist went to Brent Burns.

The Sharks took the first penalty, a hooking call to Joe Thornton against Ron Hainsey. The Sharks killed that off without much ado and hardly any whistles. The Sharks then took the second penalty as well, this one to Barclay Goodrow for high sticking Chris Terry.

By the end of the period, the Sharks were ahead on the scoreboard by two but trailing slightly (7-6) on the shot clock.

Less than three minutes into the second period, the Sharks took another penalty, a tripping penalty to Brenden Dillon. The penalties caught up to the Sharks this time, and just 30 seconds into the power play, Carolina scored. A pass along the blue line from Nathan Gerbe found Justin Faulk Rask at the point. Faulk’s shot went by Eric Staal and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. It was a good screen and a clean shot.

The Sharks got it back at 6:06 of the period, when a short the Sharks swarmed the net after an offensive zone faceoff. Play seemed to stop when Eddie Lack (and apparently most other players) thought Lack had the puck behind him. He did not have it and it slid out near his skate and got pushed in by the goalie himself.

The goal went to Joe Pavelski with assists to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Thornton.

It was a rough night for Eddie Lack. The next goal came when the puck trickled through the five hole and sat behind him for a couple of seconds. There was no support nearby for the goaltender but there were two Sharks handy to help the puck over the line. The goal went to Tommy Wingels. Assists went to Chris Tierney and Paul Martin.

Cam Ward came in to relieve Lack. The Hurricanes were not out of it yet and they scampered back down the ice to attack the Sharks net. Jones had been facing some bouncing shots and he saw one fly over the net just before Riley Nash tucked one in from behind the net. Assists went to Noah Hanifin and Kris Versteeg.

As the second period ended, the Hurricanes had a distinct upper hand. More than once, the Sharks were trapped in their own zone and Jones had to handle wild, bouncing shots. The Hurricanes may not have scored, but they went into the intermission on a strong note. The shots stood at 19-14 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes came back for the third without much loss of momentum. There were few whistles for the first five minutes, and finally, at 5:20, the Sharks got their first power play. Kris Versteeg went to the box for hooking. The Sharks held the zone for over a minute with their first power play unit, which now included Joel Ward alonside Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns. The second unit of Tommy Wingels, Tomas Hertl, Matt Tennyson, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Chris Tierney had little time to work with after that.

The third period featured traded chances from number twelves, when Patrick Marleau chased down a Carolina defender to create a good chance for the Sharks. Carolina’s number twelve, Eric Staal, responded by snatching up the loose puck and breaking the other way. Jones and Ward both did their jobs and nothing came of either try.

By the final minutes of the third, the Hurricanes were again outworking the Sharks… except for Martin Jones. Jones was outworking everyone. For the last four minutes, the Sharks looked like they were killing a penalty, and that was before the Canes pulled their goalie and actually had a man advantage.

With Jones in net and some luck, San Jose’s two goal lead held up. The final seconds saw the Sharks doing everything they could to get the puck to Ward in front of the open net. Finally, they did, and the hats flew. It was Ward’s second career hat trick.

Ward and Wingels were tied for the team lead in shots with four each.  Mike Brown led the team in hits with four. Burns (24:07) and Martin (21:54) led the team in ice time.

Justin Faulk led the Hurricanes with five shots. Brock McGinn led the team in hits with three. Eddie Lack made 9 saves on 13 shots. Cam Ward made 7 saves on 7 shots.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday against the Nashville Predators, in San Jose at 7:30 PT.

Sharks Beat Devils 2-1, Start Season 4-0

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their fourth in a row to start the season. They needed overtime and a shootout to defeat the New Jersey Devils 2-1. Goaltender Martin Jones set a new shutout record for the franchise, spanning from the team’s first game of the season to the final minutes of the fourth game. Regulation goals were scored by Patrick Marleau for the Sharks and Adam Henrique for the Devils. The game was a far cry from the trouncing that they gave to the Washington Capitals, but in light of recent injuries, it was a good win.

Earlier Friday, the Sharks announced that they would be without the services of forwards Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi. Head coach Peter DeBoer opted to make wholesale changes to his lines when he lost the top top six forwards. Bringing Ben Smith in as fourth line center, he moved Chris Tierney to the third line between Tommy Wingels and Matt Nieto. Tomas Hertl moved to the second line between Patrick Marleau and Joel Ward. Nikolay Goldobin took Donskoi’s place next to Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.

Near the end of the game, DeBoer moved the more experienced Barclay Goodrow to that top line. Patrick Marleau took on some additional penalty killing minutes in Couture’s absence, while Paul Martin took the point on power plays. The number of adjustments required spoke to the importance of Couture to the team.

The Sharks’ penalty kill streak ended at 15, and Martin Jones set a new shutout streak for the franchise. The game was not pretty but it did keep their winning streak alive.

Less than three minutes in, the new second line of Hertl, Joel Ward and Patrick Marleau scored. The goal featured a good board battle won by Hertl, followed by a smart pass from Ward to a well-positioned Marleau. All in all, that line looked good.

Martin Jones has not given up a goal since 1:49 into the Sharks’ first game of the season on October 7. Shutouts in game against the Ducks and the Capitals put Jones in a position to break Al Stalock’s shutout record of 178:55, 45 seconds into Friday’s game. He did that and set the new one at 234:33. A couple of pucks got by him during that time, only to have the goals waived off, but it is still a tremendous record.

Jordin Tootoo and Mike Brown took matching roughing penalties at 8:58 of the period but the four-on-four minutes did not change the score. The first period ended with the score still 1-0 Sharks, and the shot count 10-5 Sharks.

Early in the second period, Tomas Hertl had a scoring chance thwarted by a slash to the hands from Adam Larsson. No penalty was called but Hertl looked a little sore. That hand could bear watching. The first power play of the game went to the Devils at 14:01 of the second. Joe Pavelski was called for hooking. The Sharks killed it off, keeping their penalty kill record perfect at 12-0.

With 2:06 left in the period, Goldobin drew a penalty against Jon Merrill. The ensuing power play highlighted how the Sharks were losing some momentum. They let Stephen Gionta escape the zone for a short-handed chance just over half way through the power play.

Gionta saw his rebound go to Josefson, who put it in the net, but the goal was waived off because Gionta made contact with Martin Jones before the shot went in. The contact was initiated while Gionta was still outside the crease, and ended with Gionta falling over Jones in the crease. The contact certainly slowed Jones down, but calls like that are going to make this season interesting. It was probably worth a coach’s challenge, but Devils head coach John Hynes did not make one.

At the end of the second period, shots were 23-17 Sharks, with the 1-0 score unchanged.

Less than two minutes into the third period, the Devils were back on the power play after Justin Braun was called for holding the stick. With 43 seconds left in the power play, Brenden Dillon shot the puck out of play in the defensive zone and gave the Devils a two man advantage. The Sharks survived the five-on-three and were about to kill the second penalty when Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot the puck out of play and joined Dillon in the box. The second two man advantage would only last 17 seconds. Chris Tierney managed to clear the puck out during the short five-on-three. Matt Nieto cleared it next, letting the team refresh their lines. The Sharks managed to steal the puck in the neutral zone shortly after that, getting a quick short-handed chance for Pavelksi. Several quick clears by the Sharks frustrated the rest of the Devils power play.

Jones made his 100th consecutive save once the teams were back at even strength.

Chris Tierney and Tommy Wingels had a good chance around the nine minute mark but Corey Schneider stopped it. Tierney had a very good game and proved that he is a great option for the Sharks in that third line center spot.

The Sharks penalties were not done, as they were called for too many men with under five minutes left in the third. The Martin Jones shutout streak ended with a power play goal from Adam Henrique. The score was still tied at the end of regulation.

The Sharks only had a 32-28 lead in shots as overtime started. Thornton, Pavelski and Burns started for the Sharks in three-on-three. Next came Marleau, Hertl and Vlasic. DeBoer put Tierney on the third unit with Wingels and Martin.

With 11.3 seconds left in overtime, Burns tripped Henrique and went to the box. The 4-on-3 power play looked good for New Jersey but they ran out of time.

The Devils shot first, starting with Adam Henrique (goal). Jacob Josefson shot second (save) and Mike Cammalleri went third (miss) .
The Sharks’ shooters were: Joe Pavelski (goal-smokin’ shot, top shelf), Brent Burns (goal-very slippery backhand). No third shooter was needed for San Jose.

The shot leaders for the Sharks were Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Paul Martin with four apiece. Burns (30:38) and Martin (30:09) led the team in ice time by a sizeable margin.

The Sharks next play Saturday in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders. The game will start at 4:30 PT.

Sharks Beat Ducks With Lively 3rd in Home Opener

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Saturday, the San Jose Sharks won their home opener 2-0 against the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks’ best period of the game was their third, and it was a relentless one. It seemed to be just the kind of game head coach Pete DeBoer was looking for from the Sharks:

That’s how we want to play with the lead. You want to keep your foot on the gas. We kept rolling four lines to keep our energy and our legs. The best defense for me in that situation is spending the period in the other team’s end and I think we did a good job of that.

After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski also talked about that third period push:

We kind of got better as the game went on, right from the start. The second was a little better and the third was definitely our best and it needs to be. I’d say last year that was one of the problems in this rink, we didn’t have strong thirds. So hopefully we can continue with that trend.

Joel Ward was asked about the developing chemistry between himself and his linemates, Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau:

When you get a chance to play with guys like Cootch and Marleau, it makes it a lot more fun, how dynamic they are and how skilled, what they can create on their own is pretty cool to watch. So, as you can see what Patty did tonight was a good example of that. Just try to get in the open areas and I just try to feed off them and know what they want from me, just communicating as best we can, it’s just going to continue to build.

Ward seemed to be communicating quite well with his linemates on Saturday, turning up in the right spot again and again, on both ends of the ice.

Sharks goaltender Martin Jones has also made an excellent impression in this two game sample. Martin Jones, after his second game and second win as a Shark, praised the team in front of him:

I thought we did a really good job. I mean, that’s a big, strong team up front and typically they do a really good job, getting in front of the net with bodies and with sticks. I thought we did a really good job boxing out and I was able to see a lot of pucks tonight.

As second games of the season go, this one was impressive: two goals from Patrick Marleau, two points for Joel Ward, and a second win from Martin Jones. The game even had two 31s in net, one at each end. Jones and Anaheim goaltender Frederik Andersen both wear 31.

With nine minutes left in the first, the shots were 7-3 Anaheim. Sharks had killed one penalty, but had had no power plays. They did, however, have a very good spell right about then, lasting almost three minutes and shifts for as many lines. The third line started it, with some aggressive play in the Ducks’ zone. The top line followed it up and the Sharks seemed to be on a roll and likely to score. When they finally had to defend again, Martin Jones was there to stop the Ducks. The game remained scoreless, but by the end of that little sprint, the shots were almost even, 9-8 Ducks. By the end of the period, the Sharks had a solid 13-9 lead in shots.

They were right back at it to start the second period, spending most of the first two minutes in the Ducks’ zone. After that, however, the Ducks pinned the Sharks for a solid couple of minutes. A breakaway from the third line broke up the Ducks’ momentum and ended with a discussion by the Ducks’ net. The second line picked up where the third left off, and added three shots to the Sharks’ tally in the space of a few seconds. By now, the Ducks were getting a little incensed.

By the middle of the second period, the game was clearly a goaltender battle. Both 31s were snuffing out scoring chances wherever they cropped up. Admittedly, they were few but that was partly due to quick reactions from the goalies.

The other limiting factor for those scoring chances was timing. A couple of shots fell flat for lack of follow-up and bodies in the right places. It was a reminder that this was only the Sharks’ second game of the season.

The game took on a delayed back and forth tempo, with each team trapping the other for a long shift before going the other way. The Ducks seemed to have the edge at the end of the period, catching up in shots and holding the zone just a little longer than the Sharks could.

The period was winding down to a scoreless close, but the Sharks’ second line had other plans. Joel Ward and Logan Couture chased the puck into the corner and kept after it. The announcer had just made the “one minute left” call when Ward got the puck to the net. Couture caught up with it on the other side and took a shot. Just then, Marleau followed up to take the third and fourth shots. He gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with the fourth one. Assists went to Couture and Ward.

The Sharks ended the second period up by one goal and three shots, 27-24.

In the middle of the third period, the fourth line of Barclay Goodrow, Chris Tierney and Mike Brown had a very good shift, holding the zone with tenacity, getting a couple of shots in, and maintaining their composure when the Ducks finally got the puck out. They finished by slowing Anaheim down enough in the neutral zone for the defense to get organized for a line change.

Around the 13 minute mark, the fourth line held the zone again with aplomb, aided by Tomas Hertl Hertl, who had missed his line change. Eventually, he did manage to switch with Tierney, without the Ducks ever gaining control of the puck. It was an impressive shift by the fourth line and the top defensive pair of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun.

With almost six minutes left, the Sharks had taken twelve shots during the period. The Ducks had taken three.

Shortly after the next faceoff, Marleau scored his second of the game on the team’s 40th shot. It was a lovely wraparound after he carried the puck across the blue line and through the o-zone against two Ducks. The lone assist went to Joel Ward, who apparently made the pass while also playing it safe:

I knew he can do that so I just kind of “here, you take it, you go.” I came back to the bench… I knew we were in our zone a little bit and I just kind of tried to play it safe, I didn’t want to get caught up the ice. Next thing you know hands are up in the air and I was looking for water.

The Sharks got their first power play with 3:07 left in the game. The penalty went to Mike Santorelli for hooking Barclay Goodrow. They did not score but the power play prevented Anaheim from pulling their goalie or coming back in the last minutes.

The final shot count was 44-27 Sharks.

Patrick Marleau led the Sharks in shots with seven. Mike Brown led in hits with eight. Brent Burns had the most time on ice with 24:43. Martin Jones made 27 saves for the shutout.

Frederick Andersen made 42 saves for the Ducks, no small feat. That earned him the third star of the game. The first star was Marleau and the second was Martin Jones.

Jakob Silfverberg led the Ducks in shots with four, and Andrew Cogliano made the most hits for them: four.

The Sharks will hit the road and play Tuesday in Washington against Ward’s old team, the Capitals. The game will start at 4pm PT.

Another Preseason Win Looks Good on Sharks

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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.

Competition Too Close to Call for Sharks Blue Line

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By Mary Walsh

The preseason is well under way, and the NHL season looms large for the San Jose Sharks. Their training camp roster is still long enough to easily ice two squads, so it is reasonable to expect that there will be more roster cuts this week. The Sharks have a lot of decisions to make before opening night, DeBoer explained:

Some tough decisions, some really tough decisions. It’s tough getting from 34 to 26 or -7 or whatever number we’re going to go to, and it’s going to be even tougher to go down to 22 or 23. That’s a good thing though, it’s a good problem.

Dylan DeMelo stood out as one of the young players getting a lot of ice time in preseason games. There is a little room on the Sharks blue line, and a number of players competing for it. Asked to comment on that competition, DeMelo said: “I can’t speak for the other guys but I think I’m playing pretty well and I think I’m showing kind of what’s advertised in my game.”

After the game, Sharks coach Peter DeBoer was asked if Dylan DeMelo was likely to make the opening night roster. DeBoer declined to say yes or no:

I’m not prepared to hand this job to anybody yet. Everybody’s competing, everyone’s playing well right now. It’s too close to call to be giving anybody the job right now. We’re going to take all the time we have on our side.

DeBoer did concede that DeMelo is “right in the mix,” with other defensemen. As with other players seeing a lot of preseason ice time, DeMelo is no lock for a spot on the NHL roster.

Another player who is getting a long look in these games is Joonas Donskoi. Saturday, he played on a line with Tomas Hertl and Matt Nieto. Donskoi is probably closer to a spot than DeMelo is, but the fact that he is playing only means he’s getting look, not getting the job.

The Sharks lost Saturday’s preseason game to the Anaheim Ducks. The final score was 2-1, with goals scored by Joel Ward for San Jose, Corey Perry and Chris Wagner for Anaheim. The game was a fine preseason sample of games between San Jose and Anaheim: riddled with penalties, there was even a game misconduct handed out.

Martin Jones was starting his second of the preseason, and his first at SAP as a Shark. He was glad to have a chance to play at SAP during the preseason:

I’ve had a couple games here, playing in LA, so I know what the building’s about. Yeah, it was nice to get the first one out of the way at home. Obviously, not the result we want, but we’re working through it. It’s still preseason and we’ll work it out.

The Ducks took two penalties in the first eleven minutes of the game, one to Shea Theodore at 1:22 and one to Corey Perry at 11:07. The Sharks did not score on either one of those power plays, but seconds after the Perry penalty expired, the Sharks did score. The goal was scored by Joel Ward, with assists going to Paul Martin and Brent Burns.

The goal was a good example of Ward’s playing style, and the style that DeBoer is encouraging the Sharks to employ. Asked about the goal after the game, Ward said:

It’s no secret, I’m trying to get in front of the net. I think most of my goals in the past have been around that area. So there’s no secret I’m just trying to go to the net, trying to get pucks and rebounds.

Moments after the Sharks goal, Frazer McLaren was called for boarding. He was given a game misconduct and received a five minute major. Ryan Carpenter served the penalty for him. The hit sent Anaheim defenseman, Korbinian Holzer, to the dressing room. Holzer was kept out for the rest of the game for precautionary reasons, the Ducks announced later.

The Sharks killed off the five minutes and even managed a short-handed chance near the end.

It took the Sharks several minutes before they took a shot on goal in the second period. Through the period, the Sharks had six shots.

The Ducks tied the game just over three minutes into the third period. The goal was scored by Chris Wagner, unassisted. He skated into the zone mostly unfettered and took a shot from the half boards that seemed to catch Jones off guard.

Just past the ten minute mark of the third, Perry went to the box for the second time in the game, this time for high sticking.

Before the penalty elapsed, Joonas Donskoi went to the box for a high stick. The Ducks made the Sharks pay for that, taking the lead with a goal with 7:36 left. The power play goal was scored by Corey Perry. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Simon Despres.

The Ducks went right from the celebration to the penalty kill, with Shea Theodore back in the box for interference. This put the Sharks on their fourth power play.

That came to naught, and the game wound down. With under two minutes left, the Sharks pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker. Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau and Paul Martin made up the six players for the last minutes. Hertl made a nice pass after pulling the puck from a scrum along the boards, but Couture’s shot went just wide. After a time out, the same six returned to the ice but they could not even the score.

The Sharks will play another preseason game at SAP on Tuesday, September 29. Their opponent will be the Vancouver Canucks. Start time will be 7:30 pm.

Sharks Acquire Martin Jones From Bruins

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks have acquired goaltender Martin Jones from the Boston Bruins. From the Sharks press release: “Martin was at the top of our list of players that we had targeted,” said Wilson. “We’re extremely excited to have him on board.”

In return, the Sharks gave up a first round pick in the 2016 draft and unsigned prospect Sean Kuraly. Kuraly was drafted in the fifth round in 2011 and is starting his senior year at Miami University.

In 2013-14, Jones won his first eight NHL starts to tie an NHL record. In that span, he was the first NHL goalie to average less than a goal a game in that win streak. The 6’4″, 25 year old goalie spent the majority of the past few seasons playing with the AHL Manchester Monarchs. In 2013-14, he played 19 games with the Kings, and this past season he played 13 games. Three of those appearances were against the Sharks: a win and two losses, one in relief of Jonathan Quick.

In the most recent World Championships, Jones started and won twice for Canada, helping the team earn the gold medal. His World Junior team won the silver medal in 2010, and he was named to the AHL All Star teams in 2011 and 2014.

Boston acquired Jones in a draft weekend trade from the Los Angeles Kings, along with a 2015 first round pick and defenseman Colin Miller in exchange for Milan Lucic. Jones was originally signed by the Kings as a free agent in 2008.

The Sharks also announced that they have issued qualifying offers to goalie Aaron Dell and forward Daniil Tarasov. By issuing the offers, the team retains negotiating rights to both players. The sharks did not issue offers to forwards Eriah Hayes and Rylan Schwartz, goalie JP Anderson, and defenseman Taylor Doherty. Those four players become unrestricted free agents.