Sharks Shut Out 4-0 By Blue Jackets

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were shut out 4-0 in Columbus Saturday. The Blue Jackets got goals from Boone Jenner, Matt Duchene (on his second day with the team), Cam Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Sergei Bobrovski made 26 saves for the shut out, while the Sharks’ Martin Jones made 19 saves on 23 shots before being replaced by Aaron Dell, who made three saves on as many shots.

After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said: “We don’t need a refresher. You know, we had a shut out the other night, so it’s not 6-5 every night. We’re doing our job defensively, that’s why we’re scoring. Tonight was one that kind of got away from us. Our special teams weren’t great, and five-on-five … didn’t generate a lot.”

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said: “Fugly. I mean, you know, not much else to say. It’s one of those… you have a few of those games a year, I don’t know why. We didn’t execute, they were hungrier, they were more desperate, they deserved to win. Having said that, it was still a 2-0 game, we had some chances to maybe turn it a little bit but we didn’t deserve… We got what we deserved tonight.”

The Blue Jackets struck first at the 11-minute mark of the first. Josh Anderson carried the puck into the zone, facing resistance from Erik Karlsson. Brent Burns was also keeping an eye on him, perhaps too close an eye. Boone Jenner entered the zone behind Burns and caught Anderson’s pass for an unimpeded shot from the slot. Anderson got the only assist.

Columbus doubled their lead just 59 seconds into the second period. Artemi Panarin carried the puck in and waited until the last second to shoot. Jones stopped that but two Sharks defenders with one Blue Jacket crowded in front of the net and made it oddly difficult to see where that puck was going. Matt Duchene, however, had a god view of it as he skated to the net and popped the puck over the line. Assists went to Cam Atkinson and Panarin. It was Duchene’s first goal as a Blue Jacket since being traded to Columbus on Friday.

There were no penalties in the first period, but five were called in the second. Two of those power plays went to the Sharks, but they had no shots on goal in their first power play and just one in their second. The Sharks killed two of the Blue Jackets’ power plays, but they gave up a goal on the third.

With just 6.9 seconds left in the period and 1:36 left in the power play, Zach Werenski took a shot from the blue line that hit Jones and then trickled under him. Cam Atkinson found the puck behind the goalie and pushed it over the line. Assists went to Werenski and Panarin.

The Blue Jackets made it 4-0 at 6:02 of the third. Pierre-Luc Dubois skated into the zone, pressured by Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The pressure was not enough as Dubois got the shot off anyway. It did not look like Martin Jones expected that as the puck went right under him. Assists went to Dean Kukan and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

After the fourth goal, the Sharks pulled Martin Jones and put Aaron Dell in the net.

Erik Karlsson left the game after just four shifts in the second period. After the game, Pete DeBoer said that he had re-tweaked something and they “will see where it’s at tomorrow.” Marcus Sorensen left early in the third after being hit in the face by a shot from Dean Kukan.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Detroit against the Red Wings at 12:00 noon PT.

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

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

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jones, Sharks keep Flames at bay with 5-2 win

Photo credit: @BrodieNBCS

By Pearl Allison Lo

Despite San Jose’s seven penalties, goalie Martin Jones had 36 saves backed up with goal power, as the Sharks won over the Flames 5-2 Thursday.

As the top two teams in the Western Pacific came to a head, the result was San Jose moving two points closer to the Flames and now two points away from the lead position.

Joe Thornton received his 1000th point with the Sharks and Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane scored two goals and an assist apiece.

San Jose scored three goals in a span of 1:24 and never trailed after.

“Coming from Winnipeg, big win, you don’t want to let it down,” noted Thornton.

The beginning half of the first was marked by a goal from Mark Jankowski at 4:36 as he deflected Mark Giordano’s shot. Calgary also had a power play chance.

The second half started when Dalton Prout was called for interfering with Kane at 10:55. The Sharks’ first power play was cut short by a slash from Hertl, but San Jose capitalized 4-on-4. Thornton earned his 1000th point with the primary assist after a turnover by Johnny Gaudreau on the other end. Kane’s shot looked like it was blocked, but it slowly slid between goalie David Rittich’s legs at 12:39.

The Sharks then scored shorthanded with the Flames’ remaining time on the man advantage. Brent Burns stole the puck with Rittich moving to the top of the right faceoff circle to clear. However, it was Burns who won the battle, as he made his way past Rittich to score second in the empty net.

This prompted a goalie change from Rittich to Mike Smith.

But San Jose was not done yet. Smith was no less immune as the Sharks’ third goal was scored 5-on-5 with Hertl tipping Radim Simek’s shot from the point.

Calgary came out gunning in the second period with six shots on goal and five blocked shots in the first six and a half minutes. A wraparound attempt by Gaudreau inspired a sprawled out toe save along the post by Jones after he stopped the puck on the other side off teammate Justin Braun’s stick. The Flames earned a power play at 6:33, during which the Sharks were luckily able to avoid a goal. It took two other Sharks besides Jones in net to achieve that.

It took until 16:27 for more scoring action. Kane earned his second goal on his second attempt to give him two goals twice in four games. Joonas Donskoi made a nice pass up ice beforehand.

Calgary was not left out though. Tim Heed took a slashing call at 17:19 and 23 seconds later, T.J. Brodie scored on the power play from the point through traffic. His shot went off Braun to give the Flames a 4-2 goal.

In the third, San Jose’s Brenden Dillon took a penalty at 2:42.

Later, both goalies exchanged tripping penalties with Smith charged at 10:10 and Jones charged at 12:35. Right before Smith, Thornton had an attempt clang off the post.

Kane got a cross checking minor at 15:45. The Flames’ chance at an advantage were then interrupted with interference on Giordano over a minute later, during which the Sharks scored their final goal on a power play. Hertl’s goal came at 18:37.

Up Next: San Jose go for five straight wins and a 3-0 Canadian road trip when Game Three starts on Saturday versus the Edmonton Oilers at 4 pm.

Sharks Beat Coyotes 3-2 in OT

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arizona outshot San Jose in the third 11-9.

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

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

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: With 30 games left on the schedule, Sharks could coast to postseason

mercurynews.com file photo: Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi (27) looks to score Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith (41) in a Nov. 11 game at SAP Center. The Sharks are hoping to catch the Flames for first place in the Pacific Division

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 It’s down to just 30 more games after the NHL All Star break as the Sharks most likely will coast to post season.

#2 The Sharks will be playing in their 14th playoff in 15 seasons in April quite an accomplishment for the franchise.

#3 The Sharks are scheduled to play 15 of it’s next 25 games in San Jose and can take advantage of home ice.

#4  The Sharks goaltender Martin Jones hopes to improve his goals against 2.98 going into the second part of the season. He’s had a game where he gave up six goals in a Sharks 7-6 win January 22 against the Washington Caps.

#5 Sharks host the Arizona Coyotes last time the clubs met Jan 16th the Yotes got a two goal win over the Sharks 5-3. The Sharks again are looking to protect the front of the net but also Jones looking to shut the Coyotes offense down.

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

Sharks Fall to Lightning 6-3

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Saturday’s road game at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay got goals from Steven Stamkos (2), Yanni Gourde, Mathieu Joseph, Alex Killorn, and Victor Hedman. Two Sharks goals came from Evander Kane and one from Marcus Sorensen. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for the win, while Martin Jones made 20 saves in the Sharks’ loss. The Sharks power play went 1-3, while their penalty kill was 2-4.

The Sharks were once again missing some significant players from their blue line. Erik Karlsson skated during warm-ups, but then there was a last minute scratch Saturday. Marc-Edouard Vlasic continues to be out, missing his eighth game since January 2. It is not certain whether either player will return before the NHL All Star Game.

After the game, Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski was asked about these roster challenges, and he said: “We were all right at times, we had a lot of chances. You can’t give up six, but it gets a little bit away from us there at the end. And five on three goal and a couple of those things. We definitely had a chance in this game I think.”

Of Erik Karlsson’s absence in particular, Sharks forward Evander Kane said: “No matter who it is, it’s always next man up. We’ve played without a lot of our top D through the course of the season, played well. I mean we played with three guys that are normally out of the lineup against these guys at home and beat them. So obviously it’s a loss but it’s not an excuse.”

The Lightning struck first, 3:32 into the game. Mathieu Joseph dumped the puck in from just over the center line and then followed the puck to the corner. JT Miller sped into the corner as well and centered the puck on net. Anthoney Cirelli was in front of the net to take the shot, but Jones kicked the puck back out. He did not kick it far enough, as Joseph was right there to put the rebound in the net. It was Joseph’s 12th of the season, with assists to Cirelli and Miller.

Tampa Bay doubled their lead at 17:51. In a flurry of activity at the Sharks net, Marcus Sorensen poked the puck away from Brayden Point. unfortunately, Alex Killorn was coming down the slot and the puck came right to him with traffic to screen Jones’s view. It was Killorn’s 11th of the season.

Evander Kane got one back for the Sharks on the power play at 19:39 of the period. With 44 seconds left in the power play and less time left in the period, Joe Thornton made a pass to Timo Meier at the side of the net. Instead of taking the shot, Meier found Kane arriving on the other side of the blue paint and sent the puck to him. Kane had an open net as Andrei Vasilevskiy was coming across. It was Kane’s 18th of the season, with assists going to Meier and Thornton.

The Sharks led the period in shots 16-7, while Tampa Bay led in faceoff wins 59%-41%.

Evander Kane added another goal to tie the score just 58 seconds into the second period. Kane caught a pass from Joonas Donskoi just as Kane reached the Lightning blue line. He skated into the slot and took a shot that went wide of the net and came off the backboards. It came off the boards just so that as Kane reached the net, the puck slid by the post and was in position to be knocked in. Assists went to Donskoi and Radim Simek.

It took the Lightning some time to retake the lead, but they did at 7:29 with a goal from Yanni Gourde. Steven Stamkos shot the puck behind the net and off the boards, where it found Gourde skating, then diving to reach it and put it in the net. It was Gourde’s 12th of the season, with assists going to Stamkos and Ondrej Palat.

Tampa Bay got their lead back to two at 12:01, on a power play caused by a tripping penalty to Logan Couture. That penalty was taken in the final seconds of a penalty to Kevin Labanc, so the Sharks were just finishing a 3-on-5 kill. Victor Hedman skated by three Sharks to get the shot under Jones and into the net. It was Hedman’s seventh of the season. An assist went to Nikita Kucherov.

The shot count was even in the second period at 13. By the end of the second, the Sharks had improved their faceoff percentage to 50%.

Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 5-2 lead at 5:08 of the third period. Kucherov skated around Simek along the boards, then passed the puck to Stamkos in the middle of the ice. Stamkos got around Donskoi and took a shot through traffic for his 25th goal of the season. Kucherov and Ryan McDonough had the assists.

Stamkos scored again at 14:15, this time from his usual spot high on the faceoff circle, and on the power play. Evander Kane was in the box for roughing against Erik Cernak. Asists went to Hedman and Point.

Marcus Sorensen scored to make it 6-3 with a slap shot in the final minute of the game. Assists went to Tim Heed and Kevin Labanc. Despite the score, Vasilevskiy was very agitated about giving up that goal and took it out on his stick and blocker.

The final shot count was 39-26 Sharks, and the Sharks won 53% of the faceoffs.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Florida against the Panthers at 4:00 PM PT.

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

By Mary Walsh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Timo Time pays off for Sharks; Jones like wall in net as Sharks win four of last five

Photo credit: @sharks_fanly

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Last Monday against New Jersey, the San Jose Sharks were able to take advantage, scoring three goals when Timo Meier scored twice and Radim Simek scored his first goal of the season helped the Sharks get a three-goal win over NJ 5-3.

#2 Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl also had two-point nights for the Sharks.

#3 The Sharks had been a little slow on picking up the pace, but were able to open things up against New Jersey with Timo Meier firing up the offense.

#4 Tomas Hertl added a power play goal at 5:38 in the third period and goaltender Martin Jones stopped 22 shots.

#5 Thursday night, the Dallas Stars are at SAP and the Sharks hope to get some of the same support they got on Monday.

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

Sharks Fall to Stars 3-2

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center on Friday. The game was tied 1-1 going into a three-goal third period, with the Sharks scoring first and last. Stars goals came from Mattias Janmark, Miro Heiskanen and Brett Ritchie. Stars goaltender Ben Bishop made 41 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Evander Kane and Logan Couture, with goalie Martin Jones making 27 saves in the loss.

After the game, Joe Pavelski talked about how the team is improving despite some of the recent losses:

It’s just about lengthening our stretches of playing good hockey, which we’ve been doing little bit in our games. Still going a good direction. We had good energy I thought, you know, up and down the lineup for most of the night. You know, there’s always momentum swings and I think we’be done a better job lately of handling them.

Evander Kane described a factor in the team’s inconsistency: “I think it’s just spells throughout the course of the season where I think we’re just a little too relaxed and we need to ramp up the intensity a little bit on the ice.

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer considered it a fairly good road game from the Sharks: “It’s a small margin right now. I don’t think they worked harder than us, I thought we played a pretty good road game. You know, we’re just finding the wrong side of that line right now and we’ve got to get on the right side of it.”

The Sharks scored the only goal in the first period, at 9:22. Brenden Dillon carried the puck out of the Sharks zone and through the neutral zone, then passed it to Joonas Donskoi, who was on his way into the offensive zone with Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane. Donskoi passed to Karlsson in the slot, he sent it left to Kane, and Kane took the shot, catching Bishop as he came across. It was Kane’s eighth goal of the season, with assists to Karlsson and Donskoi.

The Sharks outshot the Stars 13-5 in the first period. They had one penalty to kill in the first, and did so without allowing a shot on goal. That was a hooking penalty against Logan Couture. They killed another penalty right at the start of the second period, a delay of game against Marcus Sorensen for sending the puck out of play. The Sharks power play was unsuccessful.

The Sharks lost a goal to an early whistle at 4:09 of the second. The puck trickled across the line after Sorensen took a shot off the rush, but the whistle blew while the puck was still under Bishop.

The Stars tied the game at 14:05 of the second, when Mattias Janmark got a break during a change. Erik Karlsson had flipped the puck down the ice right as most of the Sharks went to change. Tomas Hertl was not able to get control of the puck one on three. It went back the other way, finding Janmark just off the bench and breaking through the zone. He beat Jones on the blocker side. It was Janmark’s second goal of the season with an assist to Roman Polak.

The shot clock evened out in the second period, with the teams almost tied 15-14 Dallas.

The Sharks had an early power play in the third but did not get a shot on goal. After the power play, the Stars brought a lot of pressure and had the Sharks scrambling on defense. That ended about two minutes later, when Miro Heiskanen gave the Stars the lead with a shot from the boards. Assists went to Tyler Pitlick and Radek Faksa.

The Stars extended their lead less than two minutes later. A zone entry went awry for the Sharks when Heiksanen knocked the puck away from Melker Karlsson and Jason Spezza passed the puck to a fast-moving Devin Shore. Shore took the puck into the zone two on one with Brett Ritchie. Shore made the pass and Ritchie put the puck under Martin Jones as he came across. Assists went to Shore and Spezza.

The Sharks got one back very quickly, at 6:59. Erik Karlsson took a blue line pass from Dillon and took the shot. It went off of Couture’s stick as he battled for position in front of Bishop. It was Couture’s ninth of the season with assists to Karlsson and Dillon.

The Sharks pulled Jones from the net with under two minutes to go but could not tie the game back up.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Glendale against the Arizona Coyotes at 5:00 PM PT. The Sharks will see the Dallas Stars again next week, on the 13th in San Jose.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks find their offense again with a four-goal win over Carolina

Photo credit newsobserver.com: San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl, from the Czech Republic, right, scores a goal past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Curtis McElhinney (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey game at SAP Center in San Jose Wednesday night

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks won their second straight game against the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Wednesday night with a four-goal win.

#2 This was a demonstration of their healthy offense coming back as opposed to some of the four tough loses they had on their last road trip.

#3 The Sharks Joe Thornton and Timo Meier each had three points against the Canes and Radim Simek picked up his first career NHL goal.

#4 The Sharks goaltender Martin Jones stopped 39 out of 40 shots and faced a lot of offense from the Canes, but stood on his head for the win.

#5 Up next, the Sharks are back on the road to face the Dallas Stars on Friday and Arizona on Saturday.

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