Tag: Minnesota Wild

Sharks Lose 6-3 to Wild, Will Start Playoffs On Road in Anaheim

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photo from at mnwild: San Jose Sharks Timo Meier (28) tries to put the puck on net is defended from behind from the Minnesota Wild’s defenceman Jonas Brodin (25) while the Wild’s goaltender Devan Dubnyk (40) watches

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Sharks lost 6-3 to the Minnesota Wild for their final regular season game of 2018. Goals for Minnesota came from Matt Cullen, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund, Eric Staal, and two from Jason Zucker. Sharks goals came from Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, and Timo Meier. Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves for the win. Martin Jones made 14 saves on 19 shots before being replaced by Aaron Dell, who made 4 saves on 4 shots for San Jose.

The loss puts the Sharks in third place in the Pacific, so they will start the playoffs on the road in Anaheim. The Sharks came close to falling into a Wild Card spot, but the Los Angeles Kings lost to the Dallas Stars Saturday. Of starting the playoffs on the road, Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski said:

I mean, home ice is always nice. It’s not do or die by any means for us, for this group. We’ve always believed in our road game here, we’ve backed it up. We have some results, past results. But this is a new team and this is a team that has to find that identity each and every night. You know, that’s what it takes to win on the road, is just a hard-nosed detailed game. And it’s not something I don’t think we’re up to the challenge for.

The Sharks stumbled through the first period, getting only three shots on goal while giving up two goals to Minnesota. After the game, Pavelski said: “Obviously, they were on us. We weren’t very good the first ten, twelve, fifteen minutes. It was really good to see the guys settle down and get a couple, answer right back. It felt light we had a lot of momentum at that point.”

The first Minnesota goal came at 10:53 from Joan Brodin. Charlie Coyle evaded the Sharks defense along the boards until he could get the puck to Brodin at the blue line. Brodin’s shot went right by Sharks goatender Martin Jones. Assists went to Coyle and Tyler Ennis.

Four minutes later, Matt Cullen put the Wild up by two. A scramble around the net drew attention away from Cullen as he moved away from the crowd and shot into an almost open net. Assists went to Tyler Ennis and Louie Belpedio.

The period looked like a complete loss until Brent Burns cut the lead in half with a shot from the blue line. Dylan Gambrell helped win the puck along the boards in the offensive zone and went to the front of the net. He may have screened Burns’s shot, and at first it looked like he had tipped it in. One review, the goal went to Burns with assists going to Marcus Sorensen and Joel Ward.

With just 3:28 left in the period, Pavelski tied it up. Mikkel Boedker, under defensive pressure, sent the puck in Pavelski’s direction as Pavelski skated in from the blue line. Pavelski caught the pass with his skate and moved it to his stick for a quick shot, beating Dubnyk on his glove side.

At the end of the period, the shot count was 12-5 Minnesota, with the score tied at 2.

The score remained tied until 11:19 of the second when Mikael Granlund made it 3-2, using Dylan DeMelo as a screen. Assists went to Jordan Greenway and Nick Seeler.

Jason Zucker made it 4-2 just 29 seconds later. Niederreiter caried the puck in on a quick entry and made a made across the slot to Zucker. Zucker was moving across in front of Jones and his backhand shot caught Jones moving. Assists went to Neiderreiter and Matt Dumba.

Zucker went on to make it 5-2 3:22 later. Zucker and Eric Staal escaped the Sharks zone with the puck and went in against Justin Braun two on one. Assists went to Neiderreiter and Belpedio.

The shot tally was even during the second period, just seven shots from each team.

Aaron Dell replaced Martin Jones for the third period. The Sharks pushed hard, ultimately outshooting the Wild in the third 18-5. Still, most of the period was scoreless.

In the last two minutes of the period, Kevin Labanc took a slashing penalty during a Sharks power play. The teams played for almost a minute four on four, and when that time expired, Pete DeBoer pulled Dell. With the net empty, playing five on five, a Dylan DeMelo shot was tipped by Timo Meier, bringing the score to 5-3. Assists went to Dylan DeMelo and Brent Burns.

The point was DeMelo’s 20th, making him the fifth Sharks defenseman to reach the 20 point mark this season.

Eric Staal scored into the empty net to make it 6-3 Minnesota at 19:34.

In the last couple minutes of the third period, Logan Couture was struck by a Brent Burns shot in the wrist. He left the ice briefly but did return to the game. He said later that he had gotten the all clear from the doctor before returning.

San Jose Sharks-Anaheim Ducks playoff schedule:

#1 Thu Apr 12 @ Anaheim

#2 Sat Apr 14 @ Anaheim

#3 Mon Apr 16 @ San Jose

#4 Wed Apr 18 @ San Jose

#5 Fri Apr 20 @ Anaheim (if necessary)

#6 Sun Apr 22 @ San Jose (if necessary)

#7 Tue Apr 24 @ Anaheim (if necessary)

 

NHL Podcast with Matt Harrington: Sharks get shutout in Sat matinee 2-0; Stars get scoring help in the third period to get by Ducks; CBJs win their third in a row; Flames on solid defense and goaltending help in 2-1 win

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Photo credit: @DallasStars

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

1 The Dallas Stars got scoring help on power play goals from Devin Shore and Jamie Benn in the third period that got them by the Anaheim Ducks 2-1. The Stars improved their lead for a first place spot in the wild card with the win.

2 The Columbus Blue Jackets edged the Detroit Red Wings 3-2. The Jackets are hot they’ve won three straight as the Jackets’ Seth Jones found the back of the net twice to help lift Columbus to a home ice win. Sergei Bobrovsky, who missed two games due to an illness, came in as the Jackets netminder and stopped 22 shots.

3 Sam Bennett and Mat Stajan scored all the goals the Calgary Flames needed in a win over the Ottawa Senators 2-1. The Flames goaltender David Rittich saved the day with 29 saves.

4 The Minnesota Wild’s Eric Staal made it to the top three stars with a go-ahead goal to help pace the Wild to a 5-2 win past the Vancouver Canucks. Staal is on a roll with 11 goals in his last nine games. He has 37 for the season.

5 Injuries on the NHL front: The Stars’ Martin Hanzal is scheduled for back surgery and is not going to return for the rest of the season his recovery is expected to be six months. Also, the Sabres’ Kyle Okposo suffered a concussion when he collided with the Sens’ Bobby Ryan and is listed out indefinitely the injury happened during Thursday’s game.

Matt Harrington does the NHL Podcast each week and is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose to Wild 3-2 in OT Again

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nhl/wild.com photo: The Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon (46) nets the overtime game winner past San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) at Excel Energy Center in Minnesota

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished a four-game road trip Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. The last time these teams played, in San Jose, the Sharks came back to tie the game and lost 4-3 in overtime. This time, the Wild made the comeback but the general result was the same. The Sharks initially took a 2-0 lead with goals from Joakim Ryan and Chris Tierney. The Wild answered with goals from Matt Cullen, Eric Staal and Jared Spurgeon. Wild goaltender Devin Dubnyk made 26 saves for the win, while Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 38 saves in a losing effort.

“Their game got better as the night went on, ours kind of went the other way a little bit,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made a number of critical saves during the game, keeping it closer than it looked like it should be. After the game, the Jones said: “They forechecked us hard, we had a tough time getting out of our zone with any kind of possession. So you just end up kind of dumping it out and defending a lot.”

“We took some penalties, I didn’t think we broke out well. I thought lines got caught on long shifts. Had opportunities to change, and guys stayed out there longer than they should have. That usually leads to tired legs,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture.

Joakim Ryan scored at 14:00 of the first period. Barclay Goodrow carried the puck into the zone and quickly made a drop pass to Jannik Hansen. Hansen found Ryan through the skates of a Minnesota defender and Ryan didn’t waste time getting the shot away. It was Ryan’s third of the season.

Chris Tierney’s goal came from a two on one 2:28 into the second period. Kevin Labanc carried the puck in along the boards and found Tierney in the slot for a perfect shot to Dubnyk’s right. It was Tierney’s 15th goal of the season and his 10th on the road.

The Sharks held that two-goal lead until the final minute of the second period, when Jared Spurgeon carried the puck in from the red line and got a shot off just above the faceoff dot. Matt Cullen was coming in fast and was able to tip it perfectly over Jones’ shoulder. Assists went to Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno.

The Sharks maintained the one goal lead for most of the third period, but they were on their heels. They took two penalties to the Wild’s one and they were outshot 10-6. With just over five minutes left in regulation, Eric Staal scored with a quick wraparound shot. Assists went to Ryan Suter and Jason Zucker.

Jared Spurgeon’s overtime winner came after Brent Burns had trouble clearing the puck out of the zone. Spurgeon was right there to pick up the puck and pass it across the slot to Zucker. Martin Jones had to move across to cover Zucker but could not get back when Zucker passed the puck back to Spurgeon.

With about five minutes left in the third period, Chris Tierney left the game briefly, but he returned for overtime. Justin Braun was out with the flu and Tim Heed played with Brenden Dillon while Dylan DeMelo slotted in next to Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Sharks next play in San Jose against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Sharks Come Back to Pick Up Point, Lose to Wild in OT 4-3

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Minnesota Wild’s Nino Niederreiter, left, celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Eric Staal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell in overtime to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at SAP Center on Sunday night. The point was hard won as the Sharks had to come back from a three goal deficit. Eric Staal scored twice for Minnesota, Ryan Murphy added another goal and Nino Niederreiter notched the overtime winner. Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored two goals for the Sharks. San Jose goaltender Martin Jones made 20 saves on 24 shots, while Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock made 31 saves for the win.

After the game, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

It was a gutsy effort by us. It was our sixth game I think in ten nights, including traveling back from the East last week. Back to back, against a team that was rested and waiting for us. I knew we would probably start slow, we didn’t expect to be down three but I thought it was a gutsy effort to get some points tonight.

Three times in the past four days, the Sharks fell behind by three goals and came back to tie the game. In Sunday’s game, there was no back and forth in the score. It was all Wild, then all Sharks.  DeBoer was asked why the Sharks tend to score in bunches after falling behind by two or more goals:

We have a resilient group, a confident group. In all those situations, we’ve shortened the bench and we have our top players are top players. And when they get that extra ice time and the ability to play without worrying about the score, thy have the ability to create some offense and put a lot of pressure on the other team. Unfortunately though you can’t ride those guys 25 minutes a night. So we’ve got to stop putting ourselves in those holes and for me, get a little but more out of the depth of the lineup.

The Sharks gave up two goals early in the first period. The first was a power play goal from Ryan Murphy at 4:19 with assists to Jason Zucker and Eric Staal. Murphy scored after a beautiful two pass sequence starting at the blue line, then going to the goal line and back up to the far side of the net. The execution was perfect, but the Sharks probably should have gotten in the way of one of those passes.

The second goal came at 10:27 from Eric Staal with assists to Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund. A key factor was a bump to Brent Burns near the blue paint from Staal. He pushed Burns into Jones and the two Sharks both went down. Staal retrieved the puck and took the shot before Jones could get back in position.

The third Minnesota goal was a wraparound from Staal. Staal jammed the puck between Jones’ skate and the post. The NHL reviewed the play and confirmed it. DeBoer followed up with a challenge for goaltender interference, but it was rejected. Assists went to  Murphy and Granlund.

The Sharks got a surprising opportunity during a penalty kill with less than three minutes left in the second period as Dylan DeMelo was in the box when Eric Staal and Ryan Murphy went to the box at the same time. Murphy’s penalty was delayed and Staal’s holding penalty came during the delay. With just six or seven seconds left in the five-on-three portion of the power play, Burns took a shot from the faceoff circle and scored. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl.

Two minutes into the third period, Gustav Olofsson went to the box for tripping. Forty seconds into the penalty, Burns took a shot from the center of the blue line and beat Al Stalock over the left shoulder. The lone assist went to Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks tied the game after a series of three astonishing attacks on the Minnesota net. Tim Heed took a shot that Stalock stopped, but he dropped the puck and it was in play again–with the Sharks swarming. Finally, Hertl’s shot found its mark. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Dylan DeMelo.

At the end of regulation, the shot count was 33-22 Sharks, with the third period count 14-7 in favor of the Sharks.

Overtime started with some energy from the Sharks, but in the second minute it fell into a lull with the Wild, circling the Sharks in the Sharks’ zone. After what seemed an interminable period, the Sharks finally broke out, but they had barely been able to change when Niederrieter broke in and took a shot for the win.

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

Sharks Win 4-3 Over Wild

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By Mary Walsh

AP Photo: San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi is congratulated by the conga line after scoring in the second period of Saturday’s game

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Minnesota Wild by a score of 4-3 Saturday. Joe Pavelski scored the game winner with less than 90 seconds remaining in overtime. It was his 23rd of the season. Tomas Hertl scored his ninth, Joonas Donskoi scored his seventh, and Joel Ward scored his 23rd of the season. Joe Thornton earned his 930th career assist, putting him in 16th place on the NHL’s all time assists leaders.

With Saturday’s win, Sharks have earned points in eight of their last ten games, winning seven of those. They have won five of their last eight home games. The Sharks may have put their home ice woes behind them. The team’s confidence and optimism have returned. After Saturday’s win, Joe Pavelski said:

Felt really good. I like these day games. I think we had the energy right away, the fans were there. It’s exciting to play like that and the guys responded well in the first. I know we came in down 2-1 but it felt like we get that early goal and the energy’s there and we’re all over them we just didn’t find that next one. We let them back in but the guys stuck with it.

The Sharks wasted no time going after the first goal. Tomas Hertl took the puck to the net and tried once with a backhand, then got the puck back and took it around behind the net. Joe Thornton caught the puck in the corner and sent it in front of the net for Joe Pavelski, whose deflection went wide. Hertl got the puck again and put it in the net with a couple of whacks. Assists went to Pavelski and Thornton at 1:33.

The Sharks also took the first penalty of the game, a minor to Melker Karlsson for closing his hand on the puck at 11:24 of the first. The Wild power play started well, and by rights should have scored early, but a bounce here and there kept the puck just out of the net. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones also kept it out.

It was after the power play expired that Chris Porter tied the game, with a quick shot off of an offensive zone faceoff. A pass across the slot had Jones moving left to right but not fast enough to stop Porter’s shot. Assists went to Marco Scandella and Erik Haula at 13:00.

Joel Ward went to the the box in the final two minutes of the first, for tripping. The Wild scored in the final 30 second of the penalty, after a mad scramble to get a puck that Jones had slowed down but not controlled. Pete DeBoer challenged the goal on the basis of goaltender interference. In the scramble at the crease, the Wild player’s stick knocked Jones’ stick loose, but Jones brought his stick around behind and put it over the Wild stick, not the other way around. The goal stood up and the Sharks lost their timeout. The power play goal was Charlie Coyle’s, with assists to Niederreiter and Jared Spurgeon.

At the end of the first, the score was 2-1 Minnesota and the shots were 10-9 Minnesota.

Chris Tierney drew a tripping penalty on Marco Scandella at 8:39 of the period. The trip spoke to Tierney’s persistence in the Minnesota zone as he and the fourth line made life difficult for the Minnesota defense. The Sharks could not convert on the power play but they had another chance just a few seconds after that one expired. Jared Spurgeon went to the box for hooking Logan Couture. As in the prior power play, the Sharks had a difficult time finding good shots. The Wild penalty killers read the Sharks skaters well and efficiently blocked shooting and passing lanes.

Midway through this power play, Tomas Hertl went to the bench after being struck in the back of the neck by a Brent Burns shot. After the game, he commented that he was “just a little bit sore, and maybe if he hit harder I may be in hospital now because he has really hard shot and I’m okay.”

After Hertl went to the bench, the second power play unit came out and with a couple of passes found that chance the first unit had been missing. A pass from Joel Ward reached Donskoi near the left goal line. Donskoi’s one-timer went through a small hole between Kuemper and the post to tie the game. Assists went to Ward and Pavelski.

Many of those same players were on the ice again when the Sharks skated in later at even strength, outnumbering the Wild. Couture carried the puck up the middle, passed it to Donskoi who just missed to the right of the net. His shot went of the back boards and into Couture’s skates in the corner. Couture sent it back above the goal line, where Joel Ward caught it and put it in the net. Assists went to Couture and Donskoi.

At the end of the second, the score was 3-2 Sharks and the shots were 23-18 Sharks.

The third with a hooking penalty to Joe Thornton just 23 seconds in. The Sharks killed the penalty off, and Chris Tierney even led a short-handed rush but the score remained the same.

With 7:50 left in the third, the Wild tied it up on a goal from Jarret Stoll. Jonas Brodin took a shot from high in the slot, which Jones stopped, but Stoll picked up the rebound while fighting off Brent Burns right in front of the blue paint.

The game was starting to look like overtime with the score tied late. With 1:23 left in the period, Joe Thornton won an offensive zone faceoff and Joe Pavelski picked up the puck behind him. He took a couple of strides to the middle and shot it past Kuemper for the lead.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 7:00 PT against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

Wild Hand Sharks Sixth Straight Loss

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By Mary Walsh

photo credit: espn991.com Minnesota Wild Zach Parise

SAN JOSE–The Sharks lost their sixth in a row to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Generally, the game was close, with the 2-0 score including an empty net goal during the final minute of play. The goals were scored by Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu. Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves in the shutout, while the Sharks’ Martin Jones played an excellent game too, making 28 saves on 29 shots.

As the Sharks attempted to end their losing streak, head coach Peter DeBoer mixed his forward lines, with more frequency than he has done this season. Every single line was different from the last game, and all but one line changed within the game. It did not change the result, as the Minnesota Wild handed the Sharks their straight loss.

Minnesota recorded their first shot almost five minutes into the first period. It was a good, clean shot from the faceoff circle that Jones gobbled up without any fuss. The Sharks had four shots by then, but they looked like a team working out new lines, which they were. During the first period, the forward lines were: Pavelski-Hertl-Marleau, Wingels-Thornton-Karlsson, Donskoi-Tierney-Ward, and Brown-Carpenter-Zubrus. Every single line had been changed since the loss in Edmonton.

The Sharks had a power ply at 9:35 of the period, when Mikael Granlund went to the box for holding. The power play did not accomplish much, as the Sharks could not stop turning the puck over in the neutral and offensive zones.

At 16:06, some negligence from the Sharks defense allowed Tomas Vanek to get out of the neutral zone with the puck, and make a break for the Sharks’ zone. Jones stopped the shot and kept the game in a scoreless tie. Jones had to make another, tougher save in the final two minutes on Mikko Koivu, who also had too much time to plan and take his shot.

As the period wound down, the shots were tied as well, and the Minnesota took the lead. It was not on the scoreboard but it was a symptom of a momentum shift. The Sharks did have a few moments of offensive zone time at the end of the period, but Minnesota seemed to be getting stronger while the Sharks idled.

The Sharks’ Patrick Marleau drew a tripping penalty early in the second period, a result of a much stronger start for the Sharks. Their power play looked a little more organized as well, with more passes connecting and a very good chance for Joe Pavelski in the slot.

Coach DeBoer mixed up the lines a bit in the second, moving Karlsson to the Tierney-Ward line, and Donskoi to the Thornton-Wingels line. The latter had one of the best chances of the period, when Wingels and Donskoi followed a Thornton shot to the net and caused a pile up in the paint that the officials had to untangle after the whistle.

At the end of the period, Thornton, Pavelski and Marleau made an appearance on the ice together, suggesting yet more line juggling from the coach.

With 1:45 left in the second, Mike Brown was called for boarding, giving the Wild their first power play of the game. During the penalty kill, Joel Ward blocked a shot and was a little slow to get up.

The Sharks trailed in shots by just one at the end of the second, with the score still 0-0.

To start the third, Thornton was on the ice with Wingels and Pavelski. Then Marleau, Donskoi and Karlsson came on as a line. Then Ward, Tierney and Hertl. Only the fourth line remained intact, as it had throughout the game. To the credit of that line, they had been very effective at gaining the zone and creating chances, just not enough so to score.

The Wild finally broke the tie, after Jones had already made several tough saves. Zach Parise was left wide open in front of the net. Donskoi was the only Shark skater in the vicinity and he was a little too slow to react. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville.

An empty netter for Mikko Koivu put the game away, but not until the final minute.

The Sharks’ shot leader was Joonas Donskoi with four. The hits leader was Tommy Wingels with seven. Wingels also had three shots to go with those hits.

The Sharks made a number of roster moves before Saturday’s game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the lineup, but Logan Couture was out again, this time with a small arterial bleed in his upper leg. There is no new timetable for Couture’s return, but in a press release, Doug Wilson said: “At this time, there is no projected time frame for his return to the ice but we do not expect this to be a long-term recovery. Fortunately, this injury is completely unrelated to his previous ankle injury.”

Dylan DeMelo played as Brenden Dillon’s partner. Forward Ben Smith was assigned to the San Jose Barracuda on a conditioning assignment. Forward Ryan Carpenter was called up. Matt Tennyson and Matt Nieto were scratches.

One other note: the Shark head stayed in the rafters Saturday. The Sharks did not skate through it on their way onto the ice.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday, December 15, in Montreal at 4:30 PT.

Goalies and Go-Getters: NHL Playoffs

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By Mary Walsh

Watching the French team beat the Canadians in the World Championships was one of the most entertaining viewing experiences I have had in a while. Even though I had to keep clicking through ad popups, exposing my computer to who knows what kind of hazards, the game was riveting. Sure, it went to a shootout, after a couple of power play goals from the French kept them in the game. Goalie Cristobal Huet also kept them in the game, neutralizing the not yet ready for prime time Canadian team. But who doesn’t love to see an underdog steal one?

The French are not the only underdogs playing right now. The Montreal Canadiens, though their record hardly looks like an underdog’s, had the Boston Bruins on the ropes for a bit. I wonder how many people became Habs fans then? It isn’t that the Bruins are so easy to root against, but they won the Cup so recently, and they are reputed to be big tough guys. The Habs are supposed to be quick and light in the way they play. (Hence the utter confusion about the Douglas Murray signing.) Yet even if the Bruins are the hounds and the Canadiens the foxes, it usually takes several hounds to take down one fox. That makes us root for the fox. We know one hound could never catch a fox on his own, but it still seems unfair to gang up on the little fox like that.

The thing is, it isn’t true. Apart from Zdeno Chara, the Bruins are not bigger than average for an NHL team, and the Canadiens are not small. Even their playing styles are exaggerated– the Bruins play fast whenever possible, and the Canadiens don’t scamper around the rink without standing their ground defensively.

Neither team shows the defensive recklessness of some teams (hello Pittsburgh), though both teams get reliable goaltending. Tuuka Rask and Carey Price are both exceptional, in their prime, and playoff hardened. Neither has been surprising in a good way or a bad way. They have performed as expected: very well.

The teams were more evenly matched than advertised, but hyperbole makes it a better story.

What is not exaggerated are their respective playoff records. The Bruins won the Cup in 2011 and made it to the Finals last season. The Habs haven’t been to the Conference Finals since 2010, and they haven’t won a Cup since 1993. One of these teams is due, the other has won recently enough to remember the way clearly. The latter will not go quietly, if at all. The Bruins demonstrated as much by taking the lead in the series on Saturday.

Here in the West, Sharks fans may or may not be watching the Freeway Series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. If they are watching, they may have noticed how strange it is that two teams that did so well at home have now turned into road warriors, if across town really counts as a road game. In any case, it is strange to see the Ducks cast in the underdog role, since they were so dominant in the regular season.

One of the more talked about issues is the way Bruce Boudreau has been handling the Anaheim goaltenders. He pulled Frederik Andersen twice before he had to be replaced for injury, always putting Jonas Hiller in. Hiller has played well, has experience, and probably deserved to start Saturday. But the Ducks started the season overloaded with young goaltending talent. They even traded one away to the Oilers, they had so many goalies. Now they can’t seem to find one the coach can rely on.

It doesn’t really breed confidence, to keep switching goaltenders. It also doesn’t breed confidence to have a goalie the team doesn’t trust to make all the stops he needs to make. Here is the problem with that– some teams play better defense with a backup in the net, precisely because they don’t trust him. Doesn’t it make more sense to give defense extra attention, no matter who is in goal? What if your awesome unbeatable goalie has an off night? It wouldn’t matter if you were helping him out enough.

See the Minnesota Wild and Ilya Bryzgalov for how to make it work. Bryzgalov has one of the most mercurial records in the NHL. This season alone, he had to claw his way back into the league after starting off signed to a PTO with an ECHL team. He is not stealing games for Minnesota, but they are doing pretty well for a team working on its fourth goalie in the season. In response, he is playing better behind them.

See the LA Kings and Jonathan Quick in Games 1 & 2 against Sharks for how to let it take you down. No matter how the Sharks lit him up, it took the Kings two games to figure out that their super-duper goalie was not going to win the game for them and he needed some help. Once they gave it to him all was well, but how it could take them so long to get their act together is mind-boggling.

They say that a goalie has to steal a couple of games along the road to a Stanley Cup. That may be true but it seems awfully risky to assume that your team is going to simply fall apart for a game or two along the way. Yes, if a Sharks goalie had stolen a game, or two, maybe they would still be in it. But after the way the Sharks played in Game 5, did they deserve to be?

Sometimes a team has no choice but to flip flop goalies through the playoffs. The 2010 Flyers made it as far as the Finals, changing starting goalies mid-playoffs due to injury. Michael Leighton had only been cleared to play the day before he replaced Brian Boucher, and each goaltender gave exceptional performances in turn. In the end, they were still being swapped mid-game, I suspect because neither was truly 100% healthy. Through it all, the rest of the team held it together, killed themselves on defense (Ian LaPerriere almost literally) and went further than the Sharks have ever gone.

Maybe confidence is over-rated. Maybe will is all.

Antti Niemi was a raw rookie in his first season of North American hockey when he won. He didn’t even play in the minors. The Blackhawks made due. There really is no sure-thing formula for the role goaltending plays in a Cup run. Everyone needs to pull their weight and a little more if possible. Should it matter to the Ducks whether Anderson or Hiller or Gibson is behind them? No. If the puck is behind them, they need to get it back in front of them ASAP, no matter who is perched in the paint. That’s a good rule for any team to follow.

What Might Have Been: Why the Sharks Wanted to Avoid the Kings

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By Mary Walsh

After the 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators Saturday night, the odds are pretty slim that the San Jose Sharks will face anyone but the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. Facing the Kings carries an expectation of excessive wear and tear. But there are more reasons than that for the Sharks to have preferred a different opponent for the first round. It is worth looking at how they match up against the Kings, as opposed to the Wild and the Stars, the most likely Wild Card candidates.

The Sharks have beaten each of the three teams twice this season, but they lost to the Kings three times, and only once to each of the other two. All three games against the Stars went to overtime, and except for one 4-1 loss, all the games against the Kings were one goal games. Only the games against the Wild were mostly two-goal games.

The Sharks hold a slight lead over the Stars in goal per game, made more slight on Saturday. The Sharks now average 2.90 to the Stars’ 2.88. The Kings and the Wild trail both teams significantly.

On the defensive side, the Kings gave up the fewest goals per game this season, with a miniscule 2.05. The Sharks are not far behind in the rankings at fourth. Numerically, the gap is bigger with the Sharks averaging 2.34 goals against. The Wild are just a hair behind that with 2.38. Dallas is the conspicuous standout here, having given up an average of 2.77 goals per game.

The Wild is the only one of the three with better power play results for the season, at 18% to the Sharks’ 17.6%. The Kings come close in penalty killing at 82.9%, but the Sharks still did better there than any of the possible opponents with 84.4%.

The Sharks and the Kings are first and second in faceoffs, while the Wild are 13th and the Stars 15th. The Sharks would have had a clear advantage against either of the latter there.

In goaltending, the Sharks’ starter Antti Niemi only has the advantage over the Dallas goaltenders. The Kings’ Jonathan Quick has turned in another statistically excellent season. Even the Minnesota goalie carousel has produced better results on average. The Wild have had some bad luck with the health of their goaltenders, and they will probably rely on recently-acquired Ilya Bryzgalov to start the playoffs. Josh Harding has returned to practice but there is no timeline on his return to play. Minnesota’s backup, Darcy Kuemper, has played well in his rookie season but he is not ready to carry the full load of a playoff team. Bryzgalov has not played many games in the NHL this season but he has played pretty well, including a shutout of the Penguins Saturday.

The Sharks’ Alex Stalock has excellent numbers but has started fewer than 20 games and is unlikely to be the playoff starter. He has played extremely well, but in limited appearances against select opponents. It would be unreasonable to expect the Sharks to give him the edge over Niemi.

Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty left Thursday’s game against the Sharks after an odd collision, but it isn’t clear how long that will keep the Kings’ lynchpin blueliner out of the game. His absence would of course benefit the Sharks.

It certainly would have been a better matchup for the Sharks to play the Wild, unless the uncertain status of the Wild goaltending tripped the Sharks up as it seems invariably to do. Additionally, the Sharks have had trouble beating teams well below them in the standings lately. Would that carry over to the playoffs? Probably not, but it is something to consider as a faint consolation.

In any case, it all appears moot since the Sharks still trail the Ducks and only have three games left to overtake them. The Kings will most likely be their dance partner in the first round, with only home ice to bolster San Jose’s chances. If Tomas Hertl returns for the second round, and if Raffi Torres returns for the first, the Sharks still have a shot to go deep, but they will have to get by Los Angeles with a minimum of casualties.

Sharks rally to beat Wild at home

Published on by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (34-12-6) hosted the Minnesota Wild (28-20-6) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. The Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Wild 3-2 in Overtime. Joe Thornton scored two goals, including the game winner in Overtime at 3:30. The sellout crowd of 17,562 witnessed a great game in the Overtime thriller.

Matt Cooke gave Minnesota the early 1-0 lead when he scored his eighth goal of the season.  Brad Stuart missed a pass and the puck deflected off the boards and Cooke scooped up the loose puck and put it past Annti Niemi at 9:33 for the unassisted score.

Keith Ballard scored his first goal of the season and his first score in 115 games to extend the Wild’s lead to 2-0 at 4:16 in the second period. The assists were earned by Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville.

The Sharks got on the board midway through the second period with a goal from Joe Thornton. Thornton scored his seventh goal of the season on a check shot that flew in the upper right corner of the net.  Joe Pavelski and Matt Irwin assisted at 11:12 to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

Less than one minute later San Jose tied the game after Patrick Marleau knocked a wrist shot into the net at 12:01 Tommy Wingels and Irwin earned the assists on the game tying goal.

The third period was a defensive struggle as both teams were held scoreless and the score remained tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.

Thornton hit the game winning shot at 3:30 to carry the Sharks to a victory, their 34th victory of the season. Pavelski passed the puck to Thornton in the left circle where slapped a bullet into the net for the game clinching goal.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM. 

Sharks power play sinks the Wild

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

Sharks were looking for answers to the questions about their recent struggles after they lost four in the row. They found these answers on Thursday back at SAP Center against Minnesota Wild. The key to overcoming those struggles, as it turned out, was a great game from special teams.

Sharks power play shined against the Wild, and was credited with all the three goals of the night after going 3 for 6 on their attempts. On the other side of the ice, Sharks penalty kill was perfect, killing all three attempts they faced while stopping eighth power play unit in the league.

“I think we obviously found the work ethic on the power play,” said Joe Pavelski after the game where he scored two. “It certainly didn’t look pretty, but we’ve taken more shots, and got a lot more pucks back, and feel a lot better now.”

The game started well for the Sharks, like it often did this season ay home. With Wild taking penalties, Joe Pavelski scored a power play goal at 5:54 mark in the first period. After passing the puck along the boards, Dan Boyle found Pavelski with the pass at the top of the face off circle. Pavelski shot it Iow and it went into the goal after hitting one of the players in the crease and going between Niklas Backstrom’s pads.

Wild did not stop taking penalties in that period, and with their fourth penalty in that stretch of the game, they gave the Sharks 5-on-3 power play for 1:30. Sharks could not score with the two men advantage, but still had 30 second to play on one man advantage. It was at that time that Tomas Hertl put one into the net. The goal came as a result of a great individual play from Tommy Wingels who kept the puck from clearing, powered his way towards the net and passed it to Hertl who was wide open in the front.

Wild got into more penalty trouble in the second period. One of the key moments in game happened when Zenon Konopka was sent into the penalty box with a double minor for high sticking. Sharks scored again, with Joe Pavelski earning his second goal of the night, as he picked up the rebound neat the crease and put it past Nicklas Backstrom’s who was stretched out on the ice after making a save.

With the three goal lead, the Sharks put themselves into defensive mode, and their penalty kill had to work hard to protect the lead after Wild were awarded several power plays. None of them were as important as when Tomas Hertl was sent into the box, earning his first NHL penalty for a holding against Jonas Brodin. Wild were all over the Sharks in their zone, and with Brad Stuart breaking his stick, it looked a lot like 5-on-3 for a while. Sharks fought hard, and were able to stop the Wild from scoring, keeping their advantage to three goals. Hertl made a great play as well coming out of the box, as he chased after the puck, preventing an icing call on the play, and allowing his tired teammates to change.

“[That play by Hertl] was huge,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “He comes out of the penalty box, we got the clear, both teams are exhausted, so to have them get the line change with us already having used our time out and having have to continue. That was a pretty big and important point.”

Minnesota Wild finally broke their scoring drought in the third period when Brodin scored in front of the net on a deflected shot that was taken by Justin Fontaine at 12:36 mark in the third period. But their effort came a little too late and the Sharks were able to defend their lead and win the game.

With the victory, the Sharks ended their 4-game losing streak, and no doubt added confidence in their special teams ability, which was not consistent in the last few weeks. They are next back in action on the three game road trip that starts on Saturday in Nashville, followed by games in St Louis and Los Angeles.