Tag: Nazem Kadri

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025: Ovechkin closes in on Gretzky now 7 short of record as Caps edge Flyers; Taveras’ two goals help Leafs beat Rangers 3-2; plus more NHL news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

42 year old Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin (8) celebrates his 888th career goal putting him seven goals behind NHL goal scoring leader Wayne Gretzky against the Philadelphia Flyers Thu Mar 20, 2025 at the Capital One Center in Washington DC (AP News photo)

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025:

#1  Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin lit the lamp for a career 888th time and now moves within seven goals to break former NHL great Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record at 894 goals. The Caps defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena in Washington on Thursday night 3-2.

#2  The Toronto Maple Leafs edged the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night 4-3 and got some big help from John Tavares who had three points to reach 1,100 points for his career total. Taveras also scored two goals and got an assist to become the eighth NHL player to achieve 1,100 points.

#3 The Ottawa Senators have cooled off after winning six in a row dropped their second straight game this time to the visiting Colorado Avalanche at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa 5-1 on Thursday night. The Aves Brock Nelson scored the first two goals of the game. Cale Makar scored a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon also scored. The Avalanche are on a roll having won nine of their last 11 games.

#4 The New Jersey Devils couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead as the visiting Calgary Flames came back with flurry scoring four times in the third period to defeat their hosts at the Prudential Center 5-3 in Newark NJ. It took the Flames 15 third period shots on net to convert four of them for goals. Scorers for Calgary Connor Zary, Danil Miromanov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Nazem Kadri.

#5 It was a battle that carried over into overtime at Nationwide Arena in Columbus between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers resulting in a 1-0 Panthers win on Thursday night. The Jackets Alexsander Barkov scored from the top slot. The Jackets Kirill Marchenko at 19:30 put the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game and Barkov afterward ended up scoring the game winner. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for the shutout his fifth this season.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames, Losing Streak at five

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks Henry Thrun (3) tries to stop the Calgary Flames Jonathan Huberdeau (left) from attacking Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) and the net in the second period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (News photo by Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Sunday. Nazem Kadri, Kevin Rooney and Joel Hanley scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves in the loss.

After the game, Toffoli said: “It just sucks. I thought we had a pretty good game, better than the one we played going into the break.” Asked if this five-game losing streak is frustrating, he said “If anyone says they’re having a good time losing games, I don’t want them on my team, to be honest.”

The Sharks scored first, at 3:41 of the first period. Toffoli centered the puck from below the goal line, just as Celebrini closed on the crease. Celebrini scored his 18th of the season with a wrist shot. Assists went to Toffoli and Jake Walman.

The Flames tied it on a power play at 7:27. Nazem Kadri scored with a wrist shot from just above the left face-off circle. Assists went to Morgan Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

Calgary outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took on in the first.

Kevin Rooney gave Calgary the 2-1 lead at 3:35 of the second period. Rooney caught a rebound from a shot by Ryan Lomberg. Assists went to Lomberg and Martin Pospisil.

The teams were tied with 13 shots apiece in the second period. They also had one penalty apiece.

Toffoli tied it back up at 1:54 of the third period. Wolf stopped Toffoli’s first shot but left a rebound. Toffoli caught that and scored his 21st of the season. Assists went to William Eklund and Shakir Mukhamadullin.

Joel Hanley gave Calgary the 3-2 lead at 13:28 of the third. Hanley shot the puck to the net from the blue line, then skated in. Jonathan Huberdeau caught the puck just outside the blue paint and passed it back up to Hanley for the shot. Assists went to Huberdeau and Kadri.

The officials were very busy in the third period. The Sharks were given two minor penalties, one matched penalty and a double minor. Calgary had one minor penalty and the matched penalty. The teams were very close again in shots, 9-8 Calgary.

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

Sharks Douse Flames 6-3, Zadina and Kunin 2 Goals Each

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

The San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (right) and the Calgary Flames Brayden Pachal (left) watch the play in front of them in the first period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

In their first meeting this season, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday. Mikael Granlund and Justin Bailey scored for San Jose, while Luke Kunin and Filip Zadina each scored twice. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the win. Zadina had four points in the game, a career high. Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 25 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Justin Bailey, who had three points in the game, said:

“Obviously things haven’t been easy for us as a group but I think the one thing that’s been a staple throughout the whole year is we’ve maintained a positive attitude, we’ve maintained trust and belief in the system of what we’re doing and nights like tonight when all things kind of seem to go in your favor, it feels good as a group.”

Nazem Kadri scored the only goal in the first period, giving Calgary a 1-0 lead at 4:19. Kadri deflected a rebound from Martin Pospisil’s shot in a three-on-one rush. The Flames had two power plays in the first period and out-shot the Sharks 13-8.

The Flames had another power play less than two minutes into the second period, but the Sharks killed that and tied the game at 4:52. Mikael Granlund scored with a wrist shot from the face-off circle. An assist went to Filip Zadina.

The Sharks took the lead at 7:50 with a goal from Justin Bailey. After a quick give and go in front of the net with Zadina, Bailey had an open net to shoot at.

At the very end of their first power play of the game, the Sharks made it 3-1 with a goal from Luke Kunin at 12:30. Kunin slipped the puck by Wolf right at the post. The goal came in what was really a 16 second power play for the Sharks, as most of the power play was eaten up by four-on-four play due to overlapping penalties. The goal was missed at first and only on review did the officials identify it. Assists went to William Eklund and Kyle Burroughs.

Mikael Backlund cut the lead down to one with at goal at 19:40. His wrist shot found its way through a crowd at the corner of the net. A scrum followed as Blackwood was knocked over by two falling skaters, one from each team. The Sharks challenged the goal on the basis of goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld. Assists went to Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

Filip Zadina made it 4-2 at 4:38 of the third period. Zadina deflected Nico Sturm’s shot from the point, using the shaft of his stick while skating through the faceoff circle. Assists went to Sturm and Bailey.

Zadina scored again less than a minute later at 5:15. This time, he scored with a wrist shot while using a Calgary defender as a screen. Assists went to Bailey and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Luke Kunin scored his second of the game at 15:30 to make it 6-2. After the puck in the neutral zone, Kunin surprised the Flames and skated into the zone all on his own. He put the puck up under the crossbar to beat Wolf.

Andrei Kuzmenko redirected a shot by Chris Tanev to make it 6-3 at 16:40.

At 13:22 of the second period, Jan Rutta fell to the ice with some help from Walker Duehr’s wide-swinging leg that took out Rutta’s legs. He left the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Sharks Fall 5-3 to Avalanche in Hard Fought Game

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) lights the lamp for the game winner in the third period against San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) at SAP Arena in San Jose on Fri Mar 18, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost to the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 on Friday. Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, and Darren Helm scored for the Avalanche. Pavel Francouz made 25 saves for the win. Jeffrey Viel, Rudolfs Balcers and Erik Karlsson scored for the Sharks. Zach Sawchenko made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It was a fairly even game for the first two periods. We just got to capitalize on our chances. Same thing as last night. We didn’t have any goal support. But defensively, we did some right things until we started opening it up a little bit at the end. Obviously we gave a few breaks but all in all, you know, it was a hard-fought game. I thought the guys battled hard, especially after a back-to-back, against the best team in the League.”

Sharks forward Rudolfs Balcers talked about how the veteran leaders helped the team rally in the third period, despite being down 4-1: “They’re our leaders. They’ve been around for a while, you know. That’s the guys you rely on every night, and, you know, when you see them go out there and battle until the end, you know, I think it just motivates the whole bench.”

One of those leaders, Logan Couture, seemed to score the first goal of the game at 6:07 of the first. Unfortunately, the Avalanche challenged the goal for offside. Upon review, the officials saw that Couture did cross the line a hair before the puck.

The first goal, then, went to the Avalanche on a power play at 10:08. Nazem Kadri tipped Mikko Rantanen’s pass from about eight feet above the blue paint. a second assist went to Cale Makar.

Darren Helm made it 2-0 at 14:14, when he picked up a puck that Erik Karlsson lost control of in the Sharks’ zone. Helm slipped by Karlsson and lifted the puck over Sawchenko. An assist went to Andre Burakovsky, who poked the puck off of Karlsson’s stick.

Jacob Middleton fought Kurtis MacDermid after the first goal. J.T. Compher and Marc-Edouard Vlasic had matching roughing minors in the final seconds of the period.

Those matching minors put the teams four-on-four to start the second period. Cale Makar scored 34 seconds in. He took a shot from above the circle, then gathered up his own rebound just above the goal line to score. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews.

Valeri Nichushkin made it 4-0 at 15:29. Initially, he redirected pass from Cale Makar, but Sawchenko stopped that. The goalie left a rebound and Nchushkin was still there to lift the puck in. Assists went to Makar and MacKinnon.

Jeffrey Viel got the Sharks on the board at 19:19, tipping a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. A secondary assist went to Nicolas Meloche.

Rudolfs Balcers scored 13:02 into the third period. He knocked the puck loose with a hit along the boards and then took it to the net for a look-away shot, aided by Vlasic who was there to make it a two-on-one and sell the look. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl.

With 3:21 remaining, the Sharks pulled Sawchenko for an extra skater. Erik Karlsson made it 4-3 with a goal at 18:35. Logan Couture knocked down a high clearing attempt and then passed it to Karlsson. Karlsson seemed to fumble the pass a bit, then gathered it for a wrist shot into the far corner.

Valeri Nichushkin scored into the empty net when he and Nathan MacKinnon went two-on-one against Brent Burns.

The Avalanche out-shot the Sharks 29-28, with the shot count close in each period. On the power play, the Sharks had five opportunities and six shots. They also gave up five short-handed shots. The Sharks had one penalty to kill, and gave up one shot, one goal and had one short-handed shot. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 54% of the draws.

James Reimer was backing up Sawchenko Friday, and Adin Hill is injured.

The Sharks next play on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, in San Jose at 4:00 PM PT.

Avalanche Bury Sharks 6-2; SJ has lost 4 of last 5 games

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks right wing Nick Merkley, right, attempts to take the puck down ice against Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Sat Nov 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver Saturday. Devon Toews, Nazem Kadri, Alex Newhook, Logan O’Connor, Andre Burakovsky and Samuel Girard scored for Colorado. Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the win. Logan Couture and Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose, and Adin Hill made 25 saves in the loss.

With this loss, the Sharks fell out of a playoff spot for the first time in this young season. Although they had their veterans back from COVID-19 protocol, having to kill four penalties in the first period hurt the team.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “You start putting your big boys out there, killing penalties and you lose the flow of your game and we could never get it back.” Boughner mentioned mishandled pucks and bad changes, then summarized: “We started doing things that were uncharacteristic. And there were some guys who looked like they hadn’t played in a long time.”

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl mentioned defensive zone turnovers and how they lead to penalties when tired skaters are trapped in their own zone. In terms of offense, he said: “We need everybody to step it up because we are a team, you know, with 20 guys and we are no team with one line. So today wasn’t good enough.”

Logan Couture gave the Sharks the lead early in the first. While Timo Meier created a screen, Couture’s one-timer from the wing beat Kuemper on the near side. Assists went to Mario Ferraro and Meier.

Devon Toews tied the game at 10:10 wth a power play goal. His shot went by a couple of skaters in the slot and under Adin Hill. Assists went to Samuel Girard and Nazem Kadri.

Nazem Kadri gave the Avalanche the lead just a few minutes later. Valeri Nichushkin’s pass found Kadri breaking away. Kadri drew Hill to the front of the blue paint before slipping the puck around behind the goaltender. Assists went to Nichushkin and Erik Johnson.

The Sharks had to kill four penalties in the first period. In all, their penalty kill gave up six shots and one goal. Despite the penalties, the Sharks still got 12 shots on goal to the Avalanche’s ten. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 46% of the draws.

Alex Newhook made it 3-1 with his first NHL goal, at 13:55 of the second period. Sam Girard made a pass form the red line to Newhook on the far side of the net, and Newhook shot it past a spawling Hill. Assists went to Girard and Jayson Megna.

Logan O’Connor added a short-handed goal for the Avalanche a couple of minutes later. O’Connor broke away, evading Brent Burns and Timoe Meier before scoring with a backhand. Assists went to Darren Helm and Erik Johnson.

The Avalanche outshot the Sharks 11-8, and won 53% of the face-offs. The Sharks penalty kill allowed two shots. The Sharks power play got one shot on goal.

Alexander Barabanov scored a power play goal for the Sharks at 9:02 of the third period. Tomas Hertl made a shot pass form the boards to Barabanov, who was ready to take a shot into the far side. Jasper Weatherby was right in front of Kuemper so the goalie didn’t see the shot. Assists went to Tomas Hert and Erik Karlsson.

Andre Burakovsky killed any momentum from the power play goal with a goal a little more than a minute later. Samuel Girard took a slap shot from just above the face-off circle, and hit Gabriel Landeskog. As Landeskog fell, the rebound went right to Buraskovky for the scoring shot. Assists went to Landeskog and Girard.

Samuel Girard scored Colorado’s sixth of the night at 16:37, into an empty net. Nazem Kadri got the assist.

For the game, the Sharks had a face-off win percentage of 52, and 30 shots to the Avalanche’s 31.

The Sharks’ next game will be Tuesday in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Shut Out 3-0 by Avalanche

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks fell 3-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Thursday. Goals came from Nazem Kadri (2) and Andre Burakovsky. Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves for the win. Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves in the loss. It was the first time the Sharks were shut out this season.

If there was a lost opportunity in the game, it was the Sharks’ three first period power plays. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“First of all, we’re losing draws on the power play, so we’re chasing pucks down the ice. Then, we get in, we get set up, we get a shot and, you know, no retrieval. They get it back down. So now you’ve gone up and down the ice twice and you don’t have any gas. We gotta win more draws on the power play. They sniffed out a couple of our entries, we made a change between the first and second but we never got to use it, we never had a power play after that.”

Of the Sharks’ defensive game, goaltender Devan Dubnyk said: “I thought the guys played great, honestly. I thought we made very, very good adjustments from last game. We got a little bit away from it in the third I think when they got the two. But if you look at the adjustments that we made in the first two periods it was huge, and that’s how we have to play that team to be successful.”

The first period was close in shots (7-6 Sharks) but less balanced in other respects. The Avalanche dominated in the face-off circle at 59%, and also in penalty minutes, taking three penalties to the Sharks’ one. Colorado had one shot in their power play, and the Sharks had two in three tries.

The second period saw the shot count tip to Colorado, 12-6. The Sharks took two penalties in the period and had no power plays. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle to 50%.

After five shots off the post, Colorado finally broke through in the third period. Nazem Kadri scored at 9:55. The Sharks had just finished two good offensive pushes and had just changed lines. Colorado converged in the slot and, with Joonas Donskoi down and five bodies in front of Dubnyk, Kadri found himself outside the scramble with a view of an open net corner. Assists went to Brandon Saad and Donskoi.

Moments later, Logan Couture and Brent Burns collided in front of their net, both in pursuit of the same Colorado player. Couture’s skate made contact with Burns’ ankle and he seemed to be in distress on the bench. A few minutes later Burns could still be seen trying to walk it off. He missed a shift or so before getting back on the ice.

Colorado scored again at 11:53 on a three-on-two. Drawing the Sharks to the right, Kadri made a pass across the center to Andre Burakovsky who had just arrived at the net, ready for a deflection. Assists went to Kadri and Saad.

The Sharks had a power play in the final four minutes but couldn’t score, though they pulled Dubnyk for an extra skater and did manage two shots. Then they found themselves killing a penalty with just 1:14 to go after Noah Gregor was called for tripping Gabriel Landeskog. With six seconds left in the period, Nazem Kadri tipped Cale Makar’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Makar and Nathan MacKinnon.

Colorado’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left the game in the first period, with a lower body injury. He was injured after Ryan Donato lost an edge and collided with him.

The Sharks are scheduled to play on Monday. They will be in their temporary home arena in Arizona, playing the Vegas Golden Knights at 6:00 PM PT. There is some doubt about that schedule as the Golden Knights may not play due to COVID-19 exposure.