Tag: new york islanders

Sharks Rout Islanders 4-1

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting New York Islanders 4-1 Saturday night. Sharks’ goals came from Timo Meier, Joonas Donskoi, Brent Burns and Logan Couture, while Tomas Hertl earned three assists. Sharks goalie Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win, while Islanders goalie Robin Lehner made 37 saves on 41 shots in a losing effort.

The lone Islanders goal came from Brock Nelson. The Islanders did not take the loss quietly. As if in tribute to the Elton John tune, the game devolved into numerous fights and skirmishes before it was over.

The Sharks scored first as Timo Meier notched his fourth of the season at 7:59. Despite two Islanders crowding him, and eventually helping him fall to the ice, Tomas Hertl got the puck to Logan Couture at the top of the faceoff circle. Couture sent a quick pass to Meier, who was right at the edge of the blue paint. Lehner stopped Meier’s first shot but Meier was able to pick the puck back up and put it over Lehner’s outstretched pad. Couture and Hertl got the assists.

After a busy but unsuccessful power play at 16:59, San Jose gave up a goal with just 33 seconds left in the period. Josh Bailey skated into the Sharks’ zone and neatly avoided Justin Braun to make a pass to Brock Nelson. Nelson had avoided Burns and wound up with a clear shot at the net, which he took and hit his mark. Assists went to Bailey and Anders Lee.

At the end of the period, the Sharks had a slight lead in shots, 11-6, but a significant advantage in the faceoff circle at 67%-33%.

Evander Kane and Timo Meier both had good chances early in the second, but it was Joonas Donskoi who got the first second period goal at 4:59. Antti Suomela rushed the net and took a shot that was blocked by a sliding Scott Mayfield and Lehner’s stick. Suomela was too far beyond the goal line to get a good shot, so he sent it in front of the net. Donskoi was there in a flash to tap it over the line. Suomela got the only assist.

Just past the halfway mark, a scuffle followed a collision with Lehner in the Islanders’ net. After it was sorted out, Kane went to the box for roughing and Mayfield went to the box for cross-checking Kevin Labanc. The teams played four-on-four for two minutes. With three seconds left in that, Brent Burns took the puck and skated away from Jordan Eberle on the boards, and then took a shot around Tomas Hickey and Lehner to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Assists went to Hertl and Donskoi.

With 3:50 left in the period, Barclay Goodrow and Scott Mayfield engaged in some fisticuffs, then left for intermission early.

The Islanders got a late power play when Kane was called for slashing at 17:29. The Sharks’ penalty killers did an exceptional job in the first 1:15 of the penalty, spending a lot of time in the Islanders’ zone. That was thanks in large part to Hertl getting the puck across the line and carrying it all the way down and around the offensive zone.

At the end of the second period, San Jose had the 3-1 lead, a shot advantage of 26-14 and were still ahead in the faceoff circle, winning 61% of the draws.

Hertl helped Couture score the Sharks’ fourth goal. Hertl bounced the puck off of the back of the net while he made a quick reversal to lose an Islanders defender. Free of that burden, he was able to get back in front of the net and took a shot that went under Lehner and out the other side. Couture was there waiting for it and put it over the line. Assists went to Hertl and Joakim Ryan.

At 9:52 of the third, Kane was given a four minute roughing penalty after being taken down at the blue line and objecting strongly. His objection drew like responses from Lee and Mayfield, who each got two minutes for roughing against Kane.

At 12:08, a Cal Clutterbuck hit inspired just about everyone on the ice joined in to the fighting/roughing club: Clutterbuck, Burns, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas all received misconducts. Burns also got a tripping penalty. Martin and Clutterbuck also got roughing penalties.

The sum total of the penalties put the Sharks on a power play, but it did not produce any more goals.

Shortly after Kane’s penalties expired, Kane was back on the ice and challenged Lee to fight right off the next faceoff.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:00 PM PT.

Islanders shut out Sharks 4-0

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: Associated Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks couldn’t figure out the New York Islanders goalie Robin Lehner as the Sharks put up their first zeroes of the season Friday afternoon in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Lehner, who made his debut with the team, became the first franchise goalie to achieve a shutout in that position. This occurred as the visitors put up 33 shots for the third straight game.

Anders Lee, Scott Mayfield, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas provided the offense as they scored with the man-advantage, even-strength and short-handed, respectively.

The Islanders have scored at least two goals in each game so far this season and Sharks goalie Martin Jones has done the same in giving up at least two goals.

Both teams had a number of power plays opportunities and at least one shot on goal during each. In terms of scoring though, the Sharks went 0-for-4 and New York 1-for-4. San Jose has now accrued penalties in nine straight periods.

The scoring started midway in the second period. With a player up, Anders Lee had two shots on goal one second apart. Later, the same thing happened when Mathew Barzal passed across a stickless Marcus Sorensen to Josh Bailey who shot from one side. With Jones unable to corral the rebound, Lee scooped up the puck on the other side to finally convert. This was Lee’s second goal on the year.

A double blow occurred early in the third when Sorensen took a hard hit from Cal Clutterbuck and Mayfield scored six seconds later. Cizikas grabbed the puck after Sorensen was hit, circled around and passed it to Mayfield. Mayfield then scored through traffic after the puck went off someone in front. It was his first game this season.

Valtteri Filppula had a shot on goal four seconds before Matt Martin made it 3-0 at 13:02. Filppula dumped the puck to Jones before it went to the boards, won the puck back from Erik Karlsson and then passed to Martin who was right in front of Jones.

The last power play came with 2:38 left in the game. Tomas Hertl and Karlsson had a shot on goal, but Cizikas was able to get the puck in their end and shoot into the empty net to seal the game.

Game Notes: The Sharks’ Joe Thornton was placed on injured reserve yesterday for his knee.

Up Next: The Sharks have a quick turnaround when they face the Philadelphia Flyers to finish a back-to-back Tuesday at 4 pm PT.

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Tampa Bay’s Hedman out with lower body injury; Islanders’ Barzal gets five-point game; Plus more NHL updates

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Shermanbot

On the NHL Podcast with Daniel:

1 Lightning’s Victor Hedman out three to six weeks with a lower-body injury

2 Islanders’ Mathew Barzal enjoys five-point game vs. Rangers

3 Coyotes busy during bye week, dealing Duclair–who Sharks could have used

4 US Army challenging nickname of Vegas Golden Knights

Daniel Dullum does the NHL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Sharks Fall to Islanders Again, 5-3

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

by Mary Walsh

NEW YORK — In spite of Logan Couture’s hat trick on Saturday, the Sharks lost to the New York Islanders by two goals, for the second time this season. Islander goals came from Andrew Ladd, Josh Bailey, John Tavares and two from Anders Lee. Thomas Greiss made 28 saves for the win, while Aaron Dell made 18 saves for San Jose. The game was the second of back to backs for the Sharks, and the same skaters were in the lineup as the night before. The only only change from Friday’s game was in net, with Dell in for Martin Jones.

Sharks defenseman, Brent Burns, who had eight shots in the game, said of Couture’s recent success: “He’s a great player. He’s an elite player and that’s huge for us.” On how Couture and linemate Tomas Hertl have played together this season, he said:

They’re both great players. I think Hertl is very under-rated on his puck control and his battle level. Great at controlling the puck in the zone and making little plays. He’s just hard to play against, obviously huge that he’s got a great shot and great hands. Battles hard, and I think it’s good to see them getting chemistry.

An uneventful first period was followed by a four goal second period. The Sharks scored first, on a power play at 6:26. Brock Nelson was in the box for hooking Kevin Labanc. The goal came 35 seconds into the power play, starting with a faceoff win by Joe Thornton. Thornton won the faceoff and then passed the puck back to Brent Burns at the point. Burns hesitated briefly, then shot it for Logan Couture to redirect it in. Assists went to Burns and Thornton.

The Islanders responded with two goals, the first less than two minutes later. Nick Leddy got around Boedker to get to the puck behind the Sharks net. From there he sent the puck back to Anders Lee for a neat shot past Dell. Leddy and John Tavares got the assists.

The next Islanders goal came less than a minute later at 8:31. Josh Bailey took advantage of a takeaway and stick handled around Joe Pavelski to beat Dell one on one.

Logan Couture tied the game back up at 12:44. Jannik Hansen followed the puck over the line and had to reach for it. He managed to pass it to Couture as he was approaching the faceoff circle. From there, Couture could shoot without interference and he hit the mark. Assists went to Hansen and Brenden Dillon.

Early in the third period, the Islanders took the lead again with a goal from Andrew Ladd. Mathew Barzal carried the puck around behind the net, driven there by a lot of Sharks defenders. Possibly Barzal got too much attention because Ladd was able to skate into an open space in the slot and when he got the pass from down low he was ready for it. Dell was not quite ready for the shot. Assists went to Barzal and Josh Bailey.

Moments later, Joe Pavelski was hit in the wrist area and appeared to be in some distress. He stayed on the bench and did not leave the game.

The Sharks had some good chances during a power play in the third, in particular the unit of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl, Joonas Donskoi, Mikkel Boedker and Kevin Labanc. The Sharks had plenty of chances in the third. Half way through the period, the shots were 13-2.

The Islanders scored twice more in the third period. The first came on a two on one after Joakim Ryan got tangled up on the boards with 15, while trying to keep the puck from escaping up the boards. The two were John Tavares and Anders Lee, with Brent Burns back. Tavares’s pass went through Burns’s skates right on to Lee’s tape. Assists went to Tavares and Cal Clutterbuck.

Couture closed the gap with just under two minutes left in the game. He was at the net when Burns sent a shot from the blue line, and after a little scramble, redirected it into the net.

Incidentally, that third goal from Couture won $100,000 for Wanda Lockwood in the Safeway Score & Win contest.

The final goal of the game went into an empty net at 19:04, off of Tavares’s stick. Assists went to Lee and Calvin de Haan.

After the game, Burns was asked if Joe Thornton got a get out of jail free card after a bad turnover during the game. He responded:

Every goal happens, there’s always three or four breakdowns that happen before. I mean I don’t even know which one you’re talking about to be honest. Hockey’s pretty fast, this team especially comes hard so it’s usually not on the puck controller, usually it’s the support and guys talking to him. I honestly don’t know which one you’re talking about but, I assume, there’s a lot of other things that happen on every goal. We don’t really have get out of jail free cards or blame game.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the Rangers at 4:00 PM PT in New York.

Islanders, Greiss Defeat Sharks 3-1

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New York Islanders right wing Cal Clutterbuck scores on an open net late in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. The Islanders won 3-1. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost 3-1 to the New York Islanders Saturday. The game winning goal was scored by Brock Nelson, with additional goals from Anders Lee and Cal Clutterbuck. The Sharks goal came from Kevin Labanc. Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss made 40 stops on 41 shots, while Aaron Dell made 20 stops on 22 shots for the Sharks. After the loss, Sharks forward Joe Thornton said: “You just can’t get frustrated, line after line, just keep going, keep working hard. But our compete level was really high tonight. Just didn’t get the outcome we deserved, I thought.”

Thornton gave Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss a lot of credit for the game’s outcome. Though the Sharks put 41 shots on net, they only came away with one goal. It is a scenario long familiar to Sharks fans, but Saturday night the goaltender may truly have been the difference. Greiss is perfectly capable of controlling rebounds with a high level of accuracy, and that was certainly contributed to the Sharks’ glaring lack of second chances. The Sharks could have put more traffic in front of the net, but Greiss had a very good game as well.

Joe Pavelski had five shots on goal, and all but two of the Sharks got credit for more than one shot. Their 41 shots loomed over the Islanders’ 23. At times, the Sharks did have the Islanders on their heels, but San Jose’s game still was not consistent enough. In an uncharacteristic show of anger, Joe Pavelski broke his stick after failing to score on a very good chance. He explained that after the game: “Liked my game, like the finish to be a little bit better. You know, something had to give so the stick did.”

Sharks Head Coach Pete DeBoer also addressed the question of frustration with this poor start to the Sharks season:

“I thought tonight was probably our best game of the four we’ve played. I thought the special teams both looked good, you know we did a lot of good things five on five. We’re building our game and if you see frustration, that’s ’cause these guys expect to win every night.”

The Sharks started the game with a very early penalty: an interference call against Justin Braun. They killed that off and several minutes later got a power play of their own, when Calvin de Haan went to the box for slashing Kevin Labanc. On the ensuing power play, Mikkel Boedker’s shot was kicked out and bounced into the faceoff circle, where Labanc was waiting. He took a few steps and shot it. It deflected off of an Islander skater and into the net. Assists went to Boedker and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Islanders got on the board after a prolonged spell in the Sharks’ zone. After several bad passes and failed clear attempts, the Sharks gave it up one too many times. Jordan Eberle caught a pass from Adam Pelech and shot it at the far corner of the net. Anders Lee was waiting there to knock it in.

The Sharks followed that with a good shift from the top line. They held the puck in for a good minute or so, taking a few shots and seeing some chance, but not changing the score.

At the end of the first, the shots stood at 12-9 San Jose, with the score knotted at one.

The Sharks were on the penalty kill again, almost as soon as the second period began. Boedker went to the box for slashing at 1:04. 28 contributed a fine short handed attack in the middle of the kill, and the rest of the penalty kill finished the job without too much drama. The Sharks came out of the kill with some energy and sustained several long attacks, but it was the Islanders who scored next.

At 13:48, a Ryan Carpenter hit on Adam Pelech looked likely to lead to a penalty, especially when a couple of skaters started to go after Carpenter, including the alleged victim of the hit. But the whistles never blew and the rest of the players kept playing. Through the disarray, Brock Nelson’s shot went by Dell to give the Islanders the lead. The time of the goal was 6:27, assists went to Joshua Ho-Sang and Calvin de Haan.

The Sharks started the third period well. They dominated in shots and zone time for the first five minutes, but could not beat Greiss or create any second chances. That dominance ended with a defensive zone penalty to Joakim Ryan at 5:27. Jannik Hansen and Chris Tierney had a fine short-handed chance but still they could not beat Greiss. The rest of the penalty kill was very efficient, allowing the Islanders no shots and very little time in the zone.

The period went on and by the final five minutes, the Islanders were sitting on three shots to the Sharks’ 12. Nevertheless, the score was still 2-1 Islanders. After their fourth shot of the period, the score was 3-1. Cal Clutterbuck was the goal scorer after he grabbed the puck in the Islanders’ zone and put it in an empty net. Assists went to Nikolay Kulemin and Casey Cizikas at 18:10.

The Sharks will host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 6-3 To Islanders

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks recorded their first loss of the 2015-16 season Saturday. The New York Islanders won 6-3, with goals from six different Islanders. Sharks rookie Nikolay Goldobin scored his first NHL goal and Joel Ward scored his first as a Shark.

In addition to having played the night before, the Sharks suffered a handful of injuries before and during Saturday’s game. Both factors probably contributed to a somewhat disjointed game from San Jose. After the game, Joe Pavelski said:

That’s the way the game goes sometimes. Definitely, I think there were times where we played our game the way we wanted to play and we were pretty tight and we did well. And then we opened it up too at times and got a little careless. A few bounces maybe didn’t go our way as well. If you’re playing a team like that, you can’t give them any space because they are so offensive and it just takes a little bounce for them to break it open and start feeling good.

Just before the game, news broke that Sharks defenseman Paul Martin was out with a lower body injury. The injury occurred during Friday’s game but Martin did finish that one. Depending on the length of his recovery time, this could be even worse news than Logan Couture’s absence. Martin was playing like the guy the Sharks hoped he would be when they signed him. Good matches for Brent Burns have not been easy to find.

To start the game, DeBoer opted to put Brenden Dillon with Burns, and pair Dylan DeMelo with Matt Tennyson. Goaltender Al Stalock made his first start of the season under some inauspicious circumstances. With Joonas Donskoi also still out, DeBoer decided to start Nikolay Goldobin on the top line again, with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.

Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak was back from injury, playing his first game of the season. This mean that the Sharks barely missed facing an old teammate in goaltender Thomas Greiss, who is now backup for Halak.

Tomas Hertl took the first penalty of the game 3:16 in. He was called for hooking. Half way through the penalty, the Islanders were called for too many men on the ice. Jon Tavares served the penalty. Both penalties expired without a goal.

The Sharks had a good shift or two around the middle of the period, with the top forward line and the Burns-Dillon pair hemming the Islanders in their own zone for a bit.

At 6:56, the Sharks won a faceoff and this allowed Thornton to make a cross-ice pass to Braun, who shot it from the point. The puck went in but Joe Pavelski weas at the net and close enough to Halak to make Islanders head coach Jack Capuano challenge the goal. The challenge was overruled and the goal stood up. The goal went to Pavelski, with assists to Braun and Thornton.

With 2:13 left in the period, Mikhail Grabovski was awarded a penalty shot after he blew by Brenden Dillon and forced Dillon to trip him up to prevent a scoring chance. Al Stalock stopped the penalty shot and the Sharks carried on with their 1-0 lead.

At the end of the period, the shots were even at 10 each.

That changed quickly, as did the score, in a wild second period. Just 21 seconds in, Johnny Boychuk scored with a slapshot after Tavares won the faceoff. Anders Lee helped by screening Stalock. The lone assist went to Tavares.

The Sharks got it back right quick. The Sharks took control of the play in their defensive zone, and the top line was able to carry to puck up ice. Justin Braun disrupted the Islanders defense while Thornton made a perfectly timed pass across to Goldobin on the left wing. Goldobin was right where he needed to be to score his first NHL goal. Assists went to Thornton and Braun.

The Sharks had little time to celebrate as Brent Burns was called for tripping less than aminute later and the Sharks were back on the penalty kill. The Islanders tied the score agan with a briefly contested goal during which Stalock lost his mask. It appears that the puck caught him near the ear and broke a strap. The goal went to Anders Lee, with assists to Ryan Strome and John Tavares.

The whistles kept coming, as Travis Hamonic was called for tripping Pavelksi. The Sharks did not score on that power play.

A shot from Barclay Goodrow hit Ben Smith in the ear, about six minutes into the period. Smith left the game at the next stoppage, leaving the Sharks down by one skater. Smith did not return for the third period.

It took the Sharks a few shifts and a few saves from Stalock but they regained the lead. A big save against Kyle Okposo led to a break out for Matt Nieto and Joel Ward. Nieto carried the puck in and held on to it while Ward made his way to the net. Nieto’s patience paid off as his pass caught Ward at just the right time for Ward to tap it in over Halak’s pad. The goal was Ward’s first as a Shark and assists went to Nieto and Stalock.

The lead lasted about four and a half minutes. Josh Bailey took advantage of a Burns turnover to move the puck out from behind the net. Kyle Okposo found it in the slot and wasted no time throwing it at the net, where Bailey and Frans Nielsen redirected it past Stalock. The goal was Bailey’s and the assists went to Nielsen and Okposo.

The shot count for the period was 12-7 Islanders.

At 3:02 of the third, there was a curious delay for a review of a goal that no one seemed to have seen happen. The review confirmed that it did not happen. It was not clear until later which team did not score it. It turned out to have been a non-goal for the Sharks. The situation room had lost sight of the puck and could not tell if it had gone in.

The Islanders took their first lead at 4:18 of the third, when Okposo broke away after a neutral zone turnover. Stalock made the first save. It looked like Dillon would corral the crafty forward in the corner, but Okposo escaped again and beat Stalock with a wrist shot. The assist went to Josh Bailey.

Near the half way mark of the period, DeBoer put Marleau out with the top line. That was the second game that he started Goldobin there and moved him down late. He also moved Nieto to the second line after Tomas Hertl was hit in the mouth with a puck.

At 11:10, the Islanders took a two goal lead with a hard shot from the slot from Brock Nelson. The shot went past Justin Braun as well as Al Stalock. The goal was unassisted.

The Sharks went to the penalty kill at 12:49 when Braun was called for shooting the puck out of play. They killed that off as the clock ticked down.

DeBoer opted to pull his goalie with over three minutes left and the Islanders made the Sharks pay for that. The net had not been empty for many seconds when Frans Nielsen put the puck in it. It was Nielsen’s 100th career goal. DeBoer put Stalock back in the net.

Final score 6-3 Islanders.

Okposo, Boychuck and Tavares shared the Islanders lead in shots with five apiece. Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves on 25 shots for the win.

Pavelski, Marleau, Tommy Wingels and Brent Burns each had three shots in the game, and no Shark had more. Al Stalock made 27 saves on 32 shots.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the New York Rangers at 4:00 PT.

Sharks Win 3-1, Score 2 Goals in 3rd

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE–Saturday night, three Sharks lines scored three goals to defeat the New York Islanders 3-1. Additionally, instead of giving up a lead in the third frame, the Sharks picked up the pace, took the lead and stretched it out. This marked a shift away from recent bad habits.

Tomas Hertl and James Sheppard scored the Sharks’ first and third goals of the game. The game winner was a goal from Logan Couture, the second Sharks goal of the night. Even if the lines were switched around a bit during the game, getting goals from three of the four lines had to please Sharks’ head coach Todd McLellan.

While he started the game on the fourth line, Hertl continued to be part of the second power play unit. That is where he was playing when he scored Saturday. After the game, head coach Todd McLellan said of Hertl and the bottom six:

We moved him up a line and rewarded him with that. In turn, Shep gelled with Burr and Desi down the stretch in the last period and a half. So, as it turns out we had a kid line and a veteran group of players that both contributed to the win tonight.

The Islanders struck first almost ten minutes in to the first period. Kyle Okposo scored it. Okposo had spent a lot of time in the Sharks’ zone, he seemed a likely candidate to score first Saturday.

The game to that point had been a tough back and forth affair, with the shot count low but even. Of the Sharks’ lines, the Couture-Marleau-Wingels line seemed to be spending the most time in the Islanders’ zone.

The Islanders’ goal was followed closely by a power play for the Sharks, when Ryan Strome went to the box for high sticking. The Sharks’ first power play unit of Thornton, Couture, Marleau, Pavelski and Burns had some excellent chances but Islanders’ goalie Jaroslav Halak was there every time. A line change brought Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels out with Nieto and Vlasic. At 10:23, Tomas Hertl scored his first of the season to tie the game. Assists went to Tommy Wingels and Matt Nieto.

After the game, Hertl said of the goal:

Tommy Wingels’ pass was very very nice for me so it was [a] very easy goal.

Tommy Wingels said, of that goal and what it may portend:

It’s good to see him score. I think everyone could see a big smile on his face after. Sometimes it only takes one goal to really get you going and we hope that’s the case with Tomas.

By the end of the first period, the shots on goal had tilted dramatically for the Sharks, 17-6.

To start the second period, the Sharks were missing a defenseman as it was announced that Scott Hannan was questionable to return. At 2:45, Tommy Wingels went to the box for holding. The Sharks penalty kill was efficient and teal jerseys spent some time in the Islanders’ end as well. Matt Nieto blocked a shot that looked painful, and Antti Niemi made some good saves to keep the game tied.

The Sharks were still outshooting New York 2-1, but that lead was getting harder to maintain. By the 15 minute mark, the Sharks only had two shots on goal. McLellan predictably started jumbling the lines. Hertl moved to the third with Goodrow and Tierney, Sheppard down to the fourth with Burish and Desjardins. It looked briefly as if Marleau might have been moved to the Joe line but on the next faceoff, Nieto was still with Thorton and Pavelski.

The second period ended with only 11 shots fired, five by the Sharks, six by the Islanders.

At 1:55 of the third period, Jason Demers went to the box for contact to the head of Cory Conacher. Conacher left the game for about ten minutes of play. He returned to the bench with 9:31 left in the period.

The Islanders used that power play to eat into the Sharks’ shot lead. It took the Sharks several minutes to regain their momentum, but they took the lead for the first time at 11:50 of the period. Logan Couture redirected a shot from Justin Braun. The second assist went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The game went from good to better for the Sharks at 15:35 when James Sheppard scored his first goal of the season, off a nice short pass from Adam Burish. A secondary assist went to Andrew Desjardins.

With 3:50 left in regulation, Conacher was escorted from the game by an official with a ten minute misconduct.

At 18:47, Adam Burish was called for holding. The Islanders used their timeout but the Sharks held on for the win.

Final score: 3-1 Sharks.
Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in shots on goal with 7. Brent Burns led the team in hits with 6. Mirco Mueller led the Sharks with 6 blocked shots, Brent Burns also led the team in ice time with 26:29. Antti Niemi made 19 saves on 20 shots.

For the Islanders, the shots leader was Anders Lee with 3, while Cal Clutterbuck led the team with 11 hits. Hamonic, Visnovky and Hickey each blocked 3 shots. John Tavares led the Islanders in ice time with 23:51. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves on 31 shots.

—————————–
The Sharks’ scratches were John Scott, Tye McGinn and Matt Irwin.

The Sharks next play at 7:30 pm on Thursday at SAP Center, against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Sharks beat Islanders in Big Apple

Published on by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

By: Phillip Torres

NEW YORK- The San Jose Sharks (44-17-7) defeated the New York Islanders (25-24-9) in New York on Friday night. The Sharks defeated the Islanders 4-3 pushing their winning streak to five games. The win came against Evgeni Nabokov, the former San Jose Shark’s goaltender.The victory put the Sharks in first place tie with the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division. 

San Jose got on the board first at 13:27 after Matt Nieto scored his tenth goal of the season on a wrist sheet. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture earned the two assists on the play. The sharks doubled their lead to make it 2-0 after a goal from Jason Demers. His wrist shot at 14:46 was assisted James Sheppard and Marty Havlat. 

New York answered quickly in the second period with a goal less than one minute in. Anders Lee knocked in a backhand shot into the net at 32 seconds into the second frame. Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen assisted the score to pull the Islanders to within one goal. 

The second frame of the game was the most explosive period offensively in the contest. Joe Thornton put the Sharks lead back to two goals with his tenth of the season. Thornton’s wrist shot into the net was assisted by Brent Burns at 9:32. 

Brock Nelson made it a 3-2 game with a goal for the Islanders late in the frame. Nelson tipped the puck in after assisted by Josh Bailey and Matt Donovan. The last score of the period belonged to the Sharks. Havlat knocked in a wrist shot at 18:15. Sheppard earned the lone assist on the play.

Nielsen scored the last goal of the game with less than one minute remaining to make it 4-3. The score was the eventual final score and the Sharks victory made it their fifth consecutive.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Sunday as they will stay in New York to face off against the New York Rangers. The Rangers will be a tougher challenge as they are currently have 26 wins on the season. The puck will drop at 1:00 PM. 

Sharks skid continues against the Islanders

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
By Ivan Makarov
San Jose Sharks returned to California after a disappointing four game road trip where they won just once. They hoped to turn things around playing at home where they won the last five games. Instead, their skid continued, as they allowed a third period breakdown, the Islanders come back, and their opponent’s win in the shootout.
The Islanders were in the middle of the losing streak themselves, having lost the last 10 games. However, solid play from their netminder and a great third period helped them break through and finally win.
A key turning point happened early in the third period. Sharks were up 2-0, but it became a one goal game just 51 second after the play began. Tomas Vanek scored by finding the puck in the crease after Antti Niemi was unable to freeze the puck after the shot by John Tavares who was near the crease after a great individual effort and drawing all defense to him.
New York went on to tie the game with less than two minutes left in regulation with an extra skater on the ice after their goaltender was pulled. John Tavares won the face-off inside the Sharks zone against Joe Pavelski and Kyle Okposo put one into the net. Antti Niemi was screened on that play by the Islander players and didn’t appear to see the shot coming.
“He lost it clean,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan about Pavelski’s play. [Islanders] scored short side high. You’d like to get beat by a different shot. You’d like to be in the shooting lane. But it was a draw like that, and they got one freebie and they made it count.”
It was an even game in overtime, with NY having the slight advantage and the best scoring chance. With 1:16 remaining in overtime, Antti Niemi saved the game with a stretch glove save after a breakaway attempt by Brock Nelson. This was a great save in the very important moment of the game, taking it to the shootout.
Logan Couture scored on his shootout chance but Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle didn’t. Kyle Okposo became a hero again, scoring on his attempt after Boyle missed, and winning the game for his team.
There were still positives in that game despite the outcome.
The power play looked dangerous and was credit with the first goal. Patrick Marleau scored his 14th goal of the season after a rebound he picked up inside the face-off circle.
Joe Pavelski found the net for the first time in seven games, scoring Sharks’ second goal. Sharks’ center played aggressively on the forecheck, helping the puck stay inside Islanders zone and forcing a turnover. As he picked up the puck, he passed it back towards the blue line where Dan Boyle was skating by himself. Boyle shot the puck on the net, Poulin made the save, but it bounced back to Pavelski who put it inside the open net. This was Pavelski’s 10th goal on the season.
Sharks also had a great start in the game, outshooting the Islanders 18-3 in the first period, and outshooting them overall 48-28.
But in the end, it was losing key battles at the start and the end of the third period that cost them the win.
“Whether or not we deserved [the outcome], we ended up with it,” said McLellan. “I thought we started the game very well. I thought we got a little lose in the second period and decided we wanted to trade chances, giving up some odd number rushes. We gave up a goal in the first minute and the last minute of the third. … Our top line right now is getting beat, along with the goaltender, and it has to improve.”
They will be back in action on Thursday at SAP Center against Minnesota Wild.
Games Notes
  • The Islanders played game four of their five-game road trip in San Jose. It was the first of two meetings between the clubs this season.
  • Evgeni Nabokov was back to SAP Center, although did not dress up for the game due to injury. He was given a loud ovation during the first period when video board played his highlights from the time he was a San Jose Shark.
  • Two Sharks players registered multi-point nights: Patrick Marleau (1-1=2) andDan Boyle (0-2=2).
  • Patrick Marleau is now in sole possession of 77th place on the all-time goal scoring list (418 career goals).
  • Patrick Marleau led all Sharks skaters with seven shots on goal.