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Stanley Cup Final: Kings Shut Out Rangers in Game 3, Lead Series 3-0

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By Mary Walsh

After a 3-0 win in New York, the Los Angeles Kings are the verge of sweeping the New York Rangers out of the the Stanley Cup Final. Two seasons ago, they were in the same position against the New Jersey Devils. They also started that series by winning two overtime games, then winning the third with a shutout. The Devils rallied and won the next two to stretch the series to six games.

Of being up three games to none, Justin Williams said:

Just because you’re leading a series doesn’t mean that you’ve won anything.

The game showed improvement in some areas for the Kings. They skipped the sluggish first period and falling behind early. They showed the defensive prowess they are known for. Jonathan Quick turned in an impressive 32 save shutout in his first game at Madison Square Garden.

Of the mood in the Kings’ room, Williams said:

It’s all business in there. Certainly right now, yeah, we’re happy, we’re up three-nothing. But we know as good as anyone that three-nothing doesn’t mean four and the fourth one’s the hardest and we’re going to be ready for it.

Being ready might have to include generating more offense. The Kings were dangerously outshot, testing their goaltender and defensive resilience. In the second period the Rangers outshot the Kings 17-8, in the third 11-2.

A 3-0 shutout might look like an about-face from the two games they won in overtime, but this game should have been closer on the scoreboard than it was. Two of the Kings goals relied on unlucky bounces off of Rangers players.

The Rangers have to be feeling frustration now, and there was one penalty that could well be a focal point of that frustration. At 14:02 of the third period, the Rangers’ Chris Kreider was called for goalie interference, after pushing Drew Doughty in the direction of Jonathan Quick. Doughty went in to Quick and took him down, but no goal, no good scoring chance resulted.

It was not a completely insane call, but it was wildly inconsistent. It made the non-call against Dwight King even more grotesque, as he scored a goal by falling on Henrik Lundqvist in Game Two. Granted, the calls were not made by the same referees, but it is likely to be a sore point.

The first period was noteworthy for two reasons: the Kings scored first, which is so infrequent that it seemed like a mistake. Additionally, the NHL server was down for most of the period so there were no stats available. Once the server came back up, the officials finally made a call, a coincidence no doubt. The call went for New York but they did not score with the man advantage.

Though the penalty took up most of the time remaining in the period, Los Angeles’ Jeff Carter still managed to squeak an even strength goal in before the period ended. Justin Williams found him in the slot, where Carter put a quick wrist shot past Lundqvist. The shot appeared to go off of Dan Girardi’s skate and the tip of Henrik Lundqvist’s glove. It was an auspicious start for the Kings and another point for Justin Williams.

The second period was littered with penalties. They were called at a rate of about one every three and a half minutes, three against each team. Only the Kings converted, and they only did so once.

Starting with a lead did not put the Kings off their rhythm. As usual, they scored early in the second period again, this time with the help of a power play, giving them a 2-0 lead. This put them doubly in unfamiliar territory, since it is their habit to be on the other side of the two goal lead before they win.

The goal was a little later than usual, a power play goal made possible by Marc Staal being called for high-sticking. The call may have been overdue, as other players, including Staal, had gotten away with some high-sticks already. It took the Kings just under a minute to score. Jake Muzzin threw one in from the point while Jeff Carter screened Lundqvist. New York’s Martin St. Louis tried to block the shot but only deflected it around his goaltender.

The third Los Angeles goal came off a two on one of Trevor Lewis and Mike Richards versus Ryan McDonagh. Richards tried to pas the puck but it went off of McDonagh and came back to Richards. By then, he had the shot and he took it.

The Rangers entered the third period trailing by three, having gone 0-7 in the playoffs when trailing after two periods. That had to be as discouraging as the three goal deficit.

The Rangers did make one change late in the second: head coach Alain Vigneault put Rick Nash on the power play. He started by crashing the net, something the Rangers have not done enough of through the series. The collision did little more than aggravate Quick, who gave Nash a glove to the head for his trouble.

Nash was again on the ice for the Rangers power play early in the third period. The power play as a whole was ineffective, mostly taken up by a game of keep away by the Kings.

Henrik Lundqvist made 12 saves for New York. Derick Brassard led the Rangers in shots with five. Ryan McDonagh and Marc Stall each blocked two shots and no Ranger blocked more, but there were not very many to block. McDonagh led the team in time on ice with 26:56.

Jeff Carter led the Kings in shots with four, Jake Muzzin led in blocked shots with four, and Drew Doughty led in time on ice with 26:03.

Game Four will be played Wednesday  in New York at 5:00 PT.

Stanley Cup Final: Kings Win in Double OT, Lead Series 2-0

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By Mary Walsh

The Los Angeles Kings took a 2-0 series lead over the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday. They took their first lead of the game and won more than ten minutes in to double overtime. A Willie Mitchell shot, the game winner was redirected by Dustin Brown.

It was Mitchell’s second point of the game. After the game he said:

I don’t know, we’ve been digging ourselves holes here lately, but our resiliency… We find a way to dig deep and that’s something you just can’t re-create.

The Kings seem to be re-creating it with some proficiency. They have a thing for allowing two goals early and coming back to win anyway. Saturday, they had to recover from three two-goal deficits, twice cutting the deficit to one and finally tying the game in the third period at 4-4.

This is the first time in Stanley Cup history that the first two games of the Final have gone to overtime three seasons in a row.

For their part, the Rangers played valiantly, pushing the Kings back again and again, but they never could stretch the lead past two goals, or hold any of their leads for long enough. Rick Nash, who needs to score, gave it a good shot. Eight shots, actually, leading the Rangers in shots on goal.

Jonathan Quick made 33 saves for the win, Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves for the Rangers.

The first period was rough and tumble. Kings forward Jeff Carter got tangled up in a hip check from Ryan McDonagh, which sent him briefly to the Kings’ dressing room. As soon as Carter got back to the bench, Jarret Stoll put Rangers’ forward Dan Girardi into the boards and Girardi left the game for a bit with a right hand injury. He was not gone for long. That all happened in the first half of the period.

The Rangers had the first power play of the game 7:58 in, when Marion Gaborik was called for tripping. The Rangers started very well and got credit for a couple of shots, but could not convert against the aggressive Kings penalty killers. Those penalty killers also found a short-handed chance, as is their habit.

It was just a few seconds after the penalty expired that the Rangers took advantage of a turnover by the Kings’ Justin Williams. Dominic Moore sent the puck up to Ryan McDonagh at the point. He wasted no time and fired the puck in before Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick knew what was coming.

With just under five minutes left in the period, McDonagh went to the box for cross checking Kings captain Dustin Brown. The Kings only managed one shot during the power play. Despite a good chance after the penalty expired (thwarted by a snappy glove save from Lundqvist), the Kings found themselves in another two goal hole before the period ended.

The second goal came from a scramble in the Kings’ end. Derick Brassard got the puck behind the net, sent it up to McDonagh, whose shot went off of Quick to Mats Zuccarello. He was waiting at the corner of the net, and gently tapped it in.

Unlike the last game, the Kings did not get one back before the period ended. The shots after the first were almost even at 10-9 for New York.

The Kings wasted no time with their comeback in the second. At 1:46, the Kings took advantage of a turnover from Brad Richards. Dwight King sent the puck to the slot where Justin Williams was ready to shoot and go to the net, and then pick up his own rebound. He controlled the rebound and passed it back to Jarret Stoll, who found Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist out of position and cut the Rangers’ lead in half.

 

Just past the ten minute mark of the second, the Kings took a too many men penalty. The Kings did a good job of pushing the Rangers out of their zone, but the Rangers made good use of a fast entry, a two on one of Martin St. Louis and Derek Stepan. Stepan set up St. Louis for a nice shot from the circle to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

The Kings got another power play when Mats Zuccarello swept Dustin Brown’s leg out from under him. It took them a while to get set up  but Willie Mitchell made good use of traffic in front of Lundqvist to score from the blue line.

The Rangers only let that stand for 11 seconds. A faceoff win and a slick forecheck caused havoc in the Kings’ zone. Quick went to move the puck then tried to leave it for defenseman Willie Mitchell. When the puck bounced over Mitchell’s stick, Mats Zuccarello was right behind him to pounce on it. Zuccarello had barely moved the puck ahead of the goal line when Brassard snapped  it in to restore the two goal lead.

It was the quickest two goals in a Stanley Cup Final in 67 years.

The period ended with the shots slightly favoring the Rangers 22-20.

The Kings scored early in the third period, a goal that had Lundqvist verbalizing his objections. Dwight King fell on the Rangers’ goalie just before the puck went in. It could be argued that he was pushed over by the Rangers’ defenseman, but he was not pushed in to Lundqvist, and was in fact in the blue paint behind Lundqvist and McDonagh before he fell.

In any case, King got the goal with assists to Matt Greene and Justin Williams.

The next few minutes were marked by oddly symmetrical back and forth play. In the seventh minute of the period, the Kings finally held the zone for long enough to put some pressure on the Rangers. Even after a timeout, the Rangers had trouble getting in to the Kings’ zone. A failed clear at the Rangers’ blue line, followed by McDonagh losing his footing near the net, and the Kings had the Rangers outnumbered in front of their net. Marian Gaborik tied the game with his 13th goal of the playoffs.

The Kings did not score in the first two minutes of the next period. On the contrary, the Rangers had the Kings trapped in their own zone five minutes in, forcing the Kings to use their timeout after an icing. The game picked up again after that with both sides trading chances.

One second over the half way mark, Dominic Moore was called for catching Jeff Carter in the face with his stick. The high sticking penalty had the potential to be a heartbreaker. Instead, the Rangers held the Kings off until Rick Nash could sell a convincing interference penalty that put Justin Williams in the box and evened things up for about 30 seconds.

With their own man advantage, the Rangers had no better luck, on that power play or the next that came when Jeff Carter ran into Lundqvist behind the net. There was some concern about Lundqvist’s fitness to continue but he stayed in and seemed no worse for wear.

The first OT period ended without any resolution to the game. The second OT period lasted for ten minutes and was penalty-free. Anze Kopitar won a defensive zone faceoff for the Kings, Slava Voynov took the puck out. Kopitar controlled the puck near the Rangers’ faceoff circle, then sent the puck up to Willie Mitchell at the point. Mitchell’s shot went in between Gaborik and Brown, allowing Brown to tip it past Lundqvist.

The teams meet again in New York, on Monday at 5:00 pm PT.

Stanley Cup Final: LA Wins Game 1 in OT

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By Mary Walsh

The Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers in the first game of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, with an overtime goal from Justin Williams. To keep the score tied at two after three periods, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had to be much better than Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in this first meeting. The Rangers stayed neck and neck with the Kings through two periods, but in the third New York was overwhelmed, only getting three shots to the Kings’ 20.

It is only one game in a best of seven series, but since the NHL went to a seven game format for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the winner of the first game has won the Cup 77% of the time. That makes it far from a certainty that the Kings will win this. There is that 23% of the time to cling to, but it bodes ill for New York.

The New York Rangers looked ready to start the Stanley Cup Final with an upset of the Los Angeles Kings. Rick Nash, in particular, started out with a lot of energy and a few good chances. Nash did not open the scoring though. Instead, midway through the first period, Benoit Pouliot scored on a breakaway facilitated by a Drew Doughty giveaway. Less than two minutes later, Carl Hagelin scored a short-handed goal to make it 2-0.

The Rangers, far from looking rusty after a six day break, looked crisper than the Kings. Turnovers were coming fast and furious in the New York’s favor, but the Rangers were still outshot through the first half of the period. The Kings came back with an end-of-period goal from Kyle Clifford. It was Clifford’s first in 67 games.

The tying goal came six minutes in to the second period. Drew Doughty carried the puck past Derek Dorsett, sheltering it between his skates, and put a shot past Lundqvist. There were two Kings and a Ranger on the edge of the blue paint, crowding the Rangers netminder but not quite screening the shot.

Not long after, Derick Brassard put Kings’ captain Dustin Brown into the boards and the Kings went on a power play. The Kings did not convert on that opportunity. They even looked disorganized and overmatched against the Rangers’ penalty killers.

The Rangers finished the second period on a power play after Mike Richards was called for a high stick. They did not score but it left them with some seconds of a man advantage to start the third period.

Those seconds did not do much for the Rangers. Eight minutes in to the third, the Rangers had no shots on goal to the Kings’ 11. The Kings maintained an enormous shot advantage through the third period. With under two minutes left, the Kings went on the power play. Ironically, the Kings had no shots in any of their three power plays to that point. They got a couple of shots off before the buzzer, as did Carl Hagelin, going the other way short handed.

The teams looked pretty evenly matched for the four minutes that overtime lasted. Each team had two shots when Justin Williams ended it. Dan Girardi gave the puck away in a failed clearing attempt, and Tanner Pearson sent the puck back in to Williams. The game winner went over Lundqvist’s left shoulder, into the top corner.

The teams meet again on Saturday at 4 pm, again in Los Angeles.

Playoff Hockey: Underdogs, Upsets and Staying the Course

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By Mary Walsh

It has been a busy few days in playoff hockey. Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens pushed back to stop the New York Rangers from taking a 3-0 series lead. That show starred Montreal’s rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski. Friday, the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors won their first Conference Final game at home. Saturday night, the Los Angeles Kings took a 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Now that the Kings have taken a lead in a series, and scored dozens of goals against the daunting Blackhawks (actually only 11 so far), is it safe to say that maybe the 2013-14 Sharks were not that far from their goal, if they were able to beat Los Angeles three games in a row? No. The Kings have proceeded at an erratic pace but they built up momentum in each progressive series. A strong start does not make up for a weaker finish, so the Sharks can’t take too much comfort in the Kings’ success thus far. The Kings are making a habit of giving up leads only to take them back, but that doesn’t mean there were not a lot of holes in the Sharks roster and strategy. Can the Sharks seal up those holes?

The good news, the biggest and best news from Shark territory so far, is that Larry Robinson has agreed to stay on. His new title is Associate Coach and Director of Player Development. If his title was “Guy Who Does Whatever He Feels Like Doing Today In The General Vicinity San Jose” it would still be a good deal. He is that helpful. It can also be seen as a positive indicator for the team: if Robinson thinks that staying on will not be a futile waste of his time, perhaps fans should have a little faith too.

Thursday on Yahoo! Sports Talk Live, Doug Wilson said that he does not have specific plans to acquire a big name free agent this summer. He did not rule it out but he did not say it was a goal. He also said that missing the playoffs for several seasons starting next year was not his plan. He does not plan to move his best young players. This makes me think that, despite pressure from the fan base and many sources of common sense, he could be planning very little in the way of major roster moves. I do not think that is a bad thing, but I am sure it would be unpopular.

Popular or not, moving big names to shake the team up is an enormous risk. How do you trade away Joe Thornton and/or Patrick Marleau, and avoid slipping badly in the standings, unless you pick up another very high-end forward to replace them? Do you get that player via trade? Who do you get them for if you want to keep your young roster? Do the Sharks have the picks to land such a player? As Wilson mentioned Thursday, however you bring someone in, you need to consider the impact that player will have on your younger players. He needs to not only be productive in his own right but supportive of your development plan.

Do Thornton and Marleau not fit that mold? There is no indication that either one of them undermines or stifles growth in their teammates. Their presence may be growing stale but change for change’s sake rarely pays off.

James Mirtle and Justin Bourne had a Twitter conversation about the high number of minutes being given to fourth lines in the Eastern Conference Final. It makes perfect sense, especially when teams have played a seven game series already, or more, to spread minutes around. But this means that you do need versatile players on that fourth line. You need guys who are reliable in the faceoff circle, tough along the boards, good shots, and reasonably able playmakers. As I said last week, you don’t need Mike Richards on that line but you do need someone who brings a lot more than energy and toughness.

Not so long ago people recognized that space on the bench could no longer be spared for designated fighters who could not do more than fight. Now the bar has been raised still higher: you need four lines that can play more than ten minutes and be better than “not a liability.” Your top six should not need more than 25 minutes per player to get the job done, and your fourth line should merit more than ten. Energy efficiency is about more than Gatorade.

————-

Dustin Tokarski. Folks who actually follow the Habs probably were not very surprised to see him chosen over Peter Budaj. Putting a rookie goaltender in a high pressure playoff situation is not unheard of, it just doesn’t often work out so well. A rookie comes in with some intangibles in his favor. Even if he has been scouted as much as possible, he simply has not played enough to be thoroughly scouted so the opponent won’t know how to beat him right away. That advantage fades fast. Another benefit can be that his team will rally around him, tighten up on defense to protect him. Or they might let him get shot to pieces like the Habs did in the first period of Game 3. That is where the real surprise was lurking, when Tokarski held the Habs in the game despite a 14-4 shot advantage for the Rangers. Tokarski may not be ready to steal a series but he certainly silenced the death knells in Montreal for now.

I find the Eastern Conference Final much more compelling than the Western, but I like upsets and underdogs. Both the Canadiens and the Rangers are sort of underdogs who achieved upsets. They are good teams, but the Canadiens were not supposed to beat the bestest team ever, aka the Bruins, because winners are supposed to play a big bruising game like the Bruins do. The Habs won anyway, and they did it their way.

The Rangers were not supposed to beat the Penguins because the Penguins have high performance superstars like Malkin and Crosby, while the Rangers had so many underperforming superstars like Nash, Richards and St. Louis. On top of that, the Rangers had to muscle through a brutal schedule to get where they are, and they did so anyway. Personal tragedy is getting a lot of credit for their turnaround, but they had all of these pieces from the get go. It is satisfying to see them go ahead like a dark horse people forgot about.

Speaking of dark horses, the Condors’ Friday win gave them a 2-1 lead in the series against the Alaska Aces. Saturday, the Aces thumped them 4-1 and tied the series back up. That is not very surprising. The Aces are aces. Nonetheless, the Condors are making a little Central Valley history this weekend. That the Condors ever took a lead in the series is impressive and inspiring. This is their first appearance in a Conference Final, and they have held their own. They have earned the nickname “Cardiac Condors” with numerous comebacks thus far and the Aces would be foolish to back off now. If the Aces come back tomorrow and stomp them like they did tonight, Condors fans have still gotten their money’s worth from a team that made an amazing turnaround in a season. After so many years of being perpetual playoff also-rans, this is a mighty accomplishment for Bakersfield.

Sharks Shut Out Rangers

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished up their three game road trip with a 1-0 win against the hungry New York Rangers. New York is in a close battle for a playoff position, just two points ahead of the Washington Capitals for the last wild card spot in the East. The Sharks were outshot 41-29 but San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi rose to the occasion. His 41 saves set a new franchise record for saves in a shut-out. His work was well-appreciated:

@jasondemers5: There’s a new king of New York and he ain’t swedish! #31isastud #suomi

This was the first time the Sharks shut out the Rangers. To make the win more exceptional, the lone goal in the game was a short-handed goal. That Logan Couture scored it was less unusual, but it was still a significant win.

Just over a minute into the game, Brent Burns was called for interference against the Rangers’ Brad Richards. At the midpoint of the first period, the Sharks were already being outshot 14-3. To make matters worse, Scott Hannan took a tripping penalty at 9:02. With all of that going against the Sharks, it was very surprising that the Sharks scored first.

As soon as the second Sharks penalty kill started, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau charged into the Rangers’ zone for a short-handed chance. Under a minute later, Logan Couture beat two Rangers skaters and their goaltender for a short-handed goal. It was the Sharks’ seventh shot of the game. Couture managed to lift the puck over Henrik Lundqvist despite losing his footing and shooting from a seated position. As the only goal of the game, it was a good one.

The Sharks had the first four shots of the second period, keeping the Rangers mostly on their heels for the first three minutes.

The Sharks got their first power play at 8:52 of the second, after Derek Stepan was called for roughing against Pavelski. The Sharks applied some pressure but it did not represent much of a change of pace from their second period even-strength play.

The last five minutes of the period saw the Rangers pushing back. With 4:12 left in the second, the Sharks got very lucky when a cross-ice pass found Ryan McDonagh with an open net. Marc-Edouard Vlasic just managed to get his stick on the shot.

With 3:15 left in the second, the Rangers appeared to have scored, but the referee called it no goal. No camera angle could definitively overrule it. It was the first time this season that the Sharks benefitted from that type of call.

The second period ended with the Rangers leading 27-21 in shots, though the Sharks lead 10-7 for the period.

The Rangers came out fast in the third. A chance for Stepan was just thwarted by a block from Dan Boyle. Seconds later, Carl Hagelin had a very good chance that Niemi had to come way out of the crease to cover.

With just over eight minutes left in regulation, a Sharks give-away gave Brad Richards a great chance on an open net but he missed. The Sharks responded with Matt Nieto and Patrick Marleau going the other way, two on one. A questionable non-call helped quell that scoring chance.

Neither team could sustain much pressure in the second half of the third. The game became a series of one-and-dones with a minimum of whistles to break them up. Through the period, the Rangers outshot the Sharks 14-8.

It was a good sign to see James Sheppard centering Tommy Wingels and Martin Havlat again. That could be the first time this season that the same three players were on the Sharks’ third line three games in a row. If it has been done this season, it was a long time ago.

It was not a good sign to see Raffi Torres out again for a fourth game in a row. McLellan said before the game that they would see how Torres felt in the warm up, and if he felt well enough he would play (-Working the Corners). Luckily, the team has their game in hand. The Sharks are again even in points with the Division-leading Ducks, though the Ducks still have a game in hand over the Sharks.

Tyler Kennedy drew back into the lineup, replacing Mike Brown on the fourth line.

Patrick Marleau lead the Sharks in shots on goal with six. Jason Demers lead in ice time with 22:05. Ryan McDonagh lead the Rangers with six shots, and in ice time with 27:18. The three stars went to Antti Niemi, Henrik Lundqvist and Logan Couture.

The Sharks next play at 7:30 on Tuesday, in San Jose against the visiting Florida Panthers.

Larry Levitt on Sharks and Bulls hockey

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 by Larry Levitt

DALY CITY–The San Jose Sharks who opened up their first three games at SAP Arena and won all three there’s nothing like home cooking that makes a big difference. The team is well rounded they have strength throughout all four lines now. The fourth line is a little weaker than what I would have expected but surprisingly their coming through really strong probably the biggest surprise obviously is just analyzing the guys individually it looks like Joe Pavelski has taken his game to another level too.

Pavelski is one of those players that’s out on the ice a lot and does a lot of the little things that doesn’t get noticed by most people and it’s really exciting to see him have a good year. For Tomas Hertl scoring four goals on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers he doesn’t speak much English so maybe when the fans are yelling at him he doesn’t get too excited and doesn’t realized what he’s done or what he hasn’t done and he’s a 19 year old rookie.

Hertl is exciting the best part he puts the fun back into the game he’s always smiling and on the other hand you have to feel sorry for the Rangers they were playing on back to back nights coming from Los Angeles where they played the Kings the night before and it was a tough game. They really didn’t have their legs and were always slow to the puck and there have never been more pucks that have bounced the right way than that night.

Everytime the puck went off something it went right to a Shark and Joe Thornton got a lucky bounce it was a clearing pass it went off the end of a stick that was laying on the ice that was broken and went right to Thornton so he was able to pass it right up to Hertl and there was a goal. Every bounce seemed to go right for the Sharks that night to a Shark player.

The Rangers goalie Hendrick Lundquist was pulled from the game and sometimes when you pull the goalie to make a statement to your team because they’re not playing well and sometimes you pull the goalie because he’s not playing well. It was a combination of both but the team didn’t really support him at the beginning the Rangers did get the first goal of the game but it was on a five on three power play but after that they really didn’t support him. They were really slow to the puck and when they were shooting it and getting the puck they were trying to knock it off the boards and it would bounce right to the Sharks players.

The Sharks win that one 9-2 and played the Canucks on Thursday night and continue their winning streak now at 4-0 after winning their first road game in Vancouver.

San Francisco Bulls update: Bulls head coach Pat Curcio is quite a head coach and he’s really helped a lot of players and one of the players actually made it to the NHL playing for Toronto they see that Curcio has a lot of heart he’s put a lot into the team and therefore their going to try and benefit from that and make their career better for that reason.

The Bulls are an exciting club to watch in their first year they did very well they made the playoffs their expectations were set any lower. The thing is just keep that exciting brand of hockey going and keep it out in the neighborhood that their playing well and playing hard and the people who are really enjoying the sport will come watch them.

The longest part of travel for the Bulls are when they make their long trek to Alaska to play the Aces which they have on tap for the first week in April. The Bulls will miss the freezing ice and snow and the beginning of April will work for them. The players love to play the sport it’s just a matter of the travel and once your in the ice rink and skating it’s all just a game.

As far as the travel when your in a minor league set up like the ECHL your going to have the buses your going to have the long drives not as much luxury but that’s part of paying your dues to get in the Big Boy league.

The Bulls have a long eight game road trip to open up the season with the rodeo coming to the Cow Palace which takes precedence so they’ll melt the ice after these two pre season games at the Cow Palace. The Bulls will go on the road and sometimes being on the road forces a team together more and maybe be more solid of team players. There’s no where to hide when your own the road. Your so close to each other and that might be a benefit if they play their cards right they make it a benefit.

Larry Levitt does weekly commentary on San Francisco Bulls and San Jose Sharks hockey for Sportstalk Radio

Hertl scores four in Sharks big victory

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
New_York_Rangers_vs._San_Jose_Sharks_-_Photos_-_October_08__2013_-_ESPN
SAN JOSE, CA – OCTOBER 8: Tomas Hertl #48, Matt Irwin #52 and Jason Demers #10 of the San Jose Sharks celebrate Hertl’s goal against the New York Rangers during an NHL game on October 8, 2013 at SAP Center in San Jose, California. (Photo by Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Ivan Makarov

With the strong preseason and a three points in two games to start his rookie campaign in the NHL, Tomas Hertl was no longer a mystery around the NHL coming into the game against New York Rangers. But the show that he put on Tuesday night will be remembered for a long time in San Jose and beyond.

Four goals scored by the Sharks forward was the most ever scored by the rookie in teal as Sharks went on to win the game 9-2. The crowd gave Hertl a standing ovation and he couldn’t stop smiling while sitting on the bench.

“This is crazy. This is like a dream, ” said Herlt after the game. “Four goals! Never even in a Czech league have I had three goals. NHL.. It’s crazy!”

The most beautiful goal scored by Hertl was the one that will be replaying on TV networks and online for a while, as he put it between his legs and backhanded with a great move top shelf while on the breakaway.

“[That move] is something I don’t have in my bag,” said Joe Thornton, laughing, while talking about the goal. “It was awful pretty.”

San Jose played a great game from start to finish, and with the help of good bounces, things went their way and the score showed it.

The most telling goal about how it all went came about in the second period. It was 3-1, the Sharks were outhitting, out skating and out playing the Rangers by that point. Not that they really needed it this time, but the luck went their way once again as Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl picked up a puck that was stopped on the ice by opponents’ broken stick. With speed, Hertl broke through and with a nice move put it behind New York’s goaltender Henrick Lundquist to make it 4-1 and chase Lundquist out of the game only half way through.

All of 15 Sharks ended the game with points, including Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi. Five Sharks had multi-point games.  Hertl was not the only rookie who had a memorable night, as Matt Nieto scored a goal and recorded two assists on the third line.

Rangers’ Brad Richards opened the score  when his team was on 5-on-3 power play early in the game as Brad Stuart got penalized for elbowing and Sharks sent another player into the box for having too many men on the ice during that penalty. Richards was an open player at the top of the face-off circle and he beat Antti Niemi on the glove side.

Sharks were still killing a penalty when a counter attack chance turned into a goal when Marc Eduard Vlasic scored on a shot from high inside the zone, which seemed to have surprised Rangers all star goaltender Henrick Lundquist. Vlasic’s goal was his first of the season and tied the game at 1-1.

Three minutes later, Dan Boyle made it 2-1 as he slap shot the puck from the blue line right after the face-off win by Joe Pavelski inside the Rangers zone. Boyle was helped by Tommy Wingels who was screening Lundquist in front as he was skating by.

But it was in the second period when Sharks energy really picked up and they took over the game completely, scoring three goals in three minutes, making it 5-1 in their favor. Such outcome completely deflated the Rangers who were playing on the second night in a row after a game in Los Angeles against the Kings on Monday night.

A memorable performance by the Sharks rookie helped get the Sharks get to 3-0 on the season before they get on the road, as they play in Vancouver on Thursday night.

Game Notes

  • Tomas Hertl became the youngest NHL player to score four goals in a game since March 30, 1988 (Jimmy Carson, Los Angeles Kings). In total, he is the 4th youngest player in NHL history to score 4 or more goals [Credit: Elias Sports].
  • Tomas Hertl becomes the only player to score a total of six goals in his first three games as a Shark. Rob Gaudreau (1992-93) and Jan Caloun (1995-96) had four goals in their first three games as a Shark, the highest totals before tonight.
  • Tomas Hertl’s four goals ties a Sharks franchise record for most goals in a game by a Shark (Owen Nolan, 12/19/95 @ Anaheim).
  • Tomas Hertl logged 11:12 of ice time during tonight’s game. He becomes the fourth player since 1987-88 to log less than 11:30 of ice time and score four goals in a single game.
  • Players who now have three game point streaks: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, and Logan Couture.
  • Marc-Edouard Vlasic became the 12th Sharks defenseman to score a shorthanded goal (Last: Scott Hannan, 03/16/07 vs. Columbus) [Credit: Darin Stephens].
  • Matt Nieto scored his first NHL point with an assist on a Dan Boyle goal, and followed that up with his first NHL goal at the 8:16 mark of the second period. Nieto finished the game with three points (1-2=3), a +2 rating, and the game-winning goal.
  • Jason Demers set a career high in points as well as assists (0-3=3).