Tag: NHL

Golden Knights Shut-Out Sharks 4-0

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The Vegas Knights Marc Andre-Fleury (left) stops the puck with Nick Holden (22) and the San Jose Sharks Kevin LeBanc (62) behind Fleury in first period at SAP Center on Sat Mar 6, 2021 (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday. Goals came from Mark Stone, Alex Tuch (2) and Reilly Smith. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the shut-out win. Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves in the loss for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that the team lost some energy after the first period: “We were a little bit one-and-done. The Sharks are a team that played five games in the last eight days and you could see that as the game wore on.”

Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk said: “I thought offensively we generated a lot. Flower [Vegas goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury] played phenomenal and he’s been pretty good all season.”

Vegas scored their first goal fairly late in the first period, at 15:02. Mark Stone scored it, off of a two on one. Assists went to Chandler Stephenson and Max Pacioretty.

Vegas outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period and won 64% of the face-offs.

Alex Tuch scored both second period goals. First, Tuch caught a turnover at speed in the neutral zone and raced away for a shot before anyone could get in his way. It was his 11th of the season.

He scored the second at 16:38. Devan Dubnyk had just knocked the puck away but into some traffic. It bounced clear just as Tuch skated to the net and he knocked it in with a backhand.

The Sharks took one penalty in the first period but gave up no shots to the Vegas power play. Vegas won the face-off battle again at 53%, and had 14 shots to the Sharks’ 9.

The final goal of the game came in middle of the third period. Alex Pietrangelo won a board battle below the goal line, allowing Jonathan Marchessault to send the puck to a waiting Reilly Smith up in the slot. The puck went over Dubnyk’s glove and in the net.

The Sharks led in third period shots 7-4 and won 57% of the face-offs. Each team had a power play in the second period. The Sharks had one shot on their power play and Vegas had none.

The Sharks’ forward roster was reduced by one more for Saturday’s game. Timo Meier was out with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day. The Golden Knights’ Mark Stone left during the second period with an injury and did not return. Ryan Reaves, who had to be helped off the ice during Friday’s game with a lower body injury, was back in the lineup Saturday.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Matt Harrington: Sharks try and bounce back from OT loss face Knights in game 2 tonight at SAP

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The Vegas Knights right winger Reilly Smith (19) gets a stick side goal against the San Jose Sharks. Sharks Center Logan Couture (39) tries to stick block the puck and goalie Devan Dubnyk (1) was away from the shot on Fri Mar 5, 2021 at SAP Center San Jose(AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Matt:

#1 The Sharks (8-10-3) took a tough loss on home ice Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights (15-4-1) 5-4 at SAP Center last night that ended in a shootout.

#2 The Golden Knights set the tone opening up the first period with two goals and the Sharks with a 2-0 deficit to start the game.

#3 In the second period the Sharks were able to get some daylight scoring two goals to the Knights one and came away just one goal behind at the intermission 3-2.

#4 The Sharks in the overtime loss used two goaltenders Devan Dubnyk started the game facing 19 shots and allowing two goals and Marty Jones didn’t fair much better allowing three goals facing a total of eight shots.

#5 The Sharks face this difficult Knights team tonight once again. The Knights have lost only four times in 20 games. The Sharks need to take advantage of their home ice to fight there way back against a very aggressive Knights offense.

Join Matt for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Matt Harrington Sat Mar 6, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Sharks Fall 5-4 in OT to Golden Knights

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The Vegas Golden Knights right winger Mark Stone (61), defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) celebrate left wing Max Pacioretty (67) overtime goal against the San Jose Sharks on Fri Mar 5, 2021 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-4 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights Friday in San Jose. Vegas goals came from Max Pacioretty (2), Reilly Smith, Chandler Stephenson and Alex Tuch. Oscar Dansk made 25 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Brent Burns, Matt Nieto, Logan Couture and Matt Nieto. Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves for the Sharks, after taking over for Martin Jones. Jones made five saves on eight shots in the first 22 minutes.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how his team reacted to an altercation between Ryan Reeves and Kurtis Gabriel:

“I thought that worked in our favor. I know they scored right after but we had a sense of togetherness on the bench and we never stopped attacking. It didn’t matter that they got that fourth goal. We had nine minutes or whatever that was at that point that we were determined to find a way to tie the game up and to get a point and to try to get two in overtime.”

Vegas scored first at 5:48. William Karlsson carried the puck around behind the net as if to do a wrap around, drawing Martin Jones to the left side of the net. Karlsson then passed the puck through the blue paint to Reilly Smith for a shot into a wide-open net. Assists went to Karlsson and Jonanthan Marchessault.

Vegas doubled their lead at 7:03. Abouncing puck elluded the Sharks defenders and landed just right for Chandler Stephenson to shoot it between Logan Couture’s skates and into the net. Assists went to Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty.

The Sharks outshot the Golden Knights in the first, 9-6. The teams traded power plays, with two apiece. The Golden Knights had two shots on the power play and the Sharks had just one. Vegas won 63% of the face-offs.

Vegas added to their lead just 2:57 in to the second period. Max Pacioretty’s shot from just below the blue line went right under Martin Jones and in. Assists went to Alec Martinex and Ryan Reaves.

The Sharks pulled Jones out and put Devan Dubnyk in net. Dubnyk warmed up in game with a quick glove stop on Pacioretty.

Brent Burns got the Sharks on the board at 6:01 with a power play goal. His shot went in and out so quickly that play continued until the Situation Room interrupted with a goal horn. It had hit camera just under the crossbar. Assists went to Ryan Donato and Timo Meier.

Matt Nieto brought the Sharks within one at 12:43. After knocking down an arial pass from Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone, Nieto carried the puck in two on one with Joel Kellman. Nieto took the shot instead of passing.

The shots were very closein the second, at 12-11 for Vegas. The teams again had two power plays apiece. The Sharks just had one shot in their power plays and that was Burns’ goal. Vegas had four shots through their second period power plays. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle, winning 52% of their draws.

Alex Tuch added a fourth goal to the Vegas tally, 26 seconds into the third period. A defensive attempt to knock the puck off of William Carrier’s stick merely swept it across to Tuch for a quick shot over Dubnyk’s shoulder. Assists went to Carrier and Keegan Kolesar.

Logan Couture trimmed that Vegas lead back down at 6:23. Moments before the goal, Couture intercepted a pass in the Sharks zone and then carried the puck the other way. A few tidy passes later, Couture took a shot right up the slot and past Oscar Dansk. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Kevin Labanc.

With 7:56 left in the game, Ryan Reeves sustained a skate cut as he took Kurtis Gabriel into the boards. He had to be helped off the ice.

The Sharks had a late power play in the third period, and got two shots in there but did not tie the game until Kevin Labanc scored at 18:53. A long pass to the neutral zone from Brent Burns made its way all the way down before the Dansk tried to swat it away. Nieto was there to knock it in.

Overtime lasted 1:25 and ended with a goal from Max Pacioretty. A backhand pass from Alex Pietrangelo went through the slot to Pacioretty for a quick shot. Dubnyk could not get across in time to stop that one. Assists went to Pietrangelo and Mark Stone.

The teams were tied in shots in both the third and overtime periods, with eight each in the third and one each in overtime. The face-offs overall went to the Golden Knights at 57%.

The Sharks play the Golden Knights again on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose.

Avs, Grubauer Shutout Sharks to Split Series with 4-0 Win

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Photo credit: nhl.com/avalanche

By Matthew Harrington

The search for consistency continues for the San Jose Sharks after they failed to build on a 6-2 victory over the Avalanche Monday, falling to the same Colorado side 4-0 Wednesday evening at home. Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season and Mikko Rantanen scored twice and picked up for points, Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and three assists and Samuel Girard scored for the Avs (12-7-1). Nathan MacKinnon didn’t return after taking a hit from Sharks rookie Joachim Blichfeld late in the third that earned the winger an ejection. For the Sharks (8-10-2), another chance to win back-to-back games slipped away.

“It’s disappointing right now any time you lose,” said Sharks goalie Martin Jones when asked about his thoughts on standing toe-to-toe with one of the league’s best for five periods of the two-game series. “We could play with those guys, we could play with anybody when we play a certain way. It’s just wrapping our heads around playing a certain way. Guys just have to do it.”

One could argue that this was the first game the Sharks dearly missed the impact of Tomas Hertl, one of the team’s top centers on the shelf after a positive COVID-19 test last Wednesday. Sure, he could have made a difference in Saturday’s gong show against St. Louis, but the team managed six goals without him. In Monday’s contest, the faceoff stats weren’t great for the team, but overall it was the Sharks’ best performance of the year. But on Wednesday the Sharks were still in the game, trailing 2-0 before the five-minute power play from Blichfeld’s penalty. Hertl’s ability to control play in the offensive end could have helped the Sharks break through, but his impact in the faceoff dot is what really hurts.

Trailing 1-0 already on a faceoff draw, Landeskog batted the puck toward Brent Burns on the halfwall, a faceoff loss for Logan Couture and the Sharks (They won 39.6 % of draws). Burns tried to knock the puck up to Kevin Labanc, but instead Rantanen picked it up and fed Girard at the point. Girard’s point blast beat Jones, hit iron and went in for a 2-0 Avs lead 5:29 into the third. For Girard, half of his four goals this year have come in the last two games against San Jose.

“We’ve played some pretty good faceoff teams,” said Jones. “(Hertl’s) obviously an important centerman for us. It’s tough to get the puck. Anytime you can start with the puck it, that’s going to make life a little easier.”

The Sharks still were a couple strong shifts away from working their way back into the game when Blichfeld, making his NHL season debut after a strong AHL start, hit MacKinnon with the shoulder in the chest and head area as he neared the Sharks bench 8:08 into the third period. He was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure and MacKinnon left the game, but the Avs went on a five-minute power play.

The penalty kill did well, limiting Colorado to just one goal on a Landeskog rebound putback just 15 seconds into the power play, but the Avs outshot the Sharks 18-10 in the final frame after leading in SOGs 20-16 after two. Rantanen buried the dagger wrap-around goal with 5:26 left in regulation.

Rantanen scored the first goal of the game late in the second, but otherwise Martin Jones was sharp in net through two, making 19 saves against a potent Avalanche lineup.

“We did enough to keep the game close,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner. “Win a period, win the game kind of attitude. We couldn’t get it done in the third period.”

Next up, the Sharks will welcome the Vegas Golden Knights in a back-to-back homeset starting Friday night at SAP Center.

Notes: Nikolai Knyzhov was paired with Erik Karlsson on defense…Joachim Blichfeld was making his season debut with the Sharks after picking up nine points in six games with the AHL Barracuda….The Sharks had to Danes in the lineup with Blichfeld and center Alexander True both on the fourth line…The Sharks haven’t had a faceoff percentage higher than 45% in the three games Hertl has missed and haven’t won the faceoff battle since a February 11th loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks go after series win against Avalanche tonight

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The San Jose Sharks Erik Karlsson (foreground) skates past the Sharks bench for a victory lap after scoring a third period goal on Mon Mar 1, 2021 against the Colorado Avalanche during game 1 of their two game series at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len for the San Jose Sharks a big win turning it around from Saturday’s loss to the St Louis Blues 7-6 and getting a four goal win on Monday night 6-2 against the Colorado Avalanche.

#2 It was a game for the Sharks against the Avs that they got help from defencemen Radim Simek and Erik Karlsson.

#3 How important is it for Karlsson to get that first goal of the season under his belt?

#4 The lines were dominate on Monday night and it was said that it was the Sharks best game of the year coming back down 2-0 to score six unanswered goals.

#5 The Sharks and Avalanche face off again at SAP Center tonight at 7:30pm given that the Avs lost in a Sharks come backer fashion there is little doubt Colorado will come out firing on all cylinders?

Join Len for the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday mornings at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro Wed Mar 3, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks prepare for Avalanche in game 2 of series Wednesday night

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The San Jose Sharks Rudolf Balcers (92) skates ahead of Brent Burns (88) during Sun Feb 27, 2021 pre game skate at SAP Center. The Sharks host the Colorado Avalanche for game two of the series Wed Mar 3, 2021 in San Jose (photo from @SanJoseSharks)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa the four goal 6-2 win for the San Jose Sharks (8-9-2) against the Colorado Avalanche (11-7-1) on Monday night was certainly a well needed win after the Sharks took a tough loss on last Saturday night in a shoot out against the St Louis Blues 7-6.

#2 The Sharks over these last two games have scored 12 goals and win or lose they’re scoring and offensive production has been off the charts.

#3 Even the Sharks defencemen have taken advantage of finding the back of the net Radim Simek and Erik Karlsson both scored a goal a piece.

#4 Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner coached probably one of his best games this season as the Sharks were down in the second period 2-0 who knew that they would answer back with six consecutive goals for the win.

#5 The Avalanche have won four of their last eight games previous to that they have had five consecutive games postponed. The Sharks have now won three of their last seven games with two postponements intertwined in the schedule how do you see game two coming up with the Avalanche Wednesday night?

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Tuesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh Tue Mar 3, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Sharks Score 6 Unanswered goals in 6-2 Statement Win Over Avs

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The scores says it big after the Colorado Avalanche opened up the game with two goals the San Jose Sharks scored six unanswered goals at SAP Center in San Jose for the win on Mon Mar 1, 2021 (photo from @SanJoseSharks)

By Matthew Harrington

The sting from Saturday’s 7-6 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues seemed like it was still fresh for the San Jose Sharks Monday at the SAP Center. Facing a test of their mettle against Stanley Cup contenders the Colorado Avalanche, the Sharks fell behind 2-0 and looked punchless against a faster, more skilled opponent.

Instead, San Jose (8-9-2) rallied for it’s most impressive win of the season, scoring six unanswered goals in the second and third periods combined to beat the Avs 6-2 Martin Jones made 33 saves against a potent Colorado offense, Timo Meier had his first career three-assist night and a pair of Sharks defensemen not named Brent Burns lit the lamp.

Six different Sharks scored and 11 players picked up a point for San Jose. Samuel Girard and Gabriel Landeskog scored for Colorado (11-7-1) in the defeat.

Girard opened the scoring late in the first, scoring on a wrist shot with 1:28 left in the period for a 1-0 lead, and Landeskog potted his fifth of the year on the power play 4:21 into the second to put Colorado firmly in control for what was shaping up to be a long night for the Sharks. It was a player that coach Bob Boughner called on the carpet specifically after morning skate, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who helped start the rally.

Vlasic, who generally looked like he’d received his coach’s message with inspired play all around, activated in the offensive end. He found a seam in the slot for another defenseman known more for his defensive work than offensive panache, Radim Simek. Simek slipped a wrist shot through Philipp Grubauer’s five-hole to cut the lead two at 1 6:13 into the period. For the Sharks, it was the first goal scored by a defenseman other than Brent Burns this season. Rudolfs Balcers also assisted on the goal.

Kevin Labanc tied the game with 3:12 left in the period to stay hot and score the first of two goals for the top line Monday night. Evander Kane and Logan Couture assisted on the goal.

“They’ve got a little bit of everything,” said Boughner about his top line Monday. “(Kevin Labanc) has really worked hard on his two-way game. I think you can see he has a nose for the puck, he’s working hard. He’s never forechecked like he’s forechecking now. (Evander) Kane and (Logan Couture) have chemistry where they don’t throw pucks away. They’re both big, strong guys. It works.”

Balcers picked up his second point on the night, firing a shot that Grubauer saved but Nazem Kadri put into his own net while being pressured by Timo Meier 4:18 into the final period which ultimately became the game-winner.

After looking dangerous and motivated in his first game back from a groin injury Saturday, Erik Karlsson built on his last performance by lighting the lamp for the first time this year on the power play 7:53 into the third. He slipped a wrister under Grubauer, with Kane picking up his second point of the night with an assist with San Jose on the power play.

“It seems like he’s got a good reset,” said Boughner. “He’s doing those little things with the puck that we’re used to seeing him do. You’re seeing him exploding out of traffic. He has that separation speed back in his game. I just thought he’s been a real confident player.”

Meier sprung rookie John Leonard on the breakaway 2:18 later, with Leonard burying the puck past Grubauer for his third goal of the season. It was the third-straight goal Meier assisted on. Kane potted the empty net goal for his third point of the night and eighth goal of the year.

For the Sharks to sweep the series against Colorado, they’ll need a near-identical effort, but Monday proves that despite some early-season struggles the Sharks have the talent to hang with the top teams in the division when at their best. They’ll be challenged to replicate the results from Monday when they host Colorado again Wednesday night in San Jose to continue the long homestand.

Notes: Tomas Hertl missed his second game after going on the Covid-19 protocol list last Wednesday…Without Hertl the Sharks went 22-29 at the face-off dot…Alexander True made his season debut, playing 6:29 with two shots on goal and two penalties…Simek’s goal was his first in almost a year, last scoring March 3rd, 2020 against Toronto…It was Karlsson’s first goal since February 10th of last season…The Avalanche were without last season’s Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar, he missed Monday’s game with an upper body injury…Timo Meier has three games with three points or more this season…Kevin Labanc has six points over his last four games.

Blues Beat Sharks 7-6 in 13 Goal Barn-Burner

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Photo credit: @StLouisBlues

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-6 to the St. Louis Blues Saturday. Blues goals came from Marco Scandella (2), Sammy Blais, Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern and Ryan O’Reilly. Jordan Binnington made 15 saves in 30:34 of ice time, and Ville Husso made 19 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier (2), Evander Kane (2), Logan Couture, and Kevin Labanc. Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Evander Kane said:

“Any time you score six goals you usually feel you should win the hockey game. I think we gave them a lot, I’d say probably four of those seven goals, we literally gave them the puck. So that was disappointing. And when you make that many mistakes through the course of a game, you know, sometimes scoring six isn’t going to get the job done.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the four leads the Sharks earned and lost again in the game: “We couldn’t get any momentum going, after we got up, after we got those leads. So.. I mean it’s tough to build momentum when the next shots goes in the net every time.”

Timo Meier scored with the first shot of the game seven seconds in. Meier caught a puck just as it came of the boards and took the shot without hesitation. It deflected off of a defenseman and bounced past Jordan Binnington for Meier’s third of the year. Assists went to Rudolfs Balcers and Dylan Gambrell.

Marco Scandella tied the game at 6:08 with a shot from the middle of the blue line. The puck went past three skaters and into the net on Devan Dubnyk’s glove side.

Evander Kane took the lead back for the Sharks with a power play goal at 10:11. Logan Couture tried to get a shot off from close in but the puck rolled away. Binnington could not corral it and it ended up on Kane’s stick for a tight angle shot. Assists went to Couture and Brent Burns.

At the end of the second, the shots were 12-6 Sharks, with three of those Sharks shots coming on the power play. The face-offs heavily favored the Blues at 63%.

Sammy Blais tied it again 3:34 into the second period. A failed clear by Kevin Labanc ended up on Vince Dunn’s stick for a quick shot from the blue line. Blais collected the puck before it got to the goaltender and swept it around and in with a backhand. Assists went to Dunn and Ryan O’Reilly.

Meier scored again to give the Sharks their third lead of the game at 6:43. With the Sharks on the power play, Meier kept the puck in at the line, carried it down the boards as far as the face-off circle, and shot the puck into the top corner. Kevin Labanc got the assist.

The Blues came right back with another tying goal at 7:28. David Perron had the puck up high in the slot. With a number of skaters to choose from, he found Brayden Schenn coming in late and wide open. Schenn’s shot beat Dubnyk on the glove side.

Kane scored his second of the game at 10:34. Kane got control of the puck in the neutral zone and carried it in with one defenseman to contend with. He took a shot from the top of the face-off circle. the Blues made a goaltending change and put Ville Husso in the game. Binnington made a stop at the Sharks bench and then another to give Dubnyk a shove on his way off the ice.

Zach Sanford tied it up again with 1:44 left in the period. Sanford came up with the puck below the goal line, skated to the net and poked it past Dubnyk. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Torey Krug.

The Sharks led in shots again in the second, 20-16, with six shots coming on the power play. They had three power plays in the period and one penalty kill. The Sharks lost ground on already bad numbers in the face-off circle, winning only 21% of them.

The third period saw three goals in the first 3:20. Mackenzie MacEachern gave the Blues their first lead of the game 1:17 into the third period. The Sharks were on the power play when MacEachern and Zach Sanford broke away in a two-on-one for a short handed goal.

Kevin Labanc tied it back up at 2:13. John Leonard made a nice back-hand pass from almost behind the net to set up Labanc for the shot. Assists went to Leonard and Meier.

Ryan O’Reilly scored the eleventh goal of the game at 3:20. Justin Faulk’s hard shot from the top of the circle created a rebound through traffic for O’Reilly to nudge in, reaching through a thicket of bodies.

Logan Couture tied it up again at 6:31. Brent Burns took a shot from the blue line and it deflected off of Couture half way down the slot. It bounced and spun over Husso. Assists went to Burns and Mario Ferraro.

Oskar Sundqvist gathered the puck up behind the net and sent it past two Sharks to Marco Scandella coming in on the other side of the blue paint. Scandella directed it in by the post for the seventh Blues goal at 7:14.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender at the end but could not tie it up again. The Sharks improved somewhat in the face-off circle during the third period, winning 47% which still put the Blues ahead. The Blues had two shots through two power plays and led in shots for the period 9-8.

The Sharks next play on Monday in San Jose, against the Colorado Avalanche at 7:30 PM PT.

Tomas Hertl was out for COVID-19 quarantine, which triggered the rescheduling of Thursday’s game. Erik Karlsson and Radim Simek both returned from injury for Saturday’s game. Karlsson had six shots on goal and Simek had one. The team wore throwback jerseys from the 90s, with the wide grey stripe.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Flames open up on Sens for 6-3 win; Flyers Elliott throws shutout against Sabers; plus more

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The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott (37) shutout the Buffalo Sabers and stopped 23 shots on the way to a 3-0 victory in Buffalo on Sat Feb 27, 2021 (@PR_NHL photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt, let’s take a look at some of today’s action in the NHL the Calgary Flames (10-10-2) are getting some offense as Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane,  Matt Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, and Juuso Valimaki scored a goal each in their 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators (7-15-1) at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

#2 The Philadelphia Flyers (10-4-3) goaltender Brian Elliott threw a shutout today against the Buffalo Sabers (6-9-3). Elliott stopped 23 Philadelphia shots for the shutout. You know about goaltending Matt talk about Elliott’s stops between the pipes today in Buffalo.

#3 The Flyers got some scoring help from Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Scott Laughton each scored a goal a piece for the 3-0 win.

#4 The New Jersey Devils (7-7-2) may have shutdown the Washington Capitals (11-5-4) Alexander Ovechkin from scoring any goals on Saturday but they couldn’t stop the Caps offense from scoring five goals from Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, Daniel Sprong, and Jakub Vrana for the 5-2 win.

#5  In goal for the Capitals was Vitek Vanecek who stopped 22 out of 24 shots against the Devils on Saturday afternoon.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington Sat Feb 27, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Sharks Hertl tests positive for Coronavirus; Vegas-San Jose match canceled for tonight

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The San Jose Sharks Tom Hertl tested positive for Coronavirus forcing tonight’s game at SAP Center versus the Vegas Golden Knights to be postponed. Hertl in this Wed Jan 20, 2021 photo against the St Louis Blues in St Louis will quarantined. The Blues and Sharks game for Fri Feb 26, 2021 has also been postponed (AP News file photo) 

By Mary Walsh

Wednesday afternoon, the San Jose Sharks and the NHL announced that Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights would be postponed under the league’s COVID-19 protocol. The NHL also announced the game for Fri Feb 26th between the visiting St Louis Blues and the Sharks also has been postponed. The press release read, in part:

“Despite having only one player (Tomas Hertl) currently impacted, the decision to cancel the team’s practice and training activities on Wednesday, and postpone the game on Thursday was made out of an abundance of caution.”

It is the first time a postponement has been triggered by the Sharks.

The San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, have also postponed their Thursday game in Bakersfield against the Condors.

Join Mary Lisa for the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Wednesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com