NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sharks goalie Dubnyk can’t stop Wild in 4-2 loss; Caps pull off OT win with four players missing; plus more

The celebration would be short but in the first period the San Jose Sharks Matt Nieto (83) who scored is congratulated by Erik Karlsson (65) and Patrick Marleau (12) against the Minnesota Wild on Fri Jan 22, 2021 at the Xcel Energy Center (AP News photo)

On NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The Minnesota Wild (5-3-1) and the San Jose Sharks (4-3-2) at the Xcel Energy Center The Wild got a convincing win over the Sharks 4-1. The Wild got scoring from Joel Eriksson, Zach Parise, Kevin Fiala, and Jordan Greenway each scored a goal a piece. San Jose goalie Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 of 27 shots against his former team.

#2 The Washington Capitals (5-2) had four players including team captain Alex Ovechkin sidelined against the Buffalo Sabers (1-4) on Friday night. The Caps despite being four players short due to due to positive Coronavirus tests and protocols got by with an overtime shootout win 4-3 in DC.

#3 The Edmonton Oilers (2-4) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2) at Toronto. The Leafs scored two goals in each of the second and third periods for the 4-2 win. The Leafs Mitch Marner, Adam Brooks, John Taveras, and Jimmy Versey each had a goal.

#4 In another razor close game the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2) got a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers (1-2-1) at PPG Paints Arena. The Rangers might have lost but it was a close contest does that mean despite the loss the Rangers still can bring it or were they just up for the Pens?

#5 The Chicago Blackhawks (1-3-1) scored in each period and the Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen held the Detroit Red Wings (2-3-0) to one goal and stopped 30 shots in the 4-1 win.

Matt does the NHL podcast each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 4-1 to Wild; Sharks Dubnyk allows two goals against former team

The Minnesota Wild’s Zach Parise puts the puck on net as San Jose Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk can only watch it go in in the second period during Fri Jan 22, 2021’s contest at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis (Minneapolis Star Tribune photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Minnesota goals came from Joel Eriksson-Ek, Zach Parise, Kevin Fiala and Jordan Greenway. Cam Talbot made 11 saves on 12 shots in the first period. Kaapo Kahkonen made 17 saves after coming in for an injured Talbot. Matt Nieto scored the Sharks’ one goal and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves on 27 shots faced for San Jose.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that he was generally pleased with the first 40 minutes, but the team needs more from the power play and the top six:

“We didn’t generate a lot of emotion from our power play, especially when we had chances. Didn’t capitalize on our chances. [LeBanc] Banker missed one here on the back door and it was basically a 2-1 game in my mind but … you know what, we need more from the big guys. We got another goal from Matt Nieto, on that fourth line here, and, you know, we need our best players to be our best players.”

Sharks forward Timo Meier explained what the team needs to do to create more offense: “It starts obviously in the D zone, breaking out better. Come with more speed through the neutral zone and I think a big thing is holding onto pucks in the offensive zone and wear down the D. I think that’s where we gotta do a better job.”

As for what is missing from their power play now, Meier said:

“I think we gotta just keep it more simple, get some pucks through. Net presence is important. I think for some amount of time we’re moving the puck well but we’re not really dangerous in front of the net. So I think we’ve just gotta fight to get, you know, an ugly one and that’ll give us some confidence back.”

Joel Eriksson-Ek scored first for the Wild just 5:01 into the first period. Jordan Greenway took a shot from the boards that Eriksson-Ek deflected in, from right on the edge of the blue paint. Assists went to Jordan Greenway and Ryan Hartman.

Matt Nieto tied the game just 1:11 later. Patrick Marleau got control of the puck ow in the zone and passed it to Erik Karlsson who was coming down from the blue line. Instead of takig a shot, Karlsson deviously tapped it over to Nieto i the slot. Nieto took the shot with two players in Talbot’s eyes. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Patrick Marleau.

Each team had two power plays in the period, and each gave up short-handed chances in their first power plays. Evander Kane had a second short handed chance in the second Minnesota power play. The Sharks’ second power play looked very good, with the team holding the zone for over a minute before play stopped. Ferraro and Donato both made some nice plays.

When play stopped, Minnesota’s Talbot appeared to be injured but remained in the game. He did not, however, come back in the second period.

Minnesota took a lead in the second period, at 13:17. Zach Parise had just been stopped by Dubnyk but, seconds later, Parise was back in front of the net creating a screen for a shot from Nick Bjugstad. Dubnyk stopped that one but Parise found the loose puck and put it past the Sharks goaltender.

There were no penalties in the second period until 17:39, and then a few penalties were assigned after a near-fight between Jordan Greenway and Marie Ferraro. Ferraro got two for roughing, while Greenway got a double minor for roughing.

A power play for Minnesota early in the third did not change the score. The game remained 2-1 until the final two minutes. The Sharks made a final push by pulling their goaltender with just under two minutes left. That did not work out as Erik Karlsson could not hold the ouck off of a faceoff. Kevin Fiala snatched the loose puck at the Minnesota blue line and carried it down for the empty net goal, giving the Wild a 3-1 lead.

The Sharks persisted with the empty net only to have the Wild gain control again. Jordan Greenway took a shot from his own zone and made it 4-1. Assists went to Joel Eriksson-Ek and Marcus Foligno.

Despite the loss, there was one one bright stat in the Sharks’ game: they did better in the face-off circle, winning 58% of them. Tomas Hertl won all six of his draws, Logan Couture won a respectable 50% of his six draws, and Ryan Donato won two of his three.

The Sharks next play on Sunday, again in Minnesota at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Win 2-1 in Shootout Against Blues

The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl (right) puts the puck on net for the game winner in the overtime shootout against St Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (left) in St Louis in the second game of their two game series on Wed Jan 2o, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 2-1 against the St. Louis Blues in a shootout Wednesday. The Sharks got a regulation goal from Marcus Sorensen and the shootout winner from Tomas Hertl. Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win. The lone Blues goal came from Brayden Schenn and their goaltender, Jordan Binnington, made 37 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the improvements he saw in his team’s game:

“I thought our turnover rate was better, I thought our wall play was better, our possession time I think was a little better. And line changes, as crazy as that sounds, as simple as that sounds, I thought we did a better job of, you know, our shift length and changing and just all the fundamentals that we’ve been talking about.”

Boughner also pointed to how the team’s third and fourth lines helped in the win, beyond scoring the Sharks’ only regulation goal: “I believe the third and fourth line created some of our best o-zone shifts tonight when we needed it, just at the right time. They jumped over the boards and they played a little bit of a blue-collar style game which was perfect for us.”

The teams traded penalties in the first period but ended with no score. The Sharks had two penlaties to kill and the Blues had three. The shots were close, at 10-9 St. Louis.

The Blues scored first, at 4:27 of the second period. With the Sharks on a power play, Jordan Kyrou brought the puck through the neutral zone with speed before running into the Sharks defense. He held on to the puck until Brent Burns made some contact, knocking the puck loose. From there, Torey Krug and Brayden Schenn got it to the net and Schenn put it into the top corner. Assists went to Kyrou and Krug.

The Sharks tied it up with just over two minutes left in the second. Marcus Sorensen pushed the puck deep into Blues territory before gathering it up and sending it back up to Burns on the blue line. Mario Ferraro took a shot that touched Matt Nieto’s stick and trickled wide. Sorensen was right there to knock it in. Assists went to Nieto and Ferraro.

The shot count was close again in the second period, at 11-10 Sharks. The game remained scoreless after that. The Sharks had one third period power play, and killed two penalties. In all, the Sharks out-shot the Blues 17-4 in the final period.

After the game, Logan Couture talked about the third period: “I think in the third period, we played the style of hockey that we want to play. Obviously throughout the game there were a lot of penalties back and forth and it’s tough to get a flow going. But I liked our third period for sure.”

The Sharks seemed to score in the final 11 seconds of OT, but it was called back for incidental contact with the goaltender.

The shootout went an extra round as Martin Jones faced David Perron, Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou without letting in a goal. Binnington faced Ryan Donato, Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc before tomas Hertl’s shot got by him.

The Sharks next play on Friday in Minnesota against the Wild at 5:00 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sabers bombard Flyers in five goal win 6-1; Canes score three in come back win over Preds; plus more

The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart (79) had a rough night stopping pucks as the Buffalo Sabers Jack Eichel (9) cant get past the Sabers Provorov (9) and the Flyers Eric Gustafsonn (56) looks after the puck (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers who were coming off two wins took a tough loss to the Buffalo Sabers on Monday night 6-1. The Sabers Curtis Lazar and Sam Reinhart both scored twice. The Flyers just simply could not get any semblance of offense going and Flyers goalie Carter Hart was having a tough time stopping shots facing 18-22.

#2 The Carolina Hurricanes got a two goal victory over the Nashville Predators 4-2. The Hurricanes down 2-1 came back in the third period getting goals from Vincent Trocheck, Sebastian Aho, and Nino Niederreiter.

#3 Big night for the Toronto Maple Leafs getting a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. For Toronto scoring Monday night John Taveras and Mitch Marner who scored twice in the two goal win.

#4 In a back and forth game between the San Jose Sharks and the St Louis Blues the St Louis Blues just escaped going overtime with the scored tied 4-4 and the Blues Jordan Kyrou scored the game winner at 10:28. Final was 5-4 Blues. Same two teams meet again on Wednesday night at the Enterprise Center.

#5 The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up their first win of 2021 with a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The Jackets scorers Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexandre Texier, and Pierre Luc Dubois.

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

Sharks drop first game to Blues in 5-4 loss

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Ana Kieu

The San Jose Sharks began a two-game series against the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center on Monday night. The Sharks desperately tried to avoid a two-game losing streak, but ultimately fell short to the Blues, 5-4.

The Sharks took an early lead in the first period. Kevin Labanc drew first blood with a goal at the 11:38 mark, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The goal was Labanc’s first of the season, snapping a two-game scoreless drought. Logan Couture scored a power-play goal at the 14:18 mark, giving the Sharks a 2-0 lead. The Sharks held firm with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The second period featured a lot of back-and-forth action between the two teams. Justin Faulk beat Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk glove side, cutting the lead in half, 2-1, just 2:36 into the second. Mike Hoffman redirected a pass, tying the game 2-2 at the 4:09 mark. The Sharks weren’t ready to give up, but the Blues had other plans. Brent Burns scored a power-play goal, putting the Sharks up 3-2 at the 12:06 mark. The Blues tied the game once again, 3-3, at the 14:17 mark, as Jaden Schwartz found the loose puck after Dubnyk made the initial save. The Blues took a 4-3 lead with Faulk’s second goal of the game at the 19-minute mark. The Sharks trailed 4-3 after 40 minutes of play.

Things got interesting in the third period as defense was optional and physicality skyrocketed. Logan Couture scored his second goal of the game, tying the game, 4-4, just 4:17 into the third. Jordan Kyrou scored a between-the-legs goal that gave the Blues a 5-3 lead at the 10:28 mark. The Sharks pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker late in the third, but were unable to score the equalizer and force overtime, as Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped the shots thrown his way. The Sharks lost 5-4 at the end of regulation.

The Sharks fell to 1-2-0, while the Blues improved to 2-1-0.

The two teams face each other off again on Wednesday, January 20 at 6 pm PT.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Devils edge Bruins 2-1 in OT; Sharks Meier scores hat trick but Coyotes win 5-3; plus more

New Jersey Devils Yegor Sharangovich (17) celebrates his overtime goal with teammates Kyle Palmer (21) and P.K. Subban (76) for the overtime win against the Boston Bruins on Sat Jan 16, 2021 at New Jersey (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins played to a 2-1 overtime with New Jersey coming out the winner. New Jersey got on the board first when Miles Woods scored at 16:15 in the first period. The Bruins Patrice Bergeron tied the game in the second period at 17:16 with his second goal of the year. Jersey’s Yegor Sharangovich scored the overtime goal for the win at 4:58.

#2 The Arizona Coyotes after losing to the San Jose Sharks on opening night Thursday got a 5-3 win on Saturday despite the Sharks Timo Meier who scored a hat trick and all of San Jose’s goals. The Yotes Phil Kessel scored twice in the three goal win for Arizona.

#3 The Montreal Canadiens got a huge four goal win over the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Saturday night. The Habs got scoring from Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar who both scored twice. Jake Evan scored a short handed goal.

#4 The New York Rangers got a 5-0 shutout over the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Rangers got scoring help from Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin who scored twice and Kappo Kakko scored one goal for the win. Ranger goaltender Alexandar Georgiev faced 23 shots for the shutout.

#5 The Detroit Red Wings got a two goal win against the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. The Wings got scoring from Dylan Larkin who scored twice, Bobby Ryan, and Robby Fabbri score a goal each.

Join Len each Sunday night for a look at the weekend’s NHL action at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Saturday night’s action saw some great offense for opening weekend

The Philadelphia Flyers Travis Konecny (11) scores his third goal for a hat trick behind Pittsburgh Penguins Marcus Pettersson (28) and goalie Casey DeSmith (1) on Fri Jan 15, 2021 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia  (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers got a three goal win over the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2. The Flyers got scoring help from Travis Konecny who scored twice in the first period and got the hat trick in the third period at 17:53.

#2  Good back and forth hockey from the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabers in a 2-1 win for the Caps. Washington got goal scoring help from Jakub Vrana his second of the year at 1:34 in the second period. The second Caps goal came from Tom Wilson who scored his first goal of the season at 7:47 in third period.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lighting got a three goal win over the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. Tampa Bay got goals from five different Bolts, Ondrej Palot, Alex Killorn and Blake Coleman scored in the second period. In the third period Yanni Gourde and Steven Stamkos each had a goal.

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs were no match for the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night for Hockey Night in Canada. The Sens got goal scoring help in their 5-3 win from Thomas Chabot, Brody Tkachuk, Austin Watson, and Derek Stepan. Leafs goalie Frederik Anderson stopped 19 shots and allowed five goals.

#5 Talk about the NHL Champs St Louis Blues who got blown out by the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night 8-0. Talk about St Louis goaltender Ville Husso who saw a lot shots in net last night.

Matt takes a look at Friday NHL action each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 5-3 to Coyotes Despite 3 Point Game for Meier

The San Jose Sharks Timo Meier (28) stick handling the puck, the Arizona Coyotes Christian Fischer (28), and the Sharks Logan Couture (39) in pursuit at Glendale Arena on Sat Jan 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-3 to the Coyotes in Arizona Saturday afternoon. Arizona goals came from Phil Kessel (2), Barrett Hayton, Jakob Chychrun and Clayton Keller scored for Arizona. Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Ryan Donato scored for San Jose. Antti Raanta made 31 saves for the win Martin Jones made 19 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

We spent a lot more time in their end in the O-zone, we played a little faster I thought. You know, they got a little bit of puck luck tonight. They were the better team in the first game. I thought we played a lot harder and a lot more structured in this game.

The Sharks led the game in many respects but not on the scoresheet. They outshot the Coyotes 34-26, they had four power plays to Arizona’s 3. San Jose scored in two of four power plays and killed two of three penalties. The glaring bad stat was in the faceoff circle. They won just 40% of them. The only Sharks skater to win more than half of his draws was Patrick Marleau, who took five draws and won four. Tomas Hertl won 7 of 18, and Logan Couture won 5 of 11. No one else took more than three or won more than one.

On the subject of faceoffs, Boughner said:

It’s something we gotta get way better at. I think that we struggled in the faceoff circle even in the first game. You know, it’s an important part of the game and I thought our puck movement was better off of won faceoffs. But we lost too many, and you’re chasing the puck all night.

The Sharks scored first at 3:34, with a power play goal from Ryan Donato. Conor Garland was in the box for tripping Marc-Edouard Vlasic. High in the slot, Timo Meier bobbled a shot but got it right back and sent it through traffic and off of Ryan Donato. Assists went to Meier and Mario Ferraro.

Arizona responded with their own power play goal at 12:31. Evander Kane was in the box for tripping Tyler Pitlick. Phil Kessel tried to send the puck in and it went off of Nikolai Knyzhov. It came right back to Kessel and he moved around the Sharks defense to make a backhand shot that went through before slipping past Martin Jones. An assist went to Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Barrett Hayton gave the Coyotes a lead at 14:41. After a lot of play behind the net, Conor Garland made a quick pass to the Hayton in the slot. Assists went to Garland and Nick Schmaltz.

Timo Meier tied it back up less than a minute later. Meier was moving down the wall with the puck, while Kevin Labanc skated down the slot with Jakob Chychrun defending. Meier made the pass and it hit Chychrun and bounced into the net.

Arizona scored twice in the second period, the first a shot from the blue line from Ekman-Larsson. His shot went right through four skaters before hitting Phil Kessel on its way into the net. It was Kessel’s second of the game, with assists to Ekman-Larsson and Christian Dvorak.

Jakob Chychrun scored at 8:56. A clean face-off win in the offensive zone gave Chychrun a shot with lots of traffic as the face-off broke up. Derick Brassard got the assist.

Clayton Keller added to the Coyotes lead just 2:39 into the third period. After Brassard won another offensive zone faceoff, Ekman-Larsson held the puck at the blue line before trying for a tip from Keller in the slot. Martin Jones stopped that but Keller came right down for the rebound and put that one in. Assists went to Ekman-Larsson and Brassard.

Midway through the third, Boughner pulled Martin Jones and put Devan Dubnyk in. After the game, the coach explained that that was only to give Dubnyk sme ice tine before their next game. Since it did not come right after the fifth goal, it did not look like a reaction to Jones’ play in particular.

The Sharks had a power play start in the final minute of play, and scored their own goal right off of an O-zone faceoff. Just eight seconds into the power play, Tomas Hertl tipped Timo Meier’s shot from the top of the circle. Assists went to Meier and Erik Karlsson.

Roster changes: Jacob Middleton was in for Nick Meloche on the blue line.

The Sharks now travel to St. Louis for their next game at 5:00 PM PT on Monday, against the Blues.

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Flyers Patrick back from migraine issues; Wild’s Rossi out indefinitely with upper body injury; plus more

The Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick in this Mon Mar 19, 2019 file photo has missed 21 months due to suffering a migraine disorder will return on opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins this Wed Jan 13, 2021 (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick who suffered migraine disorder says he’s ready to return and has waited 21 months to get back. Patrick says he’s feeling better and wants to get back in the line up against the Pittsburgh Penguins for this Wednesday’s opener.

#2 It was reported that the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi will be out indefinitely due to an upper body injury. Wild head coach Dean Evason said the 19 year old Rossi will not be available. Rossi signed a three year contract with the Wild on Oct 23, Rossi scored 100 points (39 goals and 81 assists) he did it in an impressive amount of time in just 56 games.

#3 At the San Jose Sharks training camp: John Leonard who played for the University of Massachusetts at forward. Leonard was drafted sixth in the NHL entry draft and is expected to make his NHL debut against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night. At Amherst Leonard in Division I Leonard led the division with 27 goals, 10 assists. That all ended when Coronavirus shut down the league back in March.

#4 Former Chicago Blackhawks goalie 36 year old Corey Crawford has announced his retirement from hockey and the New Jersey Devils this weekend. Crawford had not practiced with New Jersey since Jan 1st and in a statement said that he’s given everything he could to the game but it was time to retire.

#5 The New York Islanders have signed Matthew Barzal for a three year contract. The agreement was made on Saturday. In 68 games last season Barzal led the Islanders with 60 points, 19 goals and 41 assists. Barzal has led the Islanders in scoring in each of the last three seasons with the team and has played in the NHL All Star game in the last two seasons.

Join Mary Lisa for the NHL and San Jose Sharks podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Tue Jan 12, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Six Stars players out for Covid-19 tests, New Jersey goalie Crawford takes indefinite leave; plus more

The Dallas Stars training facility in Frisco, Texas is shutdown as the Stars first two games to open the season has been postponed. This photo was taken on Wed Jan 6, 2021 and the facility shutdown on Friday. (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len, six Dallas Stars players and two staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 forcing both opening games on Jan 14th and 15th back to back games to be postponed and that the Stars facilities were closed and will not be projected open any earlier than Jan 19th.

#2 Len, New Jersey Devils 36 year old goaltender Corey Crawford has requested to take an indefinite leave. Crawford did practice with the team on Dec 31 and Jan 1st before asking for two more days off including Friday making it three days off. Crawford reportedly is taking the indefinite time off due to personal reasons.

#3 The Columbus Blue Jackets said on Friday that 19 players missed practice on because of Covid 19 protocol issues and the Jackets said this was done of caution. Jackets head coach John Tortorella said out of 40 healthy players 21 skated Friday morning.

#4 Washington Capitals goalie Hendrik Lundqvist is recovering from open heart surgery and Lundqvist’s recovery is coming along well, “”Day three surgery went really well, about five hours to get it all taken care of. Really appreciate the great staff here at the Cleveland Clinic.” said Lundqvist.

#5 Pittsburgh Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange will not start the 2021 season until a successful vaccine is ready. Lange who has broadcasted the Penguins for 46 years is 72 years old and said he wants to wait until the vaccine is distributed before coming back.

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Sun Jan 10, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud