Tag: NHL

NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals podcast Len Shapiro: Expansion Knights keep setting new levels with each playoff advancement; Tampa Bay headed for Eastern Conference Finals

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photo  from denverpost.com: James Neal (18) of the Vegas Golden Knights tries to skate around Brenden Dillon (4) of the San Jose Sharks during Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 6, 2018 in San Jose, Calif.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 It was a battle for the ages. It took six games and lots of anxious moments in a series which at one point up to Game 4 that was hard to predict an outcome. The Vegas Golden Knights, however, took Game 5 in Las Vegas past the San Jose Sharks and came back to San Jose with a 3-2 lead and clinched to advance to the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night with a convincing 3-0 shutout at SAP Center in Game 6.

#2 The Winnipeg Jets take a 3-2 series lead as they defeated the Nashville Predators 6-2 Saturday. This is a series where its been a win every other game for each team and don’t be surprised if this one goes seven.

#3 The Washington Capitals took a 3-2 series lead past the Nashville Predators with a three-goal 6-3 win and know after not being allowed to take a shot all game long for both the Pens’ Sid Crosby and the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin as both players were going all out in game five.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win over the Boston Bruins to take a 4-1 series victory.

Len Shapiro does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins, watch your tongue, Lightning just one win away; Sharks come back, but lose to Knights 5-3; plus more

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NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt:

#1 After the Boston Bruins Brad Marchand licked the face of the Tampa Bay Lighting’s winger Ryan Callahan, that was enough to light the fuse and the Lightning. Marchand said that Callahan punched him in the face four times and kept getting close and said it was not a big deal. The Bolts get the 4-3 win in overtime in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead.

#2 The Vegas Golden Knights got a 5-3 win in regulation to take a 3-2 series lead. The Knights well ahead of San Jose scoring a goal in the first period and two in the second, but the sleeping Shark woke up answering back with three goals to tie it 3-3 in the third period but the Knights would have none of it and roared back with two goals to win it 5-3.

#3 In Washington tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who tied up the series 2-2 with the Caps on Thursday with a 3-1 win do battle again tonight for Game 5. In Game 4, the defense put the pressure on both of the Caps and Pens key players Alexander Ovechkin for the Caps and Sid Crosby for the Pens neither scored a goal, but what’s worse was neither even got a shot on goal in Game 4.

#4 The Nashville Predators pulled off a tough win in Winnipeg on Thursday night in Game 4 to tie up the series 2-2. It’s been a back and forth series as the Jets won Game 3 at home convincingly 7-4 for their short series lead.

Matt Harrington does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: Pens tie up series with Caps at 2-2 to silence Ovechkin; Preds play for their lives, series with Jets now tied

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photo from nhl.com: The Nashville Predators PK Subban celebrates scoring the game winner past the Winnipeg Jets to tie up the series up at two games apiece in Winnipeg on Thursday night

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe:

#1 The Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne stood on his head and stop 32 shots in a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets who just trounced the Preds on Tuesday night in game three 7-4 flipped the script with a series tying game loss to Nashville. Game 5 will be this Saturday night in Winnipeg. The Predators’ PK Subban scored a power-play goal for the gamer.

#2 The Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night got a series-tying win past the Washington Capitals in a Game 4 win 3-1. The Penguins also were able to shut down Alex Ovechkin likewise the Penguins Sid Crosby who didn’t score a goal or get a shot and both were well-defended in Thursday’s contest.

#3 The San Jose Sharks tied their series 2-2 with the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-0 shutout in Game 4 at SAP Center on Wednesday night. The Sharks dominated this game from start to finish and avoided going back to Vegas down 3-1. The Golden Knights will host the Sharks on Friday night for Game 5.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lighting are up two games to one over the Boston Bruins. The Bolts have been living on the forecheck that has helped shake the puck loose a few times and the Ligthing were able to gets wins by two goals and three goals in Games 2 and 3.

Joe Lami does the NHL Stanley Cup podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Headline Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes: Caps’ Wilson suspended three games for head hitting; Could the Warriors sweep the Pelicans?; Gruden–Could he become CEO/GM too?

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Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese suffered a broken jaw and concussion on a hit to the head from Washington’s Tom Wilson.(Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP)

On the Headlines Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes:

#1 Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was suspended three games in the playoffs for a hit to the head on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Zach Aston-Reese during Game 3, which says the NHL has zero tolerance of deliberate head injuries.

#2 The Golden State Warriors in the first two games of their playoffs with the New Orleans Pelicans have dominated particularly in Game 2 when Stephen Curry made his return on Tuesday night.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who is signed up for $100 million, 10 years might also start earning more than his money’s worth according to Bleacher Report. Gruden could tabbed the team’s general manager and team CEO as well as head coach, which might send current GM Reggie McKenzie packing. It might be more than Gruden can bite off or can he handle it and make the Raiders a team of excellence again?

#4 During the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen got a little braggadocious after he was selected 10th in the draft, saying, “I was pretty pissed off as I saw teams passing on me there were nine mistakes ahead of me.” The Cardinals’ coaching staff is expected to put Rosen’s draft thought process into prospective, but soon.

#5 San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto goes on the 10-day DL for an elbow injury as San Francisco’s injury list is swelling with Joe Panik out on the 10-day DL with a thumb injury, Madison Bumgarner has taken to the mound and is rehabbing, the Giants’ Mark Melancon out for the rest of the season and Jeff Samardjiza who came back from a pectoral injury is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.27.

Tony the Tiger filled in for Tony Renteria this week  Tony R does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Jones Shuts Out Golden Knights 4-0; Sharks Even Series 2-2

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks turned their best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights into a best-of-three, beating the visitors 4-0 Wednesday night at the SAP Center to even the series 2-2. Martin Jones authored a 34-save shutout, his second of the playoffs, while helping San Jose’s penalty kill go 5-for-5.

Tomas Hertl scored his team-best fifth goal of the playoffs, Joonas Donskoi lit the lamp in his return to the lineup after a one-game layoff and Marcus Sorensen scored the game-winner. Joe Pavelski broke out of his mini-slump with his first goal since Game 3 of the Anaheim Ducks series and Logan Couture dished a pair of assists.

The spring of Sorensen continued, with the Swede forward scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs 15:37 into the first period in a superhuman effort. Sorensen circled the Vegas net, working his way back into the slot before losing his balance on a Colin Miller trip to Fleury’s right. He still managed to fire the puck mid-fall à la Bobby Orr top-shelf before the Golden Knights’ keeper could ever make his push across the net for a 1-0 San Jose lead.

“It was huge,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the game-opening strike. “We’ve been chasing the lead the whole series. We talked about it, but it’s easier said than done. We’ve had chances in the last two games to get out front but [Marc-Andre] Fleury’s been exceptional early in games in order to keep us off the board. It’s nice that we stuck with it. Hopefully, we see some cracks.”

The Sharks looked like they were going to head to the locker room with a one-goal lead, but another fantastic individual effort from a San Jose forward led to a 2-0 cushion with just six seconds left in the first. Joonas Donskoi, absent from the lineup in Game 3, went coast-to-coast before beating Fleury over his glove with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt trying to close in on him in the slot. Brenden Dillon picked up his second assist of the game after serving up a helper on Sorensen’s strike as well.

Tomas Hertl had arguably his best game of the series, firing three shots on net over 18:58 minutes while being a force around and behind the Vegas net. The Sharks forward scored his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason after parking himself in front of Fleury and shoveling a loose puck past through the scrambling netminder 5:35 into the second. Mikkel Boedker picked up an assist after firing the initial shot and Logan Couture had a secondary assist with the Sharks leading 3-0.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal of the series, just his second of the playoffs, on the powerplay late in the third period after Fleury challenged Pavelski on the edge of the crease. Pavelski jammed at the puck till it flipped around Fleury’s left pad for a 4-0 lead with 8:17 in regulation. Couture drew his second assist on the goal while Brent Burns picked up a helper as well.

“They won the netfront battle at both ends,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. “When you do that you win the game.”

Vegas vented its frustration in the final minutes, collecting a pair of penalties to put the Sharks on a 5-on-3 man advantage as time expired, but Team Teal couldn’t convert. In total, Vegas committed 22 minutes worth of penalties, with post-season hits leader William Carrier drawing a 10-minute misconduct to go with a roughing double-minor with 1:52 left in regulation.

The Sharks lineup remained a mystery up till puck drop, with Evander Kane missing the morning skate and Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow flanking Joe Pavelski on the top line at the morning practice. Ultimately, the only lineup change besides the return of Donskoi was the insertion of Joakim Ryan in Paul Martin’s place at defense. Martin was victimized most notably on William Karlsson’s overtime winner in Game 3 while Ryan showed promise in Game 4, including covering for Brent Burns to breakup a breakaway in the first period. Ryan finished the night with one blocked shot over 11:55 of ice time in his first career postseason contest.

“He did a good job,” said DeBoer of Ryan. “We didn’t win tonight because of Ryan, we didn’t lose last time because of Paul Martin. Our team game the last three games has been really good. The difference tonight was they were 0-5 on the power play and we snuck some goals in.”

The series shifts to Vegas Friday night, but the Sharks victory assures at least one more home game. If the Sharks were to win Game 5 in Vegas, they’d have a chance to finish out the series on home ice Sunday. The best guess will be that DeBoer rides the same 18 skaters for Friday’s tilt.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Can Sharks even it up tonight?; Jets lead Preds 2-1; Caps grab game 3 win lead Pens 2-1; No giving up on Bruins or Bolts series is tied 1-1

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Photo credit: @Capitals

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast, Marko takes a look at each NHL Playoff series:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights lead the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in their best of seven series with Game 4 slated for tonight in San Jose.

#2 Nashville and Winnipeg go at it again with Game 4 Thursday night. The Predators and Jets played game 3 on Tuesday night with Winnipeg getting the win 7-4 to take the lead in the series 2-1

#3 The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins play Game 4 Thursday night at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. The Caps came away with the win in game 3 with a one goal win 4-3 to take a series 2-1 lead.

#4 The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lighting are even at one apiece and face off tonight at TD Garden for Game 3.

Marko Ukalovic covers the NHL for Sportstalk radio at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: DeBoer preparing club for their biggest game of the season so far tonight

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Photo credit: @AVNNewsFeed

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 After dropping Game 3 in San Jose on Monday night, what team do you expect to come out tonight? The fiery team that won in double overtime on Saturday in Vegas or the team that battles in overtime, but somehow the Knights find the back end of the net to win it?

#2 Talk about some of the powerhouses on the Knights: William Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fluery, Tomas Tatar, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin, and David Perron. It’s like you can choose any player from any line and the Knights have a flawless team.

#3 How much has injuries played a role in the playoffs for the Sharks with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns has shined, but has also been playing hurt at times; Evander Kane with the suspension, and Joonas Donskoi listed as injured.

#4 Has this series boiled down to who is the fastest team and how has speed played a role in beating the Sharks in two of the last three games?

#5 Peter DeBoer has had the skaters do some intense speed skating in the morning skate the option to keep up with the Knights. It will be intense if the Sharks aim to tie the series up tonight.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

SJ Sharks Rally, But Knights Karlsson Scores in OT to Give Vegas 2-1 Series Lead

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@GoldenKnights photo: Vegas Golden Knights celebrate the game winning goal by the Knights William Karlsson in the overtime stanza to beat the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center Monday night in game 3

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit, but the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3 in overtime 4-3. William Karlsson scored the game-winner Monday night 8:17 into the extra session for his fourth goal of the posteason. San Jose fired 42 shots on netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, but the Knights netminder turned aside all but three.

Evander Kane scored in his return to the lineup after serving a suspension for a cross-check to the head of a Golden Knights player in Game 1. Tomas Hertl scored the tying goal with just 1:57 left in regulation, but his efforts would ultimately be for naught. Karlsson turned the defensive pair of Paul Martin and Brent Burns into a pair of traffic cones on the winning shift, skating by them with ease before beating Sharks goalie Martin Jones over his right shoulder for the win.

The Sharks were surging to that point in overtime, having killed off two self-inflicted penalties in a too many men on the ice infraction and a delay of game minor. Fleury also made a brilliant point-blank save from a centering pass from behind the net just a few seconds of game play before Karlsson’s strike.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead after Timo Meier solved Fleury 6:59 into the second period with the Sharks on the power play, taking a pass from Chris Tierney after Tierney caught a rebound of defenseman Colin Miller’s shin pad. Despite being outshot nearly 2 to 1 (32-18) after two periods, Vegas found themselves up 3-1 after Miller atoned for his role in the Sharks goal, notching a power play goal on a cross-crease pass 9:40 into the second.

Jonathan Marchessault would score on a near-identical play on the man advantange with 6:51 left in the frame after he received Alex Tuch’s perfect one-timer feed. Reilly Smith added an even strength goal after Karlsson tipped a puck to him for the easy score with 5:34 left in the second. Evander Kane scored his fourth career goal in his sixth career playoff contest to pull San Jose within one 7:49 into the period on the power play after Brent Burns managed to keep a clearing attempt on the blue line and in to keep the play alive.

Burns then fed Kane on the backhand just outside the faceoff dot to Fleury’s left for a perfect one-timer. Hertl’s goal came after the forward jammed his way to the netfront from behind the goal. The puck bounced loose, but Hertl stayed determined, shoveling the loose puck home to force overtime with 1:57 left in regulation. San Jose outhit Vegas 44-35, but put Vegas on the power play six times, including twice for puck over the glass and once for a too many men penalty.

The Golden Knights converted on two of those chances, something San Jose will look to improve upon in Game 4 Wednesday in San Jose. The Sharks hope to be with Joonas Donskoi in the lineup after the first-line forward sat out Monday’s contest. Joe Thornton continued to skate with the team at morning skate, but there is no word yet on if he’ll return to the lineup at any point against Vegas.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Hold onto your hats folks, this series is going to be tighter than you think

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photo from lasvegassun.com: Vegas Golden Knights players wait for an official review after a scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks in the first overtime period during the second period of Game 2 in an NHL hockey second-round playoff series at T-Mobile Arena Saturday, April 28, 2018. The goal was overturned due to goaltender interference.

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights’ opportune goal got called back because of goalie interference on the Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault for a play that was ruled not allowing the goalie to do his job and it was a pivotal decision that opened the door for the Sharks to win.

#2 With the overturned goal, it gave San Jose a chance to get back into the game with Logan Couture, who scored the game-winning goal in double overtime.

#3 What makes the Knights such a devastating team as they’re almost flawless at home?

#4 Can you see the Sharks beating the odds tonight in having the home ice and trying to go up one game in Vegas?

#5 What kind of a job will Martin Jones need to have in goal against a team like Vegas tonight in Game 3?

Len Shapiro does the Sharks podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: Pens open series with 3-2 win past Caps; Bruins and Bolts open game 1 Saturday; Too much Knights for Sharks; Jets-Preds face off tonite for game 1

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@penguins photo: The Pittsburgh Penguins provided great defense to hold onto their one goal lead for the win 3-2 on Thursday night in Washington in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the best of seven round II

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe:

#1 Pittsburgh took game one 3-2 past the Washington Capitals to take a 1-0 series lead

#2 The Boston Bruins face off in Tampa Bay for a noon time matinee Saturday

#3 The San Jose Sharks were shelled by the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Center in game one on Thursday night.

#4 The Winnipeg Jets open up their best of seven series in Nashville tonight at 5pm this series has the feeling of a Stanley Cup Final

Joe does the Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com