Tag: NHL

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: After having a rough ending, Sharks look like a different team in Game 1 of playoffs

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe:

#1 After having a rough ending to their regular season, the San Jose Sharks forgot all about that once the puck dropped for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Honda Center in Anaheim Thursday night in their 3-0 win.

#2 The Sharks’ Evander Kane played in his first playoff game, but got adjusted to the Stanley Cup postseason environment real fast after waiting over 574 regular season games before he got to play in his first Stanley Cup Playoff game, scoring twice to help lead San Jose to victory.

#3 Kane was a lighting rod for San Jose as soon as he came to the team he played in 17 regular games for the Sharks and scored 14 points for them in the closing weeks of the season.

#4 A look how head coach Peter DeBoer made Kane a big piece of the Sharks’ offense.

#5 Game 2 in Anaheim on Saturday this Saturday. If San Jose can grab the brass right they can go back to SJ 2-0 if they can pull off another win past the Ducks again.

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

 

Barracuda defeat Condors 4-3 for fifth straight win; stay alive for AHL playoffs

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda (33-26-4-4) are doing their part to keep their post season aspirations alive with another thrilling one-goal victory. They swept the home-and-home series against the Bakersfield Condors (30-27-9-1) with their 4-3 win on Thursday evening at SAP Center. They are currently on a five-game winning streak.

On Fan Appreciate Night and final home game of the regular season, the Cuda gave their fans some hope and a reason to pay attention to the season finale on Saturday by scoring two-third period goals and holding off the Condors’ threat late in the game. They now have to play the waiting game to see what the outcome of the San Diego Gulls at Tuscon Roadrunners game tomorrow night. If the Gulls get a point, San Jose is eliminated from the playoff contention.

“We put ourselves in this hole,” head coach Roy Sommer said about his team not controlling their own fate. “We just kinda have to live with it. You can’t say anybody has thrown in the towel here. I’m really proud of the way they’ve been playing.”

Bakersfield drew first blood in the first period. Tyler Benson fed a pass over to Kyle Platzer who fired a shot top-shelf past Cuda goalie Stephon Williams (3-1-0) for his eighth goal of the season at the 8:45 mark. Dmitri Samorukov received the secondary assist.

San Jose would stay red-hot on the power play as the were able to get the equalizer goal when Emerson Clark fed a cross-ice pass over to Manny Wiederer, who came crashing in from the right slot and one-timed a shot top-shelf past Condors goalie Nick Ellis (9-10-2) for his ninth goal of the season at the 16:43 mark of the first period. Radim Simek received the secondary assist. It was the 10th consecutive game the Cuda converted on the man advantage.

“That (goal) kinda got us jump started,” said Sommer. “The power play has scored in 10 straight games. A lot of good things are happening for us right now. I just hope it’s enough (to make the playoffs).”

The Cuda would gain the lead in the second period when Rourke Chartier fed a pass at the blue line up to Rudolfs Balcers that led to a 2-on-1 with Ivan Chekhovich. Balcers fed a perfect pass over to Chekhovich and he buried the puck past Ellis for his third goal in five games for the Cuda at the 7:46 mark.

Bakersfield would tied the game on the power play when Cooper Marody pinched in from the point to punch home a rebound that pinballed off David Gust to the left side of the crease where Marody was set up. Marody’s first professional goal of his career came at the 13:48 mark of the second period.

San Jose would go up 3-2 in the third period after a wild play in front of Ellis. Maintaining pressure inside the Condor zone, Colby McAuley put on a shot on net that created a mad scramble in front of the net with four Barracuda players that swarmed in front of the net. In a sea of madness, Radim Simek was able to poke home the puck past Ellis for his seventh goal on the season at the 6:43 mark. Alex True received the primary assist.

Sasha Chmelevski gave the Cuda what proved to be the game-winning goal when he was able to anticipate a clearing attempt in the Condor zone. He was able to strip the puck off the Condor defenseman, skate toward the middle of the ice and from the right slot lasered the puck in the upper left hand corner of the net for his third goal in five games at the 12:50 mark.

“The D was coming right at me, so I made a move around them,” said Chmelevski after the game. “Shot across the grain, it was a good shot. Anytime I like to cut across the ice, I feel more comfortable doing it. It’s more instinct than anything.”

Bakersfield wouldn’t go away quietly. Joey Leleggia cut the lead to the one when he scored his 14th goal on the season. Zach O’Brien skated into the Cuda zone, passed it over to Benson, who one-timed a pass over to Leleggia. With Noah Rod draped all over him, Leleggia snapped a shot past Williams with exactly five minutes left in the period.

Williams made 15 saves on 18 shots to earn the victory. Ellis made 30 saves on 34 shots in valiant effort in the defeat.

“The beautiful thing about hockey is, it’s not always perfect,” said Williams. “It’s about the team who buys in the most and wants it. I think it showed in the final scoreboard.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Bakersfield scored on their only power play opportunity.

All-Star goalie Antoine Bibeau was called up to the San Jose Sharks for their first round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks. Nick Cafrelli served as the backup goaltender.

Balcers’ four-game goal streak was snapped.

The announced crowd for the final regular season home game was 6,250.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel up to Stockton for the final game of the regular season against the Heat on Saturday, April 14 at 7 pm PT.

Sharks Top Ducks 3-0 to Take 1-0 Series Lead; Evander Kane Backs “I Am a Playoff Player” Statement With 2 Goals in Postseason Debut

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

Evander Kane waited 574 games before he would make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, but he felt he would rise to the occasion, saying he believes he is a playoff player but never got a chance. He backed up his point emphatically Thursday night in his postseason debut, scoring twice to help the San Jose Sharks take game 1 over the Anaheim Ducks 3-0.

Martin Jones picked up a 25 save shutout in net for the Sharks and Brent Burns added a goal for San Jose. Captain Joe Pavelski picked up two assists for Team Teal. Appearing in his first game since April 1st, John Gibson made 31 saves in net for the Ducks, but Anaheim finds themselves down 3-0 heading into game two Saturday at the Honda Center.

Despite a 2-1 power play advantage in the first period, the Ducks were outshot 8-4 in the first period. Neither team lit the lamp after 20 minutes though. Instead, it took a 5-3 power play to start the scoring.

Andrew Cogliano slashed Tomas Hertl 6:41 into the period, then Ryan Getzlaf joined him for another stick infraction 16 seconds later. The Sharks scored instantly, with two Ducks skaters getting pulled below the goal line 10 seconds into the 5-on-3. This allowed Kane to sneak into the slot, receiving Pavelski’s slot pass and ripping it glove-side for a 1-0 lead 7:07 into the period.

Kane scored on a classic power forward move, driving the net then finishing on a falling backhand around Gibson for a 2-0 lead with 6:09 left in the period. Burns ripped a point shot through traffic with 4:45 left in the period to beat Gibson for a 3-0 edge.

The Sharks and Jones withstood a 12-9 shot disparity and a pair of Ducks’ power plays to help pick up fifth career playoff shutout. Tempers flared at the end of regulation though, and San Jose’s Brendan Dillon and Anaheim’s Corey Perry were assessed two minute minors after the siren blared. In total the Ducks went to the box 7 times, with San Jose scoring on 1-of-6 power plays.

The Sharks’ power play could get a boost for Game 2, or maybe they couldn’t. Coach Peter DeBoer won’t disclose center Joe Thornton’s status for Game 2, only saying he was out for the series opener. Despite saying that at morning skate, #19 did take the ice for warm ups. Though, he sat out line rushes and his status remains unknown.

Up Next: The Sharks and Ducks meet again for Game 2 this Saturday at 7:30 pm PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks need to climb Stanley Cup Playoff mountain on Anaheim ice; Ducks have home ice through first round

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@sanjosesharks photo: Stanley Cup Playoff schedule for the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks for the 2018 first round

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The Sharks lost five of their last six games to close the regular season. They lost a big game to the Minnesota Wild 6-3 on Saturday night at SAP Center. The Sharks’ team captain Joe Pavelski said the team is trying to find it’s identity and they believe in their road game too.

#2 The loss dropped San Jose to third place in the Pacific after winning eight straight then went into a four-game losing streak the Sharks lost a key game to the Wild to close out the season. Pavelski said that the Wild were on them for most of the game.

#3 The first period for San Jose was not a banner moment, taking only three shots and giving up two goals to start the game.

#4 The Ducks and what San Jose will be up against going into Anaheim for the first two games of the first round.

#5 Any chance that San Jose can regain some of that old magic again similar to what they went through during their eight-game win streak.

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

 

 

NHL Podcast with Matt Harrington: Ducks making a bid for second tonight; If Sharks win tonight, they’ll finish second in Division; Pens get a shutout against Sens

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photo from bayareanewsgroup.com: Sharks forward Evander Kane (9) takes a shot against the Vegas Golden Knights in a game at SAP Center in San Jose on March 22.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Anaheim Ducks Jakob Silfverberg made all the difference in Friday night’s game with a goal and two assists with the win. The Ducks can clinch a second spot in the Pacific Division if the San Jose Sharks lose to Minnesota tonight in San Jose.

#2 The Sharks coming off an important 4-2 win past the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday snapped their four-game losing streak and want to hold onto the home ice advantage and need tonight’s game with Minnesota badly.

#3 The Pittsburgh Penguins Sydney Crosby and Jake Guentzel took shots against the Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson for goals and Pittsburgh goalie Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots to shutout the Sens 4-0.

#4 The St Louis Blues’ Patrik Berglund got a hat trick with three goals and got the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Blues go onto beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1.

#5 The Tampa Bay Lighting continued to win with Nikita Kucherov reached 100 points for the 2017-18 season and is the second NHL player to reach 100 points. Kucherov’s points helped the Bolts beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-5.

Matt Harrington is covering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with the San Jose Sharks at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

NHL podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks get key goals late against Avalanche; LA’s Brown four goals just enough to get by Wild; third period goals help Preds edge Caps

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Photo credit: @SportsCentre

On the NHL podcast with Joe:

#1 The San Jose Sharks got some key goals from Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi, and Thomas Hertl in the third period to get a huge win past the Colorado Avalanche 4-2. The four-game skid is over.

#2 Dustin Brown scored his fourth goal for the LA Kings against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night to help the Kings get by 5-4. The win puts the Kings a point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks in division play.

#3 The Nashville Predators Craig Smith got two goals and Ryan Johansen put away the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Predators clinched for first place in the central divsion 4-3 over the Washington Capitals in Washington on Thursday night.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins squeezed out a close contest 5-4 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets’ Phil Kessel got the overtime goal at 1:06 for the win.

#5 The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid was a beast on Thursday as McDavid picked up three assists for 106 total points for the season. The Oilers got to meet a very physical Vegas Golden Knights team that has been a very difficult team to beat.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsrsadioservice.com

 

Sharks Hit 100-Point Mark With 4-2 Win Over Avs

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Photo credit: nhl.com/sharks

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks chose the perfect time to pull out of a four-game losing skid, winning game No. 81 Thursday night at the SAP Center to keep Southern California foes Los Angeles and Anaheim at bay. San Jose topped the visiting Colorado Avalanche, a team clinging to the final Western Conference playoff spot by a point, 4-2 to stay two points ahead of the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division with just one game left to play in the regular season.

Justin Braun, Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose and Martin Jones made 23 saves for his 30th win of the season. Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for the Avs.

Braun opened the scoring in the first with a point shot that beat netminder Jonathan Bernier for a 1-0 lead 2:58 into the game. Braun’s fifth goal of the season, a career-high, would be the only action from either team until the third period.

The two teams traded power play goals, with Rantanen (4:43) and Couture (6:00) scoring on cross passes that resulted in open nets. Couture leads the Sharks with a career-best 34 goals.

Donskoi would add the game-winning goal 10:14 into the period after picking up a Dylan Demelo point shot rebound and backhanding it in the crease past Bernier. Comeau would score to pull Colorado within one with just under seven minutes left, but Tomas Hertl’s empty netter with two seconds left iced the game.

Game Notes: With a Kings overtime win Thursday, San Jose sits two points ahead of the Kings with one game to play. The Kings hold the tie-breaker with 43 regulation or overtime wins to San Jose’s 40. Anaheim (97 points) is three points behind San Jose, but has two games in hand and will face the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes.

Los Angeles also draws the Stars who will wind up being one of the first teams out of the playoff race with only 90 points. The California team with the most points will host the first round, while the last place team will likely face division winning Vegas in the first round.

If San Jose wins Saturday night against Minnesota, they will host a first round match up.

Up Next: The Sharks host the Minnesota Wild this Saturday, April 7th at 7:30 pm PT.

Stars Score Four Unanswered, Stun Sharks 4-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

Through two periods Tuesday night, the San Jose Sharks were a juggernaut. Unfortunately, there are three in a game, and a three-goal third period by the Dallas Stars sent the stunned Sharks down with a 4-2 loss at the SAP Center.

Dallas trailed 2-0 up until the final half minute of the second period and were being outshot 30-11 then the Stars reeled off four unanswered goals.

Jamie Benn potted a hat trick for Dallas, Mike McKenna subbed in for Kari Lehtonen midgame and picked up the win and John Klingberg picked up his 57th assist. Brent Burns tied Klingberg for second in defenseman scoring on a pair of assists (65 points apiece). Logan Couture scored his career-high 33rd goal of the year and Timo Meier scored his 20th of the year but the Sharks failed to put space between themselves and the Los Angeles Kings in the race for home-ice advantage to open the playoffs.
One game after an abysmal showing by the power play, the man advantage proved a benefit. Logan Couture used a perfect screen from Tomas Hertl to beat Lehtonen 9:21 into play for his 33rd goal of the year. Timo Meier added to the lead 2-0 with 4:44 left in the first after he drove to the net on a Burns point shot, scooped up a rebound and beat Lehtonen from the sharp angle for his 20th goal of the season.
The Sharks would continue to bombard Lehtonen until he exited the game 15:54 into the second period on a stinging shot. In stepped Mike McKenna, Dallas’ third string goalie dressed thanks to a Ben Bishop injury. McKenna hadn’t played in the NHL since his lone appearance in the 2014-15 season, a 5-2 loss as a member of the Arizona Coyotes against the Colorado Avalanche on February 16th, 2015. McKenna was perfect in his return to the show Tuesday, stopping 17 Sharks shots for his first win since December 23rd, 2013.
The Stars, out of the playoffs in a disappointing finish to a season they thought they were all in on, rallied back after the appearance by McKenna. Klingberg fired a perfect shot-pass from the point to Benn who was crashing the Sharks net on the far post. All Benn had to do was redirect the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones, something the former Hart Trophy candidate did with ease with just 31 seconds left in the second period.
Gemel Smith scored Dallas’ second goal of the game with 5:18 left in the third after Devin Shore lost the puck while driving to the net and trying to place the puck on his backhand. The puck slid out to Smith waiting on the halo for the faceoff dot. Smith hammered the puck past Jones before he could recover from Shore’s attempt to tie the game.
It didn’t take long for Dallas to break the Sharks down. Benn scored his second goal of the game after Tomas Hertl turned the puck over at the Sharks blue line. Hertl was skating out with the puck, but Benn managed to poke the puck off his stick then finish off the breakaway with a backhander to beat Jones. Benn finished off the hattrick on a empty-netter from the boards in his own end to pick up his 32nd goal of the year.
Though the Sharks clinched a playoff berth while in active Monday night, San Jose now sits just two points ahead of the Kings with two games remaining on the schedule for both teams. The winner of the standings race would get home ice in the probable first round playoff meeting.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Will Vegas turn out to be the Sharks’ toughest gamble going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights have a lot of speed and you can’t take a night off with them, according to San Jose Sharks forward Chris Tierney.

#2 The Sharks got goals on Saturday night in Vegas from Joe Pavelski and Marc Edouard Vlasic, but it wasn’t enough for the Sharks, who were confronting and who could be the best team in the NHL’s Western Conference. The Knights were not caving in whatsoever in the 3-2 win.

#3 The Knights got offensive help from Shea Theodore, Oscar Lindberg, and William Karlsson who each scored and who has been a big help for the Knights all season.

#4 Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots to keep Vegas in the game.

#5 The Sharks, after losing three straight including the recent loss Saturday night in Vegas, open a three-game homestand starting Tuesday night.

Len Shapiro does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Who will be the NHL’s MVP; Sharks head into Vegas trying to avoid losing three straight; Emergency goalie is NHL’s player of the week

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Photo credit: @GlobalSportsCtr

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Who do you like as the NHL MVP? Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay, Connor McDavid of Edmonton, Taylor Hall New Jersey, Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado, Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh, Blake Wheeler of Winnipeg, Pekka Rinne of Nashville, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron of Boston, Anze Kopitar of L.A. or the Claude Giroux of Philadelphia.

#2 The Sharks, after dropping their last two games, are trying to avoid losing a third they’ll be put to the test tonight as they face off with the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the Western Division’s toughest teams at the T-Mobile Center.

#3 NHL player of the week no doubt goes to the Chicago Blackhawks emergency goalie Scott Foster, who played 14 minutes after the starter and the backup went out with injuries. Foster ended up stopping seven shots.

#4 The Anaheim Ducks got a big win past the LA Kings when Rickard Rakell scored in OT at 4:41 for the Ducks 2-1 win.

#5 The Tampa Bay Lighting continue to win this time with a 7-3 victory past the New York Rangers. Brayden Point and Cedric Paquette got two goals apiece for the win.

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