Tag: NHL

Sharks Bank on Labanc’s 4 Points in 5-4 OT Win over Canucks

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime at the SAP Center Thursday night, thanks to a four-point night from Kevin Labanc. The rookie forward capped a career night with the game-winner at 1:53 of overtime, his first goal in 23 games.

Joe Thornton netted a pair of goals and finished the night in sole possession of 18th place on the all-time points list with 1,416.

The Sharks coughed up 3-1 and 4-3 leads in the game, but Labanc buried his fourth goal of the year to pull out the two-point effort. Labanc took Tomas Hertl’s feed from beside the net and ripped a shot from the slot for a goal to go along with his three assists.

Labanc last scored on October 14th against the New York Islanders and lit the lamp twice Opening Night against Philadelphia.

Daniel Sedin scored his eighth goal of the season just 2:09 into the third period, tying the game at four apiece. The Sharks had taken the lead at the end of the second period on a 5-on-3 man-advantage that saw Joe Pavelski feed Tomas Hertl with a cross-crease pass that Hertl pulled from his feet and buried for his ninth goal of the season.

Hertl’s goal was the fifth goal of the second period, with the Sharks opening the scoring in the period on Timo Meier’s fifth goal of the year, burying a slot pass from Dylan Demelo at 5:20 into the frame, and Thornton’s second beautiful shot of the game on the power play 6:29 into the middle frame for a 3-1 lead. Jake Virtanen would score a 4-on-4 goal and Brock Boeser would add a rebound tally late in the frame to tie the game at 3-3.

Vancouver scored first in the contest just 1:58 into the game, but Thornton went top shelf on Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom for the first of 3 San Jose power play goals in 5 opportunities. It was career point No. 1,415, moving Jumbo past Doug Gilmour for 18th best all-time. Jumbo also picked up an assist, putting him just 4 points behind no. 17, Adam Oates.

San Jose finished the game with 32 shots on goal while the Canucks put up 40. Sharks netminder Aaron Dell made 17 saves in the second period alone to hang on for his fifth straight win.

The Sharks continue the homestand with a Christmas Eve eve tilt against the reviled Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division, eight games back of the leading Kings and six back of second place Vegas.

Oilers’ two-goal deficit was too big to overcome for Sharks 5-3

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~ Photo credit: (Jason Franson / The Canadian Press)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Though the San Jose Sharks came to within one twice, two was the decisive number as an early scoring lull gave the Edmonton Oilers a 5-3 win at Rogers Place Monday.

The Sharks scored first, but then gave up three unanswered goals. Edmonton was able to re-establish two-goal leads after San Jose’s attempts to come back. Moreover, right before the Oilers’ third and fourth goal, the Sharks had good and/or close moves at the other end.

San Jose, who was playing without Logan Couture, has now scored three goals in each of their last six games. However, goalie Martin Jones, and the team have given up at least four goals in his last six starts, the last three resulting in an 0-1-2 record. The Sharks were riding a five-game point streak heading into the game.  

Kevin Labanc and Brent Burns assisted on San Jose’s first two goals.  

For Edmonton, Ryan Strome had two goals, Patrick Maroon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist apiece and Leon Draisaitl had two assists.

It was a more than welcome win for the Oilers as they had lost three in a row at home and a nine-game loss-win pattern overall.

Both teams had power plays early in the first less than a minute apart. It was the Sharks who were productive on special teams though, with a shot on goal shorthanded and their sixth straight game with a power play goal. Burns passed cross ice between two defenders to Kevin Labanc, who from goalie Cam Talbot’s left, shot at Talbot while Joe Pavelski, on Talbot’s right, sent Labanc’s rebound past the goalie at 6:15.

The second half of the first produced better results for Edmonton after a delay of game penalty to Tomas Hertl, which was not called right away. Two seconds after their power play expired, Mark Letestu scored at 14:42, after Draisaitl faked a shot and Oscar Klefbom provided the second assist.   

The Oilers then took the lead with just over a minute left in the period. A wide open far side Strome scored at 18:51, aided by Draisaitl and Jujhar Khaira.

In the second, Jones made three saves in less than a minute which included Connor McDavid as part of a 2-on-1 followed by a shot from McDavid. However, less than a minute after the latter save, Nugent-Hopkins moved Drake Caggiula’s shot in at 13:24, Maroon with the second helper.

San Jose halted the scoring beginning in the opposite end with Burns. He passed to Labanc and Hertl received Labanc’s pass in the neutral zone. Timo Meier blocked Talbot while Meier was in between two defenders as Hertl scored at 8:32 to make it 3-2.

Tripping caused the puck to switch sides quickly as the Sharks’ second power play was cut short when Pavelski was called for the penalty.  Within less time than before though, San Jose went on a now 4-on-3 power play as Strome committed the same offense.

Back-and-forth scoring continued in the third as not long after Tim Heed hit the goalpost, Maroon responded with a goal to pull Edmonton further ahead again. He was assisted by Nugent-Hopkins at 8:32.

Marcus Sorensen took the Sharks’ turn back with his second in as many games, a wraparound goal at 11:58 to make it 4-3. He was aided by Justin Braun and Melker Karlsson.   

Strome notched the 5-3 goal with an empty netter at 19:52, helped by Matt Benning.

Game notes: Couture, who left San Jose’s last game, is day-to-day with a concussion. The Sharks welcomed back Mikkel Boedker, who skated for 8:17 and had a giveaway and a takeaway. The Oilers also welcomed back Adam Larsson who skated for 21:55, had five hits, four blocks and four giveaways.

Up next: San Jose conclude their three game road trip with a 1-1-1 record and will pick back up with a three game homestand before and after Christmas, starting with the Vancouver Canucks again Thursday at 7:30pm.

Joonas Donskoi scores two goals, Sharks edge Flames 3-2

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San Jose Sharks’ Joonas Donskoi, center, from Finland, celebrates his goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames in Calgary, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ In his first game back from injury, San Jose Sharks’ Joonas Donskoi scored twice as the Sharks doused their division rival Calgary Flames 3-2 Thursday.

Donskoi’s game-winner came at 17:12, less than three minutes before overtime, as he made sure a loose puck under goalie Mike Smith went into the net. Joe Thornton and Justin Braun aided Donskoi as Thornton scored his sixth point in five games. Donskoi was playing for the first time since November 28.

Goalie Aaron Dell earned his third straight win as he made 32 saves back in his hometown of Calgary.    

Both teams came in tied for third in the division off shootout losses as each team scored in the opening and closing periods. The Sharks improved to 11-0 when leading after two periods.

San Jose’s Timo Meier and Donskoi had at least one goal and an assist apiece.

The Flames’ Michael Frolik picked up Tim Heed’s turnover in the Sharks’ end to score off Dell at 4:42 of the first.

Meier tied it later at 16:07, aided by Chris Tierney and Donskoi.

Special teams did not start off well for the Sharks. Their first power play in the opening period was cut short and  they then had a less than ideal first penalty kill in the second, in that it was cut short to where they were down 5-3. San Jose however had two shorthanded shots during the two-man advantage and another after. Logan Couture also had a chance which resulted in a power play for his team.

It was on the Sharks’ third man advantage they finally scored a power play goal for the fourth game in a row to make it 2-1. Tierney scored his first on the man advantage as he was helped by Meier and Kevin Labanc at 10 minutes of the second.  The play initially began back near the blue line when Brent Burns passed to Labanc and then Meier pushed the shot from Labanc back away after it hit goalie Mike Smith’s stick.  

San Jose re-tied the game at 7:39. The Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic lost the puck battle at the far blue line and Johnny Gaudreau converted on a 2-on-1 from Garnet Hathaway.

Game notes: Gaudreau had a game-high six shots. San Jose continues their three game Canadian road trip against the Vancouver Canucks Friday at 7pm.

 

Burns’ OT Winner Caps Special Night By Special Teams in Sharks’ 5-4 Win Over Hurricanes

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – There are going to be a large number of San Jose Sharks fans standing around the water cooler tomorrow morning talk about turning the TV off in the middle of another Sharks blowout. They’ll talk about how it was déjà vu, the Sharks getting blown out for the third-straight game after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals by a combined 9-3 margin then falling behind to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 after 20 minutes at home Thursday night.

“It’s not how we would draw it up to start a game,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “We dug ourselves out of a hole. You’re going to win all kinds of different ways over 82 games in this league.”

But something special happened. Or rather something special teams happened. The Sharks scored a pair of power play goals and shorthanded goals to overcome a 3-0 deficit, forcing overtime against the visiting Canes. A storybook comeback deserves a happy ending, so Brent Burns scored just 22 seconds into overtime to cap a furious 5-4 Sharks comeback. Burns, the third Sharks’ skater to enter the offensive zone, skated around Sebastian Aho to pick up the puck in close and beat goaltender Cam Ward for his second goal of the year.

Joe Thornton moved up the all-time points list with two points (one goal, one assist). Barclay Goodrow, Logan Couture and Melker Karlsson also scored for San Jose, while Paul Martin returned to the lineup finishing with a +/- of -2.

“It was his first game back,” said DeBoer. “It looked like it was his first game back, trying to get some of the rust off. I don’t think that was the story of the game.”

Trailing 3-0 heading into the second period, the Sharks used the second-best penalty kill in the league to break up Cam Ward’s shutout. Melker Karlsson fed Chris Tierney to start a two-on-one rush down the ice. Tierney returned the favor, feeding Karlsson right on the opposite post. Karlsson’s blistering up-close shot ricocheted off the back of the net and out for his fourth of the year in his first game back in the lineup since December 1st.

“Coach [Peter DeBoer] said if we can get one it would change the momentum of the game,” said Thornton. “It definitely did.”

The Hurricanes briefly stymied the momentum the Sharks were gaining after Karlsson’s shorty, striking after a lax defensive effort around their own net. The Hurricanes managed to fire off a number of in-tight shots on Jones with the puck bouncing throughout the goal area with Jeff Skinner ultimately pushing the puck through a pile of bodies for a 4-1 Carolina lead with 5:16 left in the period.

The other half of San Jose’s special teams stepped up to cut the Carolina lead to two with Joe Thornton scoring a power play goal with 2:09 left in the period after Trevor Van Riemsdyk was given the gate for holding the stick in a scramble. The Sharks man-advantage entered the game tied for 24th in the league with a 16.7 percent success rate.

The power play did it again in the third period, using crisp passing by Brent Burns to set up a one-timer for Logan Couture. Joe Thornton picked up the secondary assist to help the Sharks pull within one 4-3 with 11:29 left to play. The helper pushed Thornton to 19th place on the all-time points list, tied with Dale Hawerchuk and his 1,409 career points.

“We haven’t been getting any,” said Thornton on power play opportunities. “It’s tough to get into a rhythm when you’re not getting any. Tonight we could finally get into a rhythm getting 3 power play chances. It’s nice to see you score some goals.”

The PK had to catch up to the PP goal-for-goal, so Barclay Goodrow did the trick, tying the game with 8:04 left in regulation. Jannik Hansen led the rush up the ice, but it was Goodrow’s hustle to beat two Hurricanes skaters across the blue line for a breakaway on Ward that made the difference.

“That’s what guys have to do to try to stay in the lineup,” said DeBoer. “He’s playing with that desperation.”

The comeback was great, but San Jose video coach Dan Darrow might as well delete any footage from the first period after a listless start domed the home team. The Hurricanes took advantage of a sleepwalking Sharks club, with defenseman Noah Hanifin crashing from his spot on the blue line to wind up in the slot unfettered. Hanifin took Derek Ryan’s pass from below the faceoff dot and rifled a one-timer that Jones saved. The rebound bounced to Sebastian Aho though, who beat Jones 9:10 into the period for a 1-0 lead.

The Canes capitalized on a rare bad break from Marc-Edouard Vlasic whose clearing attempt aimed at the boards deflected into the slot instead. Center Elias Lindholm came up with the puck, then passed it to Victor Rask just inside the faceoff dot to Jones’ left. Rask fired the one-timer home for a 2-0 Carolina lead 11:37 into the period.

Aho pulled a similar move to Hanifin’s earlier in the game to score his second of the match. The winger slid into the slot alone, took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and potted his second of the game and seventh of the season with 5:46 left in the frame. Despite the three goals, the Hurricanes only produced five shots on goal in the period to the Shark’s six and looked well on their way to a win.

“With the travel we’ve had over the last week or two it hasn’t been easy at times,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. “It’s not an excuse. It took a few shifts to get it out of us.”

The five-goal performance Thursday might prove to be a preview for the weekend slate for the Sharks. San Jose will welcome a pair of opponents prone to giving up crooked numbers to the Shark Tank over the weekend, with the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild making stops in Northern California over the weekend. Ottawa is currently sixth in the league, allowing 3.27 goals per game while the Wild allow 3, good for 13th place.

Sharks Lose to Lightning 5-2 in Tampa Bay

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San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) is knocked down by Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (18) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

by M. Walsh

The San Jose Sharks dropped the third game of this road trip to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 5-2. Two Lightning goals were scored by Tyler Johnson, two more by Nikita Kucherov and another by Cory Conacher. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops in the game. Sharks’ goals were scored by Barclay Goodrow, who had just returned from injury, and Justin Braun. Martin Jones stopped 38 shots for the Sharks.

The loss was a modest improvement over their previous loss to Tampa Bay, a 5-1 loss in San Jose on November 8, but it ended a four-game winning streak for San Jose in Tampa Bay. The Lightning continue to dominate in the NHL standings, maintaining a slim lead over the Winnipeg Jets. Entering Saturday’s game, they had a record of 17-6-2. On the other hand, half of those losses came in their last four games.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer saw few bright spots in his team’s game. DeBoer said: “The good news was that our goalie was outstanding, he was by far our best player. He gave a us a chance going into the third to get some points tonight. But we didn’t have enough contributions. We would have needed 20 guys tonight plus Jonesy’s effort. They’re a desperate team and rested, and we didn’t help ourselves.”

Beyond that, DeBoer seemed willing to put the loss behind him and move on. DeBoer said: “We’re not going to be down here in a back-to-back with half our team out again so we don’t have to worry about that.”

Sharks forward Logan Couture expressed disappointment with the loss. Couture said: “They out played us again. You know, you can say we’re on a back-to-back and all, I know that but still got to show up and put forth a better effort than we did tonight.”

Later, Couture acknowledged that the team really is in a tough spot with injuries. Couture said: “You know, we’ve been playing good hockey. This is back-to-back, we got a bunch of guys go down within a few game period. It’s tough. You miss three forwards who usually play in your top nine, so other guys gotta step up and gotta find a way to be competitive.”

The Sharks’ injury list changed overnight between Florida games. Goodrow returned from injured reserve and Jones was ready to start. Joonas Donskoi and Tim Heed were placed on injured reserve, while Marcus Sorensen was called up from the AHL’s Barracuda. Sorensen did not play Saturday, but will be available Monday.

Both Heed and Donskoi’s IR status was retroactive to the last game they played. For Heed, that was November 25, and for Donskoi it was November 28.

Additionally, Melker Karlsson was not available after being injured Friday. Kevin Labanc was back in the lineup and got credit for four shots on goal, more than any other Shark Saturday.

San Jose did hang in there for the first two periods, but in the third, the Lightning took the Sharks apart. The Sharks scored first, the only goal of the first period. With just over three minutes left in the period, Ryan Carpenter made a cross-ice pass to Daniel O’Regan as he skated down the right side. O’Regan took the shot and the rebound went right to Goodrow on the left side. He had an open net from that angle and he put it away. Assists went to Carpenter and O’Regan.

The Sharks went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but had been outshot 15-8 by Tampa Bay.

The Lightning’s first period effort paid off early in the second period, as Nikita Kucherov tied the game up just 27 seconds in. Ondrej Palat carried the puck in and the Sharks defense set up to prevent a cross-ice pass to Kucherov. In doing so, they left their goaltender to handle any shot from Palat. Instead of shooting, Palat took the pass and it made it through three defenders to Kucherov, who had Martin Jones moving across and not quite ready to stop his shot. Assists went to Palat and Brayden Point.

The Lightning again outshot the Sharks in the second period, this time 16-8.

Joe Thornton was called for high sticking Tyler Johnson at the end of the second period. The Lightning started the third period with 1:56 of power play time. At 1:39 of the third, Johnson scored a power play goal to give the Lightning the 2-1 lead. Palat shot the puck into the zone so that it came off the back boards while Johnson skated in and caught it right in front of Jones. Assists went to Palat and Mikhail Sergachev.

Johnson scored again after Victor Hedman got a breakaway and would have scored had Brenden Dillon not caught the puck on the goal line. As he cleared it from the crease, Johnson was coming in fast and the puck came right to him. He put it back in over Jones.

Cory Conacher scored at 11:01, after a shoot in from Dan Girardi caught Justin Braun inside the knee. Seeing the defenseman drop to the ice, Conacher skated by him and caught a cross-ice pass from Alex Killorn. His shot went over Jones’ left shoulder as the goaltender came across to follow the puck. Assists went to Killorn and Yanni Gourde.

Braun did not stay down for long, and returned to stop the bleeding at 13:37. Braun caught the puck after an offensive zone faceoff. His blue line shot went cleanly through five skaters to beat Vasilevski on the glove side. An assist went to O’Regan.

Nikita Kucherov came back with a fifth goal at 15:37 off a breakaway after Logan Couture tried to shoot the puck in from the blue line and it his Kucherov instead. The bounce gave Kucherov the head start he needed.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Washington DC against the Capitals at 4 pm PT.

Sharks Win 2-1, Pavelski Scores 300

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

by M. Walsh

San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski scored his 300th career NHL goal Friday, in a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Goaltender Aaron Dell won his second in a row with 39 saves, and Chris Tierney scored his seventh of the year with the game winner. For the Panthers, Colton Sceviour scored the only goal in the first period, and goaltender Roberto Luongo made 30 saves on 32 shots in a losing effort for Florida.

Joe Pavelski’s goal was his first since November 1st, after an eleven game dry spell. That 300th tally proved elusive for the Sharks captain. Of the milestone, Pavelksi said: “Guess I’m proud of that number, a lot of hard work. But we’ve seen so many great milestones recently, last year too, with Patty and Jumbo. It’s one of those things, it’s a good number but I believe there’s, you know, so much more hockey out there and I’ll keep trying to score some goals.”

Pavelski’s goal was challenged by Florida coach Bob Boughner, the first challenge that went the Sharks way for the first time in a while. The second Sharks goal was also subjected to review, after being called no goal on the ice. Ironically, the last time the Sharks played the Panthers, on November 16 at SAP Center, the Sharks had two goals called back on review, and they lost that game 2-0. It may be that the Sharks’ streak of bad luck with goal reviews has ended.

Of finally having a challenge go their way, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said: “Well, yeah, first one of this year, at least it feels like it. You know, I think, we felt it was a goal, so glad to get it. We’ve had enough of those go the other way, and it’s cost us some points. So it all evens out.”

The Sharks went into the game without Joonas Donskoi, injured in Monday’s game in Philadelphia. Donskoi joined the list of injured players that currently includes forwards Tim Heed and Barclay Goodrow, and defenseman veteran Paul Martin. Melker Karlsson was back in the lineup after missing time due to injury, and he left Friday’s game during the third period. Goaltender Martin Jones was dressed as the backup after missing Monday’s game, indicating that he may be ready to play Saturday.

Of the team’s spate of injuries, DeBoer said: “We’re asking other guys to jump in. You know, Tierns makes a play, the big guys are scoring some goals for us lately, Jumbo and Pav, you know Couture’s line’s been good all year. Every injury, every guy that goes down, obviously it’s testing your depth and we don’t have a lot of margin of error. There are a lot of two-on-one games, but we’re getting comfortable in those games so that’s a good thing.”

The Sharks started the game a little slowly, but picked up the pace by the middle of the first period. Nevertheless, they still gave up the first goal in the final two minutes of the period. Dell made the first save, but juggled the puck when it came back on the rebound. The goal initially was given to Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie, but would up being Colton Sceviour’s. Assists went to Alex Petrovic and Micheal Haley.

Joe Pavelski’s tying goal came 11:20 into the second period. Joe Thornton’s pass from behind the net went off of Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and reversed direction. It went right to Pavelski, where he was set up at the corner of the net. As he gained control of the puck, his skate made contact with Luongo’s skate, which was the basis of the coach’s challenge. Luongo was looking in the other direction, which makes sense since Thornton had passed the puck in that direction. Assists on the goal went to Thornton and Timo Meier.

The game winner came 7:13 into the third period. Melker Karlsson’s backhand shot went off of Luongo and to Chris Tierney below the goal line. Tierney shot it back in, bouncing it off of Luongo’s back and into the net. The goal was initially not called as such, but after video review, the NHL made the correction. Assists went to Karlsson and Brent Burns. It was Tierney’s third goal in his last four games.

The Sharks did not get a chance on the power play, but their penalty kill went 2-0 in the game.  Marc-Edouard Vlasic led the team in shots on goal with four.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 4 pm PT.

Sharks snap Coyotes’ three-game winning streak with 3-1 win

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, November 22, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. – It wasn’t that long ago that the San Jose Sharks could have easily looked past their NHL Pacific Division game Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes, a team that has struggled for most of the season.

The Coyotes were trying to win a fourth consecutive game for the first time since January 4 to 12 of last year. Arizona had a three-game winning streak at the end of their recent Canadian road trip against the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.

A key penalty kill followed by Joe Thornton’s third goal of the season set the tone for the Sharks in their 3-1 victory before 11,214 fans at Gila River Arena.

Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward also tallied for San Jose, while goaltender Martin Jones turned away 26 of 27 shots. The Sharks took 25 shots.

The Sharks’ win snapped a three-game winless streak for San Jose (11-8-1, 23 points). It was San Jose’s first victory since Nov. 12 at Los Angeles.

“We got enough offense to win. That’s all that matters,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “On the road in a tough environment, (the Coyotes) are playing well, and I thought we played a good road game.”

Jones noted the importance of scoring first, adding, “I think we defended really well. We had a lot of jump in the first period, I thought, but we stuck with good structure against a team that’s always tough to play against, and we kind of wore them down.”

“We played a real tight team game,” Thornton said. “(The Coyotes have been playing real good with three wins in a row, so to come in here, kill off some big penalties early, that was a huge thing for us.”

At 10:49 of the first period, San Jose’s Logan Couture was called for interference, and at 12:10, Brent Burns joined him in the box after a slashing call, giving Arizona a two-man advantage for 39 seconds.

DeBoer said, “That was a tough one to kill. Any time there’s a marginal penalty it seems like you end up 5-on-3 and that’s what usually happens. We found a way, and our PK has been solid all year. We have confidence with it with Jonesey back there.”

“The three guys that were out there did a great job of not giving them anything,” Couture said. “(The Coyotes) didn’t get a great look; a great job by our killers.”

“That was huge,” Thornton said. “A 5-on-3 early on, then a 5-on-4, it was a big step up for our penalty killers and that could have won us the game.”

The Coyotes (5-16-3, 13 points) were held to one shot on goal during the 5-on-3. After killing the remaining Arizona power play, Joe Pavelski won a draw to the left of Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta, Burns took the pass in the slot, his shot deflected off Timo Meier and Thornton poked in the rebound.

“I’m starting to feel better,” Thornton said. “I was banged up for a little while, so I’m starting to feel better. My legs feel stronger, and it’s nice to get healthy.”

Thornton credited the addition of Meier, along with Pavelski, as a key to the Sharks’ first-line success.

“Timo brought a lot of energy, a lot of chances, and me and Pav really like playing with him right now,” Thornton said.

“That was a big goal at the right time,” DeBoer said. “We’ve been waiting for those guys to get on the board. It hasn’t been for lack of effort, but it’s nice to get the big guys scoring.”

Raanta suffered an upper-body injury after colliding with Couture and departed moments before Thornton’s goal, and was replaced by Scott Wedgewood after making nine saves. Wedgewood stopped 15 of 17 shots in relief.

San Jose made it 2-0 at 4:56 of the second period on Couture’s 11th goal of the season, and his first in five games. Couture took a pass from Joonas Donskoi, maneuvered past the Coyote defense with the forehand, then beat the sprawling Wedgewood with a backhand shot from a left angle.

“It’s tough to win in this league when you score only two,” Couture said. “It helped to hold (Arizona) off early. They’ve got some good, young players and they’re learning how to win. They’re a tough team to play against.’

Arizona cut its deficit to 2-1 on Brendan Perlini’s sixth goal of the season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson intercepted a Sharks clearing pass at the blue line, passed to Derek Stepan, whose shot in the left slot was redirected by Perlini past Jones’ stick side.

After Wedgewood was pulled for a sixth attacker, Joel Ward scored an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:12 of the third period.

The Sharks road trip continues with a visit to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday before returning to SAP Center to host Winnipeg on Saturday.

Sharks Fall to Bruins 3-1, Power Play Struggles

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By M. Walsh

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday. Boston goals came from Peter Cehlarik, Jake DeBrusk, and Danton Heinen. Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin made 36 saves for the win, while Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell made 17 saves. The lone Sharks goal came from Timo Meier.

The Sharks played well in many short bursts, but they could not generate second chances or sustain pressure for very long. After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said:

We’ve got to be a little bit harder around the net. We had some good chances tonight, it’s just we’re one play off, it feels. You come back to the shift and it’s one play, whether it’s in your d-zone or the neutral zone or the o-zone. It just feels like it’s one play right now.

In Saturday’s loss, the Sharks extended their power-play goal drought to 22. Perhaps more improbable, they saw a fourth consecutive coach’s challenge go against them. Brent Burns continues to shoot without scoring. He now leads the Sharks with 75 shots this season.

Just 1:02 in, the Sharks seemed to have ended their 63-minute goalless streak. Joe Thornton held the puck briefly near the goal line and then passed it back in front of the Bruins net. Out of a crush of players in front of the goalie, the puck found its way over the line off of Joonas Donskoi. The Bruins challenged it and won the challenge. Instead of ending their scoring drought, the Sharks now had three consecutive goals disallowed.

Undaunted, the Sharks went back to work and did get a goal at 4:50, this time from Meier. Danny O’Regan wrested control of the puck behind the Bruins net and guided it to Meier across the goal mouth. Khudobin could not get across in time to stop it. A secondary assist went to Joel Ward.

Moments later, the Bruins came back with a goal of their own. The puck went over the line after Boston’s Jake DeBrusk slid into Aaron Dell and pushed him into the net. The Sharks challenged the play for goaltender interference. The goal held up and was credited to Peter Cehlarik. DeBrusk got an assist for his trouble. It was the fourth consecutive challenge to go against the Sharks.

Of the decision, Pavelski said: “I don’t know. They say he was tripped in there. He was already kind of going down, I think.”

The first power play of the game went to the Sharks at 8:43. Riley Nash went to the box for tripping Joe Thornton. The Bruins penalty kill was effective. It was so effective that, just as Dell was tapping his stick to signal the end of the penalty, DeBrusk broke away and scored to give Boston the lead. Assists went to Charlie McAvoy and Sean Kuraly.

By the end of the first period, the score was 2-1 Boston, though the Sharks were outshooting the Bruins 17-5.

Near the midpoint of the second, Joe Thornton was called for tripping David Pastrnak. The Sharks penalty kill started well, with Melker Karlsson and Chris Tierney leading a merry chase at Boston’s end. The Bruins got no shots with that man advantage and really had no opportunity to do so.

The next penalties called were offsetting minors at 10:46, an interference call against Zdneo Chara and an embellishment call against Jannik Hansen. The Sharks dominated the four on four play but did not change the score.

As the period came to a close, the Sharks still trailed 2-1, and still led in shots, now 25-14.

Fans in the third period saw the Sharks start slowly. It was near the midpoint of the period before they had their first shot on goal. Their game picked up after that, but so did Boston’s game. At 14:59, Danton Heinen scored his third of the season against the Sharks, catching a well-timed pass from Kevan Miller for a breakaway. Too many Sharks were too deep in the Boston zone to catch him.

The Sharks had another power play in the last two minutes of regulation, but it didn’t make a difference.

The Sharks will have a chance to repair their game on Monday when they host the Anaheim Ducks at 7:30 pm PT.

Sharks See Pair of Goals Overturned, Fall to Panthers 2-0

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – In the battle of mentor vs. student, score one for the student. In the first head-to-head meeting between teams, former assistant coach Bob Boughner and his Florida Panthers scored a 2-0 victory over Peter DeBoer and the San Jose Sharks. Colton Sceviour and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Panthers while DeBoer protégé Boughner challenged not one, but two Sharks goals, proving victorious on both to help give netminder Roberto Luongo the 35-save shutout for career win number 457.

With neither team looking in sync with a number of passes not connecting throughout the game, it was clear if any team was going to score, it wasn’t going to be a highlight reel strike. Colton Sceviour lit the lamp one minute into the second period, using a gritty effort to jam home a wraparound and beat Martin Jones for his fourth goal of the season. Sceviour had circled the cage after taking a Connor Brickley feed, while Vincent Trotcheck added the secondary assist on the game-winner.

Tim Heed appeared to have the answering tally 4:37 into the middle period, plucking a puck off the blue line for a blistering slap shot that beat Luongo to the glove side. Boughner challenged that the puck came out of the offensive zone, risking taking a penalty if the call on the ice was not overturned. The replay officials determined the puck did come out of the zone, wiping out the tying goal for what would have been the Swede’s third marker of the year.

Another defenseman posited the theoretical tie-breaker 5:16 into the 3rd when Marc-Edouard Vlasic jammed a puck off Luongo’s left pad into the net in a goal mouth scramble. Boughner again challenged the play after his goalie jumped up incensed and making a shoveling motion with his stick. The officials agreed with Bobby Lou, saying that his pad was pushed over the goal line illegally. The goal was washed out.

The turnovers finally caught up to the Sharks with 7:37 left in the third after Tim Heed turned the puck over in the offensive end to Radim Vrbata, Vrbata passed the puck to ex-Shark Jamie McGinn who whirled a backhander cross-crease to Nick Bjugstad. Bjugstad had no trouble beating Jones for his fourth goal of the year and a 2-0 Cats lead.

DeBoer tried to create some offense as the game wore on, moving Joonas Donskoi down to the second line and auditioning Timo Meier and Melker Karlsson as the other wing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Karlsson ultimately stuck, with Kevin Labanc finding himself on the fourth line but the Sharks couldn’t crack the stingy Panthers defense. Neither could the two Sharks power plays where they generated six shots on goal.

The Sharks have the opportunity to bounce back when they welcome the depleted Boston Bruins to the SAP Center Saturday night. The Bruins may be without Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Anders Bjork, Adam McQuaid and David Backes, who all are nursing injuries.

Sloppy Sharks See Streak Snapped at four; Lightning light the lamp with 5-1 win

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Tampa Bay Lightning’s Vladislav Namestnikov, front left, is greeted by teammates after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in San Jose , Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Jerry Feitelberg

To be on the verge of a five-game win streak, many things have to go right for a hockey team. To lose that elusive fifth game in a blowout, lots have to go wrong.

The San Jose Sharks saw their four-game victorious run come to an end Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1, thanks in large part to a number of self-inflicted wounds.

Twice, the Sharks negated power plays by committing penalties on the man-advantage, they lost their defensive assignments and even yielded a goal on an even-strength situation that saw only four skaters in teal on the ice. Even net-minder Martin Jones wasn’t immune, surrendering a goal that top level goalies are expected to make with ease on a nightly basis.

The game opened with the Sharks showing the same traits they had over their winning ways, including taking an early lead. Joonas Donskoi scored his fifth goal of the season, sitting one shy of last season’s total, after picking up the Puck and depositing it past Andrei Vasilevskiy. Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski assisted on the goal just 25 seconds into the game.

The Lightning would score the next four unanswered, starting with Defenseman Jake Dotchin’s first career goal 7:17 into the first. Dotchin was able to pick up a rebound hanging by the far point and beat Jones cleanly on a slap shot to tie the game.

Tampa Bay’s second goal 44 seconds into the second period came just seconds after a Sharks penalty kill when Vladislav Namestnikov pulled the four Sharks skaters on the ice to Jones’ left side. That allowed him to connect on a pass to countryman Nikita Kucherov in the slot. Kucherov doesn’t miss from there often, and he didn’t this time potting his 15th goal of the year. The Sharks were originally on the power play but saw their edge negated after poor backchecking forces a scramble net front and resulted in a holding the stick penalty on Martin Jones.

Jones again found himself at the center of a Tampa goal after Slater Koekkoek was forced to the outside on a rush 9:21 into the second. Koekkoek took a low percentage shot from a hard angle, but this time he was successful with Jones failing to close off the five-hole with one leg parallel to the post and the other flat on the ice.

The worst offense of the night came with the Sharks not recognizing they were playing with just four skaters. Joel Ward hopped onto the ice but Namestnikov still punished San Jose for the Bolts third second period goal and a 4-1 lead with 8 minutes left in the period.

Aaron Dell relieved Jones in the third, but it failed to create a spark for the home team. Instead, Namestnikov scored Tampa’s first powerplay goal of the game 6:14 into the third for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season.

The Sharks get a shot at redemption Saturday when they face the Vancouver Canucks at home as part of a back-to-back weekend. They then travel to Los Angeles for a Sunday tilt.