San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks take on visiting Rangers Saturday night at SAP

San Jose Sharks center Tyler Toffoli (73) exclaims his excitement after scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Mar 27, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1  San Jose Sharks Tyler Toffoili scored two goals as the Sharks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs at SAP Center on Thursday 6-5 in a shootout.

#2 The Sharks had a 5-3 lead but the Leafs scored two goals in the third period to tie up the game 5-5 and force a shootout. The Leafs came close to closing this game but lost in a narrow contest.

#3 The Sharks Colin Graf, Alexnder Wennberg, and William Eklund each scored a goal. The Sharks had the lead 5-3 with just a minute left in the game when the Maple Leafs closed in within a goal. The Sharks were thankful that Graf, Wennberg and Eklund all contributed because the outcome could have been much different.

#4 Sharks Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini scored during the shootout stanza and goaltender Alex Georgiev saved 30 shots and prevented the Leafs Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner from scoring and passing the Sharks for the win.

#5 Of late the Sharks have found themselves winning their last two games with wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. The Sharks host the New York Rangers Saturday night at SAP Center. The Rangers are fifth place two games over .500 at 32-30, they are struggling of late losing six of their last ten games, taking that in consideration how do you see this match up Saturday night?

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 28, 2025: Pens Sid the Kid sets point per game record for most seasons; Sens Ullmark 31 saves edges Red Wings 4-3; plus more NHL news

Pittsburgh Penguins Sid Crosby (87) prepares to face off against the Buffalo Sabres at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Thu Mar 27, 2025. (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 28, 2025

#1 Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins broke former NHL great Wayne Gretzky’s record for having the most seasons (20) averaging at least a point per game. In spite of the record breaking performance the Penguins lost to the Buffalo Sabres 7-3 at Key Bank Center on Thursday.

 #2  Linus Ullmark saved 31 shots for the Ottawa Senators and the Senators were able to stop the Detroit offense for a 4-3 win at Little Caesars Pizza Arena on Thursday. Ullmark said after the game that the Senators played a lot of good minutes and the Wings were a desperate team but the Sens responded well.

#3 Tampa Bay Lightning Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and had three assists, Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy threw a 8-0 shutout against the Utah Hockey Club at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday, Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots. It was the sixth shutout of the season for Vasilevskiy and his 40th of his NHL career.

#4 The Philadelphia Flyers Brad Shaw picked up his first win as Flyers head coach against the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday. Shaw who was an assistant coach was promoted to head coach after the Flyers fired head coach John Tortorella on Thursday. The Flyers were on a six game losing streak when Tortorella was fired. Was Torts mainly fired because the Flyers just couldn’t get on track or was he fired because he lost the dressing room?

#5 Minnesota Wild’s Matt Boldy scored a goal and had an assist as the Wild overcame the visiting Washington Capitals in a comeback on Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center. With just 8.5 seconds left in the second period Boldy would score what would be the game winner putting the Wild on top 3-2 for the eventual 4-2 win.

The Caps Alexander Ovechkin didn’t score a goal and still remains six goals behind Wayne Gretzky for 894 career goals record.

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

Detroit has Utah HC Seeing Red In 5-1 Thrashing

Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) had a rough night against the Detroit Red Wings faced 13 shots, saved nine and allowed four goals at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Mar 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah finishes homestand on a losing note as Red Wings score five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win at the Delta Center.

Heading into Monday night’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings, the Utah Hockey Club had won seven of their last nine home games in an effort to keep their playoff hopes alive. Each team entered the matchup with 32 wins on the season, with Utah holding an edge in points thanks to 11 overtime or shootout losses versus 6 for the Wings who are also in the Wild Card hunt in the Eastern Conference.

The first period started off bright for the home team when Tyler Motte was whistled for tripping against Kevin Stenlund, giving Utah an early power play opportunity. Captain Clayton Keller fired a perfect pass to Dylan Guenther who one-timed a slap shot past Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon for his 26th goal of the season and a 1-0 Utah lead.

A little more than a minute later, however, Utah defenseman Sean Durzi lost the puck in the offensive zone and Vladimir Tarasenko was off to the races, feeding linemate Elmer Soderblom who put the puck past Karel Vejmelka for his 4th goal of the season to tie things up.

Early in the second period, Red Wings forward Marco Kasper banked the puck off of Utah’s Lawson Crouse in front of the net for a fluke goal, his 14th of the season, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead. The two squads would exchange power play opportunities during the period but the two netminders held off any further scoring.

At 9:51 of the third period, Detroit would collect its second fluke goal of the game when a shot toward the net from the blue line by Simon Edvinsson would deflect off the stick of Austin Watson at the top of the faceoff circle and fly just over the left shoulder of Karel Vejmelka into the top corner of the net to make it 3-1.

For Watson it was his first goal of the season in his fourth game as a Red Wing. With the clock winding down to the final few minutes, Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker, but Detroit was able to capitalize as Alex DeBrinkat put the game out of reach for good with his 33rd goal of the season into the empty net, assisted by Patrick Kane.

Adding insult to injury, with 88 seconds left on the clock, Tyler Motte picked up a rebound from a shot by Craig Smith to notch his 3rd goal of the season and finish off Utah 5-1.

In the locker room after the game, Utah defenseman Ian Cole weighed in on the game. “I think overall, it was a decent game, but ultimately, regardless of what the balance is, we lost the game. There’s a lot of turning points that we could talk about over the course of that game, but overall, we didn’t get the job done.” With regard to the challenge of making the playoffs, Cole continued, “Nothing’s easy, right? You need a lot of good force on your side. You need calls on your side, you need to take advantage of opportunities, and you need to play really, really good hockey. You need kind of a perfect storm to get into the playoffs and then have success when you’re in the playoffs. You need all those things going for you. Tonight some of those things did not go for us, but we’re right back at it against a great team in Tampa in a couple days. We’ll have to look at the video and figure out what went wrong and what we could have done better, and then fix that and move on.”

Captain Clayton Keller also faced the media. “We had a good start. We had a lot of possessions, some shots early, but I don’t think we did a good enough job of getting to the inside, hitting those rebounds … power plays got to be better. We had a good start there, but we have to find a way to get another one there. So that’s definitely frustrating as well. … There’s never going to be any quit in this room ever. We’re going to fight all the way until the end. We’re going to try to win every single game from here on out. Never know what can happen. We’re going to stay motivated, learn from this game, (and) attack this next road trip. We go 3-0, you never know what will happen.”

Utah Head coach André Tourigny began his media room comments by saying, “I think we got a little bit unlucky on our goal against. The puck was bouncing a lot tonight. It was tough to execute. I would have loved to simplify a little bit, go more at the net, and (be a little) bit more dirty. I thought we had a good start. But we could have simplified a little more in our shooting mentality in trying to make plays. Like I said, at the end of the day we got unlucky.” When asked what adjustments he would have liked to have seen, Tourigny commented, “More (of a) shooting mentality, more shots on net, more broken plays. Give them credit; they played well defensively, which we did as well. We gave up five shots after two (periods). We kept them on the outside pretty good. The way we played defensively was alright. Offensively, I think we could have simplified. … I have no problem with the way we played in terms of intensity, battle, those kinds of (things). I don’t have much to say. I’m trying to be creative here. We didn’t execute right offensively and we tried to do too much. We should have gone to the net and had some scrappy goals and we didn’t.”

Utah now hits the road for a trio of games against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago before returning to Delta Center on April 1 against Calgary for the first of five games on the final homestand of the inaugural season.

Sharks At Long Last Beat Bruins 3-1; SJ gets key goal from Carlsson in third period

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky directs the players from behind the bench against the Boston Bruins in the third period on Sat Mar 22, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

It has been a very long time since the San Jose Sharks beat the Boston Bruins, in fact it has been 3,294 days ago. They broke that chain Saturday night winning the game 3-1 with the go ahead and winning goals scored in the third period. William Ecklund, Barclay Goodrow and Lucas Carlsson each scored a goal in a solid offensive effort.

Game recap: Although neither team was able to score in the opening period; it was the Sharks scoring the first goal of the game in the second period. San Jose’s William Ecklund scored assisted by Macklin Celebrini and Luca Cagnoni for the San Jose 1-0 lead. The Sharks held onto the slim lead as the time-clock began to wear down. The Bruins tied up this with a little over three minutes left in the period. At 16:50 Casey Mittlestadt scored assisted by Cole Koepke. This game had been a tight one from the opening face-off.

The 1-1 tie held deep into the third period. The Sharks had some great opportunities but Bruin goalie Joonas Korpisalo was just as stingy as San Jose’s Alexander Georgiev. Both goalies were doing a solid job but that was all to change in the late minutes of the third period.

San Jose would take back the lead and break the tie at 16:37. Lucas Carlsson scored assisted by Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini. Lucas Carlsson back after years and playing his first game as a Shark ending up scoring the winning goal. He was activated from the Barracuda for Saturday night’s game and what an incredible night he finished with finishing off the Bruins and handing them their fifth loss in a row.

The Sharks really took it to the Bruins in the final period. After taking back the lead, San Jose’s Barclay Goodrow slugged in his fifth goal of the season to solidify the win. He was assisted by William Ecklund and Lucas Carlsson who had a very busy night. The Sharks now improve their season record 19-42-9. This win has been a long time coming almost a decade ago.

Game notes: Saturday night the Sharks hosted the Bruins at the SAP Center. The Sharks continued to struggle losing on Thursday to the Hurricanes 3-1 as Carolina won their eighth game in a row while the Sharks took their fifth loss of their last 6 games and 32 of their last 40 games prior to Saturday night’s win.

They have struggled all season and had to contend with the loss of Marc-Edouard Vlasic who did not play with an upper body Issue. Vlasic was unable to take the ice Saturday night with a projected return date of March 27.

His absence didn’t affect the team’s defensive lineup as the Sharks held the Bruins to just one goal and unfortunately Vlasic has already missed 12 games due to injury this season. The Bruins have had a rough patch as well now having lost five games in a row and couldn’t turn this game around for a win over San Jose.

The Sharks have a 19-42-9 record this season and the Bruins have a 30-32-9 record with both teams taking up residence near or at the bottom of their respective divisions. The Sharks has been without Logan Couture for five months now and there still remains no timeline for his return. He remains a week to week with a lower body injury incurred during offseason training. This was to be be his 15th season with the Sharks.

This win came as a result of some solid play as well as solid decisions. San Jose played a well-rounded game Saturday night. It was William Ecklund, Barclay Woodrow and Lucas Carlsson who spear-headed the win but the entire team was playing as a unit. Goalie Alexander Georgiev had what may have been his best game this season. He was solid but for the one goal scored by Boston.

The Sharks will next take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at SAP this Thursday night with face-off scheduled for 7:30 PM.

Cooley and Kerfoot Strike Lightning Twice In 6-4 Utah HC Win Over Tampa Bay

Utah Hockey Club’s Logan Cooley (92) scored a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sat Mar 22, 2025 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Here is Cooley getting congratulated by teammates after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Sun Mar 16, 2025. (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah forwards explode for six goals while notching the team’s seventh home win over the past 9 games in hard fought victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Utah Hockey Club played a rare early afternoon game at Delta Center on Saturday, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning who have outscored every other team in the league except the Washington Capitals and boasts the highest plus/minus differential in the NHL.

Josh Doan struck first for the home team at 6:42 of the opening frame connecting at the goal crease on a perfect pass from Jack McBain from behind the net for his fifth goal of the season, with the second assist to Lawson Crouse.

With a little more than two minutes remaining in the period, Utah forward Nick Schmaltz fed Michael Kesselring the puck on a breakaway which was stopped by Lightning netminder Brandon Halverson, but Logan Cooley followed the play and punched the rebound into the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, Ian Cole was whistled for tripping against Nikita Kucherov, resulting in a power play goal for Brayden Point, his 33rd on the season, assisted by Jake Guentzel and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

At 5:22 of the second period, Tampa Bay forward Anthony Cirelli evened the score on a slap shot for his 24th goal of the season, assisted by Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. 36 seconds later Utah would regain the lead when forward Kevin Stenlund one-timed a cross ice pass from John Marino to find Alexander Kerfoot in front of the net who knocked it in for his 9th goal of the season.

With 2:37 remaining in the period, Lightning forward Jake Guentzel tied things up once again, tipping in a pass from Nick Perbix for his 34th goal of the season, but 30 seconds later John Marino launched a shot from the blue line which Logan Cooley deflected into the net for his 21st of the season, putting Utah back on top 4-3 as the period closed.

Barely a minute into the third period, Clayton Keller was stopped at close range by Brandon Halverson, who immediately turned away a rebound attempt by Logan Cooley but was unable to stop Nick Schmaltz on a second rebound backhand shot for his 17th goal of the season and a 5-3 lead.

Less than two minutes later Brayen Point could cut the lead to one again with his second goal of the game, assisted by Ryan McDonagh and Jake Guentzel. Earlier in the season Utah struggled to maintain third period leads, but Karel Vejmelka, playing in his career high 13th consecutive game, held the Lightning offense scoreless the rest of the way, fending off a Tampa Bay power play with 2:09 remaining due to a too many men on the ice penalty.

With 57 seconds remaining, Alexander Kerfoot fired the puck into an empty net for his 2nd goal of the night and 10th of the season, giving Utah the 6-4 victory, their seventh at home over their past 9 contests.

In the locker room, Kerfoot talked about Utah’s recent success at home. “I think the crowd’s been unreal. I mean, third period there towards the end of the game—that’s a loud building that’s fun to play in. We’ve obviously placed an emphasis on being at home, I don’t think that our mindset has really changed, but we’ve just dug in here down the stretch and it’s a fun place to play. It feels like we’ve got momentum when we come home and when we’re playing in front of our fans. … I think that this was a great atmosphere for kids to come and watch the game and this is a new market, we’re trying to grow hockey here. SEG’s done an awesome job of growing the game in this community and to have a night like this where we get to bring in some youth hockey players and some kids during an early game on the weekend, it’s really fun and I hope that we can do that again in the future.”

In a game full of momentum swings, Logan Cooley talked about managing emotions. “It was kind of a crazy game, honestly. We were up two but then a goal gets called back, but you know, we just kept going at it and I thought we were playing the right way the whole third [period] there and then we got the outcome with a big two points.” With regard to his personal compete level, Cooley remarked, “I think just for me, I try to be the best version of myself each and every day and just try to get as good as I can to become the player I want to be. Obviously, it comes back to the team and trying to get into the playoffs. Eventually, I want to get a Cup and I think that’s the biggest drive for me right now. Being in Utah, it’s special in front of these fans. There’s no better feeling than coming to the rink every day and working together towards one goal here.”

Head coach André Tourigny was all smiles in the media room. “Really happy about the offense we created tonight, but even more proud of the way we defended the rush and the way we closed the middle of the ice. That was a really tough challenge, tough team to do that against them. Obviously for individual performance, I think Sergey [Mikhail Sergachev] was really good. Cooley and his line, they were something else. They were really, really good. I think it’s a huge character win. … Right from the start of the game, the focus, the execution, the urgency was elite. I think everybody was engaged. Everybody was connected. We’re really disciplined, and in the way we had to play against those guys. Great effort from the boys.” Comparing his club’s protecting the lead in the third period with difficulties earlier in the season, Tourigny said, “It’s day and night. I think that the mindset, the composure, the assertiveness, you cannot even compare. I think our team grew a lot, and I think we have way more maturity now.”

Utah will square off on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings before embarking upon a three game road trip to Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago. They will then return for one final homestand of five games before finishing out the regular season on the road.

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025: Ovechkin closes in on Gretzky now 7 short of record as Caps edge Flyers; Taveras’ two goals help Leafs beat Rangers 3-2; plus more NHL news

42 year old Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin (8) celebrates his 888th career goal putting him seven goals behind NHL goal scoring leader Wayne Gretzky against the Philadelphia Flyers Thu Mar 20, 2025 at the Capital One Center in Washington DC (AP News photo)

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Thu Mar 20, 2025:

#1  Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin lit the lamp for a career 888th time and now moves within seven goals to break former NHL great Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record at 894 goals. The Caps defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena in Washington on Thursday night 3-2.

#2  The Toronto Maple Leafs edged the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night 4-3 and got some big help from John Tavares who had three points to reach 1,100 points for his career total. Taveras also scored two goals and got an assist to become the eighth NHL player to achieve 1,100 points.

#3 The Ottawa Senators have cooled off after winning six in a row dropped their second straight game this time to the visiting Colorado Avalanche at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa 5-1 on Thursday night. The Aves Brock Nelson scored the first two goals of the game. Cale Makar scored a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon also scored. The Avalanche are on a roll having won nine of their last 11 games.

#4 The New Jersey Devils couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead as the visiting Calgary Flames came back with flurry scoring four times in the third period to defeat their hosts at the Prudential Center 5-3 in Newark NJ. It took the Flames 15 third period shots on net to convert four of them for goals. Scorers for Calgary Connor Zary, Danil Miromanov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Nazem Kadri.

#5 It was a battle that carried over into overtime at Nationwide Arena in Columbus between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers resulting in a 1-0 Panthers win on Thursday night. The Jackets Alexsander Barkov scored from the top slot. The Jackets Kirill Marchenko at 19:30 put the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game and Barkov afterward ended up scoring the game winner. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for the shutout his fifth this season.

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

Dylan Guenther’s 9th Game-Winning Goal Rattles Sabres In 5-2 Utah HC Victory

Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther (11) celebrates a third period goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Wed Mar 12, 2025 at the Delta Center. On Thu Mar 20, 2025 Guenther scored the go ahead goal against the Buffalo Sabres at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (AP file photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Buffalo unraveled late in the third period, scoring their own goal for Utah on a delayed penalty to seal the Utah Hockey Club’s 5-2 sixth home win in the past eight contests.

The Utah Hockey Club returned to home ice on Thursday night after a three-game road trip where they won against Wild Card contender Vancouver but lost to Seattle and Edmonton.

Logan Cooley gave Utah the first lead of the game at 17:27 of the first period on a snap shot which got past Buffalo netminder James Reimer, his 19th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller. With 11 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Sabres forward JJ Peterka beat Karel Vejmelka on the power play to tie things up, assisted by Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson.

Utah would regain the lead at 11:50 of the second period as defenseman Mikhail Sergachev fired a shot from the blue line which flew through traffic for his career high 12th goal of the season, assisted by Jack McBain.

Early in the third period Buffalo would tie the score again on an unassisted short-handed breakaway goal by Ryan McLeod. Utah forward Dylan Guenther recovered a rebound in front of the Sabres net at 14:13 of the period and scored his 25th of the season on a wrist shot for what would become his ninth game-winning goal of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Michael Carcone.

With just over a minute remaining in the game, Utah forward Kevin Stenlund was whistled for high-sticking against Bowen Byram. As play continued with Buffalo still controlling the puck, Tage Thompson missed the stick of Rasmus Dahlin on an attempted pass which banked off the dasher boards and straight into the empty Sabres net to give Utah a 4-2 lead.

Stenlund, the last Utah player to touch the puck before the penalty, was credited with his 11th goal of the season. With James Reimer still sitting on the Buffalo bench, Mikhail Sergachev launched a shot the full length of the ice to make what had been a tight game a 5-2 blowout. The goal added to Sergachev’s career high for his 13th of the season, assisted by winning goaltender Karel Vejmelka, his first assist on the year.

In the locker room, Sergachev talked about the final moments of the game. “Obviously, that was lucky. To get those lucky bounces, you gotta work hard, and I think that stretch in the third, we worked hard and had a lot of chances to score. We didn’t score, and we got those two, so I guess we’ll take them.” With regard to Vejmelka making a career high 12th consecutive start, Sergachev added, “He’s our guy. He’s there when we need him. It showed tonight. He’s unbelievable.”

Dylan Guenther talked about the importance of Thursday night’s bounce back win following the previous game’s drubbing against the Oilers. “It gets a little bit of our confidence back. That was a tough ending [in Edmonton], and it’s just one game that’s kind of the beauty of it. We have to play a lot, but we just had to make sure that we got back on track. It was a step in that direction.” With regard to his ninth game-winner, Guenther commented, “That’s pretty cool, maybe a bit of a coincidence too, just getting lucky on some of them. Those are the times of the game that you want to play in. Those are the fun times. So, it’s nice to be recognized.”

Head coach André Tourigny also talked about his team’s response to the loss in Edmonton. “We talked briefly about it as a team. It’s what happened and let’s learn from it. We moved on and I think in our situation, it’s easier because the game tonight was huge. That was a really important game for us with the scores everywhere around the league on top of it. We didn’t know that before, but we know that the team we’re fighting to win, they’re fighting too. They want to win their game, so we need to keep getting points. There are a lot of games left, there’s a lot of hockey left, and we need to be consistent and win on a regular basis.” Speaking of how the club is fighting to make the playoffs, Tourigny said, “There’s no doubt about it. For me, I think we had it all year long, and we had moments where we talked about how much pressure we’re putting on ourselves and how tough it was to manage it. All season long we’re really demanding ourselves, we believe in ourselves, and we know we can achieve great things. We talk about the process of a young team to live with that expectation and that pressure and so on and so forth. It’s a lot of learning. It’s learning on steroids, and we need to keep going and keep doing our job at that point and stay in the hunt. We need to wear opponents down and that’s the way it will be. Every point is important.”

Utah returns to action on Saturday at home for a 3:00pm afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Earlier in the day, Utah Hockey Club issued the following press release with the headline, “Smith Entertainment Group Offers $1 Subscription to UtahHC+ as Utah Hockey Club Seeks Inaugural Season Playoff Spot.”

Thursday, Smith Entertainment Group introduced a limited-time, $1 subscription option for UtahHC+ – the official streaming service of Utah Hockey Club – that includes the ability to stream all of the team’s remaining 14 regular season games and any games Utah would play during the first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, if they qualify. The offer is open to fans across Utah, along with six neighboring states, inviting them to tune in and support Utah Hockey Club as they continue their push for the playoffs during a historic inaugural season. Utah is currently four points out from securing a wild card position in the NHL Western Conference and would be the 13th franchise to qualify for the playoffs in their first year in the NHL.

Fans can secure the $1 “Push for the Playoffs” UtahHC+ subscription offer now through March 31 at 11:59 P.M. MT by visiting http://www.segplus.com. In addition to live games, the subscription includes access to video-on-demand (VOD) content, game replays, game-specific alternative broadcasts, and other engaging behind-the-scenes content. Users who take advantage of this limited-time $1 offer will have access to the platform from the date of subscribing until May 14, 2025.

Utah’s remaining regular season NHL games conclude on April 15 against the St. Louis Blues. The NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs are expected to begin in the second half of April, with a full schedule of games available in the coming weeks. .”

More than 16.8 million plus hockey fans can subscribe to UtahHC+ including all 3.5 million Utahns, as well as those living in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, and parts of Nevada.

Fans can learn more about subscription availability and sign up for the promotional offering by visiting http://www.segplus.com.

The Chase of Great Ove Continues with a 5-1 win Against the Sharks

Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin scored a goal at 10:54 in the third period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 16, 2025. Ovechkin is now just eight short from surpassing the all time goals leader Wayne Gretzky (AP News photo)

By Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE–Tough battle at SAP against Ovi and the great Caps.

Saturday afternoon’s contest was a contrast from Thursday night which was very special for the Sharks after getting another W in a while plus two more points in the standings. People also witnessed the first duel between two former first-round picks, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard. Saturday the Sharks got leveled by the visiting Washington Capitals at SAP Center in San Jose 5-1.

The assignment this evening, a tough one as the Sharks will try to get a second consecutive game in front of the best team in the east, the Washington Capitals.

The team is not just the best team in the east, but also has one of the greatest players in the history of the sport of Ice Hockey, Alex Ovechkin, who is in the chase to surpass Wayne Gretzky for most goals.

The first period was absolutely dominated by the Capitals, scoring three goals in the period. Dylan Strome put the first of the visitors seven minutes in from the start of the period. Then, two back-to-back goals by Aliaksei Protas two minutes apart.

During the second period, the game did not see any scoring, however, the game was plagued with fights, penalties, tension, and frustration by the Sharks for not finding ways to score. Tom Wilson, a familiar heavyweight, dropped the mitts with Zack Ostapchuk, soon after Brandon Duhaime will do the same against Noah Gregor.

Mario Ferraro picked up a penalty against Pierre Luc-Dubois.

The teal recorded only ten shots whereas the visitors managed to get 22 attempts on goal. The Sharks towards the end of the period got their minds locked in again and tried to set up plays, which neither one ended in goal. The team was clearly overwhelmed by the quality of the Capitals hockey.

In the second period, Macklin Celebrini opened up the scoring for the Sharks, and again, putting the team on his shoulders, setting the tone for more scoring. The Caps turned off any spark of shine for the Teal as 30 seconds apart, Trevor Van Riemsdyk netted the fourth goal in weird fashion.

Last time, Coach Ryan Warsofsky addressed having a special preparation to avoid any scoring from Alex Ovechkin, but the attempts did not work as thought. The Great Ove as he is known, scored the final goal of the game while also scored his 887th goal of his career, putting him just eight goals away from passing the Great One Wayne Gretzky.

The Sharks will have a few days off to brush off the loss and recover some energy to face another playoff team in the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes on Thu Mar 20, 2025 at SAP Center.

San Jose Sharks podcast Charanbir Mahal Sat Mar 15, 2025: Graf big help in last Sharks win over Blackhawks; Capitals Ovechkin nine away from becoming goal king

Alexander Ovechkin is nine goals short of the all time goals record held by Wayne Gretzkey here is Ovechkin skating against the Los Angeles Kings on Thu Mar 13, 2025. Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals face off with the San Jose Sharks Sat Mar 15, 2025 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast with Charinbir Mahal (INDTVUSA):

#1  Colin Graf made headlines on Thursday night for the San Jose Sharks. Graf an undrafted rookie showed his handy work scoring twice. Will Smith scored a goal and an assist as the Sharks defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.

#2 Talk about the job that Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev did between the pipe stopping 24 shots and allowing two goals and holding Chicago just enough for the Sharks to come away with a two goal win.

#3 The Sharks Tyler Toffoli added the scoring with an empty netter for insurance in the win. Toffoli was fired up needless to say after scoring. It’s goals like these that can get a team motivated?

#4 Smith opened up the game in the first period with a goal at 3:48 getting a pass from Macklin Celebrini. Smith now has seven goals, 12 assists and 19 points in his last 19 games.

#5 The Sharks in a Saturday matinee will host the Washington Capitals at SAP Center for a 2:00pm faceoff. Needless to say the all the attention will be on the Capitals Alexander Ovechkin who needs nine more goals to pass all time NHL scoring leader Wayne Gretzky to achieve his 895th goal.

#6 Big day today it’s the celebration of the South Asian Culture, celebrating diversity in the South Bay. On had local color artist Suhita Shirodkar. The celebration included a Bollywood dance, drama, and entertainment company based in Milpitas. Free henna tattoo art.

Charinbir Mahal is a reporter for INDTVUSA and podcasts San Jose Sharks hockey at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Capitals-Sharks face off on Saturday at SAP; All eyes on Ovechkin nine goals away from goal scoring record

San Jose Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli (73) is seen here after scoring a goal in a Mon Mar 3, 2025 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. On Thu Mar 13, 2025 Toffoli scored an unassisted empty net goal at 19:27 in the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks. (Canadian Press via AP)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1  Colin Graf made headlines on Thursday night for the San Jose Sharks. Graf an undrafted rookie showed his handy work scoring twice. Will Smith scored a goal and an assist as the Sharks defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.

#2 Mary, talk about the job that Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev did between the pipe stopping 24 shots and allowing two goals and holding Chicago just enough for the Sharks to come away with a two goal win.

#3 The Sharks Tyler Toffoli added the scoring with an empty netter for insurance in the win. Toffoli was fired up needless to say after scoring. It’s goals like these that can get a team motivated?

#4 Smith opened up the game in the first period with a goal at 3:48 getting a pass from Macklin Celebrini. Smith now has seven goals, 12 assists and 19 points in his last 19 games.

#5 The Sharks in a Saturday matinee will host the Washington Capitals at SAP Center for a 2:00pm faceoff. Needless to say the all the attention will be on the Capitals Alexander Ovechkin who needs nine more goals to pass all time NHL scoring leader Wayne Gretzky to achieve his 895th goal.

Mary Lisa does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com