Tag: NHL

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson: Sharks give it a go tonight host Red Wings; SJ hopes to snap 8 game losing streak

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The San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (left) tries to keep up with the Colorado Avalanche center Andrew Cogliano (right) in the second period at the Ball Center in Denver on Sun Dec 31, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson:

#1 The count down on New Year’s eve was the one that ends the San Jose Sharks (9-25-3) eight game losing streak which they weren’t able to accomplish as they lost to the Colorado Avalanche (23-11-3) 3-1 on Sunday night.

#2 The Aves Valeri Nichushkin scored a third period goal late that helped put away the Sharks with two goals in the third period for a two goal win 3-1.

#3 The Sharks on Thursday tried to see if see if bringing up goaltender Magnus Chrona who was pelted with Edmonton Oilers shots he faced 20 shots and allowed four goals and was pulled from the game. Did Sharks head coach David Quinn want to see what Chrona could deliver to strengthen the goaltending or to see if Chrona would fit in as a back up?

#4 Titus, coach Quinn and the Sharks had team captain Logan Couture on the Colorado trip to see how he would skate and how he’s handling practice plays and where he’s at physically. Asked if he was ready to return and Quinn said “zero” it was just an opportunity to see where he was at. How bad does this team miss Couture out of the line up at the juncture?

#5 The Detroit Red Wings face off with the Sharks tonight right here where were podcasting at SAP Center. The Red Wings are fifth in the Eastern Conference at 17-16-4. The Red Wings have lost seven of their last ten games. Could this be the Sharks best chance to snap this eight game losing streak tonight?

Titus Wilkinson is a San Jose Sharks beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 3-1 to Avalanche, Ferraro Injured; SJ suffers eighth straight loss

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The Colorado Avalanche’s right winger Valeri Nichushkin (13) takes a shot as the San Jose Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun covers in the first period at the Ball Arena in Denver on Sun Dec 31, 2023 (AP News)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-1 to the Colorado Avalanche Sunday night. Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Manson scored for Colorado. Alexandar Georgiev made 10 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose and Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in the loss. It was the Sharks’ eighth loss in a row.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn recognized that his team was at a disadvantage, losing “our best defenseman five minutes into the game, playing a team that, you know, has a great chance to win the Stanley Cup.” Nonetheless, he saw some good in the Sharks game: “With our d-corps as young as we are, to hang in there against this team, I couldn’t be prouder of our team. Our goalie was outstanding. It’s 1-1 with five minutes to go and they get a … six-on-five goal and … an empty netter.”

The first goal of the game came on a Colorado power play at 6:58 of the first period. Nathan MacKinnon sent the puck across the ice low in the offensive zone. Mikko Rantanen was there to catch it and snap it over Kaapo Kahkonen. Assists went to MacKinnon and Nichushkin.

The Sharks had just three shots in that first period, while Colorado had ten. Additionally, midway through the first period, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro took a hit from Nathan MacKinnon that knocked him out of the game with an upper-body injury. The team gave no update on his status after the game.

The only penalty in the first period was the too many men call against the Sharks. By contrast, the second period saw a slew of penalties: interference, hi-sticking, slashing, hooking and a set of matching roughing penalties, distributed fairly evenly between the teams.

The Sharks tied the game during one of those penalties, scoring a power play goal at 16:53. Mikael Granlund’s pass found Tomas Hertl in the slot for a quick shot past the goaltender. Assists went to Granlund and Calen Addison. That was the Sharks’ eighth shot of the game, their fifth of the second period.

The Sharks held the game 1-1 until late in the third period, despite having no shots in the period until the final five minutes. Even then, they only had two shots in the third.

During a delayed penalty against the Sharks, Colorado took the lead at 16:31. Valeri Nichushkin scored from just above the goal line off a pass from Jack Johnson. Assists went to Johnson and MacKinnon.

The Sharks pulled Kahkonen during a late penalty and then kept him out during the final minute. The Avalanche missed a few shots at the empty net before Josh Manson finally got one in.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT against the Detroit Red Wings.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to snap 7 game skid New Years Eve in Colorado

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The San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (72) led the Sharks with the most shots on goal with six is defended by the Edmonton Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak (27) at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 28, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Edmonton Oilers didn’t waste anytime getting on the scoreboard they got a goal and assist each from Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod. The Oilers skated away with a 4-0 first period to pin down the Sharks who had already lost six straight games going into the contest now at seven loses in a row.

#2 The Oilers Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added goals totaling four goals in the first period and one in the second period and that was all the offensive damage the Oilers needed to win it 5-0.

#3 Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner came away with a shutout with 25 saves. Each Sharks opportunity to put it on net failed miserably no matter how hard they tried. William Eklund led San Jose with six shots on goals all stopped by Skinner.

#4 The Sharks started Magnus Chrona in his first appearance for San Jose. Chrona got lit up facing 20 shots and allowing four and later was replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen who wound up giving up a goal on 19 shots.

#5 The Sharks go back to the drawing board as they face the rough and tough Colorado Avalanche. The last time the two teams met was on Sun Dec 17 and the Aves had they’re way with a four goal 6-2 win at the Ball Center in Denver. The Sharks hope to end they’re seven game losing streak on New Years Eve a 5:00pm PT face off once again in Denver.

Mary Lisa is a San Jose Sharks beat writer and covers the Sharks road games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Edmonton Oilers Destroy San Jose Sharks 5-0; Sharks drop seventh game in a row

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Magnus Chrona (30) made his Sharks debut against the Edmonton Oilers surrendering four goals at SAP Center on Thu Dec 29, 2023 (San Jose Sharks photo)

Thursday, December 28th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks host the Edmonton Oilers in the final home game of 2023 and this game comes off a 4-1 loss Wednesday night to the Los Angeles Kings. Despite Kaapo Kahkonen making 37 saves and the Sharks killing all three Kings power plays, San Jose couldn’t get it done. The boys in teal lost another one at SAP Center in front of the home fans on Thursday night 5-0 to close out the year, as the hungry Oilers paved their way and went above .500 at 15-16-1 going into 2024. 

The game started with the Sharks starting Magnus Chrona in net for his first NHL game and it was a wakeup call of a first game for Chrona. A minute into the game, Ryan McLeod scored off of just great, efficient offense where the whole minute the puck was being passed tape to tape in Edmonton’s offensive zone and resulted in the first goal assisted by Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman, 1-0 Oilers.

For Hyman he wasn’t stopping there, because the offense was looking effortless for Edmonton as Connor McDavid hit a crisp pass to Hyman who tapped the puck past Chrona in net making it 2-0 Oilers. The wheels started to fall off for the Sharks as the Oilers continued this masterclass of offense with Bouchard firing a slap shot from the point, 3-0 Oilers.

The fans were already on their hands from this opening period mugging, but they would go completely silent after Leon Drasaitl scored off a wrist shot right in front of the net even with a defender draped on him, 4-0 Edmonton and that was our score going into the first intermission. The Sharks were outplayed the entire first period and the traveling Oiler fans were putting their shoes on the San Jose fans couch. 

Sharks changed goalies to start the second period and in net was Kaapo Kahkonen, but the only difference was less goals than the first period. Halfway through the period Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tipped in the puck past Kaapo and it was 5-0 Edmonton. The Sharks now down five were facing the reality that another blowout loss was in their future. 

Final period was both teams just trying not to make a mistake, because it was over and had been over since the first period. Fans chanting “one more goal”.  5-0 Edmonton wins the game in a major blowout and the arena erupted in boos as they left the building when the game was over. 

This game for the Sharks was just an egregious example of what has been happening in 2023. Bad defense, no offense generated, and missed opportunities. The final game for San Jose of the 2023 part of the season will be on New Year’s Eve against the Colorado Avalanche and maybe by some chance of a miracle, 2024 has more positives in store for San Jose. 

Demoralized Sharks Fall 5-1 to Kings; SJ dealt their sixth straight loss

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The Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22) put the puck on net for a second period goal past San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (31) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wed Dec 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. The Kings’ goals were scored by Kevin Fiala, Trevor Lewis, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Adrian Kempe, who scored twice. David Rittich made 24 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund scored the lone Sharks goal and Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves in the loss. This was the sixth loss in a row for the Sharks.

Although the Sharks won the first period of the game, their power play showed signs of what was to come. The Sharks power play registered no shots on net and gave up two short-handed shots. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said:

“Really it was a tale of two games. I thought the first twenty-five minutes we played well, I thought we had some great chances. Then we got blitzed with two goals in five seconds, six seconds, whatever it was and that’s happened to us too often and you could just feel it again. And it just got away from us, we got demoralized and our power play really hurt us.”

When asked how the team can cope with collapses like giving up two goals in 13 seconds, Sharks forward Fabian Zetterlund said “we just have to have a couple good shifts, get the pucks deep, and play boring hockey… and then we can take it from there.”

The Sharks scored the only goal of the first period. Fabian Zetterlund scored with a snap shot on a breakaway at 11:02. It was his 10th goal of the season. The period was almost penalty-free, with just one call against the Kings at 18:23. At even strength, the Sharks outshot the Kings slightly with eight shots to the Kings’ six.

The Kings tied the game at 2:57 of the second period. Kevin Fiala scored with a wrist shot on a breakaway. An assist went to Jordan Spence.

13 seconds later, Trevor Lewis stole the puck from Mario Ferraro by the Sharks net and scored with a backhand.

Pierre-Luc Dubois made it 3-1 at 12:26, off a rebound from Arthur Kaliyev’s shot from high in the slot. Assists went to Kaliyev and Alex Laferriere,

The Kings outshot the Sharks 17-11 in the second period. The teams each took one penalty, overlapping by 24 seconds, in the middle of the period.

Adrian Kempe made it 4-1 at 3:36 of the third period. From between the circles, Kempe tipped a shot by Matt Roy. Assists went to Roy and Carl Grundstrom

Kempe’s second goal came with an impressive zone entry, skating past and around three Sharks to score with a wrist shot. Assists went to Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty. That goal came at 15:42.

The third period saw a flurry of penalties, starting with a fight at 5:29 that garnered an additional roughing penalty for Alex Laferriere. The Sharks then took two more penalties in the period. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won just 40.7% of the draws. The shot count was very lopsided, 20-6 Los Angeles, for a game total of 43-25 Kings.

Sharks defenseman Jacob MacDonald was placed on IR. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was ill and so Magnus Chrona was called up as backup.

The Sharks next play on Thursday back in San Jose against the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 PM PT.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Rangers Miller scores once and gets three points; Devils get by Jackets in a nail biter 4-3; plus more NHL news

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New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shersterkin (31) pushes the Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) in the second period at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wed Dec 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 Len, the New York Rangers K’Andre Miller was a big assist with three points and scoring two goals to help New York defeat the Washington Capitals 5-1.

#2 The Rangers got defensive help from goaltender Igor Shesterkin with 25 saves to help the Rangers pick up their five win out of their last six games.

#3 The Capitals Anthony Mantha scored the only goal for Washington and Alexander Ovechkin didn’t score and had four shots on goal.

#4 The New Jersey Devils edged the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Prudential Center 4-3 on Wednesday night. The Devils got goals from Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, Timo Meier, and Ondrej Palat. New Jersey got some good goaltending from Vitek Vanecek who stopped 26 out of 29 shots.

#5 In another close game of the Florida rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning just got by the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Sunrise Fl tonight. The Lightning had to score twice in the third period to win it from Nikita Kucherov at 29 seconds. With the score tied at 2-2 the Lightning got their third goal from Michael Eyssimont for the 3-2 win.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Canucks move to top of Western Conference hand Sharks fifth straight loss 7-4; Kuzmenko lights the lamp twice in Vancouver offensive attack

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The Vancouver Canucks Andrei Kuzmenko (96) and the San Jose Sharks Fabian Zetterlund (20) battle for the puck in the third period at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Sat Dec 23, 2023 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -What happens when a resistible force combines with a moveable object? We found out Saturday night as the San Jose Sharks brought their league-worst offense to Rogers Arena along with their league-worst defense.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and the Sharks D got juked out of their stockings.

The league-leading Canucks scored five goals on their first sixteen shots to send the Sharks to their fifth straight loss, 7-4. Vancouver improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine.

After Jacob MacDonald pulled San Jose to within one goal with just under seven minutes remaining, the Canucks put the game away with two late goals, their seventh into an empty net courtesy of their captain Quinn Hughes.

If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, starting (Mackenzie) Blackwood in goal might not be the best way to make your dreams come true.

Vancouver scored three goals in the second frame to break the game open. Fabian Zetterland scored on a nice passing play by Mario Ferraro at 11:08, but San Jose’s attack couldn’t keep pace with the leaks in the Sharks own end.

It was sort of a tale of two first periods. The first half belonged to the Canucks, who looked relaxed and in control. The hosts were up two goals before the Sharks even got their second shot on goal.

But at 13:32 the tide had turned and Anthony Duclair took advantage of an overly-relaxed Vancouver D to put one past California native Thatcher Demko, the NHL ‘s second star of the week.

Tomas Hertl tied it up less than three minutes later and backhanded it through the five-hole after a rebound scramble close to the net. It was Hertl’s team-leading 12th goal of the campaign.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored the Canucks first two goals on snappy wristers that found their way through, the second with Mike Hoffman off for interference.

Shots on goal ended up 26-25 for Vancouver, hits were 19-15 in favor of San Jose. . The large Vancouver crowd (sold out, 18,875), many in holiday attire, were in a festive mood.

Most random jersey sighting of the night was a guy in a Clark Griswold Blackhawks sweater, who was booed lustily when shown on the Jumbotron.

Sharks next game is at Los Angeles Wednesday, December 27 before returning home to the SAP Center for a tilt against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday, December 28.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to right ship open two game road trip tonight in Vancouver

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Arizona Coyotes center Alexander Kerfoot (15) scores on the San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks lost on home ice on Thursday night to the Coyotes for their fourth straight loss 5-2 at SAP Center.

#2 San Jose outshot Arizona 12-7 in the first period it was a display that the Sharks had their foot on the necks of the Coyotes, but the goalies were on point keeping it scoreless. 

#3 The second period was rough for the Sharks as the Coyotes offense went to work getting three goals and taking a 3-1 lead.

#4 The Coyotes kept it up scoring two more goals and came away with a three goal 5-2 win for the Sharks fourth consecutive loss.

#5 The Sharks will try and hope that a change of scenery will be beneficial when the open the first of two road games on Saturday in Vancouver and then in head to the Southland and face the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. How do you see these match ups.

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

San Jose Sharks Lose 5-2 To The Arizona Coyotes In One Last Home Game Before Christmas

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The Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller (9) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks host the Arizona Coyotes in the SAP Center following the Sharks loss to the Kings on Tuesday. After a trying first 11 games to start the season in which SJ went 0-10-1 to open the campaign, the Sharks have rebounded with a nearly -.500 record over the team’s last 21 contests, but since the calendar flipped to December, the Sharks are 4-4-1 with three of those five losses coming by one goal. The Sharks lost on home ice on Thursday night to the Coyotes for their fourth straight loss 5-2 at SAP Center.

Smooth first period for the Sharks both defensively and offensively. Similar flow to the last game, San Jose getting great scoring chances as well as stopping the opposition for the duration of the period. SJ outshot Arizona 12-7 was a display that the Sharks had their foot on the necks of the Coyotes, but the goalies were on point keeping it scoreless. 

The second period was a more electric period, but not necessarily for the Sharks. The first goal for Arizona was from Michael Kesselring on a quick wrist shot past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0.

Immediately following the Coyotes goal, the Sharks responded with a breakaway goal off Anthony Duclair and the crowd was right back in it, 1-1. Two minutes later Arizona responded with a unassisted breakaway goal of their own courtesy of Clayton Keller on a backhand shot, 2-1 Arizona.

The Coyotes knew they couldn’t take their foot off the gas and got another goal when Alex Kerfoot snuck one past Blackwood on a deflected shot, 3-1 Desert Dogs. The ending of the period was rough and chaotic, but no goal for the Sharks and the period ended 3-1.

The feeling of last game was still in the air, but since it’s the holidays the San Jose crowd was clearly still enjoying themselves, but they wouldn’t mind a win before Christmas, especially if at this point a win meant them scoring four goals and this crowd would get free tacos. 

26 seconds into the final period, Filip Zadina poked in the puck and it was a quick goal to make it 3-2 and the crowd had high hopes. Well those hopes were squashed and decisively. A beautiful setup on a power play created a great array of passing that led to a Nick Schmaltz goal, 4-2 Arizona.

There were still high hopes in the SAP Center, but that disappeared when Lawson Course hit a snappy wrist shot that killed the crowd and put a nail in the coffin of this game with a score of 5-2 for the Coyotes. The final seconds ticked away and a chorus of boos hit. 5-2 Coyotes and that’s the holiday send off the fans were left with.

This season for the Sharks hasn’t been easy, but for the Sharks fans it’s been something they’d like to forget or at least drown out with some eggnog. San Jose’s next game will be in Vancouver against the Canucks the day before Christmas Eve.

The Sharks hit the road on Saturday night in Vancouver a 7:00pm face off and head to Los Angeles to face the Kings on Wednesday night. The next home game for the Sharks won’t be until Thu Dec 28th and these fans hopefully can get a late Christmas gift from the boys in teal with a win back at home.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Vilardi’s goal and 2 assists stand up in Jets win over Wings 5-2; Strome gets power play goal in Caps OT win; plus more NHL news

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The Winnipeg Jets Gabriel Vilardi (13) gets the puck in the back of the net in the second period against the Detroit Red Wings goaltender James Reimer (47) at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Wed Dec 20, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len, Gabriel Vilardi led the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday scoring in his fourth straight game. Vilardi picked up two assists to help defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. Jets goal tender Connor Hellebeck did a job in net.

#2 The Washington Capitals Dylan Strome scored on a power play goal at 1:41 into the overtime as the Caps edged the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena in DC. Strome has become the go to guy.

#3 Len, right after the Los Angeles Kings defeated the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night 4-1 the Kings got handed a one goal loss by the Seattle Kraken whose goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 42 shots and allowed just one goal in the 2-1 win for Seattle on Wednesday night. Kings are not playing well at home but got a key win on home ice.

#4 Jaromir Jagr may no longer be in the NHL but he hasn’t hung up his skate at 51 years old as he starts his 36th season in professional hockey playing in the Czech Republic with Klando in a 4-3 loss to Pardubice. Played 26 games last year at 50 years old. Jagr picked up an assist it’s just incredible that Jagr is still going strong still playing professional hockey.

#5 Len, they’re talking about big and the NHL, media and the fans are looking forward to the next 2024 Discover Winter Classic outdoors as the Seattle Kraken prepare to host the Vegas Golden Knights at T Mobile Park the baseball home of the Seattle Mariners. The outdoor game is scheduled for New Years day at 12 noon PT.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com