NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Forsberg and Sissons lead Nashville to 6-1 win in Anaheim; Canes Raanta shutsout Panthers 4-0; plus more NHL news

Nashville Predators center Juuso Parssinen, center, misses the puck on a rebound with Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, left, and right wing Troy Terry defending during the second period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Fri Dec 30, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Nashville Predators Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, Colton Sissons scored a goal and an assist as the Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim 6-1.

#2 Matt the Predators also got scoring help from Yokov Trenin, Thomas Novak, Roman Josi, and Nino Niederreiter the win ended Nashville’s two game loss streak.

#3 Jesperi Kokaniemi supplied the offense for the the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-0 defeat over the Florida Panthers. Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta saved 19 shots on goal by the Panthers and picked up his first shoutout for the 2022-23 campaign.

#4 The New Jersey Devils got a two goal win over the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. The Pens Jack Hughes scored two goals and teammate Nico Hischier scored a shorthanded goal as the Devils (13-2-1) are one of the hottest road teams in the NHL.

#5 Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon skated for the first time since his Dec 5 upper body injury. MacKinnon practiced at the morning skate on Friday and might get into Saturday’s line up against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Join Matt Harrington for the NHL podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks open three game road trip in Dallas Saturday

San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) looks toward the puck in front of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo (77) during the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len, the San Jose Sharks held a 3-1 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers until collapsing in the third period this loss being the Sharks fifth out of their last six games.

#2 Despite the loss the Sharks Erik Karlsson picked up his 11th straight point and Thomas Hertl scored two goals.

#3 One of the big concerns for Sharks head coach David Quinn is closing games he said during practice this week that the Sharks simply need to put the pucks in the net as they came up a goal short on Thursday night 4-3 in overtime.

#4 Talk about Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen who allowed four goals and saved 22 in the loss. Was this a matter of Kahkonen was having an off night or he just didn’t get enough defense up front from the skaters?

#5 Sharks embark on a three game road trip starting in Dallas Saturday at 5:00 PM. The Stars (22-9-6) beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 in their last game on Thursday night. Stars are in first in the Western Conference and are 7-2-1 in their last ten games.

Join Len Shapiro for the Sharks podcast heard Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Flyers slip past Sharks 4-3 in OT; San Jose drops 5th game in six tries

San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) gets congratulated by teammates after picking up his 11th consecutive point in as many games played. This one coming against the Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 29, 2022 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, December 29, 2021

Tony DeAngelo scored the tie-breaking goal for Philadelphia in overtime Thursday, lifting the Flyers past San Jose 4-3 at SAP Center.

DeAngelo’s seventh goal of the season was assisted by Ivan Provorov and Owen Tippett at 1:10 of the extra period, beating Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

It was the first overtime win of the season for Philadelphia (12-17-7, 31 points), San Jose, sporting their California Golden Seals tribute throwback jerseys, slipped to 11-19-7, 29.

The Flyers scored twice in the third period to overcome a two-goal deficit. Kevin Labanc’s tally put San Jose up 3-1 52 seconds into the period, assisted by Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson. But Tippett scored for Philadelphia at 5:57, and Travis Konecny’s 17th goal of the season – and second of the game – was the equalizer at 17:55.

Hertl gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 8:29 of the second period with his second goal of the game, from Timo Meier and Logan Couture.

Hertl opened the scoring at 9:38 of the first period. Konecny scored for Philadelphia to tie the game at 1-1 at 10:25.

Kahkonen turned away 22 of the Flyers’ 25 shots on goal. Samuel Ersson stopped 25 of 28 San Jose shots.

The Sharks hit the road Saturday for a 5 p.m. PST game in Dallas against the Stars.

Canucks crash the net in lopsided game defeat Sharks 6-2; Horvat nets two goals for Vancouver

Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Ilya Mikheyev, from left, celebrate Horvat’s second goal against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Tue Dec 27, 2022 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, CANADA – The San Jose Sharks went into Vancouver’s Rogers Arena Tuesday night and played like a team still nursing a rum and egg nog holiday hangover, losing 6-2 to the host Canucks.

San Jose started off sluggish and never seemed to get on track, losing their eighth straight head-to-head against Vancouver, reaffirming orcas as the apex predator of the West coast over great white sharks.

Captain Bo Horvat paced the Canucks with his 25th and 26th goals of the season. Trailing 2-0 with a minute to go in the first period, Timo Meier got the Sharks on the board with his team-leading 19th goal of the year, but instead of giving San Jose momentum going into the second, the floodgates began to open behind veteran goalie James Reimer.

Ilya Mikheyev and Quinn Hughes (with his first of the season) scored a pair of nice goals to put the home team up 4-1. With just over five minutes left in the second, the Sharks had a great chance to get back in it with Canuck netminder Spencer Martin down and out, but couldn’t orchestrate the wrap around from behind the net quickly enough.

It might have been the rare instance where a Michigan lacrosse-style attempt would have been warranted. Jaycob Megna had a great chance from the top of the slot with 13 minutes left in the game, but Martin came up with a nice pad save. Meier added his 20th goal of the year late in the third.

The sixth place Canucks put a little more distance between themselves and the seventh-place Sharks in the Pacific division. The Sharks return home to the SAP Center to host the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night before travelling to Dallas for a New Year’s Eve tilt against the Stars.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks hope to build on Thursday’s win in Vancouver on Tuesday

Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) is unable to stop a shot by San Jose Sharks left wing Oskar Lindblom, foreground, for a goal during the second period at SAP Center on Thu Dec 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Defenseman Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for the San Jose Sharks (11-18-6) Thursday, and was one of five different goal scorers for the Sharks in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild (19-12-2) at SAP Center.

#2 Karlsson, Timo Meier, Kevin Lebanc, Oskar Lindblom and Noah Gregor each tallied for the Sharks, while goaltender James Reimer stopped 24 of 26 Wild shots. Karlsson’s three helpers gives him a team-leading 33 in that category.

#3 Kevin Labanc closed out the scoring with an unassisted power-play empty net goal at 19:46 of the third period. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was serving a 2-minute minor for slashing at the time of Labanc’s goal.

#4 San Jose, 7th in the Pacific, improved to 11-18-6, 28 points. The Wild, third in the NHL Central, are 19-12-2, 40 points, and tied with Seattle for the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

#5 The Sharks head to Vancouver to face off with the Canucks who have won five of their last ten games. The Canucks won in a shootout Thursday over the Seattle Kraken in Seattle 6-5. Face off at Rogers Centre in Vancouver on Tue Dec 27 at 7:00pm. Len how do you see this match up?

Join Len Shapiro Fridays for the Sharks podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Big night by Karlsson lifts Sharks past Minnesota 5-2

San Jose Sharks center Noah Gregor is congratulated for his goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, December 22, 2022

Defenseman Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for San Jose Thursday, and was one of seven different goal scorers for the Sharks in a 5-2 win over Minnesota at SAP Center.

Karlsson, Timo Meier, Kevin Lebanc, Oskar Lindblom and Noah Gregor each tallied for the Sharks, while goaltender James Reimer stopped 24 of 26 Wild shots. Karlsson’s three helpers gives him a team-leading 33 in that category.

San Jose, 7th in the Pacific, improved to 11-18-6, 28 points. The Wild, third in the NHL Central, are 19-12-2, 40 points, and tied with Seattle for the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

The Sharks opened the scoring 44 seconds into the first period on Karlsson’s 13th goal of the season, assisted by Jaycob Megna and Alexander Barabanov.

Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game at 1-1 for Minnesota with his 12th goal, coming at 2:20, Gregor’s second goal of the season at 11:37 gave San Jose a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

Meier’s 16th goal of the season, a power-play tally, came at 12:47 of the second period, assisted by Karlsson and Nick Bonino. Prior to Meier’s goal, Mason Shaw of the Wild was serving a 5-minute major for kneeing, in addition to receiving a game misconduct penalty.

The Sharks extended their lead to 4-1 five minutes later on Lindblom’s second goal of the season, from Karlsson and Meier.

Mats Zuccarello pulled Minnesota to within 4-2 with his 15th goal, six seconds b3fore the second intermission.

Labanc closed out the scoring with an unassisted power-play empty net goal at 19:46 of the third period. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was serving a 2-minute minor for slashing at the time of Labanc’s goal.

Filip Gustavsson gave up four of San Jose’s goals while stopping 20 of 24 shots.

After a break for the Christmas holiday, the Sharks return to action on Dec. 27 in Vancouver.

On the road Barracuda drop their fourth straight against the Canucks 6-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Thomas Bordeleau gets warmed up before a game.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

In Abbotsford the Barracuda took on the Canucks and dropped another one this time by a final of 6-2.

For San Jose it’s been a rough road trip with no wins to speak of and in this one they’d look to reverse their fortunes.

The Barracuda did not get off to a great start however when just 3:58 into the first Kyle Rau scored to get his sixth of the season. The assists on the goal went to both Justin Dowling and Christian Wolanin.

At the 11:07 mark the Canucks doubled up their score by getting another one this time John Stevens scored to get his sixth of the season. Phil Di Giuseppe got the lone assist on the goal.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first as both teams powerplay’s went 0/2.

The shots at the end of the period also favored Abbotsford at 10-4.

Down 2-0 the Barracuda found a response 5:16 into the second as Andrew Agozzino got his ninth goal of the season with both Patrick Sieloff and William Eklund getting assists on the play.

Not long after San Jose got closer the power play unit for the Canucks struck to get the lead back to two with Dowling getting his fifth goal on the year. Both Wolanin and Tristen Nielsen assisted on the goal.

Nick Cicek at the 13:34 mark took a hooking penalty and put Abbotsford’s power play unit back on the ice.

Feeling the momentum of their last power play goal they scored again this time Will Lockwood scored his 11th goal of the season. Dowling and Wolanin joined in again on the scoring both assisting on the goal.

On top of giving up two power play goals Aaron Dell got a surprising ten minute misconduct for abuse of an official. He stayed in the game though and the Canucks did not score on the power play.

At the end of the period the shots still favored the Canucks at 18-14.

In the third just 3:32 in Abbotsford continued the offensive push this Di Giuseppe scored tallying his fourth of the season. John Stevens got the lone assist on the goal.

The Canucks offense was not done yet though as Rau scored his second of the game making it 6-1 with both Lockwood and Dowling assisting on the goal.

With little time left in the third San Jose’s power play hit the ice once again and this time scored as Thomas Bordeleau scored to get his 13th of the season. Eklund and Danil Gushchin both assisted on the goal.

That ended up being the final goal of the game with the score finishing at 6-2.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Justin Dowling 2nd: Christian Wolanin 3rd: Kyle Rau

The shots at the end of the game ended tied at 24.

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow against the Canucks once again in Abbotsford at 7 p.m. 

Calgary scores four times in third period, upends Sharks 7-3

San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44) defend against Calgary Flames center Jonathan Huberdeau (10) during the second period at SAP Center in San Jose Tue Dec 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Tyler Toffoli and Nazem Kadri each scored twice and Jonathan Huberdeau assisted on three goals, as Calgary defeated San Jose 7-3 Tuesday at SAP Center.

It was the second game of a home-and-home series – the Flames beat San Jose 5-2 Sunday night in Calgary.

Calgary improved to 15-12-6, 34 points, and 5th in the Pacific Division. They trail Edmonton by two points in the NHL West Wild Card race. San Jose, 7th in the Pacific, dropped to 10-18-6, 26 points.

Calgary opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the first period on Toffoli’s 12th goal of the season. 15 seconds later, Toffoli assisted on the seventh goal of the season for Dillon Dube, giving the Flames a 2-0 lead.

Nico Sturm put the Sharks on the board at 14:58 of the first period, his ninth, from Timo Meier. A minute later, Sturm and Calgary’s Brett Ritchie were assessed five-minute majors for fighting.

The Flames extended their lead to 3-1 midway through the second period on Trevor Lewis’s seventh goal. San Jose pulled to within 3-2 with 37 seconds left in the period when Alexander Barabanov scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Scott Harrington and Matt Nieto.

Meier’s 17 goal of the year, assisted by Erik Karlsson – his 30th, tied the game at 10:04 of the third period. But the Flames went ahead to stay at 10:04 on Kadri’s 12th goal, which blew the game open.

Milan Lucic scored his second goal of the season for Calgary at 16:43, followed by an empty-net tally by Toffoli at 18:22 and Kadri’s second goal of the contest at 18:42.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 of San Jose’s 27 shots on goal, while Sharks’ netminder James Reimer gave up six of Calgary’s seven tallies while making 32 saves.

The Sharks host the Minnesota Wild Thursday, with the opening faceoff slated for 7:30 p.m.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Maddie Dutra: Sharks aiming to take second of two game series with Flames in San Jose tonight

San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Benning (5) and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44) battle for the puck against Calgary Flames left wing Andrew Mangiapane (88) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sun Dec 18, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Maddie Dutra:

#1 Maddie, the Sharks (10-17-6) have lost six of their last eight games, Sharks are now 13th in the Western Conference and have lost their last two games Saturday to the Los Angeles Kings in LA and Sunday in San Jose by three goals to the Calgary Flames (14-12-6) 5-2.

#2 The game kicked off with the Flames putting on the pressure as Kahkonen had to be sharp early on. That pressure by Calgary paid off as in their own zone Jaycob Megna made a terrible pass essentially giving Tyler Toffoli a goal. Which he did capitalize on getting his 11th goal of the season and making it 1-0 early with no assists on the goal.

#3 The domination continued as at the 9:23 mark of the first period the shots favored the Flames at 7-1. A glimmer of hope did appear for San Jose as Adam Ruzicka took a tripping penalty getting the power play unit on the ice.

#4 After the Sharks took the three goal loss Tomas Hertl said after the game, “Especially tonight I don’t think we spend enough time in the O zone we don’t have all four lines rolling the O zone.”

#5 Maddie, Sharks get another chance at the Flames for the second game in a row at SAP Center in San Jose after losing the Flames Sunday the Sharks are looking for some defense and some pucks of their own in net?

Maddie Dutra is a beat writer for Fear of the Fin and is a Sharks podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Third period collapse by Sharks gives Flames the victory 5-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks Twitter. Logan Couture gets warmed sporting the Sharks military appreciation jersey.

By Titus Wilkinson

SAN JOSE–In what was a close game up until the third the Sharks and Flames battled it out on Sunday night with the Flames getting the win 5-2.

The game kicked off with the Flames putting on the pressure as Kahkonen had to be sharp early on.

That pressure by Calgary paid off as in their own zone Jaycob Megna made a terrible pass essentially giving Tyler Toffoli a goal. Which he did capitalize on getting his 11th goal of the season and making it 1-0 early with no assists on the goal.

The domination continued as at the 9:23 mark of the first period the shots favored the Flames at 7-1.

A glimmer of hope did appear for San Jose as Adam Ruzicka took a tripping penalty getting the power play unit on the ice.

On that power play it did not take long for San Jose to capitalize as Karlsson fead it to Timo Meier who sat wide open waiting to one-time the puck in. Depositing the puck in the net Meier got his 16th goal of the season but more importantly Karlsson got his 700th point of his career with the assist.

Not long after the game was tied up by Meier the Flames had a chance to take the lead back with Andrew Mangiapane getting a breakaway. His shot ended up ringing off the right post keeping the game tied.

Adding on to what already had been a rough night Megna took a high sticking penalty putting the Flames on the power play. The Sharks did end up killing it with Calgary getting few chances.

The first period ended in a tie with the shots favoring the Flames at 10-3.

In the second period the Sharks found themselves down early with Meier getting a high sticking penalty.

Thankfully for San Jose the penalty kill unit continued to remain perfect.

Other than that though the first ten minutes of the second period were rather quiet with neither team getting many chances.

At the 13:59 mark Milan Lucic found himself wide open and one timed a pass home from Lindholm past Kahkonen getting his first goal of the season. Trevor Lewis also got an assist on the goal.

Not to long after the goal Blake Colman took a penalty that put the Sharks on the man advantage. However, this time the pk unit for the Flames came through and killed off the chance.

Looking to rile up each other’s teams Jonah Gadjovich and Dennis Gilbert dropped the gloves. It ended up being quite the fight with Gadjovich dropping Gilbert in the fight.

It got both the fans on their feet and seemed to rally the Sharks who had a little more momentum.

The Sharks though were unable to score despite their sustained zone time with Jacob Markstrom playing solid.

The period ended with San Jose on the power play though they only had nine seconds heading into the third period.

The shots at the end of the second favored the Flames at 17-16.

With the score at 2-1 heading into the third the Sharks had kept it close.

The third ended up though being a completely different story as just 16 seconds in Lindholm scored his 10th goal of the season on a feed right across the slot from Jonathan Huberdeau.

Looking to follow that up just 19 seconds later Lindholm struck again this time Rasmus Andersson found him wide open for a one timer.

With the lead suddenly at 4-1 the Sharks looked rattled by the quick offense of the Flames.

Nazem Kadri at around the two minute mark of the third period flipped the puck in on Kahkonen from the neutral zone. Kahkonen naturally went to cover it up but misplayed the puck and bounced it right to Dillon Dube who put the puck in the wide open cage getting his sixth goal of the season.

The score now suddenly at 5-1 head coach David Quinn called a timeout to try to calm the team down.

The timeout helped a little but the damage was already done and the energy had been sapped out of the building.

At the 11:48 mark MacKenzie Weegar took a penalty once again putting the Sharks power play unit on the ice.

Just seconds into the power play Thomas Hertl corralled a rebound out front and backhanded it home which was his 11th goal of the season. Both Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson got assists on the goal.

Despite a couple more penalties back and forth Hertl’s goal ended up being the last goal of the game.

“Especially tonight I don’t think we spend enough time in the O zone we don’t have all four lines rolling the O zone,” Hertl commented after the game.

The shots at the end of the game favored the Sharks at 26-25.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Elias Lindholm 2nd: Nazem Kadri 3rd: Rasmus Andersson

The Sharks will look to bounce back on Tuesday at home were they will play the Flames again at 7:30 p.m.