Tag: Pete DeBoer

Sharks lose third straight with 4-1 loss to Jets

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished a five game road trip 1-2-2, capping it off with a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Sunday.

Logan Couture scored a power play goal, and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 26 saves in the loss to Winnipeg.

Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano scored for the Jets and Mathieu Perrault scored twice. Andrew Copp and Tyler Meyers earned two assists each in the game and Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in a losing effort.

Despite the disappointing outcome, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

What did we get, four out of 10 points? Could have easily had six which would have made it good. We didn’t. You know, we’re in every game. The only game I thought was really poor was the Dallas game, throw that one out. The rest of the trip, the third period in Ottawa I didn’t like but I liked our first two. Tonight I thought we hung in there in a tough situation and gave ourselves a chance anyway. So, overall we’re okay. We’re not perfect, we’re not exactly where we want to be but could be worse.

Brenden Dillon and Matt Hendricks started Sunday’s game off with a fight at 2:22 of the first. At 12:42 of the first period, Matt Hendricks scored the only goal of the period. After Andrew Copp blocked a pass, Armia won the race to the puck and moved it up ice where Copp and Matt Hendricks were flying through the neutral zone. Hendricks ended up with the puck and broke away to beat Martin Jones for the lead.

The Jets extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal just after a power play expired 11:03 into the second. Copp forced his way past Brenden Dillon along the boards, then danced away from Tomas Hertl before getting the puck back to Jacob Trouba up at the blue line. Trouba took the shot and Marko Dano redirected it under Jones.

Timo Meier drew a tripping penalty to Tyler Meyers a few minutes later. Halfway through that penalty, Dustin Byfuglien was called for hooking to give the Sharks a 5-on-3. The Sharks didn’t do much more than wear the Jets down with the extra penalty, but after the first penalty expired, Logan Couture found an opening to get a hard shot through. It went off the pipe and in. Assists went to Joe Pavelksi and Brent Burns.

Chris Tierney was set to the box after being pushed into the Winnipeg goaltender, putting the Jets on the pwer play in the final minutes of the second period. Wheeler took a shot from above the circle that Mathieu Perrault was able to tap by Jones. It only took the Jets 25 seconds to score with their formidable power play. They had six power play goals in five games before Sunday, and it was not a wonder. They worked very quickly and didn’t spend much time standing around. Assists went to Blake Wheeler and Myers.

DeBoer singled that goal out in his post-game comments: “Really, the third goal was really the killer. I don’t understand and I’m still looking for an explanation on how that’s a penalty but that’s what you deal with.”

The Jets had yet another power play start in the first two minutes of the third period, when Melker Karlsson was called for hooking. The Sharks killed that off and Joel Ward added a short-handed breakaway for emphasis. Despite that hopeful start to the period, the Sharks could not score and gave up an empty net goal to Perrault at 16:48.

San Jose’s power play went scored once in three chances, and they killed three of four penalties. Brent Burns got credit for eight shots on goal, Logan Couture took five and Timo Meier took four.

The Sharks next play after a five day break in San Jose against the Arizona Coyotes at 7:00 pm PT.

Sharks Fall to Canucks 4-3 in Overtime; Gagner gamer puts Vancouver over the top

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Canucks center Sam Gagner (89) scores the winning goal in overtime during the NHL game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada. Dom Gagne/CSM (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

by M. Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost in 4-3 overtime to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. Two Vancouver goals came from Markus Granlund, one from Brock Boeser, and the game winner from Sam Gagner. For the Sharks, Brent Burns scored twice and rookie Marcus Sorensen scored once. Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves on 37 shots for the Canucks, while Martin Jones made 36 saves on 40 shots for San Jose.

The Sharks were coming off a win the night before against Calgary, but they were facing a hungry opponent. Vancouver snapped a four game losing skid with the win, a skid capped off by a 7-1 loss to Nashville on Wednesday.

“This sets up all the things for them to have an A game and they did. They were outstanding early and Jonesy gave us a chance to hang around and we found a way to get an important point on a night we probably didn’t deserve one,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer.

At 4:34 of overtime, Sam Gagner scored on a breakaway to win the game with a quick backhand over Martin Jones’ right shoulder. It was a tough loss after a valiant effort from the goalie to keep his team in the game. The Canucks outshot the Sharks 40-37, with 22 in the first period alone. DeBoer was asked if the three goals that Jones allowed were cause for concern. He said:

You can’t play any better than he played tonight. We didn’t give him a lot of help tonight. In defense of our guys, an emotional win last night in Calgary, the we fly in here on a back to back against a team that’s ready to go. So sometimes that’s what it looks like.

Logan Couture left the game early following a hit from Alexander Burmistrov in the third period. Burmistrov’s shoulder appeared to make contact with Couture’s face. The hit came about five minutes into the period. Couture has had an outstanding season this year, leading the team in scoring with 15 goals and 10 assists through 30 games. After finally getting most of the team healthy again, losing Couture for an extended period would be a big setback for a team that is just getting its game back. There was no update on Couture’s status after the game.

The first goal came on a Vancouver power play just 44 seconds into the game. The zig-zagging play started with Henrik Sedin on the blue line, went to a touch pass by Daniel Sedin and ended as little more than a tap-in for Granlund. Half way into the period, Brent Burns tied the game, again on a power play. His shot went through so many players that it seemed unlikely that it had not touched any of them, but it did not. Assists went to Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski.

The second Vancouver goal came just after a power play expired, while the Sharks penalty killers were trapped and perhaps out of gas in their own zone. A shot came from Daniel Sedin above the faceoff circle. Henrik caught it just above the blue paint and found Granlund. Gralund put the puck between Justin Braun and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and past Jones.

The Canucks scored again at 11:46 of the second period, again on the power play. The Sharks started the penalty kill well with a clear just three seconds in. After retrieving the puck, the Canucks came back fast, with Brock Boeser carrying the puck through the neutral zone and weaving past two Sharks defenders to give himself a short breakaway. That shot did not go in but 12 seconds later Boeser caught a pass in the faceoff circle and with a clear shot at the net he did not miss. Assists went to Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

With under two minutes left in the second, Braun, Jannik Hansen and Sorensen outnumbered the Canucks in a quick rush created when Sorensen intercepted a pass from Troy Stecher. Sorensen scored on a rebound from Braun’s shot after their odd man rush cused a little chaos by the Vancouver net. Assists went to Braun and Hansen.

The tying goal came almost right off of a faceoff in the Canucks zone. Joel Ward won the faceoff back to Burns, whose shot was at least partially screened by Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl fighting for position in front of the net. Like his first goal, it made its way through a lot of traffic but did not hit another Shark. The only assist went to Ward.

The overtime point puts the Sharks in third place in the Pacific Division standings with 38 points. The Calgary Flames and the Anaheim Ducks both have 35 points, which is good for fourth and fifth place in the Pacific. Both wild card spots are held by Central Division teams with 37 points.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 6:00 pm PT in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Sharks Come Back to Pick Up Point, Lose to Wild in OT 4-3

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Minnesota Wild’s Nino Niederreiter, left, celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Eric Staal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell in overtime to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at SAP Center on Sunday night. The point was hard won as the Sharks had to come back from a three goal deficit. Eric Staal scored twice for Minnesota, Ryan Murphy added another goal and Nino Niederreiter notched the overtime winner. Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored two goals for the Sharks. San Jose goaltender Martin Jones made 20 saves on 24 shots, while Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock made 31 saves for the win.

After the game, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

It was a gutsy effort by us. It was our sixth game I think in ten nights, including traveling back from the East last week. Back to back, against a team that was rested and waiting for us. I knew we would probably start slow, we didn’t expect to be down three but I thought it was a gutsy effort to get some points tonight.

Three times in the past four days, the Sharks fell behind by three goals and came back to tie the game. In Sunday’s game, there was no back and forth in the score. It was all Wild, then all Sharks.  DeBoer was asked why the Sharks tend to score in bunches after falling behind by two or more goals:

We have a resilient group, a confident group. In all those situations, we’ve shortened the bench and we have our top players are top players. And when they get that extra ice time and the ability to play without worrying about the score, thy have the ability to create some offense and put a lot of pressure on the other team. Unfortunately though you can’t ride those guys 25 minutes a night. So we’ve got to stop putting ourselves in those holes and for me, get a little but more out of the depth of the lineup.

The Sharks gave up two goals early in the first period. The first was a power play goal from Ryan Murphy at 4:19 with assists to Jason Zucker and Eric Staal. Murphy scored after a beautiful two pass sequence starting at the blue line, then going to the goal line and back up to the far side of the net. The execution was perfect, but the Sharks probably should have gotten in the way of one of those passes.

The second goal came at 10:27 from Eric Staal with assists to Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund. A key factor was a bump to Brent Burns near the blue paint from Staal. He pushed Burns into Jones and the two Sharks both went down. Staal retrieved the puck and took the shot before Jones could get back in position.

The third Minnesota goal was a wraparound from Staal. Staal jammed the puck between Jones’ skate and the post. The NHL reviewed the play and confirmed it. DeBoer followed up with a challenge for goaltender interference, but it was rejected. Assists went to  Murphy and Granlund.

The Sharks got a surprising opportunity during a penalty kill with less than three minutes left in the second period as Dylan DeMelo was in the box when Eric Staal and Ryan Murphy went to the box at the same time. Murphy’s penalty was delayed and Staal’s holding penalty came during the delay. With just six or seven seconds left in the five-on-three portion of the power play, Burns took a shot from the faceoff circle and scored. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl.

Two minutes into the third period, Gustav Olofsson went to the box for tripping. Forty seconds into the penalty, Burns took a shot from the center of the blue line and beat Al Stalock over the left shoulder. The lone assist went to Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks tied the game after a series of three astonishing attacks on the Minnesota net. Tim Heed took a shot that Stalock stopped, but he dropped the puck and it was in play again–with the Sharks swarming. Finally, Hertl’s shot found its mark. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Dylan DeMelo.

At the end of regulation, the shot count was 33-22 Sharks, with the third period count 14-7 in favor of the Sharks.

Overtime started with some energy from the Sharks, but in the second minute it fell into a lull with the Wild, circling the Sharks in the Sharks’ zone. After what seemed an interminable period, the Sharks finally broke out, but they had barely been able to change when Niederrieter broke in and took a shot for the win.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames at 6:00 pm PT.

Sharks Score Five Again, Shut Out Slumping Sens 5-0

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks handed the Ottawa Senators a resounding defeat to the tune of 5-0 at SAP Center on Saturday night. The win followed up a surprising 5-4 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, when the Sharks led a furious comeback after trailing by three goals. Saturday’s goals came from Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Melker Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl. Couture, Pavelski, Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc all had multi-point games and back-up goaltender Aaron Dell made 25 saves for the Sharks’ shutout win. At the other end of the ice, Craig Anderson made 45 saves on 50 shots in a losing effort for the Senators.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said that San Jose’s goal was to start fast against Ottawa, avoiding the slow start that marked their previous game: “I liked our game. Compared to the game against Carolina, I thought we were really sharp and really carried over the way we played in the third period against them into tonight.”

The Sharks checked a lot of boxes in Saturday’s game, killing four of four penalties and scoring on two of seven power plays. Tim Heed returned after dealing with an upper body injury, and Paul Martin is scheduled to start a conditioning stint with the Barracuda. So much rosy news begs the question of whether the Sharks have reached a turning point in the season.

DeBoer would not say that it is a turning point, but he did say that the goals are important for more than the score: “It was nice to score some goals, nice to get some power play goals. Guys have been working awful hard, we generate a lot of chances and we haven’t finished enough this year. So it was nice to have a night like that. Whether we can do that again tomorrow night I don’t know. But confidence is a big part of scoring and there was a lot of guys feeling good about themselves tonight.”

Logan Couture opened the scoring near the midpoint of the first period. The Sharks had outshot the Sens 10-0 at the 12-minute mark. Dell had just fought off the Senators’ first couple of shots in a flurry of activity on the edge of his crease. After Hertl won a defensive zone faceoff, the Sharks went the other way fast, with Labanc making a lovely pass so Couture could beat Anderson as he moved across. Assists went to Labanc and Justin Braun.

At the end of the first period, the shot count was 16-6 San Jose.

Early in the second period, the Sharks had just come off of a power play when Vlasic blasted a shot past Anderson. Tim Heed caught a pass from Kevin Labanc from behind the net, and sent the puck across the ice to the waiting Vlasic.

The Senators were keeping pace at least in shots past the midpoint of the period, but the Sharks did not let up. Joe Thornton passed the puck backward behind the net to a trailing Pavelski, who quickly sent it back up above the goal line for Melker Karlsson to pop into the net.

The Sharks’ power play came to life in the third period with two goals, one early and one late. The first third period power play resulted from a fight between Marcus Sorensen and Ryan Dzingel, when Dzingel was given an extra minor for roughing. Pavelski tipped a quick Couture shot from high in the slot. A second assist went to Brent Burns.

The Senators appeared to have scored at 5:12, in a power play that followed soon after the Sharks’ fourth goal. Braun was in the box for slashing. Matt Duchene took a shot from the face off dot and Bobby Ryan pushed it in. The official waved it off and did not even stop play. On later review, the NHL concluded that the puck had not crossed the line before Vlasic swept the puck back out.

The final power play of the game came when Alex Burrows used the butt end of his stick to bloody Dylan DeMelo’s face. Burrows was ejected with a fighting major and a roughing minor. DeMelo received roughing minor as he went to the dressing room to be patched up. Tomas Hertl scored after catching a bouncing puck off of Erik Karlsson’s hand. Assists went to Brent Burns and Logan Couture.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 6:00 pm PT against the Minnesota Wild.

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 End Road Trip With 3-2 Win Over Sabres

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

by Mary Walsh

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Saturday afternoon. The win extended their win streak to three against a team that was once nigh unbeatable for the Sharks, at least in Buffalo. Sharks goals came from Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi, and Chris Tierney. Sabres goals came from and Ryan O’Reilly and Jason Pominville. Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell made 31 saves on 33 shots for the win, while Sabres goalie Robin Lehner made 28 saves on 31 shots.

The game concludes a five game road trip for the Sharks, during which they added three wins to their record. After the game, Sharks forward Tomas Hertl said: “Six points on the road trip is huge for us but we have to be ready coming home we got a lot of good teams like Tampa, Nashville and we have to win home. It’s like our building, our tank and we have to play better there.”

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said, of the six points:

We’ll take six. You know, six, seven, eight, I mean you want as many points as possible but I like how we’re starting to play. I think the majority of our play is heading in the right direction and we’re giving ourselves a chance to win every night which is a big part of it.

The game marked a significant improvement in the Buffalo power play, ranked 27th in the NHL before Saturday. Though they only scored once in five chances, the Sabres showed signs of returning to last season’s top ranked power play. The Sabres’ power play goal ended the Sharks’ impressive streak of 16 consecutive penalties killed on the road trip. The Sharks had three chances on the power play but did not score, and at even strength each team had dangerous moments. Both goaltenders had their work cut out for them, but neither team was especially sloppy on defense.

In a near miss for the Sharks, a Buffalo goal was called off with 2:48 left in the first period for goaltender interference. Sam Reinhart caught Dell’s leg and then blocker while skating through the blue paint, turning Dell away from the play and making it harder for him to get back in position. After the game, DeBoer said of the decision to challenge that goal:

It was a great challenge by Dan Darrow and Johan Hedberg who handle that end for us. That helped us get a little momentum too early… When you look at it, I don’t have those feeds, those guys do. But it’s clear that’s what the rule is in place for, for exactly that situation. So I’m glad they got it right.

The first goal came at the tail end of a Buffalo power play, when Joonas Donskoi came out of the penalty box and catch a stray puck that Matt Tennyson failed to stop at the Sharks blue line. Donskoi broke away with a step on the Sabres defense and had room to pick a spot just wide of Lehner.

The second goal of the game came on the first Sabres power play of the second period. Joel Ward was in the box for hooking. Both teams were on their way into the zone after Timo Meier’s short handed chance. O’Reilly came in as the trailer and beat Dell from above the faceoff circle. Assists went to Kyle Okposo and San Reinhart.

The Sabres took the lead with a goal at 14:51 of the second. Evander Kane pushed the puck down low to Jack Eichel, who passed it back up to Pominville. Pominville got his shot around both Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun for his third goal of the year against the Sharks. Assists went to Eichel and Kane.

The Sharks tied the game back up with just 12 seconds left in the second period. Their power play had just expired. Chris Tierney, Melker Karlsson and Timo Meier had just come on the ice. Meier carried the puck behind the net under pressure from Rasmus Ristolainen. Melker Karlsson trailed the pair, pulled the puck off the boards and took a hard shot from just above the goal line. The puck went off of the goalie and Tierney was on the other side to knock it down and in the net. It was Tierney’s second goal of the season. Assists went to Meier and Karlsson.

Logan Couture’s game winner came 16:08 into the third period. He fought his way through a check from Jake McCabe to catch a pass from Tomas Hertl. McCabe followed after Couture and gave him a shove while he took the shot. No matter, the shot went in anyway. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Justin Braun.

After the game, DeBoer gave his assessment:

Tough game, they’re a desperate team. We wanted to end this road trip right and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We shot ourselves a little I thought early in the game with the penalties but recovered and did enough to win, got a great performance from Deller. So it was a good win for us.

The Sharks next play on Monday in San Jose against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:30 PM PT. The game will be Patrick Marleau’s first visit to the Tank as a Maple Leaf.

Islanders, Greiss Defeat Sharks 3-1

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New York Islanders right wing Cal Clutterbuck scores on an open net late in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. The Islanders won 3-1. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost 3-1 to the New York Islanders Saturday. The game winning goal was scored by Brock Nelson, with additional goals from Anders Lee and Cal Clutterbuck. The Sharks goal came from Kevin Labanc. Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss made 40 stops on 41 shots, while Aaron Dell made 20 stops on 22 shots for the Sharks. After the loss, Sharks forward Joe Thornton said: “You just can’t get frustrated, line after line, just keep going, keep working hard. But our compete level was really high tonight. Just didn’t get the outcome we deserved, I thought.”

Thornton gave Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss a lot of credit for the game’s outcome. Though the Sharks put 41 shots on net, they only came away with one goal. It is a scenario long familiar to Sharks fans, but Saturday night the goaltender may truly have been the difference. Greiss is perfectly capable of controlling rebounds with a high level of accuracy, and that was certainly contributed to the Sharks’ glaring lack of second chances. The Sharks could have put more traffic in front of the net, but Greiss had a very good game as well.

Joe Pavelski had five shots on goal, and all but two of the Sharks got credit for more than one shot. Their 41 shots loomed over the Islanders’ 23. At times, the Sharks did have the Islanders on their heels, but San Jose’s game still was not consistent enough. In an uncharacteristic show of anger, Joe Pavelski broke his stick after failing to score on a very good chance. He explained that after the game: “Liked my game, like the finish to be a little bit better. You know, something had to give so the stick did.”

Sharks Head Coach Pete DeBoer also addressed the question of frustration with this poor start to the Sharks season:

“I thought tonight was probably our best game of the four we’ve played. I thought the special teams both looked good, you know we did a lot of good things five on five. We’re building our game and if you see frustration, that’s ’cause these guys expect to win every night.”

The Sharks started the game with a very early penalty: an interference call against Justin Braun. They killed that off and several minutes later got a power play of their own, when Calvin de Haan went to the box for slashing Kevin Labanc. On the ensuing power play, Mikkel Boedker’s shot was kicked out and bounced into the faceoff circle, where Labanc was waiting. He took a few steps and shot it. It deflected off of an Islander skater and into the net. Assists went to Boedker and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Islanders got on the board after a prolonged spell in the Sharks’ zone. After several bad passes and failed clear attempts, the Sharks gave it up one too many times. Jordan Eberle caught a pass from Adam Pelech and shot it at the far corner of the net. Anders Lee was waiting there to knock it in.

The Sharks followed that with a good shift from the top line. They held the puck in for a good minute or so, taking a few shots and seeing some chance, but not changing the score.

At the end of the first, the shots stood at 12-9 San Jose, with the score knotted at one.

The Sharks were on the penalty kill again, almost as soon as the second period began. Boedker went to the box for slashing at 1:04. 28 contributed a fine short handed attack in the middle of the kill, and the rest of the penalty kill finished the job without too much drama. The Sharks came out of the kill with some energy and sustained several long attacks, but it was the Islanders who scored next.

At 13:48, a Ryan Carpenter hit on Adam Pelech looked likely to lead to a penalty, especially when a couple of skaters started to go after Carpenter, including the alleged victim of the hit. But the whistles never blew and the rest of the players kept playing. Through the disarray, Brock Nelson’s shot went by Dell to give the Islanders the lead. The time of the goal was 6:27, assists went to Joshua Ho-Sang and Calvin de Haan.

The Sharks started the third period well. They dominated in shots and zone time for the first five minutes, but could not beat Greiss or create any second chances. That dominance ended with a defensive zone penalty to Joakim Ryan at 5:27. Jannik Hansen and Chris Tierney had a fine short-handed chance but still they could not beat Greiss. The rest of the penalty kill was very efficient, allowing the Islanders no shots and very little time in the zone.

The period went on and by the final five minutes, the Islanders were sitting on three shots to the Sharks’ 12. Nevertheless, the score was still 2-1 Islanders. After their fourth shot of the period, the score was 3-1. Cal Clutterbuck was the goal scorer after he grabbed the puck in the Islanders’ zone and put it in an empty net. Assists went to Nikolay Kulemin and Casey Cizikas at 18:10.

The Sharks will host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Cup Run Ends With Game 6 Loss

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By Mary Walsh

AP photo: The Pittsburgh Penguins Justin Schultz raises the cup proceeding the clinching win over the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Finals Sunday at SAP Center

SAN JOSE– With 8:58 left in the third period, Brent Burns was called for slashing Phil Kessel. The Sharks penalty kill held up but the team still only had one shot in the period when the kill started. They had no more when it ended. The minutes ticked away and the Penguins would not let the Sharks get close to a shot. The score remained stubbornly at 2-1 Penguins.

The San Jose crowd stood and cheered with four minutes left. It was a sight to see. Were they just happy to be at a game on June 12? Were they simply urging their team on?

The Sharks pulled Jones with a little over a minute left and put Marc-Edouard Vlasic on as the extra skater to try to tie the game. It took a few moments but Sidney Crosby got the puck away from the Sharks and put it into the empty net to make the score 3-1. The Sharks had just two shots on goal in the final period.

The buzzer went, the Penguins threw themselves into a celebratory pile near their net, having won the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in their history.

The crowd stood again, cheering. Then they chanted “Let’s Go, Sharks! Let’s Go Sharks!” They got a salute from their team. Sharks fans were still happy that their team made it to the dance, even if they had to go home early this time.

Did the fan reaction to the loss surprise the Sharks players? Goaltender Martin Jones said simply “No, no. They’ve been great all year.” Forward Joel Ward said:

“It was really cool for the fans to stick by us. You know, I think they appreciate some of the effort we put in and for us…” he paused “I mean, for them sticking by us through some tough times at the beginning. But you know, it was good to see. We love the fans here, love the building, love the tank. We just got to get back on the horse for next season.”

After the loss, Logan Couture described the process of getting over a defeat like this: “End of hockey seasons are never fun. It’s like you hit a brick wall. Stop. You wake up the next morning and you’ve got nothing to do.”

Joe Thornton described his feelings about the loss as: “It’s just disappointing but just super proud, the effort the guys gave all year long.”

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer declined to comment on the specifics of Sunday’s season-ending game. Instead, he talked about his team’s performance in general:

I’m very proud of our group. I thought our guys emptied the tank and gave us everything they possibly could we just weren’t as good as them during this two week period.

DeBoer also described what he saw from the Penguins:

Their speed, their pressure they put on with their speed. It’s not just their speed, they have good sticks too. They force you into quicker decisions, they really challenge your execution. You know we hadn’t seen pressure and sticks like that through the first three rounds and I think our execution was an issue because of that.

The Sharks did not come out with the jump that many had expected from them on home ice with a chance to tie the series and force a seventh game. Through the first five minutes, the Sharks did not register a shot on goal, while the Penguins had two.

Then, at 7:50, Dainius Zubrus was called for tripping Brian Dumoulin. 26 seconds into the power pla, Dumoulin took a shot from the blue line and Melker Karlsson tried to block it but it went between his legs to the net. By the time Jones saw it, it was too late and the Penguins had the early lead. Assists went to Justin Schultz and Chris Kunitz.

Seconds later, Melker Karlsson went into the boards feet first and landed very awkwardly. No penalty was assessed, and it did not look like he was tripped or pulled down. He was helped off the ice but did return to the game later.

The Sharks finally started to push back around the 14 minute mark of the first. They threw a couple more shots on net, and the Penguins had not added any since their power play goal. The Sharks looked like they found the key for getting ahead of Penguins. They kept Pittsburgh hemmed in their own zone for couple of long shifts. Then the puck went out of play and a television timeout and the moment was gone. The Penguins attacked, the Sharks had trouble getting out of their zone and finally iced the puck. The tired defenders went back to work and pushed the attackers back.

After a short offensive push with some chances for Brent Burns, the Sharks were chased back into their own zone, where Martin Jones made half a dozen impressive saves before the Penguins were chased away again. The Penguins had five shots on goal in the final few minutes of the period.

At the end of the first period, the shots were 10-6 Penguins. After 3:13 of the second, the count was 10-9. That barrage of shots came from the Sharks’ top line. In those same opening minutes, the Penguins had a couple of chances that hit posts, but no sustained pressure like that long shift from the Thornton, Pavelski and Donskoi line.

It was several minutes later, after another long offensive shift, this time from the fourth line, that Couture tied the game up with a shot from the faceoff dot. Melker Karlsson was back, this time screening the Pittsburgh goalie. Assists went to Karlsson and Burns.

The Penguins did not take long to regain the lead. Sidney Crosby found Kris Letang with a pass behind the net. Letang’s shot went right into Jones and trickled under him. Assists went to Crosby and Connor Sheary.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic left the bench at 7:46 and did not return until 18:05.

The shots stayed uncannily even as the period went on. First tied at 13, then at 16. But by the end of the second, it was 20-17 for Pittsburgh. The only stat that showed a gross difference between the teams was the faceoff wins. The Penguins had won 65% of them.

Five minutes into the third period, the Sharks got their first power play when Connor Sheary hooked Justin Braun to the ice. The Sharks did not get a shot on goal. The Penguins knocked the puck back up the ice several times, often aided by a careless pass. The Sharks never got their game back and the single goal they needed to tie it up never came.

No injury information was released after the game. That information may be released Monday afternoon.

Penguins Take 3-1 Series Lead With 3-1 Win

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By Mary Walsh

AP photo: The Pittsburgh Penguins celebrate after defeating the San Jose Sharks in game four at SAP Center on Monday night

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 3-1, giving the Penguins a 3-1 series lead to boot. After the game, Sharks head coach said: “There’s no quit in our group. We’re the best road team in the league. We’re gonna show up and try to get this back here for Game 6 and play to win four, this isn’t over.” Then he went on:

We’ve been chasing the game the whole series by not scoring first so that takes you out of your four line… it effects all parts of your game. We’ve been on the other end of that in the playoffs where we jumped out to a lead on some teams and made them change their game. But I think that’s probably the biggest thing we have to fix. We’ve got to find a way to get on the board early in the game instead of chasing them.

Scoring first may require more than a tweak, but the Sharks game on Monday was fairly different from the first three games in the series.

Five minutes into the third period, Logan Couture sent Patrick Marleau up the slot all by his lonesome but Matt Murray stopped his shot. Both teams had chances in flurries but that one was a microcosm of the Sharks’ woes in Game 4. They did the things they had failed to do in prior games: staying even and leading in shots, winning faceoffs, getting zone time, blocking shots. And still they trailed on the scoreboard. Perhaps the one lopsided stat was the key: giveaways. The Sharks more than doubled the Penguins there. At one point in the game, it was almost triple.

Through the first six minutes of Game 4, there was just one shot, from San Jose. Both teams were pushing shooters to the outside when possible and blocking shots.

At 7:36, Phil Kessel and Ian Cole skated into the Sharks zone and, while three Sharks attended to Kessel, Cole found the pass and shot from the other side of the ice. It was Cole’s first goal of the post season. Assists went to Kessel and Evgeni Malkin.

Down by a goal, the Sharks had to kill an interference penalty to Marc-Edouard Vlasic at 11:37. They did, but the Penguins’ shot count had gone up by two, so the it was now 6-2 Penguins.

The Sharks had their chance on the power play at 14:45 when Ben Lovejoy went to the box for holding the stick.

The top unit held the zone and took a couple of shots but did not score. With almost a minute left, DeBoer sent the second unit out. They did not score either but neither did they get evicted from the zone before the power play expired.

The teams traded chances for the rest of the period, and at the end of 20 minutes the score was 1-0 Penguins, the shots 8-6 Sharks.

Melker Karlsson was called for interference just 2:28 into the second period, putting the Penguins power play back on the ice. It took them eight seconds to score, as a tipped shot from Kris Letang got past Martin Jones to Malkin, who was waiting at the far post to nudge it over the line. It was Malkin’s first goal of the series and fifth of the playoffs. Assists went to Phil Kessel, who tipped it, and Letang.

The Sharks got their second power play at 17:33 of the second. Bryan Rust was called for hooking Brent Burns. The Sharks power play did not start out with much traction. The second unit did not look much better, and with 10 seconds left in the penalty, gave up a nearly three on one going the other way. Sharks skaters caught up before any real damage could be done but they ended the power play with a defensive zone draw, and still trailing by two goals.

Melker Karlsson lifted the crowd’s spirits with a goal at 8:07. He was back on a line with Nick SPaling and Chris Tierney. The line charged into the Penguins zone and held a little riot around the net until finally Karlsson could see an opening. He took the shot while falling but managed to lift it over Murray. Assists went to Chris Tierney and Brenden Dillon.

The third period forward lines were: Couture centering Ward and Marleau, Tierney centering Karlsson and Spaling, Thornton centering Pavelksi and Donskoi. Wingels, Nieto, and Zubrus were seen but little in the third. Wingels and Zubrus did not take a shift, and Nieto took only one. The cut-backs started in the second period, where Zubrus and Wingels only had three shifts in the latter part of the middle frame

Another oddity in the lineup was evident in the third, with the defensemen being shifted around. It was not clear if this was due to some power play time or intentional line mixing. Braun and Dillon were on the ice together, and then Paul Martin and Roman Polak. For the final two minutes of the game, Vlasic and Burns were on the ice, but that was after Eric Fehr had scored another goal, assisted by Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta.

Apart from the sound of some exuberant Penguins fans, a hush settled over the Tank. One last call for cheers and towels waving had some effect. With 1:25 left in the game and probably the last home game of the season for San Jose, the crowd waved and cheered.

The Sharks pulled their goalie with a little more than a minute left in the period and racked up some shots, to no avail.

Final score: 3-1 Penguins, with a series status to match. Game 5 will be in Pittsburgh on Thursday at 5:00PT.

Sharks Without Hertl for Game 3

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By Mary Walsh

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl who sat out game three vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals

SAN JOSE–Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer has confirmed that Tomas Hertl will not play in Saturday’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. He described Hertl’s injury as a lower body one. Of Hertl’s performance so far, DeBoer said:

He’s arguably been our best player for the first two games but injuries are no excuse this time of year, we’ve got someone who will go in for him and we’ll roll out there and be ready to play.

As for who will draw into the lineup, there is little mystery. When Matt Nieto returned to the lineup for Game 2, Dainius Zubrus was the odd man out. He will most likely be back in. On the subject of who will play in Hertl’s spot on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, DeBoer said:

We’ve got a couple guys that’ve played in that hole before. Melker has before, and so has [Zubrus] played there before. I think the one thing that those two guys… you’ve got a guy that’ll hound the puck and work for it. Those two guys pretty much take care of the rest. I think we’ve got a lot of options there because of who we’re sticking them in with and I think it should be fairly seamless.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski also weighed in on how Hertl has contributed to the team in the playoffs:

He’s been a big part of this team, especially the second half. You saw the smile on his face the last few rounds. He’s really enjoyed playing, he brings that energy. It’s tough to miss a guy like that if you have to. But somebody steps in, we’ve done it, we’ve done it for a while. We still expect a great effort from whoever comes in in a good role. We haven’t had a ton of injuries so there’s been somebody always ready to step in.

A the dust settles from Logan Couture’s comments on faceoffs, there remains the fact that the Sharks have not been very good in the faceoff circle. Among playoff teams, they have consistently been at the bottom in faceoff win percentage. It begs the question, what does the team do to still win the game, or 12 games, despite rarely starting with the puck? Logan Couture explained: “Get it back right away, put it in good places so we can forecheck and hold on to the puck in their end. There’s a few things you can do off a faceoff or forecheck that can turn the puck over.” So far, the Sharks have not been able to do any of those things very well against the Penguins. They will get another chance tonight.

Something else they will get a chance to do tonight is get back to their game. Apart from moving the puck quicker with simpler plays, thereby improving their execution, their forwards could probably backcheck more aggressively. Some time ago, I asked Sharks defenseman Paul Martin what it is about the Sharks that make them effective defensively:

[Jones] playing the puck, our forwards come back and support us and we rely on them to get out of the zone. I think everyone’s capable on our d-corps. When Roman [Polak] came over he kind of solidified that last pair and Brenden Dillon’s had  a break out year and he’s been great and he continues to improve. And the top four have been around for a while now. As far as experience, with [Vlasic] obviously, he’s a world class player, along with [Burns] they can bring something else that a lot of guys can’t.

I think we all can skate and get around the ice, and the ability to make that first pass out of the zone is big and I think we all understand the way we want to play. We all get along and so that’s big. The chemistry that we have is important.

Ironically, the formula Martin described there, with the forwards being as crucial to defense as defensemen are, pretty well describes how the Penguins have been playing. One has to wonder if it is even possible for two teams to play that way at the same time, or if they must first defuse their opponent’s arsenal.

The fact that Pete DeBoer has been here before, with the New Jersey Devils against the Los Angeles Kings, can only give fans so much comfort: his team forced a Game 6 but did not win the series. Is he hunting with a bigger boat this time?