Tag: Pittsburgh Penguins

Sharks Fall 4-3 in SO to Penguins, Come Back From 3-0 to Tie Game, Again

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) celebrates his goal with Evgeni Malkin (71), Jack St Ivany (3) and Michael Bunting (8) first period against the San Jose Sharks at PPG Pants in Pittsburgh on Sat Nov 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Jesse Puljujarvi and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins. Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanacek made 8 saves on ten shots in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves on 26 shots in the second, third and overtime periods.

The Sharks earned points in three games in this four game road trip. Of this tally, Tyler Toffoli said: “We’re staying in games and giving ourselves a chance to win. It’s a matter of time before we are able to play with leads and finish games off.”

The Sharks have made some impressive comebacks recently. Of this trend, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“Credit to the guys, we stuck with it. It’s a hole we don’t want to be in and we’re in it too often right now. But I give the guys a lot of credit for battling back and getting a point in this game where it wasn’t looking pretty for a long time. We’ve got to look and find some ways to start on time.”

Blackwood said that he had about five minutes to prepare to get in the game. “It’s tough, you know. Obviously you’re cold and you have no feel of the game so you gotta go in there and get into the game quick. Typically, I struggle with that, I’ve struggled to come off the bench and put up a good performance. So I’ve been working on it.”

Warsofsky said, of his goaltenders: “I haven’t gotten an update yet on Vitek, just told he wasn’t coming back. Outstanding by Blackwood. Some of the best saves you’ll see in this League this year I assume.”

The Penguins scored just 1:01 into the first period. Bryan Rust carried the puck up from behind the net and backhanded it under Vitek Vanacek. Assists went to Michael Bunting and Evgeni Malkin.

Evgeni Malkin put the puck in the net at 5:46. Carrying the puck in, he cut across the slot and shot the puck off the post and in with a backhand. The Sharks challenged the goal as offside and the goal was overturned.

Jesse Puljujarvi got that goal back at 6:34. Drew O’Connor took a shot from the boards, and the rebound from that shot slid in front of Puljujarvi as he arrived at the net. Vanacek could not get across in time and Puljujarvi had an open net. A secondary assist went to Owen Pickering.

The teams were tied in shots at the end of the first period at 10-10. The Penguins took the only penalty of the period. Vanacek did not return for the second period due to injury. Blackwood stepped in.

Sidney Crosby made it 3-0 at 4:19 of the second with a shot through traffic from the point. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Anthony Beauvillier.

Tyler Toffoli got the Sharks on the board with a power play goal at 12:05 of the second. Will Smith got the assist. Macklin Celebrini carried the puck into the zone but his pass was intercepted. Will Smith got the puck back and sent it to the net. Toffoli arrived at the net just in time to gather up the puck and score.

The Penguins outshot the Sharks 10-7 in the second period. The Sharks had two power plays and one shortened penalty kill in the period.

Mikael Granlund cut the lead to one goal at 6:56 of the third period. William Eklund made a pass off the boards to Fabian Zetterlund in the neutral zone. Zetterlund carried it over the blue line and made a cross-ice pass to Granlund, who caught the puck in the slot and shot without breaking stride.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with his second goal of the night. Ty Dellandrea carried the puck in along the boards before finding Toffoli on his way to the net. Toffoli skated around several defenders to get in position for the shot. Assists went to Dellandrea and Jake Wallman.

Third period shots were close again, 11-10 Sharks. The Penguins took the only penalty in the period. In overtime, the Penguins dominated 6-1 in shots but Blackwood shut the door.

Mikael Granlund and William Eklund scored in the shootout. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Alexander Wennberg were stopped by Nedeljkovic.

Sidney Crosby, Anthony Beauvillier and Evgeni Malkin scored in the shootout. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell were stopped by Blackwood.

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

Sharks part ways with head coach Quinn head trainer Tufts

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn stands behind the bench during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024. Quinn was fired by the Sharks on Wed Apr 24, 2024 (AP file photo)

By Mary Walsh

On Wednesday morning, the Sharks announced that Head Coach David Quinn and Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts would not be returning next season. In their press release, the Sharks said:

“After going through our end of the season process of internal meetings and evaluating where our team is at and where we want our group to go, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at the head coach position,” said Grier. “David is a good coach and an even better person. I would like to personally thank him for his hard work over these past two seasons. He and his staff did an admirable job under some difficult circumstances, and I sincerely appreciate how they handled the situation.”

The reasons for parting ways were not purely performance-related. That is evident from what Mike Grier said as recently as last Saturday at the end of season media availability:

“I think the staff up here did a good job communicating and motivating the players throughout the year. I don’t think they ever, you know, it would have been easy to just kind of throw your hands up and not put the effort in, to go through extra video sessions and talk with the players and try and get the players better. So I think they did a really good job with that kind of in this situation. I think it was something that was needed and that they should be proud of.”

On Saturday, Grier explained how the season was worse than he had expected, but did not put a finger on one specific problem, like coaching:

“Overall it was not what I expected, I’m sure what they expect in the room for various different reasons. I give the group credit, I told them they came in here, they were positive. They got along and the coaches deserve credit for that too., kind of keeping the guys on track, staying positive and motivating them. You know, you’ve seen situations, in not just hockey but all sports, where teams in this situation where it kind of goes off the rails and things get bad and you hear guys bickering and not getting along. But the guys came here and worked every day.”

Grier went so far as to say that this season was rock bottom:

“I hope so. If this isn’t I don’t know what is. I mean it was a difficult season. Like I kind of said earlier, it was worse than I expected coming into the season. I didn’t think we were a playoff team but I thought we’d be better than we were. From the start we had to the injuries everything just kind of snowballed. So yes I would hope this is rock bottom and we can kind of progress and take some steps forward next year.”

The Sharks also announced on Tuesday that long time Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts would not be returning:

“Ray spent more than two decades overseeing the care and well-being of our players,” said Grier. “We thank him for his service to the organization and our players and wish him and his family the best in the future.”

Mary Lisa is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 6-3 to Penguins; San Jose faces off with Columbus Saturday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The San Jose Sharks Magnus Chrona (30) puts the stop on a shot by the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 6-3 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, Evgeni Malkin, John Ludvig, Rickard Rackell and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry made 29 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks. Magnus Chrona made 25 saves in the loss.

The Sharks had to play with only five defensemen when Jacob MacDonald could not play due to sudden illness. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said that this may have been a factor in a disappointing third period:

“I thought we were a little slow reacting defensively tonight but I just loved their compete, I thought we really battled hard. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to defend a little bit better around our net in the those instances in the third period. But maybe it was fatigue, you’ve got five D and they’re playing a ton of minutes so it’s a tough ask.”

Noel Acciari gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 10:28 of the first period. Acciari tipped a shot from Erik Karlsson in the middle of the blue line. Assists went to Karlsson and Drew O’Connor.

Fabian Zetterlund scored to tie the game at 14:31. Zetterlund caught a rebound from Calen Addison’s shot to score his 17th of the season. Assists went to Addison and Henry Thrun.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 19:01. Vlasic took a shot from below the goal line that bounced off of Jarry and Marcus Petterson before going into the net. Assists went to Klim Kostin and Mikael Granlund.

A goal from Jeff Carter tied the game back up at 4:11 of the second period. Carter skated into an open space in front of the net as Emil Bemstrom made a pass from the other side.

Evgeni Malkin scored at 11:34 to give the Penguins their second lead of the game. He picked up a rebound at the corner of the net and poked it behind Chrona. Assists went to Drew O’Connor and Lars Eller.

At 16:10 of the second period, Alexander Barabanov deflected a Granlund shot into the net but he did so with a high stick so it was called back.

Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks to tie the game 3-3 at 18:42. Mikael Granlund gathered up a rebound from a Vlasic shot, then found Kostin through traffic with a pass. That was Kostin’s first goal as a Shark.

Midway through second period, Mikael Granlund got tangled up with Bryan Rust along the boards. He went down with his right leg and ankle folding in an unnatural position. He had to be helped from the ice but did return before the end of the period.

John Ludvig scored from the blue line to give the Penguins their third lead at 2:38 of the third period. Assists went to Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Reilly Smith.

Rickard Rackell made it 5-3 at 4:38, deflecting a shot by Joseph from the blue line. Assists went to Joseph and Ludvig.

Bryan Rust made it 6-3 with an empty net goal at 18:04. Assists went to Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins had just four shots on goal in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Sens Stutzle opens up on offense against Leafs; Wild get Bogosian from Lightning; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek goes after Ottawa Senators left wing Tim Stutzle who puts the puck on net against the Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Tue Feb 28, 2023 (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len talk about the Ottawa Senators Tim Stutzle scored a goal and picked up three assists. The Senators scored three unanswered goals in 3:11 defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 at Scotiabank in Toronto.

#2 In a trade on Wednesday the Minnesota Wild got Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a seven round draft pick in 2025, and Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth round draft pick.

#3 The Colorado Avalanche Ross Colton forward was fined $5000 which is the maximum under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for cross checking New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier on Tuesday night. The penalty came at 10:44 in the second period and Colton was hit with a major penalty and a game misconduct.

#4 The Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard is finding his way around goal creases, Bedard has three goals and five assists and has been a force with Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev on the same line. How crucial is Bedard for the Blackhawks.

#5 The San Jose Sharks picked up their first win of the season after losing 11 straight games. The Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 39 Flyers shots to save the night. The Sharks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 after getting blasted by the Vancouver Canucks 10-1 and Pittsburgh Penguins 10-2. The Sharks defense looked far more improved against the Flyers can you talk about the improvements?

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Walsh: Sharks hope to pick up first win against Karlsson and Penguins tonite in San Jose

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (36) was pelted with six goals against by the Vancouver Canucks on Thu Nov 2, 2023 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Walsh:

#1 Mary, the San Jose Sharks continue their skid on Thursday they took a beat down from the Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center in a 10-1 loss it was their ninth consecutive defeat.

#2 The Canucks Quinn Hughes had himself a night scoring a goal and four assists and eight Canucks scored in the lopsided affair.

#3 Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, Anthony Beauvillier scored twice in Beauviller’s 500th career game.

#4 The Sharks goaltenders saw the red lamp lit behind them quite a few times for starting goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen he faced 19 shots and allowed six goals and relief goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood saw 14 shots allowed and allowed four goals.

#5 This might be the Sharks best chance to get their first win of the season as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at SAP. The Penguins are 3-6-0. They have lost their last two games. Former Shark Erik Karlsson returns to San Jose for the first time since being dealt to the Penguins.

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Hurricanes Pesce out with lower body injury; Could Sharks be worst NHL team of all time?; Plus more NHL news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson (31) stops the puck in the first period while defenseman Darren Raddish (43) and the San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob Peterson (24) anticipate the rebound at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay FL on Thu Oct 26, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Carolina Hurricanes lost Brett Pesce for two to four weeks with a lower body injury. Pesce has missed the last two games due to the injury. Pesce last played for the Canes on Oct 19th against the Seattle Kraken. Pesce has one goal and one assist through five games.

#2 This season no one expected the San Jose Sharks (0-6-1) to be a world beater and no one is really surprised that the NHL world is beating up on the Sharks who have now lost six games and are still looking for their first win of the 2023-24 season. The Sharks had problems in their expansion years in the early 90s but oddsmakers now are saying they could be one of the worst team in hockey history.

#3 Streaks: Vegas Golden Knights is 7-0, Boston Bruins 6-0-1 tied for all time best start in 100 years and lost in OT tonight 4-3, In Pittsburgh, the Avalanche have won 15 in a row on the road over two seasons and that’s an NHL. Penguins ended the Aves streak in shutout 4-0. Tristin Jarri goaltender for the Pens stopped 31 shots.

#4 More bad news for the Edmonton Oilers they have lost their star forward Connor McDavid for one to two weeks due to a upper body injury. McDavid has two goals six assists. McDavid got hurt last Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets in 3-2 overtime loss.

#5 The New Jersey Devils Jake Hughes has been exceeding expectations and is considered one of the best NHL players this season. Last Saturday Hughes had four assists becoming the first player with at least 14 points in the first five games of the season since the Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux did it with 17 points in the 1992-93 season.

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Troy Ewers: Kraken, Penguins or Hurricanes who will pick up Karlsson’s massive contract?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier meets with the news media on Tue Jul 5, 2022 at his introduction to the team. Grier has made a number of moves this past week (Tue Jul 4, 2023) and the possibility of moving Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (AP News file photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Troy:

#1 Troy, San Jose Sharks Erik Karlsson is a three time Norris Award winner and teams as well as the Sharks are shopping him but there are no takers because teams are concerned about cap space in obtaining Karlsson who makes $11.5 million yearly and has three more seasons left on his contract running through the 2026-27 season.

#2 Teams that might make it work are the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Seattle Kraken. While the Penguins could show interest, the Carolina Panthers might have space issues but the Kraken have the cap room and the budget to take Karlsson off the Sharks hands. Either way Karlsson would be competitive playing for any one of these teams.

#3 Troy talk about how important it is for the Sharks to have signed forward Nathan Todd, Todd comes to the Sharks after playing 16 games for the AHL Springfield Thunderbirds with eight goals and six assists. Sharks general manager Mike Grier signed Todd because he was big on helping the Thunderbirds get into the Calder Cup in 2022 and was named the 2020-21 All Star team scoring 12 goals and 20 assists.

#4 This week the Sharks picked up defenseman Leon Gwanke in exchange for defenseman Artemi Kniazev. Gwanke 24, had a strong showing last season skating for the AHL Manitoba Moose scoring 20 goals and 25 assists coming from the Winnipeg Jets organization.

#5 Making his second stint with the San Jose Sharks signed forward Ryan Carpenter to a one year two way contract. Carpenter formerly played for the New York Rangers scoring last season 21 goals and 23 assists. Carpenter played with the Sharks in the 2013-14 season to 2017-18. Troy talk about how big of help Carpenter will be for San Jose this season.

Join Troy Ewers for the San Jose Sharks podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Rangers-Devils in Hudson Valley Rivalry; Pens fire top brass after missing playoffs; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils faceoff for round 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 11 years in the “Hudson Valley Rivalry” the puck drops at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Tue Apr 18, 2023 (AP News file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The “Hudson Valley Rivalry” the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils meet up for the first time in 11 years and it’s their seventh meeting in playoff history.

#2 The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 years the Penguins missed the Stanley Cup. As a consequence the Pens fired their team president Brian Burke, general manager Ron Hextall, assistant general manager Chris Taylor all dismissed on Friday.

#3 Another team who didn’t reach the post season were the Washington Capitals who parted ways with head coach Peter Laviolette who finished over three season with a 115-78-27 record.

#4 Matthew Barzal is expected back with the New York Islanders after missing the last 23 games of the regular season. Barzal will be in the line up in game 1 this coming Monday in Carolina against the Hurricanes.

#5 Talk about the Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid who were the Art Ross and Rocket Richard Trophies. McDavid led the NHL in points (153) and goals (64).

Join Matt for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Six NHL teams play a role in playoffs; Bedard sweepstakes continues tonight; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews will surely get a curtain call tonight as he plays his last NHL game of his career at the United Center in Chicago (photo from nhl.com)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Tonight’s the night Len as six NHL teams play a role how other teams could vie for a shot at clinching the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars.

#2 Len, the Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews will play his final NHL game tonight at the United Center in Chicago against the Philadelphia Flyers. Towes is at the the end of his eight year $84 million contract and will turn 35 later this month.

#3 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin will be a game time decision tonight due to an upper body injury. Ovechkin missed the last three games and is looking to play in this final regular season of the season. The Capitals host the New Jersey Devils tonight.

#4 Len how unbelievable is it that the Pittsburgh Penguins have made post season for the last 16 consecutive season but this season will be the first time in those 16 years that they failed to make post season.

#5 The Connor Bedard sweepstakes is coming down to the wire. Bedard with the Regina Pats and a projected No.1 draft pick might be decided tonight. The Columbus Blue Jackets with the worse percentage in the NHL at .356 two teams are runners up w the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks both with a .358 percentage.

Join Len through the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for analysis and the NHL podcast Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Flames get winning OT goal from Toffoli; Sabres 21 yr goalie stops Rangers; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Calgary Flames’ Tyler Toffoli scores against Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko in overtime of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 31, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Lots happening between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. The game went into overtime that saw the Flames Jonathan Huberdeau score the tying goal in the third period. The the Flames Tyler Toffoli scored the winning goal at 3:27 in overtime. The Canucks Aidan McDonough scored his first NHL goal but the Canucks fell short in OT 5-4 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

#2 The Buffalo Sabres came back to defeat the New York Rangers in overtime 3-2. Mostly thanks to the strong defensive goaltending of Devon Levi who stopped 31 Rangers shots on Friday night. This was the 21 year old’s first NHL game and Levi help keep the Rangers out of the Nets for the most part in the a close game.

#3 The Winnipeg Jets made it clear they were the dominant team against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night with a four goal 6-2 win at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. The Jets Mark Scheifele scored his 39th goal of the season giving him his most goals in a season and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots ending a brief two game losing streak.

#4 The Dallas Stars Jason Robertson scored four points with three assists and one goal in the Stars 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. For Robertson this was a season scoring record with 95 points, 42 goals and 53 assists. This was the first time the Stars have won consecutive games since Mar 11-13.

#5 Matt, two more games for the Pittsburgh Penguins Kris Letang to reach 1000 games he did not play on Saturday, Letang is just two games short and Letang after some very difficult injuries and two strokes in 17 years of NHL play has arrived at the 1000 game plateau that’s saying a lot for the fight that Letang has been through.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com