Tag: Ryan Warsofsky

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 Fall 4-3 to Flyers in Shootout

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks Tim Liljegren (left), clears the puck away from the Philadelphia Flyers Ryan Poehling (right) in the second period at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Mon Nov 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout Monday. Eric Johnson, Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov scored for the Flyers. Samuel Ersson made 27 saves for the win. Jack Thompson, Mikael Granlund and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanacek made 39 saves for the Sharks.

The game was fairly one-sided, but changed sides midway through. The Flyers scored three, then the Sharks scored three. What accounted for this shift, at least on the part of the Sharks? Barclay Goodrow said:

“We had to tighten things up. I think by this point in the year we know how we need to play in order to be successful and when we stray away from that you get the results that you saw early in the game. So I think we dialed it back in and we’ve just got to find a way to play like that from the start.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky also talked about reasons for the slow start: “Back to back probably would be the first part. We just couldn’t get into the game, we had some pushes at times, we did some good things at times. But just couldn’t play with that same energy and competitiveness I would say as last night.”

Eric Johnson opened the scoring 1:40 into the game. Anthony Richard got control of the puck coming out of the Flyers’ zone and skated into the Sharks’ zone with Johnson. A cross-ice pass got around Jack Thompson to Johnson for a wrist shot that beat Vanacek. That was the first shot of the game.

Travis Konecny made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 15:56. In a very pretty play, The puck went from Emil Andrea on the blue line to Matvei Michkov near the goal line and back up to Konecny in the slot for a snap shot.

Michkov scored his own goal at 5:09 of the second period, breaking away in the neutral zone. Two Sharks chased him into the zone after he caught a pass right on the Sharks blue line. His shot went under Vanacek and in. Ryan Poehling and Egor Zamula got the assists.

Barclay Goodrow fought Nicck Seeler at 12:09 of the period, possibly motivating the Sharks for the comeback that started a few minutes later. The fight was the only penalty called in the period. Givani Smith also fought Eric Johnson right after the first goal of the game, but that fight did not lead to a scoring spree.

Jack Thompson got the Sharks on the board at 15:29 of the second. William Eklund carried the puck in and sent it across the goal mouth at the last moment. It went off of Thompson’s skate and in. Mikael Granlund also got an assist.

Granlund made it 3-2 at 18:33 of the second. Eklund controlled the puck off an offensive zone draw and skated behind the net. Instead of continuing around, he doubled back with a pass to Granlund for a shot on the short side. Granlund’s wrist shot squeaked in under the bar. Assists went to Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund.

Early in the third period. Givani Smith made an impressive save as Sharks and Flyers scrambled in front of the net. The puck was on its way to the line but Vanecek couldn’t see it. Smith swept it back and under his goaltender.

Barclay Goodrow tied the game at 17:36 of the thirds period. Henry Thrun sent the puck to the net from the point. Goodrow snapped it in from a bad angle. Assists went to Thrun and Cody Ceci.

At the end of the third period, Michkov took a penalty for punching Macklin Celebrini in the face a couple of times, putting the Sharks on the power play to start overtime. The Sharks had four shots in overtime and the Flyers had two.

Owen Tippett, Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny shot for the Flyers. Michkov and Konecny scored.

Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith shot for the Sharks but Ersson stopped both of them.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT, in New York against the Rangers.

Sharks Win 1-0, Blackwood Shuts Out Devils

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood stopped all 44 New Jersey Devils shots for a shutout at the Prudential Arena in Newark NJ on Sun Nov 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 1-0 on Sunday. Nico Sturm scored the only goal of the game and Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves for the win. Jake Allen made 26 saves for New Jersey.

The Devils made a good push in the third period, keeping the Sharks mostly on their heels. After the game, Nico Sturm said

“They played last night and I thought we took advantage of that, in the first two periods especially. It’s tough to shut down that cycle game, that skill game that they have, for sixty minutes. It’s almost impossible to do. I thought we did a great job for the most part, stayed tight. Obviously Blackie, huge game by him today.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky also praised his goaltender: “Blackie was outstanding. Probably the best I’ve seen him play. You could tell he was dialed in, focused, tracking pucks really well.”

Nico Sturm put the Sharks on the board at 16:21 of the first period. Sturn sent the puck to the net from a bad angle. It went off of Allen and then off of Timo Meier before slipping past Carl Grundstrom and into the net. Assists went to Grundstrom and Henry Thrun.

The Sharks had a slight lead in shots during the first period, 12-10. The Sharks had the only power play of the period.

Fabian Zetterlund pushed the puck into the net at 12:45 of the second period but it was overturned. The officials said that Zetterlund had pushed the goaltender’s pad into the net with the puck.

The Devils had the advantage in shots for the second period 15-10. The Devils took two penalties and the Sharks took one but all of the penalty kills were perfect again.

In the third period, the Devils pushed hard, out-shooting the Sharks 19-5. The Sharks took the only penalty of the period but managed to kill it.

The Sharks play again on Monday at 4:00 PM PT in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

Still Winless, Sharks Fall 3-2 to Kings; Foegele scores twice for LA

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin (11) fights Los Angeles Kings left wing Andre Lee (47) with Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson (6) behind and holding Kunin in the first period Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thu Oct 24, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Jordan Spence and Warren Foegele scored for the Kings and Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks. David Rittich made 24 saves for the win. Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves in the loss. The loss gave the Sharks the dubious honor of being the second team in NHL history to lose the first eight games of the season in consecutive seasons.

All three of the Kings’ goals were scored in just over seven minutes during the first period. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Just can’t do that in the first period in this league. We did some good things in the second and third. We’re still giving up too many chances.”

Sharks forward Fabian Zetterlund talked about how the team played better in the second and third periods: “When we move the puck and we actually make plays and have fun, you know, that’s part of [hockey]. When we do [that] kind of stuff we look like a really good hockey team.”

Jordan Spence gave the Kings the lead at 4:31. After some back and forth in the neutral zone, Trevor Moore got control of the puck and the Kings skated up ice at speed. Just inside the zone, Moore passed the puck to Spence for a snap shot. Phillip Danault also got an assist.

Warren Foegele made it 2-0 at 8:47, poking the puck past Blackwood and Henry Thrun in a net-front battle. An assist went to Alex Laferriere.

Foegele scored his second at 11:36, tipping a shot from Brandt Clarke just below the blue line. Laferriere also got an assist.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks had been outshot 17-7, but they had not been short-hamded yet. They did get two power plays.

Mikael Granlund got the Sharks on the board with a power play goal at 10:05 of the second period. Catching a pass from Jack Thompson, Granlund put the puck in the top corner with a wrist shot. Alexander Wennberg also got an assist.

In the second period, the Sharks took two penalties and had two power plays. The shots were even at seven each.

Granlund scored a second power play goal in the final minute of the game with a wrist shot from above the faceoff circle. Assists went to Thompson and Wennberg.

The Sharks next play on Saturday against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Avalanche, Eklund Scores in Return

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson (42) and San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin (11) settle their issues on the ice in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sun Oct 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Ross Colton, Joel Kiviranta and Cale Makar scored for Colorado. Justus Annunen made 25 saves for the win. William Eklund scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanacek made 18 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro talked about what the message was after the 8-3 loss to Winnipeg on Friday:

“We came off of who we are as a team and I think we just got a little lazy. So, that was kind of the message to go out there today and get back to the way that we need to play in order to win games and we were closer. We’ve still got some steps to take.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky showed cautious optimism, saying: “Definitely a step in the right, well, better than Winnipeg. Still got to find a way to create more offense, win a hockey game.”

Ross Colton gave the Avalanche the lead with a power play goal at 6:23 of the first period. Nathan MacKinnon sent the puck to him in the slot for a wrist shot. Assists went to MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

Colton scored his second goal at 16:37. With a series of quick passes, the Avalanche moved up the ice and sent Colton into the zone at speed with the puck. Another wrist shot made it 2-0. Assists went to Mikko Rantanen and Makar.

William Eklund cut the lead in half with a power play goal at 18:25. Mikael Granlund found Eklund near the post for a wrist shot. An assist also went to Tyler Toffoli.

At the end of the first, the Sharks had been outscored 2-0 and out-shot 12-6. They were also short-handed twice while Colorado was only short-handed once.

In the second period, the Sharks had two overlapping penalties to kill, but the Avalanche had three penalties, two overlapping to give the Sharks some five-on-three time. Despite all of those, neither team scored in the second period. The Sharks did out-shoot the Avalanche in the period, 13-6.

The next goal went to the Avalanche, at 9:57 of the third period. Josh Manson sent the puck to the net where Joel Kiviranta caught it and then backhanded it around Vanacek. Assists went to Manson and John Ludvig.

The Sharks pulled Vanacek for the extra skater with just under four minutes left in the game. They did get some chances after but Cale Makar scored into the empty net at 18:23. Assists went to MacKinnon and Samuel Girard.

The Sharks finished the third period with seven shots to Colorado’s four.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Anaheim against the Ducks. At 7:15 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Eklund, Celebrini injury updates; What’s missing during SJ’s losing streak

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks William Eklund skates against the St Louis Blues on Sat Apr 6, 2024 at SAP Center in San Jose. Eklund did not play against the Winnipeg Jets on Fri Oct 18, 2024 due to an upper body injury. (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa, the San Jose Shark William Eklund didn’t play against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday due to a upper body injury. Eklund a part of the offense his injury impacts the Sharks line up.

#2 Macklin Celebrini missed his fourth game in a row due to a lower body injury. Celebrini has been on retroactive injury reserve dating back to Oct 10. Celebrini the Sharks No.1 draft pick is expected back any day now.

#3 Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said before Friday’s game that his benching Will Smith was just part of the plan and that it had nothing to do with Smith’s performance. Smith is the Sharks No.4 pick out of the 2024 NHL draft. Smith was a healthy scratch again on Friday night against the Jets.

#4 Sharks forwards Danil Gushchin and Givani Smith both sat out Thursday’s game in Chicago. Gushchin and Smith both played on Friday night in Winnipeg.

#5 The Sharks have now lost all five of their first five games to start the season. The Sharks closet games were against the St Louis Blues and Dallas Stars both one goal loses. Mary what seems to be the problem a lack of finesse on offense, not enough aggressiveness in crashing the net, not enough defense at the blue line and too much time on their end of the ice by the opposition.

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

Sharks Lose 4-2 to Blackhawks, Penalty Kill Falters

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) puts the stop on a Chicago Blackhawks shot at the United Center on Thu Oct 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Blackhawks’ home opener Thursday. Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago. Petr Mrazek made 20 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zeterlund scored for San Jose and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves in the loss.

In one of their more lopsided losses of the young season, the Sharks had a very slow start. In the first two periods, they were outshot 23-11 and took seven penalties, two of those overlapping. It is unsurprising, then, that the Sharks’ perfect penalty kill was broken as they gave up two powerplay goals.

After the game, Sharks forward Mikael Granlund talked about that start: “We were playing too slow with the puck, skating-wise. It’s tough to play when you’re just chasing the game, we were chasing the game the whole period. So we gotta be better at that and that cost us the game tonight.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “We didn’t do anything well. Got off to a slow start, hasn’t been us. Couldn’t defend in our own end, couldn’t close quick enough, couldn’t get the forecheck going. Didn’t do anything well.”

The Blackhawks’ first goal came from Taylor Hall at 4:20 of the first period. Hall caught a long pass from TJ Brodie and entered the Sharks’ zone with speed before scoring with a wrist shot.

Tyler Bertuzzi made it 2-0 at the end of the period, on the power play. Teuvo Teravainen sent the puck to the net frpm the wing and Bertuzzi tipped in from the slot. Assists went to Teravainen and Connor Bedard.

Nick Foligno made it 3-0 in the first minute of the second period, again on the power play. Bedard sent the puck across the ice to Teravainen, who sent it back to Foligno in front of the net for a redirect.

Tyler Toffoli got one back for the Sharks at 18:17 of the period. William Eklund carried the puck to the goal line before centering the puck for Toffoli. Assists went to Eklund and Mikael Granlund.

Jason Dickinson made it 4-1 at 2:19 of the third. Joey Anderson passed the puck behind the net to Dickinson, who swept it around the post and into the net before Vanacek could get across.

Fabian Zetterlund made it 4-2 at 2:52, deflected Mikael Granlund’s shot off of his lower body. Assists went to Granlund and Eklund.

The Sharks next play Friday at 5:00 PM PT in Winnipeg against the Jets.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Hockey in Prague brings out over 16,000 fans; Keller named first captain in Utah history; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Buffalo Sabres Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen left battles for the puck with New Jersey Devils Thomas Tatar second from right at the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal in Prague on Fri Oct 4, 2024 (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 It had to be special for the New Jersey Devils who faced off with Buffalo Sabres in Prague. New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots in the 4-1 win Friday night at the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal. The game drew 16, 913 so the NHL is a hot commodity in Prague as well.

#2 Clayton Keller was named the first captain in Utah Hockey history Oliver Eckman Larsson was the Arizona Coyotes beginning Sep 13, 2018 and later was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on July 23, 2021. Keller was the alternate captain on the Coyotes for the last two seasons, he also led by example leading the Yotes in goals with 33 goals, assists with 43, and 76 points.

#3 While Edmonton Oilers Kris Knoblauch is still trying to decide whose going to work the blue lines with just six days left until the regular season starts. But there is no doubt that the Oilers will be starting Stuart Skinner in goal for this season. Stuart started in 57 games last season. Knoblauch said of Stuart, “You look at how well he’s handled adversity throughout the year. After a bad game, he’s always responded.

#4 Len, Austin Matthews comes into this season as the 26th named captain in Toronto Maple Leafs history. Matthews succeeds last season’s captain John Tavares. Tavares had been team captain for the Leafs since October 2019. Tavares will continue to bring a veteran presence. One of the big reasons for Matthews becoming the captain was given by team president Brenden Shanahan, “Over these past eight seasons, we’ve witnessed first-hand Auston’s trajectory and evolution as a player and a person,”

#5 The San Jose Sharks and NHL’s number one draft pick Macklin Celebrini is still nursing a nagging lower body injury. Celebrini was able to skate for the first time on Friday since his injury during Tuesday’s pre season game against Utah. Sharks head coach Ryan Warosfsky said “He skated on his own today, so I think we’re trending in the right direction. But again, it’s still very early in the process, and we’ll see how he is tomorrow and evaluate.”

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

Sharks Win in Preseason, Beat Ducks 3-2 in OT

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks left wing Colin White (16) chases the puck against the Anaheim Ducks in pre season action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thu Sep 26, 2024 (photo by nhl.com)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their first game of this preseason, 3-2 over the Anaheim Ducks in overtime on Thursday night. Tristen Robins, Klim Kostin and Luca Cagnoni scored for the Sharks. Georgi Romanov made 32 saves for the win. Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson scored for the Ducks. Lukas Dostal and Calle Clang shared the Anaheim net. Dostal made 12 saves and Clang made 4.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky talked about Georgi Romanov’s performance:

“I thought he was awesome. I thought he was tracking pucks, he just looks more of a completed goalie as far as structure. He’s not flopping, he’s very square to pucks, he’s tracking pucks. He’s trying to just be a little more calmer in the net. I think [Goaltending Director Evgeni Nabokov] and Thomas Speer have done a really really good job.”

The Ducks scored the lone goal of the first period. Mason McTavish tipped a shot from Trevor Zegras at 19:42. A secondary assist went to Tristan Luneau. The teams finished the first period very close in shots, 9-9 Anaheim. There were a smattering of penalties, two for Anaheim and one for San Jose.

In the second period, it was the Sharks’ turn to score the lone goal. Tristen Robins scored with a wrist shot at 2:31, assisted by Danil Gushchin and Ethan Cardwell. The second period shots favored Anaheim, 14-7. There were just two penalties in the second period, one for each team.

The Ducks took the lead again at 5:21 of the third period with a power play goal from Leo Carlsson. Assists went to Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry. The Sharks tied it again at 17:19 with a power play goal from Klim Kostin. Assists went to Gushchin and Kasper Halttunen. The overtime winner came from Luca Cagnoni at 2:08. Assists went to Cardwell and Klim Kostin.

Each team took two penalties in the third period and the Sharks were outshot 11-3. Cagnoni’s shot and goal was the only shot of the overtime period.

The Sharks will play their next preseason game on Tuesday October 1 at 7:00 PM PT, in San Jose against the visiting Utah Hockey Club.