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Vegas Still Top of Deck After Third Period Rally; Achieved 5-3 Win Over Sharks

Published on February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

The Vegas Golden Knights continued their tear through the Pacific Division Thursday night, rallying from a 3-2 deficit in the third period to best the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at the SAP Center.

Vegas rode its trademarks that have them in first place in the Pacific Division in their inaugural season, receiving outstanding goaltending from a now healthy Marc-Andre Fleury and goals from five different players.

Joe Pavelski scored two goals for the Sharks and Timo Meier continued his breakout second half with his 13th goal of the season.

San Jose opened the game with a boost after Joe Pavelski netted his 11th goal of the season 4:40 into a near-perfect first period. The Sharks held Vegas shotless for the majority of the frame, but a blocked shot bounced back to Erik Haula who beat Martin Jones for his 21st goal of the season on Vegas’ first shot at the 14-minute mark of the first.

Karlsson scored just 37 seconds into the second period, but unfortunately for Sharks fans it was William, not Melker. Then came Meier’s 13th goal with Brent Burns pick up his second assist of the game, tying the score 2-2 at the 11:47 mark into the middle frame on the power play.

The man-advantage again struck, with Joe Pavelski tipping home his 12th goal of the campaign 7:45 into the third. Consecutive goals by Brayden McNabb, James Neal and a power play strike from Jonathan Marchessault doomed San Jose in the fateful final frame. In total, the Sharks threw 38 shots on net, while Martin Jones turned aside 28 Golden Knights shots.

Vegas now improves to 2-0 against the Sharks who are 2-4-1 during the absence of top line center Joe Thornton with a knee injury.

San Jose next squares off against wunderkind Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, once reeling but now hitting full stride thanks to their young superstar. The Sharks will have seek revenge for a first round playoff exit last season at the hands of the Western Canadian team.

Sharks can’t get enough offense; Bernier stops 39 shots for 3-1 Avs win

Published on February 6, 2018February 6, 2018 by smallforceLeave a comment

~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The Colorado Avalanche’s Jonathan Bernier posted his best save percentage since January 4 as the San Jose Sharks fell 3-1 Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.

Bernier earned the first star of the game with a .974 save percentage, while the Sharks’ Martin Jones fired 39 shots.

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer joked, “Bernier’d be making $20 million a year if he was playing us every night.”

It was the least amount of shots Jones has faced since January 13 when he was pulled from the game.

With one game left between the teams, the Avalanche clinched the season series with another two-goal win versus San Jose.

Gabriel Bourque, J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost were the Avalanche’s scorers and Joel Ward put the Sharks on the board.

San Jose out-peppered the Avalanche 39-20 and 14-3 in the first period.

Things were looking good as Colorado was held shotless for ¾ of the opening period. The Sharks won faceoffs 72% to 28%, but the Avalanche blocked 11 shots. Four of those blocks came during the Sharks’ power play. San Jose’s Joonas Donskoi and Joe Pavelski each had three shots. Colorado’s Nikita Zadorov had five hits.

The Avalanche swiftly recovered in the second, though, creating an uphill battle for the Sharks.

Brenden Dillon was on his way out to clear, but fell. Jost recovered the puck at the blue line before passing it to Compher. The swift pass helped enable a 2-on-1, which Compher used to his advantage. With Jones situated near him, Compher passed far side to Bourque, who sent the puck over Jones’ right pad to make it 1-0 at 2:31.

Colorado doubled their lead just over two minutes later using a pretty pass. The puck traveled from Girard at the far faceoff circle to Yakupov at the far blue line to Jost at the near blue line. Jost sped up before shooting past Jones.

San Jose slashed the lead in half at 13:29. Ward scored after the puck went off a defender as Ward hit the goal cam, but the tally was initially waved off. It was Ward’s first goal since November 22.

In the third period, Justin Braun and Jones helped prevent a 3-on-1 attempt. The Sharks’ Timo Meier also fished the puck off the tape to stop a goal.

Compher made it 3-1 with four seconds left with an empty-net goal.

Some of San Jose’s Logan Couture’s comments were, “some mental lapses, they’re a quick team, they’re quick in transition.”

Game notes: The Avalanche were without Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon this time.

The Sharks completed their five-game road trip with a 2-2-1 record. They will now hold a two-game homestand. First up, the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights Thursday at 7:30pm.

Forgotten defense returns to vintage form, Sharks beat Hurricanes 3-1

Published on February 4, 2018February 4, 2018 by M WalshLeave a comment

Photo credit: nhl.com/sharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their second game in a row, 3-1, against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena Sunday afternoon.

The Sharks’ goals came from Brent Burns, Timo Meier and Chris Tierney.

Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell made 29 saves, while Hurricanes goaltender Came Ward made 23 saves in a losing effort. Sebastian Aho scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes.

This second win was big for a road trip that started with losses in Pittsburgh and Detroit.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said this improvement is due to a commitment to defense:

Real big commitment, I think right from Pittsburgh, it’s been there. Didn’t get the result in the first couple games, but the effort by the goalies and the team defense it’s created offense for us, created a little bit of momentum. You know, everyone’s buying in, which is important, especially when you’re playing on the road.

Sharks forward Chris Tierney said that consistent defense is part of the team’s identity: “I think we just stuck to our game plan. That’s our identity, being able to win those tight games, tight checking and play well in the third and shut teams down. Just sticking to our game plan and working hard is what we do.”

Aaron Dell described what he saw from his team through the game: “We had lots of support tonight, guys were coming in and giving the other guys options and I think it really showed. We didn’t really give up a whole lot and we got out of our zone pretty easily all night.”

While Dell may have forgotten that the game was played early in the day, he did show up ready to play.

The Sharks opened the scoring just 4:06 into the first period. Timo Meier took a quick pass from Joonas Donskoi just above the goal line. Meier had been trailing the play after Donskoi, Burns and Logan Couture initiated the attack. Meier’s shot beat Cam Ward on the glove side. Assists went to Joonas Donskoi and Brent Burns.

The Hurricanes tied it up at one apiece with 2:02 left in the period. Danny O’Regan was just above the Sharks goal line when he turned the puck over to Jordan Staal. Staal’s pass to Danny Aho set him up perfectly to beat Dell.

The Sharks were not done with the period and regained the lead in the final minute. Melker Karlsson’s pass from the corner found Chris Tierney right in front of the net. He wasted no time and put it away. Assists went to Karlsson and Mikkel Boedker.

San Jose repeated that good start in the second period, but cut it almost in half. Just 2:03 into the middle frame, Brent Burns chased the puck down along the blue line and took a hasty, hard shot at the net. Cam Ward may have been somewhat screened by Barclay Goodrow and Brett Pesce battling in front of him. Assists went to Joel Ward and Joakim Ryan.

Brock McGinn and Brenden Dillon fought at 7:32, which started after a cross-check from Dillon. They went to their respective boxes, and Dillon was joined by Kevin Labanc, serving Dillon’s cross-checking penalty. That was the only penalty of the game, but it did not change the score.

Carolina made a good push at the start of the third, outshooting the Sharks 5-1 in the first six minutes. The Sharks put an end to that with a long shift at the other end, wearing the Hurricane defense down with an unrelenting assault. the Hurricanes broke out of that with a two-on-one but could not turn that into a goal.

Carolina pulled Cam Ward from the net with just over two minutes left in the period but the final score remained 3-1.

The Sharks will finish up this road trip on Tuesday in Denver against the Avalanche at 6:00 pm PT.

Sharks down Blue Jackets 3-1; end four-game losing streak

Published on February 2, 2018February 2, 2018 by M WalshLeave a comment

Photo credit: nhl.com/sharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 at the Nationwide Arena Friday. It was the Sharks’ first win since Joe Thornton suffered a knee injury four games ago. The Sharks’ goals came from Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 28 saves on 29 shots.

Boone Jenner scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets. Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovski made 25 saves in a losing effort.

After the game, Martin Jones said:

It was a really strong game for us. This is a pretty tough road trip for us and we weren’t happy getting one point in the first two games. Obviously we thought we could have done a little better. It was a big win for us. I thought it was a really strong road game for us. We did a lot of good little things tonight.

Kevin Labanc has moved onto the first power play unit in Joe Thornton’s absence.

“He knows what he’s doing out there,” Logan Couture said of Labanc. “He put up a lot of points in junior and I’m sure a lot of those were on the power play. So, that usually translates over to the pro league. I didn’t think it’d translate over this quickly but he’s done a great job.”

The Sharks scored the only first period goal at 5:07. The Sharks were on the power play after Matt Calvert was called for tripping Brenden Dillon. Brent Burns was parked in front of Bobrovski when Logan Couture took a shot from the point. The puck might have been deflected by a Columbus player, as there were several between Couture and the goal. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Tomas Hertl.

The Blue Jackets responded early in the second period with a goal from Boone Jenner. Jenner took a shot from some ways above the faceoff circle that beat Martin Jones on the left side. There were two Sharks defending, including Dylan DeMelo. The shot went off of Demelo’s stick and changed direction slightly on its way to the net. Assists went to Cam Atkinson and Dean Kukan.

The Sharks power play paid off again in the second period. This time with a goal from Kevin Labanc during a 13 second 5-on-3 at 10:20. After an especially contentious faceoff, Pavelski came up with the puck and sent it to Labanc who was waiting, unguarded, right in front of Bobrovsky.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic extended the lead at 6:51 of the third. Justin Braun sent the puck through the neutral zone, where Timo Meier touched it just enough for Vlasic to pick in up on his way into the offensive zone. Vlasic evaded the Columbus defense long enough to get a back hand shot off. The puck went in on the far side as Bobrovsky moved the other way to cover the shot. Assists went to Meier and Braun.

With 7:13 left in the third, Burns sent a puck around the boards and Couture caught it in the mouth and had to leave the ice. He did return to play before the end of the period.

The Blue Jackets had their only power play of the game at 14:34 of the third but failed to score.

Up Next: The Sharks next play on Sunday at 10:00 am PT in Raleigh, North Carolina, against the Hurricanes.

Sharks battle, but end up taking a 2-1 loss after seven-round shootout vs. Red Wings

Published on January 31, 2018February 1, 2018 by smallforceLeave a comment

~ Photo credit: NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks endured being outshot 7-0 when they were outnumbered in overtime until the Detroit Red Wings were victorious in the seven-round shootout 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena Wednesday.

After the second of a back-to-back, the Sharks now have a season-high four-game losing streak, but it could be worse (0-2-2).

It was the first time these two teams met this season and the Sharks’ first visit to the Little Caesar Arena.

The last time the Sharks scored only one goal was January 7.

San Jose’s Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored the first two goals in the shootout and then Detroit followed suit with two goals of their own by Gustav Nyquist and Andreas Athanasiou. Athanasiou’s goal held the same in a 2-2 deadlock until Chris Tierney scored in the sixth round. Tomas Tatar then scored, Tomas Hertl missed and Justin Abdelkader finished the game.

Kevin Labanc scored in his 100th game and Trevor Daley scored for the Red Wings in his first game back from a lower-body injury.

Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones now has a three-game losing streak, but it was his best save percentage since December 23 as he faced a season-high 44 shots. NHL statistician Darin Stephens noted Jones’ 43 saves were the most by a San Jose goalie in a loss of any kind since Antti Niemi’s same 43 on Oct. 30, 2014. Jones was also playing the second of a back-to-back.

Both teams each had scoreless power plays in each of the first two periods.

Sharks’ Brent Burns passed to Hertl in the first on a 2-on-1. Unfortunately, Hertl was without a stick as it had been kicked away by a defender swooping in to stop the play. Jones made a second save using his glove with 2:33 left in the second. Vlasic also prevented a power play goal with 24 seconds left.

Both goals came in the third.

Logan Couture reportedly tripped. Once Couture got back up, Daley took the pass from Frans Nielsen and trickled the puck past Jones on a one-on-one to break the stalemate at 6:48.

The Sharks matched Detroit at 15:01 in a mock power play since Danny DeKeyser was without his stick. Brenden Dillon passed near the stick to Labanc, who moved near the stick to make it from the high slot. Hertl also earned an assist.

Vlasic could have drawn a hooking penalty in overtime, but it was not called. The Red Wings had three shots before Burns was called for hooking with 2:43 left. If not for the hook though, the speedy Dylan Larkin might have scored. Jones fought off for more shots during the 4-on-3.

Game notes: Burns had a season-high nine shots on goal. San Jose was outhit 32-19 and had 16 giveaways as opposed to Detroit’s five.

Up next: The Sharks aim to win without Joe Thornton on their third game of their road trip Friday, facing the Colombus Blue Jackets at 4 pm PT.

Sharks’ glitches lead to Penguins’ gifts, wins 5-2

Published on January 30, 2018January 30, 2018 by smallforceLeave a comment

~ Photo credit – NHL.com

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The San Jose Sharks’s two turnovers tilted the game as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a split in the season series with a 5-2 win at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday.

The Sharks had a 2-1 lead after a hard-fought period, but inadvertently gave the Penguins a hand to cancel the advantage they had as the momentum turned.

Evgeni Malkin earned a hat trick and fellow teammate Bryan Rust had two goals for Pittsburgh. Brent Burns and Logan Couture tallied for San Jose.

Both teams’ main goalies returned after extended absences, Martin Jones (physical) and Matt Murray (personal). Murray emerged the winner this time, as he made 40 saves.

Pittsburgh scored first. Chris Tierney tried to clear, but Ian Cole poked the puck away and Rust was the first to recover it. After he exchanged passes with Riley Sheahan, Rust charged the net and was able to avoid Justin Braun’s stick as Rust put the Penguins on the board at 11:09.

The second period was more of a mixed bag. San Jose was all business as they outshot 23-10 and scored two power play goals.

Burns continued where he left off, with points in eight straight now, 10 if you continue the two All-Star games. The shot from Burns went down the slot as players on both sides flinched at 10 minutes.

After a 5-on-3, the Sharks capitalized on the 5-on-4. when the puck traveled to Couture as he struck from the left faceoff circle. It was Couture’s 200th career goal.

Nearing the end of the period, Burns made a no-look pass, unfortunately to Phil Kessel. Kessel then sent the puck to Malkin, who made it 2-2 in front of Jones at 19:55.

The mishaps continued in the third.

Jones went to retrieve the puck and his pass was intercepted by a swiftly moving Patric Hornqvist. Hornqvist then made a slick pass to a wide open Malkin for the eventual game-winner.

Pittsburgh made it 4-2 at 13:58 and 5-2 at 18:47.

Kris Letang’s shot went off Jones’ pad and Tom Kuhnhackl shot the puck back between his legs to Rust who earned his second by lifting the puck into the net.

The last goal came on an empty-netter. Rust hit iron in his bid at a hat trick after a cross from Sidney Crosby before Rust passed to Malkin for a successful goal.

Game notes: San Jose’s Dylan DeMelo played in his 100th NHL game. The Sharks held the Penguins scoreless on the power play (0 for 3).

Up next: San Jose will look to get back on track versus the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday at 5 pm PT.

Defense, Not Offense Issue for Jumbo-Less Sharks in 6-5 Loss to Rangers; Second Straight Loss at Home for SJ

Published on January 25, 2018January 26, 2018 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

photo by sjsharks.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

When news broke that Joe Thornton would miss an undisclosed amount of time with a knee injury, San Jose Sharks fans immediately were concerned about how the team would continue scoring without its future Hall of Famer. Thursday night, the Sharks offense did just fine, putting up five goals against the visiting New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the defense was the letdown, with the Sharks falling 6-5 to the Blueshirts.

Logan Couture scored two goals, Kevin Labanc picked up three assists and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl and Barclay Goodrow all scored for San Jose. Aaron Dell, starting in place of the injured Martin Jones once again, made 23 saves but allowed 4+ goals in back-to-back game for the first time ever in his career. Rangers Captain Ryan McDonagh scored his first two goals of the season, Brady Skjei netted a short-handed goal and J.T. Miller scored the game-winner with 1:50 left on the clock.

Kevin Hayes staked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead 5:45 into the first period, but a goal from Barclay Goodrow and Logan Couture’s first of the game gave San Jose a 2-1 just over halfway through the first period. Jesper Fast beat Dell with 2:07 left in the period to tie the game.

Couture wrested back the lead in the opening moments of the second period, slipping the puck past backup netminder Ondrej Pavelec 2:36 into the middle period. The Rangers fired back with three unanswered goals in the period, with Ryan McDonagh scoring on a two-on-one with Kevin Hayes then a point shot and Brady Skjei knocking a clearing attempt into the Sharks net off his shinpad with San Jose on the power play for a 5-3 lead after 40 minutes.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic beat a vulnerable Pavelec for his eighth goal of the year, one shy of his career-high, 10:51 into the third, but Miller extended the cushion with his 11th goal of the year late in the frame. Hertl, who missed a number of grade-A opportunities, finally converted with 50 seconds left in regulation.

The Sharks head into the NHL All-Star break looking at the possibility of Jones rejoining the team for their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night on the road.

San Jose beat the Pens 2-1 at home on January 20th, with Aaron Dell making 31 saves in the win.

While #19 is out, the Sharks will count on players like Jones and team leaders like Vlasic and Couture to continue to step up if the team wants to hold on to its second place spot in the Pacific Division, two points away from being on the outside of the playoff picture.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks show their will against one of the NHL’s best the Jets despite loss

Published on January 24, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

Despite Tuesday’s overtime loss 5-4 at SAP Center the San Jose Sharks gave it their all something that lacked earlier this season. The Sharks taking on one of the NHL’s best the Winnipeg Jets. The game that kind was a high point was the game the Sharks won in Anaheim 6-2 last Sunday at the Honda Center. The Sharks are definitely getting stronger.

Defensively their working things out they’re finding a balance on defense and offense at least to win these games. If your going to lose it’s better to lose in overtime to one of the NHL’s elite teams like the Jets. The Sharks captain Joe Thornton got injured a right knee injury towards the end of the game on Tuesday night it was not disclosed when he would be returning but Thornton has been a huge piece of the Sharks recent resurgence.

Catch the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday with Mary Lisa and on Mondays with Len Shapiro at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Rally to Earn a Point, But Jets Win 5-4 in Overtime

Published on January 23, 2018January 24, 2018 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE–Things could have gone worse for the San Jose Sharks during Tuesday night’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center, but then again, things could have gone a lot better. The Sharks managed to erase 3-0 and 4-3 deficits, but fell in overtime 5-4.

Joe Thornton was injured in the final moments of the contest and his status is currently unknown.

Winnipeg’s Bryan Little scored easily 18 seconds (remember that amount of time for later) into overtime, his second goal of the game, to hand Sharks goalie Aaron Dell his first loss in five games. Dustin Byfuglien circled the Sharks net, then passed from the goal line cross-crease to Little on the backdoor for his 10th goal of the year.

It almost looked like the Sharks wouldn’t need overtime to pick up a point (possibly two) in this game after a huge momentum swing in the final five minutes of the game. Timo Meier did an excellent job staying strong on his stick in the slot to find a rebound of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot to score with 4:20 left in regulation and tie the game at 4-4.

Byfuglien, known for his antics after the whistle, clipped Meier with his stick in the celebration and was sent off for a penalty. The Sharks would get caught with too many men on the ice 1:07 into the man-advantage though, and then had to kill off a Jets power play to hold on for overtime.

If the first few moments of the game were any indication, the Sharks should be satisfied with just the loser point. The Jets sucked any energy out of the SAP Center crowd after Mathieu Perreault scored just 18 seconds into play, then just over four minutes later Joel Armia really silenced the hometown fans after his backhand toss ricocheted past Aaron Dell for a 2-0 Winnipeg lead.

The situation went from bad to worse for the Sharks after Tomas Hertl found himself making his way to the showers after being handed a game misconduct for his hit on Dmitry Kulikov 8:13 into the period. The Czech forward was also assessed a five-minute major, putting his team on the shorthand for five minutes.

The Sharks were “fortunate” to survive the penalty kill only yielding one goal to the second best power play in the NHL. Bryan Little beat Dell for a 3-0 lead just 11:56 into play.

Leaders step up when times get toughest, so it was Sharks captain Joe Pavelski who changed the morale of team teal in the waning seconds of the first. After a flurry of shots on Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck couldn’t find the back of the net, Pavelski crossed the blue line into the slot to pick up a turnover and rifle the puck into the net.

With believability back in the Sharks locker room trailing 3-1 heading into the first intermission, San Jose still had its work cut out for them. Perhaps inspired by Kristi Yamaguchi’s presence at the Shark Tank, Logan Couture followed up a perfect pirouette with a shot to Hellebuyck’s right for his 18th goal of the season with half the game in the books. Joel Ward and Brendan Dillon assisted on the goal to bring San Jose within one at 3-2.

Chris Tierney, pressed into power play placement following Hertl’s ejection, ran with his opportunity. Tierney slipped into the slot in perfect one-timer position with the perfect one-time assister Joe Thornton holding onto the puck on the other side of the ice. Thornton threaded the puck through the Jets penalty killing box, Tierney dug in for a full-power one-timer and with 6:35 left in the second period, suddenly San Jose was tied 3-3.

Joel Armia would pot his second goal of the game 11:38 into the third to give Winnipeg their 4-3 lead, which set up Meier’s game-tying strike and the overtime period. A collision in front of the Sharks bench in the final seconds cost the Sharks their top center in the three-on-three skate.

Up Next: San Jose continues its home stand, welcoming the New York Rangers to the SAP Center Thursday night.

The Sharks topped the Rangers 4-1 October 23rd at Madison Square Garden behind stellar play of Martin Jones, who’s currently out with a lower body injury.