Tag: San Jose Sharks

Pavelski Scores a Pair But Sharks Stumble Against Blue Jackets

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks saw Tuesday night’s contest at SAP Center against the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets as an opportunity to take advantage of a team in turmoil. Instead, the Sharks (6-6-0) now find themselves looking answers after losing 5-2 in a match-up against a team with only a pair of wins on the season.

Joe Pavelski scored both goals for the Sharks and goalie Martin Jones struggled through a 17 save, 4 goal performance against a Columbus team that recently fired their coach and was struggling under new coach John Tortorella.

“It was not good enough,” said Jones. “We played a backwards game, let up an early goal and let in a few soft ones in the 2nd. We need to be better. Everyone needs to be better. We got outworked tonight.”

The Sharks dug an early hole after committing two penalties in the opening five minutes. They managed to kill off a Chris Tierney stick infraction a minute and a half into the game, but weren’t as lucky after defenseman Brenden Dillon skated to the box 4:23 into the game.

With the man advantage, Brandon Dubinsky skated to the left faceoff dot and took a shot on Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Jones stopped the initial attempt, but Brandon Saad was waiting in the goal crease to tuck the loose puck home for a 1-0 lead with 12 seconds left on Dillon’s infraction.

“We got the first kill,” said Pavelski. “We almost got through the second one which would have given us a boost. We were on our heels early. It has to change, we have to break this mold where we’re getting scored on first.”

The Sharks Captain matched the team-best of 7 goals on the season in the waning seconds of the first period. Pavelski crept into Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease, redirecting a point shot from Justin Braun past the Russian netminder with 1:04 left in the period.

The Blue Jackets regained their lead nearly halfway through regulation after Scott Hartnell beat Jones for his 5th goal of the season at the 8:54 mark. Hartnell started the play behind the Sharks net, skated out towards the faceoff dot to Jones’ right then spun around and ripped a shot rapid-fire that beat Jones over the near post shoulder.

Pavelski again drew the Sharks three minutes later, receiving a backhand feed from Joonas Donskoi before deking out Bobrovsky to move past Joel Ward for the team lead in goals.

Pavelski’s goal was the result of a heads-up forecheck from Donskoi along the offense boards. Donskoi snuck behind Nick Foligno preparing to move the puck out of the Columbus defensive end and sent it back towards the goal line for Pavelski’s tally. The assist on the play was Donskoi’s 2nd career NHL point and first since returning from injury October 28th.

“It’s hard to come back after an injury,” said Donskoi. “I think it’s getting better but I’m not happy. We still lost. It’s disappointing.”

The tie was short lived due to miscommunication by Jones and defenseman Brent Burns. Jones went to play a dump-in behind his net and settle the puck for Burns. Burns, however, didn’t react in time to stop an advancing Blue Jacket from springing the puck loose. Columbus forward Boone Jenner snuck in to net his 7th goal with 1:28 left in the 2nd.

If the Jenner goal didn’t deflate the Sharks heading into the 2nd intermission, defenseman Ryan Murray’s strike with 59 seconds left in the period certainly did. Murray slid a point shot through a crowd in front of the net to put Columbus up 4-2 and chase Jones from the contest.

“I think it went off one of our guys’ gloves,” said Jones. “It was a bit of a deflection, a bit of a screen.”

Over his 40 minutes of ice time Jones allowed 4 goals while making 17 saves. His replacement, Alex Stalock, faced only 2 shots over the final period, but Matt Calvert scored an empty netter for the final 5-2 marker.

At the other end of the ice, Bobrovsky stood on his head for most of the contest to earn his third win of the season. The former Vezina trophy winner turned aside 41 of 43 shots he faced, keeping the Sharks power play off the board after four opportunities.

“For our power play we demand a lot out of ourselves,” said Pavelski. “We expect a lot. It’s just unacceptable. It was a big momentum swing for us. We’ve created some momentum off it when we’ve had chances. It doesn’t do anything for the wins.”

“Everybody goes through tough stretches,” said Jones. “We know we have a good group in here. We know we’ll respond. We’ve got the group in here to do it. The main thing is to show up tomorrow, have a good practice and move on.”

The Sharks will have to move on quickly with the Florida panthers coming to town Thursday night followed by a visit from another reeling team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Southern California rivals come to town Saturday night with a lowly 2 wins and six points, tied for the lowest mark in the NHL.

Burns’ late goal pushes Sharks past Avalanche

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

AP photo SJ Sharks Brent Burns in beard scores go ahead goal in third period

The San Jose Sharks earned a split in their weekend road trip with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Sunday afternoon.

Brent Burns scored a huge goal with under two minutes to play in the third period that untied a 2-2 game. Burns, trailing the rush, took a feed from Patrick Marleau, transferred it from his skate to stick and fired it past Semyon Varlamov to put the Sharks ahead. It was the second goal of the game for the smooth-skating defenseman, who now has six on the year.

Joe Pavelski added an empty-netter 19 seconds later to make it 4-2 Sharks. The Avalanche responded with a fluke goal by Cody McLeod that cut the lead to one, but San Jose was able to hang on for the win.

The score was deadlocked 2-2 heading into the third period, with each team scoring a goal in each of the first two periods. Jarome Iginla started the scoring with a power play goal early in the first. Joel Ward answered at the 7:00 mark, following up his own rebound in front after a steal by Marleau in the offensive zone.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead on a shorthanded goal midway through the second period. Barclay Goodrow pinned the puck deep in Avalanche territory and then set up Burns for a booming slap shot from the right point that beat Varlamov.

But on the same power play, Colorado got the goal back on a wrist shot by Francois Beauchemin.

The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 32-26 and snapped a two-game losing skid. They are now back over .500 at 6-5-0 and return to San Jose for a four-game homestand that begins against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Rinne, Predators Fourth Line Prey on Sharks

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks hoped having a pair of forwards return to the line-up Wednesday night might bring about scoring depth, especially at home where coach Pete DeBoer had final change and a chance at exploiting mismatches. Despite the returns of Joonas Donskoi and Ben Smith, the Sharks (5-4-0) scoring woes continued in a 2-1loss to the visiting Nashville Predators (7-1-1). Pekka Rinne held the Sharks to a lone goal, a goal by center Joe Pavelski, on 21 shots.

“He’s a good goalie,” said Pavelski. “He’s one of the better ones in the league. With all the goalies you have to get traffic. If they see it, they stop it.”

The Finn shut down San Jose to one goal or less for the fourth time in the last six games. In those games, the Sharks are 1-3-0, topping the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in the shootout for the sole victory on October 16th.

Nashville winger Eric Nystrom baffled Jones early, unleashing a dart from the left circle that beat the San Jose netminder to his stick side at the 3:22 mark of the 1st.

“You need a save there,” said Jones. “Early in the game you need a save there. It’s tough to come back from. That’s a tough defensive team with a good goalie.”

The Sharks held a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal after the period, but goalie Pekka Rinne and the Predators withstood a San Jose power play to get the home team off the stat sheet after 20 minutes.

It took 15 shots, but the Sharks final snuck a puck past Rinne in the 3rd period, with the Sharks captain tying the game 1:28 into the frame. Pavelski pounced on a rebound in the crease off a Matt Tennyson shot for his fourth of the season. Matt Nieto, taking a turn on the top line after playing the majority of the game on the third forward unit, also picked up an assist.

“It feels good to score,” said Pavelski. “But that’s that moment, then you move on for the next one. They got the next one. It takes away from it.”

Calle Jarnkrok gave Nashville that next one halfway through the period, taking a Gabriel Bourque pass and ripping it over Jones’ glove for his first goal of the season, the game winner Wednesday.

“The difference tonight was that their fourth line had two goals,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “That was the difference in the game. Everyone else cancelled each other out.”

In total, Nashville scored on 2 of 24 shots against Jones.

“They didn’t have much,” said Pavelski of the Predators offensive chances on the night. “We didn’t have much. That’s how it is against those guys. The power play has to start putting one in.”

The Sharks special teams was 0-2 on the night, extending a scoreless streak to six straight opportunities with the man advantage. They also went 2-2 on the penalty kill.

“The special teams battle was even tonight,” said DeBoer. “They didn’t get one either. We need to start scoring there for sure. We had some great looks. Eventually something is going to go in.”

The Sharks will be looking for some treats from their nearly-whole lines and power play unit on Halloween when they visit the Dallas Stars Saturday before continuing the road trip with a pit stop in Colorado. After that, the team returns to SAP for four-straight home contests.

Karlsson Suits Up for First Time This Season, But Barracuda Fall to Gulls in Shootout 3-2.

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

If Bryan Lerg was disappointed by his demotion from the San Jose Sharks to their AHL affiliate the San Jose Barracuda, his play didn’t show it Wednesday night. The 28-year-old scored a goal and picked up the primary assist on another in the Barracuda’s 3-2 shootout loss to the unbeaten San Diego Gulls (3-0-0) at the SAP Center.

“Work hard,” said Lerg on his mind set heading in to his first game since being returned to the Barracuda (2-1-1). “We were looking for the win at home.”

“I thought (Lerg) was our best player by far,” assessed Barracuda coach Roy Sommer.

Lerg opened the scoring at the 5:11 into the first period, firing a shot from the slot into Gulls netminder John Gibson’s pads. The 6-foot-3 keeper made the initial save, but Lerg continued his course to the net to flip in his rebound for his 3rd goal of the season.

“I went to tee off on it and didn’t get all of it,” admitted Lerg. “The goalie tried to kick it to the corner and their D was flat footed. I beat them with my speed.”

The AHL vet added his first assist of the season with 1:20 remaining and the Barracuda on the penalty kill. Lerg pressured Gull rearguard Shane O’Brien at the red line, forcing a rushed O’Brien to spill to the ice. Lerg rushed up the ice on the breakaway, guiding a backhander to Gibson’s left in the Gull crease. Gibson made the sprawling save, put fellow penalty killer Scott Timmins jammed the loose puck home for his second goal of the season.

An unfortunate bounce led to a late San Diego goal with Barracuda defenseman Mark Cundari deflecting a Brandon Montour point shot around San Jose goalie Troy Grosenick. The goal, a power play strike with 5.4 seconds left in the period, marked the 4th goal in 14 short-handed situations for San Jose.

The Gulls scored again on the power play in the 2nd period, this time on a deflection from a San Diego skater. Defenseman Shea Theodore ripped a point shot on net. Gulls pest Harry Zolnierczyk was skating past Grosenick right as the shot came and managed to tip it over his blocker side for the goal at the 6:26 mark. The 2-2 deadlock would hold through the third period and into a back-and-forth three-on-three overtime despite a total of 5 power plays for the Gulls on the night.

“That’s a pretty good team over there,” said Sommer. “They have lots of veteran guys who have been around and know how to put the puck in the net.”

The Gulls’ Nick Ritchie and Stefan Noesen would beat Grosenick in the skills competition to earn the second point for the visitors, keeping their record unblemished. Gibson turned away attempts by Lerg and Nikolai Goldobin, another player returned by the Sharks this morning.

One player hoping to join the Sharks sooner rather than later, rehabbing forward Melker Karlsson, saw his first time on ice this season. Karlsson finished the night with an assist and a +1 rating while nearly scoring in 3-on-3 overtime.

“He was good,” said Lerg, who joined Karlsson in the 3-on-3 session. “I thought he played well. He’s getting back into the swing of things. It was his first game in a while. We tried to keep it simple and get him in deep and use our speed.”

Once the thrill of returning to the ice wore off, Karlsson realized he still has some work to put in before he is ready for an NHL assignment.

“It felt pretty good in the beginning,” said Karlsson. “But my conditioning is not where it should be. With my game, I have to have energy for it to work.”

“We’ll see how long it takes before I get in condition,” said Karlsson. “It shouldn’t be too long, just a few practices them I’m going to feel good.”

Whether it’s next week against the Nashville Predators or further down the line, Karlsson is ready to return to the top tier.

“That’s where you want to play,” said Karlsson. “That’s where I’m going to play later I hope.”

With the injuries stacking up for the parent club, the Barracuda bench boss acknowledges call-ups may be early and often in the next few days.

“Any one that is playing here right now knows,” said Sommer. “They’re banged up up top. You play good you’re probably playing against LA tomorrow. We want guys to realize that.”

Jones, Penalty Killers Lift Sloppy Sharks to 2-1 Preseason Win Over Canucks

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

A win is a win any time of the year, even preseason, so Tuesday night’s 2-1 San Jose Sharks win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks is a great final result. How the Sharks got there, however, was a different story.

“It’s a good thing it happened in the preseason,” said Sharks forward Tommy Wingels on the team’s sloppy effort Tuesday. “It’s good that we grinded it out and found a way to win the game. You don’t have your best at all times but certainly lots tonight we have to improve on.”

“It’s not the kind of game you’d like to have,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer. “We found a way to win but we were sloppy with our puck management. We have a lot of things to work on. The good news is I thought our goaltending was excellent and our penalty killing was excellent.”

The Sharks scored a goal each in the first two periods, then used a 4-for-4 penalty kill effort and a 30-save outing from Martin Jones to cling to a 2-1 advantage and improve to 3-1-1 in the exhibition schedule with one last weekend road trip still remaining.

“(Assistant coach Johan Hedberg) has done a great job with these guys,” said Wingels on Jones and returning goalie Alex Stalock. “They’ve been at the top of their game from day one.”

Wingels tipped in his first goal of the preseason at the midway point of the first period, redirecting a Paul Martin point shot past Canucks netminder Ryan Miller.

“You don’t want to get too cute,” said Martin on the goal. “We’ve seen that, when you put the puck on net, good things happen. We have guys that are good around the cage and make plays down there.”

The lead would be short-lived, with the visitors scoring in the final minutes of the period. Winger Matt Nieto picked up a loose puck in the corner boards of the defensive end and spun a drop pass in front of Sharks keeper Martin Jones to jump start the rush. Instead, the puck was picked up by opportunist Jared McCann. The unmarked McCann ripped a shot over Jones’ shoulder for a goal with 1:26 remaining in the period.

The Sharks leading scorer in the preseason put them back on top at the 7:43 mark of the 2nd period. Brent Burns received a pass from Mirco Mueller and skated up the left side, burying a wrist shot between Miller’s pads for a 2-1 edge. Burns has a team-high 2 goals and 4 points over 3 preseason contests playing on a pairing with offseason acquisition Paul Martin.

“He definitely makes my job easier,” said Martin. “The hockey sense and the size with the skill he has being that big is impressive.”

“Coach has been great keeping us together, allowing us to grow our chemistry,” said Burns on his rearguard partner. “There are going to be reads that happen in a game in a split second where you’ve got to know what the guy is thinking. It takes time.”

The Canucks threw their weight around in the third period, drawing two power plays, including a 4-on3 to try to tie the game, but a valiant effort from the San Jose penalty kill kept the Sharks ahead. Chris Tierney, Justin Braun and Tommy Wingels all blocked shots shorthanded with just over 5 minutes left in the period. In total, the Canucks outshot San Jose 9-2 in the third (31-22 total), a period that saw DeBoer shuffle all four lines from the starting lineup.

“We wanted to give some guys some different looks in some different spots,” said DeBoer. “We weren’t really happy with where we were at in the game. We tried to shuffle the deck and it didn’t really work.”

The Sharks wrap up the preseason with two weekend road games, Friday in Arizona followed by a Saturday match-up in Anaheim. DeBoer is hoping to see a better performance out of his team, but understands knowing the team’s weaknesses before opening night in Los Angeles on October 7th is more important.

“You’re better having that now then next week,” said DeBoer. “We will know what we have to do better to have success on a consistent basis.”

Notes: After Joonas Donskoi received the opportunity on Friday to play on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, it was rookie Nikolay Goldobin’s turn Tuesday. The 19-year-old Russian had one assist and was +1 with a shot on goal. “He did a good job. He definitely showed that he’s skilled enough to play with those guys,” said DeBoer… Chris Tierney left the ice early in the 2nd period after skidding into the Vancouver goal. He missed just one shift while visiting with the trainer and returned to play on his next shift…Tommy Wingels tongue-in-cheek after a successful night in the faceoff dot “I think we should expect that every night.”

Sharks stay alive in playoffs race, beat Penguins

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Every game matters for San Jose Sharks right now. With the string of poor results dating back to the start of February, they slid five points back out of the playoffs picture before their game on Monday night against Pittsburgh Penguins. The players knew it, and battled all night long like it was one of the last games of the season. Although it took winning a skills competition at the end, San Jose Sharks earned huge two points as they won 2-1 in a very close contest.

While they wouldn’t have won without a key goal in the first third of the game, the first star of the night was no doubt San Jose night minder Antti Niemi who stopped multiple sure scoring chances both during regulation and in the overtime, made 39 saves and was then brilliant in the shootout. He didn’t seem to mind that they were playing one of the best road team in the NHL in the Penguins (who lost just eight times so far this season), being lead by two of the three best players in the league in Sidney Crosby. Niemi rose to the occasion and played one of his best games of the season.

But it all started in the first period, when Sharks opened the scoring in the game with less than a minute left in the period. Ben Smith stole the puck away from Penguins defense behind their goal. The puck ended on Chris Tierney’s stick and he quickly found Matt Nieto just outside the crease. Nieto one timed it straight into the net, scoring his seventh goal of the season.

But as time went on, it was the Penguins who looked like a better team. They had more scoring chances, more shots on goal, and looked like a team more in sync for most of the night. They finally scored a goal in the third period. Sidney Crosby picked up the puck in the central zone, and took off on the wing, entering the zone. His speed proved to be too much for the Sharks defense, and Crosby put it inside the net with a powerful backhand shot. After playing in San Jose five times before, it was in the sixth game that Crosby broke through and scored in this arena.

Penguins continued to push (they would end the night outshooting the Sharks 40-30), but Niemi was stellar and steady in front of the net, reading the plays and making huge saves.

Visiting team almost ended it all with 5 seconds left in the overtime when Derrick Pouliot had a great open chance on goal. He shot the puck well, but it bounced off the goal post, capping off an exciting overtime that saw both teams creating good chances.

Sharks didn’t fare so well in the shootouts this season (going 2-4), but they did prevail this time. Melker Karlsson was close to ending it all scoring on the third Sharks attempt, but Kris Letang evened out the score. Tommy Wingels went on to score in the eighth round and Niemi made one more big save on the night, stopping Steve Downie, and earning an extra point for the Sharks.

San Jose Sharks continue go dominate the Penguins, with Pittsburgh’s last win in regulation dating all the way back to 1997.

San Jose still has quite a hill to climb to get back into the playoffs picture, but the win helped them to stay in the game. The next big game is on Thursday when they face another powerhouse, the visiting Nashville Predators.

Sharks lead twice, but still lose to Red Wings

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

SAN JOSE, CA — San Jose Sharks rested and trained without playing for four days following their outdoor game against LA Kings on Saturday. But it was their opponent Detroit Red Wings who looked like the more rested team on Thursday, despite playing three games in four days. And it was Detroit who came away with a victory, defeating the Sharks 3-2 at home, having have to come back twice in that game.

It all started well for the Sharks, as they came out strong, like they would like at home. Detroit Red Wings did not get a single shot on goal in the first six minutes of the game, and were even forced to take an early time out to regroup after one of the long shifts. Sharks dominance translated on the scoreboard, and they took the lead seven minutes into the first period. Matt Irwin scored on a blast of a shot from the blue line – his signature whenever he scores. Joe Thornton had the primary assist on that goal as he dropped the puck to Irwin from around the face-off circle. Irwin paused and launched a missile, which made its way into the net.

Teemu Pulkkinen tied the game in the second period, 3:53 into it, when he scored on a power play. But Patrick Marleau helped the Sharks to get the lead back three minutes later, scoring a quick power play goal. They won the face-off, and swarmed the net, with Marleau scoring on the rebound in the crease.

But that’s when the Red Wings took over the puck and Sharks allowed the game to slip away from them. Sharks were playing slopping in the neutral zone, turning the puck over, and did not generate much of any scoring chances from then on. Antti Niemi worked hard to keep the game close, making great saves during the second period to keep the Sharks in it. But his armor eventually gave in, allowing Pavel Datsyuk to score on him on a backyard shot and between the pads, at 13:32 mark in the third period, tying the game for Detroit.

Sharks battled and tried to impose a physical game on Detroit, but that didn’t work in their favor and they managed just two shots in all of the third period. When Luke Glendening scored for Detroit with 75 seconds left in the game, San Jose crowd did not seem surprised that their team was letting another game slip away in the third period (just like they did against the Kings on Saturday). Last minute push with an empty net was just as unsuccessful as anything the Sharks tried in the the second half of the game, and Sharks finished it empty handed, with 0 points for the standings.

“They took it up a notch and we fell back into a real defensive mode, trying to protect, and you can’t do that,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, assessing the game. “You can’t spend that amount of time in your zone and not make mistakes. It’s impossible. We made enough that they were able to come back. 1st period we were aggressive. We stopped the forecheck, we were aggressive in the offensive zone, and got pucks back. In the 2nd period, on our heels started right off the bat. We were warned that it was going to go up a notch. And we didn’t respond. So that was disappointing.”

Matt Irwin did not sugar coat the loss either, saying it was “as frustrating as it gets. We’re really happy with our first. And then the tables turned. They started doing what made us successful in the 1st period–getting on the d-man, getting on the forecheck, adding all the pieces up. They started doing that to us and we didn’t have a push back.”

With Minnesota Wild winning their game the same night, the Sharks are now three points behind the wildcard slot for playoffs. Since the beginning of February, the Sharks only won three games out of the 12 played, all of them on the road, losing 7 straight at home. From looking like a playoff contender, the Sharks now look like a team that deserves their spot in the standings – outside the top eight in the West.

With the recent string of bad results and trade deadline next Monday, is this the time the Sharks should give up on the season, and trade away the assets for draft picks? Only a few days left to find out.

Sharks long home stand starts with a victory

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Entering a crucial stage in their regular season, with seven games long home stand, San Jose Sharks started it in a strong fashion, defeating the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.

Most of the important action in that game happened in the first 11 minutes, when three of the four goals were scored.

Sharks scored the first goal when Tyler Kennedy was all alone in front of the Leafs net. He was setup with a great pass across the offensive zone by Brandon Dillon who faked the shot. Kennedy stopped the puck, paused, waiting for goaltender James Reimer to commit and then fired the puck on the empty net once Reimer went down. With the skillful move Kennedy scored his fourth goal of the season.

Sharks doubled their lead on the very next shift, and only seven seconds later. Having won the face-off, Sharks entered the zone and stormed the net. This time it was Patrick Marleau with the goal as he pushed the puck into the net with multiple Sharks crashing it at the same time after the shot by Matt Nieto. With the goal, Marleau broke 16-game long scoreless streak – a nice relief for the Sharks forward who’s been playing well during some stretches of that streak but haven’t been finding the net. The goal turned out to be a game winning in the end.

“It was probably one of our keys,” said Joe Thornton after the game. “We wanted to get off to a quick start and we did that. We scored 2 within the first ten minutes. That won us the game.”

Leafs cut the Sharks lead to just one on a goal by Roman Polak when he scored from a tough angle. He found the puck off a rebound from the boards behind Antti Niemi on a shot by Mike Santorelli.

Polak nearly scored again on the next shift when the puck bounced off to him during a scramble in front of Sharks’ net with Niemi out and few Sharks players laying on the ice to protect the goal. He fired a powerful slap shot, but it was blocked on its way to the net.

From then on, it was time for goaltenders to shine, as both teams played an open game and created multiple scoring chances. San Jose outshot Toronto in the end 41-25, but the chances were going both ways.

With the game winding down, Leafs pulled Reimer for an extra skater, but Sharks did not let them come back, and instead scored an empty net goal the other way when James Shepperd stole the puck, passed it to The McGinn who found Tommy Wingels with another pass and an empty net in front of him.

“I thought they had a tremendous game tonight,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan.

“Everyone found a way to contribute. Your energy level stays up a lot more when you’re able to get that kind of contribution.”

Sharks return to action on Saturday when they face division opponent Calgary Flames.

Sharks lose third in a row

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — A series of mistakes by the San Jose Sharks three minutes into the game lead to Vancouver Canucks scoring the first goal and taking the game from there on.

First it was Sharks defenseman Brandon Dillon who made a poor breakout pass from his zone. His teammate Justin Braun failed to intercept a pass inside his zone, fanning on the chance. Lastly it was Dillon again who was late on the rebound and allowed Vancouver’s Bo Horbat to shoot on what was an open net at that point.

Joe Pavelski had a great chance to tie the game few minutes later as he got a breakaway chance. Alex Elder found no other option to stop him but with a trip from behind, which earned a penalty shot. Pavelski picked up some good speed on his attempt, but couldn’t put the puck into the net, hitting the post instead.

Canucks took the two goal lead in the game in the early minutes of the second period when Jannik Hansen scored his ninth goal of the season. It was not the one Sharks would want to remember — as Hansen just left the penalty box moments before and got behind the defense on a breakaway. Stalock didn’t seem to be ready and was out too far, giving Hansen open top corner, where he sent the puck with a laser of a wrister.

Just a minute later, just like after the first goal, Sharks got another penalty shot awarded to them, when Joe Thornton was tripper by Tyler Tanner on his breakaway chance. Unlike Pavelski, Thornton didn’t miss, sending the puck high and right next to the goal post. His wrist shot was so powerful that Miller did not have time to react and turned around after the puck went in, looking both ways, not sure where it went in. Thornton doesn’t often appear in shootouts, but he’s now a perfect 2-for-2 in his penalty shot attempts during his NHL career.

Radim Vbrata returned the Cunucks to two goal advantage in game when he scored from around the face-off circle on a nice pass by Henrick Sedin. The puck bounced into the net off Stalock’s glove.

Whatever energy Sharks needed to get back in the game they did not get, and 3-1 was how the score remained despite Sharks’ power play chances and advantage in shots on the net.

“I didn’t think we were particularly good, and the score indicated that,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan after the game. “For me there’s a price that the team has to pay to win, and right now we’re not reaching deep enough.”

This was Sharks’ third loss in a row, all against divisional opponents. They can right their ways the very next day when they travel to Anaheim to face the divisional leader the Ducks.

Ducks rise to win in overtime

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(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM– 58 seconds into sudden death, Ryan Kesler scored above Antti Niemi in a 3-2 win Monday, to extend the Ducks’ division lead over the San Jose Sharks.

Kesler was aided by Patrick Maroon and Ryan Getzlaf before the teams headed into Christmas break, as Anaheim halted the Sharks’ five-game winning streak.

Regarding the game winner, Niemi commented, “it came quick. It was a quick shot behind the [defense]. I didn’t see it coming early enough.”

The 32 saves for each goalie both spoke to competitiveness and skill.

In the first period in which San Jose has outscored the Ducks 5-1, the Sharks had 15 shots without result this time. Joe Pavelski said,“It felt like we probably should have deserved better up ‘til [the third period]. That was the energy. It didn’t really feel like we needed to change the way we were playing…”

San Jose killed off two penalties in the second, but ended the period in the hole as Rickard Rakell scored his first regular season goal, aided by Emerson Etem and Matt Beleskey at 7:20. Rakell later remarked, “Christmas is saved.”

The Sharks’ Tomas Hertl left the ice after being hit by a shot before the goal, but returned later. In the other end, after San Jose’s Andrew Desjardins committed goalie interference on the left at 8:18, teammate John Scott knocked down Tim Jackman at the right side of the net. Jackman was laid out for awhile, but luckily got up after. An announcement was made during second intermission, however, stating Jackman would not return to the game due to evaluation.

Though there was at least one power play and some sort of altercation between the two nemeses in each period, things didn’t get really interesting on the scoreboard until the third.

The Sharks took advantage of an early power play in the period. Brent Burns shot from the blue line and Pavelski tipped in his shot to put San Jose on the board. Joe Thornton also helped on the play. At 7:56, Melker Karlsson gave the Sharks their first lead with his first NHL goal as the puck slid between goalie Frederick Andersen’s legs.  Barclay Goodrow and Brenden Dillon also assisted. At 15:44, Cam Fowler re-tied the game by sliding the puck around Niemi’s foot. Fowler was aided by Getzlaf and Devante Smith-Pelly. Almost like last game, the Sharks pushed the game into overtime in the last minute, but his time defensively instead of offensively.

Burns was called for high-sticking with 1:07 left. Niemi made a left hand save against Kesler during the power play, falling backwards after. Coach Todd McLellan commented, “Everybody found a way to scramble to get a point on the road.”

Game notes: Anaheim was without Francois Beauchemin and Corey Perry, who were nursing injuries. This was the first game of the season series both teams came in riding a hot hand and was the tightest game result so far. San Jose returns from Christmas break to play Saturday at 7p versus their other Southern California opponent.