Tag: San Jose Sharks

Sharks get Shutout out by Predators

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (49-21-9) hosted the Nashville Predators (35-32-11) on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Predators defeated the Sharks 3-0 on their home ice in a game that was controlled by Nashville throughout the contest. The first period was a great defensive display by both teams were able to hold each other scoreless.

The Predators won the game with their great play in the second period of the game. An offensive explosion by Nashville gave them a 3-0 lead going into the third and final period. Patric Hornqvist started off the scoring at 3:48. Hornqvist’s wrist shot found the net past the stick side of Sharks’ goaltender Antti Niemi. Hornqvist stood right in front of net as he received the rebound off of teammate Colin Wilson. Wilson and Matt Cullen earned the assists on the play.

Hornqvist doubled the lead with his second goal of the game at 8:59. The slap shot goal was assisted by Nick Spaling and Calle Jarnkrok. The goal was Hornqvist’s 20th goal of the season. Nashville put up another goal at 13:16. Roman Josi scored the last goal on a backhanded shot to make it 3-0. The score held up at 3-0 and the Sharks were not able to pull back into the number one seed in the Western conference.

Carter Hutten made 35 saves for the Predators on the night as he recorded the shutout and earned the victory. Hutten was awarded the first star after the game and helped the Predators continue there playoff push.

San Jose will be back on the ice on Wednesday as they will be hosted by Anaheim Ducks in Anaheim. The puck will drop at 7:30 pm.

Pacific Division title hope still alive for the Sharks as they top Kings

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By Ivan Makarov

Much of the media focus going into the matchup between San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings was on how the game is likely a preview of the first round playoffs for both teams, and how the atmosphere will be very similar to playoffs – with limited scoring chances, lots of hits, and stingy defensive play from both team.

This proved to be the case in this game, with Sharks coming out on top in a close one, as they defeated the Kings 2-1 on the goals by Brent Burns and Logan Cutuore. They only produced 12 shots on goal, which is a low number for them at home this season, but they also recorded 52 hits, matching Kings’ physical play all night long.

Joe Thornton was tied for second in hits on the night, and had the best quote in post game interviews, saying  “I just wanted to hit something tonight, that’s all.”

But the win also meant that the Sharks still have a mathematical possibility of winning the Pacific Division title, as they collected two more points in the standings and got closer to catching Anaheim Ducks. San Jose remains within one point, but Anaheim has two games in hand, and an advantage in the tie breaker. The Sharks don’t talk about not wanting to face the Kings in the playoffs, should the standings remain the same and Anaheim taking the top seed in the West. But they do talk about wanting the top seed and home ice advantage, and Thursday’s win have kept these hopes alive.

As for the game, it lived it to its hype, with lots of tension on the ice and close calls, as we grew to expect whenever two California teams face each other these days.

The Kings were the first score in this one, taking the lead just three minutes into the game when Jordan Nolan deflected a long range shot by Jarett Stoll.

Brent Burns tied the game at 7:15 mark in the second period scoring his 23rd goal of the season while the Sharks were on a power play. LA’s Dustin Brown was in the penalty box for roughing and it took the Sharks just a few second to punish  the Kinds for that. Joe Thornton won the face-off with the puck going to Dan Boyle and then to to Burns. Sharks forward shot it on goal right away, all the way from the blue line. It was a powerful shot and went straight into the net.

Sharks power play continues to be hot after Todd McLellan retooled it a couple of weeks ago, and it produced a key goal during the part of the game that Kings controlled.

The goal gave the Sharks a momentum they were seeking all this time before. They spent a good portion of the next few minutes inside the Kings zone. The pressure seem to took its toll on LA’s defense and Sharks took the lead when Logan Couture picked up a rebound from Patrick Marleau’s shot, quickly skated around the net and put the wrap-around shot into an open net, giving Sharks 2-1 lead at 12:13 mark in the second period.

The two goals was all Sharks needed to secure a victory that night, although they had to be perfect on defense all night long. It was a big improvement from two nights ago against the Oilers when they allowed four goals. Forechecking, finishing checks on all parts of the ice and good shot blocking was what kept the Kings at bay, and helped the Sharks earn the two important points as regular season is coming to an end.

Next on the schedule is Nashville Predators back at SAP Center on Saturday.

Sharks Come up Short in Mile High City

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By: Phillip Torres

COLORADO-The San Jose Sharks 47-20-9) were hosted by the Colorado Avalanche (47-21-6) on Saturday at in Colorado. The Avalanche came away with an impressive 3-2 victory to earn a playoff birth against a possible opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov recorded a season high 47 saves on the night to preserve the one goal victory.

Colorado never trailed in the game as they got the scoring started off early in the first period. Paul Stastny knocked in a wrist shot at 1:33 in the opening period. His wrist shot that found the net passed Antti Niemi was assisted by Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.

The Sharks tied the game back up at 1-1 less than two minutes later with a goal from Joe Pavelski. The score was Pavelski’s 38th goal on the season, and it came via a backhand shot, assisted by Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Although San Jose answered back fast, the tie did not remain for long. Cody McLeod put the Avalanche back on top before the first intermission with a wrist shot at 10:34.

With the score 2-1 Colorado heading into the second period, Colorado put the game away with the eventual winning goal at 6:32 in the middle period. John Mitchell made it a 3-1 game with a wrist shot on a power play goal. The goal was assisted by Jamie McGinn and Erik Johnson.

Dan Boyle made it a 3-2 game later in the period but that goal capped the scoring on the night for both teams. The third period was a defensive showing by both opponents, especially Colorado who was great on the penalty kill all night. The Sharks had their fair share of opportunities in the final period to send the game to overtime, but it came to no avail.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Tuesday April 1st as they will be back at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks will host the Edmonton Oilers and the puck will drop at 7:30 pm.

Jets upset Sharks at home

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — It was a wild and and a crazy game at SAP Center on Thursday night but the Sharks found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard as they dropped the two points in an upset to the visiting Winnipeg Jets.

Dan Boyle, Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, and Antti Niemi made 27 saves, but none of that was enough this time around as Winnipeg score one more than the Sharks and walked away with victory.

The game got off to a quick start, with Dan Boyle scoring his 9th goal of the season only 1:57 into the game. Sharks defenseman put the puck in the next on a deflection from Marty Havlat’s shot, as Boyle joined the attack and was standing right next to Winnipeg’s goaltender Al Montoya. Winnipeg tied the game 36 seconds later as Andrew Ladd scored on a counter attack and 2-on-2 opportunity. Brent Burns scored towards the end of that period on a power play putting a backhand shot in the net as he got a great pass from Joe Pavelski to put Sharks head 2-1.

The first period was very characteristic of the rest of the game. Both teams were playing open hockey, the defense wasn’t stellar, the puck was bouncing (Logan Couture complained about the ice conditions after the game), and both teams had plenty of chances in front of their opponents’ net.

Jets scored the next two and got ahead on goals by Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien, but their lead didn’t last.

Logan Couture scored one of the more painful goals of his career when he tied the game at 3-3 at 11:23 of the second period when Sharks scored another power play goal (their second) as he tipped the puck on a shot from James Sheppard who continues to play some of the best hockey of his career lately. Couture tipped the puck and was bent over crouching on the ice right after puck went in. But hands went up and he still celebrated his 20th goal. He mentioned after the game that the puck hit him in the thumb on its way into the goal.

That tying goal setup a great third period for both teams still having a chance to win the game with a good strong finish.

Dustin Byfuglien went on to score his second goal of the night when Sharks were in penalty trouble late in the third period. After nearly killing off Brad Stuart’s holding penalty, Sharks sent another player into the penalty box when Logan Couture sent the puck over the glass while clearing it. That penalty was costly as Jets capitalized on their man advantage to take 4-3 lead with three minutes left in the game.

Sharks pulled Antti Niemi for another man, but were unable to come back in this one.

“Obviously, we were not good enough,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan after the game. “I liked the power play, and did not like the penalty kill. The mistake at the end is something we work on all the time and was very preventable, which is disappointing.”

Sharks are now headed to Denver for one game road trip where they’ll play Avalanche on Saturday before returning back to San Jose to face Oilers on Tuesday.

Sharks denied playoff clinching win

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (48-18-8) hosted the Washington Capitals (34-27-11) on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. Washington rallied from behind to beat the Sharks 3-2 in a shootout and keep San Jose from clinching a playoff spot on the night.

It looked as if the Sharks were going to clinch their playoff birth on Saturday as they were playing the Washington Capitals, a team that hasn’t beaten the Sharks in San Jose since October of 1993, over 20 years ago. The victory for Washington was also just it’s second against San Jose in their past 19 meetings. But, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom scored the two goals in the shootout that took hone the victory for the Capitals.

The Sharks lead 2-1 going into the third period but were denied the win after a goal from Chris Brown at 12:30. The score was Brown’s first career goal and it sent the game into overtime. San Jose had a chance to take the lead and win the game as they were on the power play with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation. But, despite having the puck in Washington territory throughout, the Sharks could not put the puck in the net.

Despite the loss San Jose was able to earn it’s 100th point on the season Because the game reached the overtime posted. They also sit atop the Pacific Division, three points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday as they will be hosted by the Calgary Flames.

Burns shines in Sharks victory over Ducks

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Tied for points in the standings in the Pacific Division, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks faced each other at the SAP Center on Thursday night in what was going to be one of the most important games in this stretch of the season. With both teams coveting the home ice advantage in playoffs, the tension was high. Sharks biggest stars rose to the occasion, powered by a great performance by Brent Burns, and defeated the Ducks 3-2, coming from behind.

Down 2-1 in the third period, Sharks did not despair, being the veteran team that they are. Brent Burns and Joe Thornton got out on a 2-on-1 breakaway, with Burns holding the puck. He shot it on the net, as any good forward should in this situation. Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen made the save, but the rebound fell to Thornton who put it just over Anderson who failed to make the save while still laying on the ice.

It was a big play from Burns who was flying all over the ice all night long, creating scoring chances, trying to finish them and throwing big hits all around.

“It’s so easy to play with him,” said Thornton of Brent Burns. “He just goes, he’s just a beast out there. Nobody can handle his size and his speed. It forced you to keep up with him because he’s going so fast. It’s great to watch.”

McLellan was likewise pleased with Burns.

“He is a wrecking ball, and a one man wrecking crew when he plays that way. His physically showed early in the game. I thought he finished his checks. That wasn’t even part of the offensive attack or anything like that.  He established himself as a man early and decided to play that way. It was nice to see him rewarded and the team.”

Sharks’ big defenseman-turned-forward Burns didn’t stop there and went on to score the game winning goal with four minutes left in the game, deflecting Joe Thornton’s shot in front of the net.

“I just saw Burnzie’s big body in front and decided to throw it in there, “ said Thornton. “It was lucky it hit off and he put it in the back of the net.”

Before Sharks were down, they were ahead at the start of the game.

Sharks were the first one to score in this game. Luca Sbisa took a bad penalty when he crossed checked Tommy Wingers into the boards with the puck nowhere near the two players, but with the referee watching. Sharks made him pay the price when Patrick Marleau scored his 29th goal of the season in front of the net after a good setup by Joe Thornton.

Ducks came back and also scored a power play when Marc-Eduard Vlasic was in the penalty box for questionable interference call when Teemu Selanne fell down on the ice in front of him. Mathieu Perreault was the goalscorer on the play as he put the puck into the net from close range. Selanne scored early in the third period to give the Ducks 2-1 lead, but it didn’t stand, and Sharks went on to win.

San Jose Sharks are now in the sole possession of the first place in the Pacific Division – the lead they have not held since early December. They are next on the ice on Saturday when they host Washington Capitals.

Sharks stunned by Panthers at home

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By Ivan Makarov

One thing that’s been odd and puzzling about San Jose Sharks season thus far is how poorly they have played against Eastern Conference outsiders, especially at home. With the losses to Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders, it came as no surprise when another Eastern bottom dweller gave Sharks a hard time, this time the team being Florida Panthers.

With only 25 wins in 68 games before the match up at SAP Center (compared to Sharks’ 45 wins on the season), Florida walked away with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night in front of the sellout crowd. Scoring three goals in the second period, that’s all they needed to stop the six game winning streak by the Sharks.

Scottie Upshall, Quinton Howden and Brandon Pirri scored for the visiting team while Marty Havlat and Brent Burns scored for the Sharks.

On top of that, it was a stellar night in goal for Sharks’ familiar foe Roberto Luongo who was a frequent visitor to San Jose when he was playing with Vancouver Canucks before being traded to Florida only two weeks ago in the trade deadline transaction. Luongo made 52 saves (28 of them in the third period alone!) to preserve the victory.

How do Sharks explain the losses to some of these weaker teams?

“It’s tough to explain,” said Logan Couture after the game. “We knew going in that they were going to come out and they were going to work. I think we have more talent in this room than they have in theirs. But in the first two periods they outworked us.”

Coach Todd McLellan agreed.

“I was really disappointed, and I’m sure [the players] would tell you they are too. We started average and didn’t get better and then fell asleep. There wasn’t a lot of emotion in the game and drive from our behalf. We fell asleep and then tried to get desperate in the end. It doesn’t matter what league you’re in, you can’t win like that. We’ve talked about this a lot of times already, with teams who may be not in the playoffs, and we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Until we fix that, we’re probably going to end up with the same results.”

The game itself was indeed the tale of the two different performances like the two of them described – the lackadaisical first two periods, and the desperate game in the third period.

After uneventful first period, San Jose were the first team with the the lead in the game after Marty Havlat opened the score with his eighth goal of the season which he scored on the power play at the start of the second period, as he fired the puck on a slap shot above the face-off circle. But it was the second half of that period that decided the game when Florida scored three goals in a row.

The first two goals came within 17 seconds of each other, which had to be frustrating for the Sharks. The third goal came with only 15 seconds remaining in the period. Sharks were outshot in that period and did not look like the team that have won 10 out of the last 12 games.

“In the first two [periods] we were cheating ourselves,” said Couture. “We were trying to look for offensive chances, leaving the zone. Too many mistakes.”

After some adjustments in the second intermission the Sharks looked like they got their legs back, and they began playing faster hockey, putting more shots on goal and breaking through Florida’s stingy defense. They outshot them 29-2 in that period, and had four power play chances, including a 51-second long 5-on-3 advantage. But when even when presented with good scoring chances, Sharks did not capitalize on them, as Luongo was sharp and focused in goal.

Sharks did score one goal with three minutes remaining in the game, but the big scramble afterward did not lead to any more goals.

If there was one positive on Tuesday night for the Sharks it was that their main divisional opponent this season Anaheim Ducks also lost playing at home against Washington Capitals, failing to advance on the Sharks in the standings. The two teams will now face each other on Thursday back at the SAP Center.

Sharks beat Islanders in Big Apple

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By: Phillip Torres

NEW YORK- The San Jose Sharks (44-17-7) defeated the New York Islanders (25-24-9) in New York on Friday night. The Sharks defeated the Islanders 4-3 pushing their winning streak to five games. The win came against Evgeni Nabokov, the former San Jose Shark’s goaltender.The victory put the Sharks in first place tie with the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division. 

San Jose got on the board first at 13:27 after Matt Nieto scored his tenth goal of the season on a wrist sheet. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture earned the two assists on the play. The sharks doubled their lead to make it 2-0 after a goal from Jason Demers. His wrist shot at 14:46 was assisted James Sheppard and Marty Havlat. 

New York answered quickly in the second period with a goal less than one minute in. Anders Lee knocked in a backhand shot into the net at 32 seconds into the second frame. Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen assisted the score to pull the Islanders to within one goal. 

The second frame of the game was the most explosive period offensively in the contest. Joe Thornton put the Sharks lead back to two goals with his tenth of the season. Thornton’s wrist shot into the net was assisted by Brent Burns at 9:32. 

Brock Nelson made it a 3-2 game with a goal for the Islanders late in the frame. Nelson tipped the puck in after assisted by Josh Bailey and Matt Donovan. The last score of the period belonged to the Sharks. Havlat knocked in a wrist shot at 18:15. Sheppard earned the lone assist on the play.

Nielsen scored the last goal of the game with less than one minute remaining to make it 4-3. The score was the eventual final score and the Sharks victory made it their fifth consecutive.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Sunday as they will stay in New York to face off against the New York Rangers. The Rangers will be a tougher challenge as they are currently have 26 wins on the season. The puck will drop at 1:00 PM. 

Sharks rise to the top continues with a victory over Maple Leafs

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By Ivan Makarov

Having won seven out of the last eight games, San Jose Sharks continued to win on Tuesday day when they hosted the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. The game was never close, with home team winning 6-2 and earning seven out of the possible eight points during the four game home stand.

Sharks outshot the Leafs 48-21, have played in the Leafs zone for most of the game (after going 49-28 in face-offs circle), and put one of the more complete games they have played all season.

“We’ve been good during different times throughout the season,” said Joe Pavelski after the game when asked where this victory ranked among others. “We’ve been playing good at home. This was definitely one of them. We got on them early, and had the puck a lot. It was a solid win.”

Before Sharks got the big lead in the game, they had to endure one of the strangest first periods of the season.

Sharks played the way they usually play this season at home in the first period – dominating the play all over the ice. The shot total ended up being 14-6 in the first period in their favor, but they only went up 2-1 on the scoreboard. It could have been more, but Sharks’ good goal scored by Tommy Wingels was disallowed. The replay showed the puck nowhere near being frozen on the play, and going inside behind Toronto’s goaltender James Reimer, but the referees blew the whistle and after discussing it over, disallowed the goal.

However, Marc Eduard Vlasic and Brent Burns scored more goals that counted. Vlasic blasted a slap shot from near the face off circle after a great pass from Matt Nieto who spotted him open on the play. Brent Burns scored in front of the net assisted by Joe Thornton, and there was a wait between the time he scored and when the goal counted, as refereed discussed it between themselves. With loud boos from the crowd, and having disallowed Wingels’ goal just minutes before, they at last awarded the Sharks with the second goal.

The second period continued much like the first. Sharks had the puck more, they were playing with more desperation and they were creating all the chances. All this advantage resulted in two more goals. Tommy Wingels at last got the goal allowed, scoring his 15th on the season on a deflection from the shot by Justin Braun 6:54 into the period. Joe Pavelski got the Sharks lead to three goals when he scored just over a minute later, assisted by Joe Thornton, making it 4-1. Sharks had the chance to make the score even more in their favor, when they went on 5-on-3 power play towards the end of the second period for more than 90 seconds. But the players failed to produce a single shot during that stretch with 2-men advantage as Toronto killed off those penalties.

“We made adjustment or two between [first and second periods], and talked about using our energy, few more pucks to the net,” said Todd McLellan reflecting on what was the key turning point in the game. “Fortunately, [Toronto] played on their end a little bit longer. We had the short change. A lot of the times in the second period the long change is what’s talked about. When you’re on the offense, you have the short change, and can pin teams in. We were able to that.”

The third period seemed more like a formality at that point for the Sharks, having a three goal lead going into the third period. But they continued to play hard while rolling all four lines, and scoring goals – with Joe Pavelski and Marty Havlat getting on the scoreboard.

Besides the goals, the game also saw four fights, with Andrew Desjardins dropping the gloves twice – once against David Clarkson and the second time against Tim Gleason, while Mike Brown fought Troy Bodie early on in the game. Tommy Wingels earned his first “Gordy Howe” hat trick of the night (goal + assist + fight) in the third period when he fought Joffrey Lupul with three minutes left in the game.

Sharks will next play three games on the road, visiting Columbus, New York and Rhode Island before they return back to San Jose.

Sharks come back to beat the Penguins

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By Ivan Makarov

After losing to an Eastern Conference outsider Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at home, San Jose Sharks had a high mountain to climb against East’ top team Pittsburgh Penguins, who made a rare appearances at the SAP Center, where they were winless in the last 10 visits. Sharks made the best of their chances, and beat the Penguins 5-3 in what turned out to be one of the best games of the season.

It really felt like a playoffs atmosphere. Some of the best players in the game were on the ice on San Jose. The fans were loud. Both teams played hard and well. There were big hits and back and forth goals. The game had it all.

Sharks like to start well and get on board early when playing at home, attacking in waves, and taking home ice advantage. They did the opposite of that against the Penguins as the game began, allowing the visiting team to take 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

San Jose looked sloppy in the beginning, and when they do it against the offense that Pittsburg has, it can be costly. Olli Maatta scored the first goal in the game on a rebound near the crease after Tanner Glass took the shot and Antti Niemi was unable to control it.

Shortly after, Brent Burns took a roughing penalty, giving the visitors their first power play of the game. Penguins have the best power play in the league, and they capitalized right away, with Chris Kunitz scoring his 29th goal of the season on a pass from Evgeni Malkin.

Sharks did not get discouraged, and instead switched the game to the very physical one, taking advantage of its size and speed. That worked in their favor, as Penguins started to lose the puck more, and could not keep up with the fast transition game the Sharks were succeeding in.

“I thought that’s as physical as we’ve played in a while,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan after the game. “We were really engaged. And it’s not about running out of position and big hits. It’s about body position, playing on the inside, knocking people off 50-50 pucks, playing around the opposition’s net, even in front of the net. It’s nice to get rewarded for that type of effort.”

The key turning point in the game came towards the end of the second period. Still down 2-0, Justin Braun was credited with a goal after he shot the puck into the scrum in front of Penguins goal, as it went in off someone’s body. The goal was originally recorded to Adam Burrish, but the replays showed that he did not touch the puck before it went in.

Early in the third, Sharks were shorthanded when Patrick Marleau broke through and only had Evgeni Malkin to beat before getting a breakaway chance. Marleau tried but failed, only to be in the exact same position just second later – again just Malkin separating him from Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. This time Marleau succeeded and scored on a breakaway, which allowed the Sharks to tie the game at 2-2.

Only 19 seconds later Maatta scored another goal to give Penguins a lead. But it was short lived when Brent Burns tied the game again on the next shift on a pass by Joe Pavelski who found him all alone in front of the goal.

Sharks continued to press and hit all throughout the ice, and scored two more goals to seal the victory. Joe Thornton made it 4-3 when he scored a strange goal on a wrist shot from above the face-off circle as the puck took an odd trajectory towards the net. Brent Burns scored the last goal in the game on an empty net with just three seconds remaining.

“They were physical, and we did not get a lot of offensive zone time,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (who was -5 on the night) after the game. “They get speed through the neutral zone and they are able to create things with the speed and size that they have. We didn’t play enough in their end.”

Sharks made a good rebound against the Penguins and will look to build on that victory on Saturday when they host Montreal Canadians.