BUFFALO-The San Jose Sharks (38-17-6) were defeated by the Buffalo Sabers (18-34-8) 4-2 in a disappointing game at First Niagara Center on Friday. This was a game that San Jose normally a does not lose, as the Sabers entered the game with double the amount of losses as they had wins.
The Sharks never held a lead throughout the entire game. Buffalo took the early 1-0 advantage in the first period at 10:59 on the power play goal. Cody Hodgson knocked the puck into the net with a wrist shot on the power play. Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Meyers earned the assists on the play. The power play was set up for the Sabers because of a Tyler Kennedy holding penalty.
The Sharks tied the game in the second period at 9:38 after a goal from James Sheppard. The goal was Sheppard’s second of the season. The wrist shot that found the net was assisted by Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The rest of the frame was scoreless and the score remained 1-1 heading into the third and final period.
The third period was an offensive explosion for the Sabers as thy put up three goals, as the Sharks managed to just get one more on the board. Brian Flynn scored the first goal of the period to regain the lead for Buffalo. The next goal was scored by Matt Moulson. This goal extended the Sabers lead to 3-1, and eventually served as the game winning goal.
Meyers scored an empty net goal shortly after Patrick Marleau pulled the Sharks to within one goal with left than two minutes remaining.
The Sharks will be back on the ice on Sunday as they will be hosted by the New Jersey Devils. The puck will drop at 12 PM.
SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (37-16-6) defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-24-5) 3-2 at the SAP Center in San Jose on Friday night. The victory was just was the Sharks were looking for before heading into the Olympic break. Not only was it the last game before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but it was also Sharks head coach Todd McLellan’s franchise-record 435 game with San Jose.
The Sharks jumped out to the early advantage as they took the 1-0 lead at the 3:23 mark in the opening period. John McCarthy scored his first goal the year after he deflected the puck into the net after James Sheppard’s shot did not find the net.
San Jose’s fast start continued as they found themselves up 2-0 after another goal less than five minutes later. This time it was Patrick Marleau finding the net with a slapshot. Scott Hannan earned the assist on the play. The Sharks dominated early and finished the first period with a 2-0 advantage.
The lone goal of the second period came at 18 seconds as the Blue Jackets cut the deficit in half. Ryan Johansen scored the unassisted goal for his 24th goal on the season and pulled his team to within one. The rest of the period was played with very stout defenses and both respective teams could not find the net. The score remained 2-1 San Jose heading into the third and final period.
Tommy Wingels gave the Sharks their two goal lead right back early into the frame. At 5:11 Wingels knocked a back hand shot into the net. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers picked up the assists on the shot. The goal proved to be the eventual game winner as Columbus would tack on one more goal, but ultimately fall short 3-2 on Friday.
With the victory the Sharks finish at the break with 80 points, just five behind the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division.
“We would have been probably pleased with that at the beginning of the season. Considering some of the players we lost over and throughout the year, we go into the break satisfied. Coming out of it we have work to do,” said McLellan.
With the Sochi Olympics set take off, the Sharks will not be back on the ice until Thursday February 27th. San Jose will be Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia. The puck will drop at 4:00 P.M Pacific Standard Time.
San Jose Sharks have not been getting much offense lately from it’s top lines. After helping them win games all throughout the season, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau’s lines have been held mostly off the scoresheet in the past few games. They went scoreless again against Dallas Stars on Wednesday night at the SAP Center, but the Sharks went on to win 2-1 in overtime anyway due to the great game by Sharks third line, and yet another strong performance by Sharks backup goaltender Alex Stalock.
Marty Havlat and Tommy Wingels each scored a goal, while Alex Stalock made 20 saves to record his eighth win of this season.
“It was time for some other players to step up and score,” said pleased Sharks head coach Todd McLellan after the game. “To see Marty and Tommy both do it in one game is a good thing for our team.”
Havlat took part in both goals, which is good to see from someone who recorded no points in the last five games since he came back from a month long recovery from injury, and was largely invisible all season long.
“It feels nice to win the game,” said Havlat. “I don’t really care who scored the goal. But it’s nice to score the goal.”
Havlat scored a goal towards the end of the second period, as he redirected a puck from a pass made by Scott Hannan. Later on he assisted Wingels on the game winning overtime goal as Wingels skated towards the net.
“I came over the line and saw someone being late and was trying to make a play,” said Wingels. “It bounced on me, but we got the puck back. Hannan got open there, and knew that Marty was there. Marty made a good play when he slotted [the puck] across the crease to me and I shot it and it went in.”
Scott Hannan was also credited with the secondary assist on the first goal, and like Havlat, he ended the night with two points.
Overall, it was a pretty sloppy game, with not a lot of scoring chances, and both teams struggling to possess the puck and creating very little in terms of chances on their own power plays. Nonetheless, McLellan saw improvement in team’s play after a bad game on Monday against the Flyers.
“The team improved, pretty evidently,” he said commenting on the result. “You look at the game tonight and compare it to the Philadelphia game. It doesn’t mean that we were cleaner or faster or more polished. It’s just that the commitment level went up. We still got to improve.”
Sharks play one more time before the Winter Olympics break in the schedule when they host Columbus Blue Jackets at home on Friday.
Going into the Monday night matchup against Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center, San Jose Sharks did not lose to that team in 13 straight games, dating all the way back to December 21, 2000. The world was very different back then – we could bring liquids on the plane, there was no iPhone and the average price of gas was $1.65 per gallon.
The winning streak against the Flyers came to an end in one of the more disappointing performances by the home team. After beating the current Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks at home on Saturday, the Sharks showed the lack of consistency, focus and depth, and lost 5-2.
The only positive time for the Sharks came in the first period when Sharks showed speed and resiliency they are known for when playing at home this season, especially at the start of the game. They did allow the Flyers to score first on their power play, when Mark Streit put a slapshot past Antti Neimi while he was screened by Flyers’ forward Wayne Simmonds. But the Sharks came right back and tied the game three minutes later on their own power play. Matt Neito scored after a nifty pass from Tommy Wingels as he was the first to the puck after Matt Irwin dumped it inside the Flyers zone.
Matt Nieto didn’t stop there and recorded another goal five minutes later. During Sharks possession inside the Flyers zone he was able to skate away from coverage. As he received the pass from Brent Burns from the corner, he made a great individual play as he paused the puck to bring Steve Mason down and put the puck into the net.
But this is where positives ended for the Sharks.
Being up one goal, they seem to have been content to try to ride it until finish, but were unable to match Flyers energy and execution. They ended up keeping the lead all the way into the third period, but the visiting team dominance on the ice eventually translated into goals, as Flyers scored three in the first four minutes of the third period.
“Even in the first, I did not think we were very sharp as we needed to be,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “We broke the cardinal rule – when you get outworked and get outnumbered all over the rink – you’re going to lose. It’s as simple as that.”
Those punches were too much for Sharks to overcome, and they were unable to generate any sustained pressure, or chances on goal even after Sharks coaching staff replaced Antti Niemi in goal with Alex Stalock. The move did not shake up the team like it sometimes does, and the Flyers increased the lead to three goals with a couple of minutes remaining. It was obvious with what McLellan thought of team’s performance as he let third and fourth line finish off the game.
“I don’t have any other explanation or excuse for it,” he said after the game. “I thought [the Flyers] were harder than we were, in all facets of the game – the goaltender, the blue line, 5-on-5, special teams. They were just a better team. It’s disappointing.”
Sharks still have a chance to rebound before the Olympic break in the schedule that starts after the game on Friday, and they’ll look to do just that when they host Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (35-15-6) defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks (33-10-14) 2-1 in a shootout at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. Another sellout crowd at SAP witnessed a tough physical battle against the defending champions. There was no score until the third period.
The first two period of the contest was a defensive struggle as both teams remained scoreless. The game was a tough physical contest with hard hits coming from both respective teams. Both teams had there chances to score but could not come up with a goal to take an early advantage.
The first score of the game came from the Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, his 29th goal of the season. Scott Hannan assisted on the score. Pavelski’s goal came at 6:10 in the period as he broke away on a short handed goal to take the 1-0 advantage.
It came as no surprise that Chicago didn’t take long to tie up the game as Brandon Saad scored past Antti Niemi 1:03 later to tie the game at one. Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa assisted on the game tying goal.
After a scoreless five minute overtime period, the game went into a sudden death shootout. The Sharks converted all three shootout opportunities against Chicago’s one to take the 2-1 victory. Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Thornton scored in the shootout.
The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday as they will host the Philadelphia Flyers. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM.
There are two droughts going on in California right now. The first is a severe drought caused by the lack of rain in California this winter. The second drought is the scoring drought that the Sharks are experiencing right now. The Sharks, playing on consecutive nights, lost to the Calgary Flames
Thursday night by a score of 4-1. The Sharks did not score in the first two periods of the game and had gone scoreless in their last eight periods of play. The Sharks did get on the scoreboard early in the third period when Eriah Hayes scored his first goal in the NHL.
The Sharks were clearly out skated in the first period by the Flames. The Flames took an early 1-0 when Lee Stempniak beat Stalock on a rebound. Defenseman Dan Boyle could not establish good body position in front of the net and that allowed Stempniak to put the puck past Alex Stalock. There was no more scoring in the period and Calgary outshot the Sharks 12-8.
The Flames took a 2-0 lead with 3:38 played in the second period. The Flames shot the puck off the boards behind the net and the puck bounced out to Flames’ defenseman Mark Giordano who put it the net for the score.
The Sharks made it a 2-1 games with just 36 seconds played in the third period. Eriah Hayes, playing on the second line, scored his first NHL goal beating Flames’goalie Karri Ramo on the short side and putting the puck into the top corner of the net. Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels assisted on the play. Try as they might, the Sharks could do no more as they looked fatigued both mentally and physically. The Flames took a two goal lead when nineteen year old rookie Sean Monahan scored his fifteenth goal of the year with just seven minutes left to play in the game. The goal was very similar to the Flames second score. The puck bounced off the boards behind the net and Joe Colborne passed it to Monahan who the put the puck by Stalock. The Flames scored their fourth goal of the night into an empty net.
Notes- This is the second time this year that the Sharks have lost three games in a row in regulation.
Alex Stalock made 26 saves while allowing three goals while Karri Ramo stopped 27 shots and let one go by him.
Coach Todd McLellan said after the game that the lack of scoring “was a big concern for us.” He also said that the Sharks “need some other players to pick up the slack.” He was referring to the fact that the two top lines had accounted for most of the scoring. He also said that “we have a lot of talent.’ but that “our team was tired.”
The Sharks return to home to play four more games before the break for the Olympic games. They meet the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night at the SAP Center at 7:30.
SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (34-12-6) hosted the Minnesota Wild (28-20-6) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. The Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Wild 3-2 in Overtime. Joe Thornton scored two goals, including the game winner in Overtime at 3:30. The sellout crowd of 17,562 witnessed a great game in the Overtime thriller.
Matt Cooke gave Minnesota the early 1-0 lead when he scored his eighth goal of the season. Brad Stuart missed a pass and the puck deflected off the boards and Cooke scooped up the loose puck and put it past Annti Niemi at 9:33 for the unassisted score.
Keith Ballard scored his first goal of the season and his first score in 115 games to extend the Wild’s lead to 2-0 at 4:16 in the second period. The assists were earned by Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville.
The Sharks got on the board midway through the second period with a goal from Joe Thornton. Thornton scored his seventh goal of the season on a check shot that flew in the upper right corner of the net. Joe Pavelski and Matt Irwin assisted at 11:12 to cut the lead in half at 2-1.
Less than one minute later San Jose tied the game after Patrick Marleau knocked a wrist shot into the net at 12:01 Tommy Wingels and Irwin earned the assists on the game tying goal.
The third period was a defensive struggle as both teams were held scoreless and the score remained tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.
Thornton hit the game winning shot at 3:30 to carry the Sharks to a victory, their 34th victory of the season. Pavelski passed the puck to Thornton in the left circle where slapped a bullet into the net for the game clinching goal.
The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM.
TAMPA BAY-The San Jose Sharks (31-12-6) defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning (28-16-5) 5-4 on Saturday in Florida. The Lightning were up 4-2 at one point but could not hold off a late Sharks rally to hang on for the victory. San Jose rallied behind Joe Pavelski and his three goals to complete the come-from behind win.
Martin St. Louis was outstanding for Tampa Bay. St. Louis scored four goals in a game for the first time in his career and was the first Lightning player to do so since 1992. Pavelski stole the show from St. Louis and the home crowd in Tampa with his three goals in a span of 6:12 that happened late in the second period.
The Sharks opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal from Matt Nieto, who scored on a wrist shot at 9:46. The goal was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingles. St. Louis scored all three goals for the Lightning in the opening frame, completing his eighth career hat trick in less than 20 minutes. Marleau also scored on wrist shot for the only other San Jose goal in the first period. Nieto and Wingles assisted on the goal to earn another point on the night.
St. Louis scored his fourth goal of the game at 2:07 in the second period to extend the lead to 4-2 for Tampa Bay. The slapshot goal from the eventual first star of the game was assisted by Teddy Purcell and Tyler Johnson. The goal was the last score for the Lightning as the game was controlled by Pavelski late in the same frame.
Pavelski scored his first goal at 12:48 on a wrist shot that found the net. Tyler Kennedy and Jason Demers both contributed an assist on the play. Less than 30 seconds later Pavelski scored on another wrist shot to tie the game at 4-4 on his 24th goal of the season. This time it was Dan Boyle and Marleau getting appointed the assists. With exactly one minute remaining in the period, Pavelski’s last goal was made with his third wrist shot. The score made it 5-4 San Jose, and the score remained that way throughout the contest.
The Sharks played great defense in the third and final period, as Antti Niemi pitched a shutout in the last period. The win gave the Sharks their 31st win on the season. San Jose will be back on the ice on Monday January 20, 2014 to take on the Calgary Flames at the SAP Center in San Jose. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.
SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (28-12-6) hosted the Boston Bruins (29-14-2) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. San Jose was handed a rare loss at home as they fell 1-0 to Boston. The loss dropped the Sharks home record to 16-2-3. San Jose had not lost at home December 10, 2013 against the New York Islanders. That loss came via a shootout. Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask, pitched a shutout and recorded 26 saves on the night.
Antti Niemi played stellar all night recording 22 saves on the night, but one got past him in the third and final period, the lone goal of the game. Niemi played well throughout the entire game and kept Boston off of the board until Carl Soderberg scored a goal at 12:25 in the final period.
The first two periods of the game were a defensive showcase as both teams played extremely well and held the offenses scoreless for a little over the first 47 minutes of the contest.
Both teams had opportunities to put the puck in the net but great play from both goaltenders prevented that from happening. The Sharks seemed to play better in the first period, and the Bruins seems to have outplayed the Sharks in the second period. Either way both teams failed to get the goose egg off of the scoreboard until the third period.
Ultimately, Rask played slightly better than Niemi as Soderberg was able to push across the lone goal of the game midway through the third and final period. It was Soderberg’s sixth goal of the season. Soderberg knocked in the wrist shot with assists from Loui Eriksson and Ryan Spooner.
The Sharks will be back on the ice on Tuesday as they will travel to Washington to take on the Capitals.
SAN JOSE, CA – JANUARY 9: Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings during an NHL game on January 9, 2014 at SAP Center in San Jose, California. (Photo by Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Ivan Makarov
San Jose Sharks have been very successful against Detroit Red Wings ever since Todd McLellan took over the head coaching responsibilities at the start of the 2008/2009 NHL season, including defeating them twice in Stanley Cup playoffs. The streak of victories continued on Thursday back at SAP Center when Detroit made their only stop of the season in San Jose. Sharks got off to an early lead, and never let the game get away from them, finishing the game with a 4-1 victory.
“We have success against certain teams, and against other teams, like LA, we have stats where we haven’t won in a while,” said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle. “We’ve been successful against Detroit for 5-6 years now. I can’t explain it. It’s easy to get up to play against them, and we’ve been playing well.”
Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks, and Dan Boyle and Andrew Desjardins added to the score for the home team, while Tomas Tatar got the only goal for the visitors. Antti Niemi earned his 23rd victory of the season while making 24 saves on 25 shots.
Sharks started like they usually do at the SAP Center – scoring a goal in the first five minute of the game. Joe Pavelski continued his hot streak of goals, scoring his 20th at 4:59 mark in the first period, after he got a pass from his center Joe Thornton, who had the puck on the wing, and paused to wait for Little Joe to open up.
Pavelski went on to score again later in the game, when Sharks were ahead by a goal, and made it 3-1 on a Sharks power play showing great skill as the puck bounced to him when he was parked just to the right of Howard. With Detroit goaltender laying on the ice after making a safe, Sharks forward stopped the puck and sent it top shelf to score his 21st goal of the season, taking the lead in goals on the team from Patrick Marleau.
Things are working out well for Pavelski, who now has 12 goals in his last 15 games, in addition to four assists. What’s working well for him?
“I’ve been around the net a little bit, got some big goals, got lucky at times, and playing with some good players,” said Pavelski after the game. “I am playing with some good players. We are getting multiple looks throughout the night. Between Burnzie and me, we are getting a lot to the net and Jumbo is making all the passes. The power play is starting to click a little bit, so it all adds up.”
“He’s been really good,” said Todd McLellan about Pavelski’s recent performance. “We need to keep him this way. When team needs him, he seems to elevate his game. That’s a sign of a really good player. Playing with the two players that he does, he just needs to get himself into he right spot and find pucks. He took advantage of it again.”
Detroit did score to tie the game when Sharks were only up by one as the Slovak Tomas Tatar capitalized on defensive miscues inside the Sharks zone when Marc-Eduard Vlasic got caught without a stick in front of the net. Detroit’s left wing read the situation well, dropped back as he skated from behind the Sharks net he buried the shot top shelf.
Sharks put the game out of Detroit’s reach in the second period by scoring three goals on the 14 shots, which sealed the deal for them. Third period saw the Sharks turn on their defensive attention, but it was not the most exciting of periods, with shots being 5-3 in favor of the Sharks. The game got chippy at the end, and referrees assessed 12 penalties in the last 5 minutes of the game.
Sharks improved their record to 28-11-6 and are still second in the Pacific division. They are next facing Boston Bruins at home on Saturday.
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