Tag: San Jose Sharks

Sharks rebound against Oilers

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 02: Bracken Kearns #38 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammates after he scored a goal against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center on January 2, 2014 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA – JANUARY 02: Bracken Kearns #38 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammates after he scored a goal against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center on January 2, 2014 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — After splitting the series against their division rival Anaheim Ducks with a win and a loss, and ending it on a bad note, having suffered 6-3 loss in their last game, San Jose Sharks looked to redeem themselves against Edmonton Oilers back in San Jose on Thursday night. Coach Todd McLellan even addressed the team after a big loss, hoping to send a message to the team after allowing six goals.

San Jose proved they are a better team than Edmonton both through how they played and on the scoreboard, rebounding after poor play in Southern California on New Years Eve. Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau, Bracken Kearns, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks, while Nail Yakupov scored for the Oilers in what ended as the home team sailed to a comfortable 5-1 win.

The game was never close, as Sharks got up 4-0 lead before the game was even half way over. They played a good game for most of the 60 minutes, and were all smiles in the locker room after the game – both the players and the coaches.

“We were ready to go as soon as the puck dropped,” said Sharks captain Joe Thornton. “For a full 60 we kept the pressure on and dictated a pace of the game. We are a team that when we lose one, we’d like to get back to the next one. We proved that tonight.”

Todd McLellan was likewise positive after the game, saying he felt his message after the loss to the Anahaim got through to the players. “Our role players played pretty good roles tonight. You saw shots blocked. There was some physicality. They won battles. We checked well, so that was a good sign. Then the go-to offensive guys were productive as well. It was a good effort.”

Sharks did not get the quick goals like they used to in many home games this season to kick things off, as they looked a bit rusty in the very beginning. But things started to click for them as the first period progressed. Sharks had no trouble entering the zone and setting up, and the goals came with time.

Brent Burns scored his 13th goal of the season at 14:37 mark after receiving a good setup from Joe Pavelski who saw Burns wide open to his right. Shortly after that goal, Patrick Marleau made it 2-0 as he stripped the puck from Nail Yakupov, whose defensive struggles are well documented this season by the media and his league worst -25 stat this season before this game. Sharks former captain zipped right past the Oilers defense and capped the play with a hard wrist shot past Devan Dubnyk.

Oilers did not put too much fight after that, but the Sharks kept pushing forward and had most of the scoring chances, which resulted in two more goals. Bracken Kearns continued his hot streak, scoring his third goals in just four games in the second period at 7:18 mark.

A minute later another defensive misread in the neutral zone gave Logan Couture a chance to shine on a clear breakaway, and also to continue his scoring streak at three games in a row. Sharks forward picked up the speed, and left Dubnyk no chance to make a save with his signature wrister into the top corner.  That kind of a goal came timely for Logan, as Team Canada is finalizing their roster for the Winter Olympic game in Sochi, which will be announced next Tuesday, with Logan no doubt improving his chances to make the team with plays like this.

Oilers went on to score on Antti Niemi as the embattled Yakupov made it 4-1 towards the end of the second period on a wrist shot in front of Antti Niemi. Russian forward celebrated his seventh goal of the season with quite the passion, getting on his knee and fist pumping. But Sharks are one of the best home teams in the league this season, and they just kept on doing what worked for them all game long – good forecheck, physical game, fast transitions and solid defense against young but struggling Edmonton team. That turned out to be enough to score another goal later in the third period, and seal 5-1 victory.

Sharks will play the next three games on the road in Denver, Nashville and Chicago before returning to face the Red Wings at home.

Ducks win New Year’s Eve battle

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports)

By Pearl Allison Lo

 

ANAHEIM– Matt Belesky’s goal was the first consecutive goal for either team as the Ducks left for New Year’s Eve celebrations with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Belesky’s goal came at 18:30 of the second period, as he was aided by Nick Bonino, who had just scored about three and a half minutes earlier.

Anaheim’s now 15-0-2 record at home is their best such start in franchise history, as they snapped the Sharks’ four-game winning streak after losing to them Sunday.

San Jose’s Logan Couture commented, “We didn’t play very well tonight, you know, the second period, we were awful, one of the worst periods for our season, if not the worst…”

The 5-on-5 on ice with two players in the box became a 5-on-4 when the Sharks’ Matt Irwin was called for holding at 5:38 of the first period.

The Ducks’ Kyle Palmieri scored the first and lone goal of the period at 16:24, aided by Beleskey and Cam Fowler.

Antti Niemi made consecutive saves against Anaheim’s Corey Perry with just over 2:47 left in the period. As the first shot bounced off Niemi, Niemi’s second save became a glove catch from straightaway.

Perry then had a slashing penalty with 15 seconds to go to give San Jose a power play.

After a faceoff with about 14.7 seconds left, Couture thought the puck went in the net but it bounced off the goal post and then after a teammate’s missed attempt, Patrick Marleau got the rebound off Jonas Hiller and put the puck inside. However, the goal went under review and it was ruled that time expired before Marleau made the shot.

The Sharks made up for it though by scoring 35 seconds into the second period to tie the game. Dan Boyle was helped by Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton on the continuing power play.

A bouncing puck on top of the net as Niemi tried to find it and Boyle tried to prevent the puck from going in, almost led to an own goal.

The Ducks thought they scored later near the net but Niemi was able to stop the puck with his leg against the goal post.

Anaheim ended up outshooting San Jose 25-8 in the second period, after the Sharks outshot the Ducks 17-8 in the first.

Francois Beauchemin’s first goal of the season put Anaheim up 2-1 at 11:00 of the second. It was the third attempt by the team during the possession and went between Niemi’s legs. Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg assisted on the play.

About a minute and a half later, Couture switched stick sides and then aimed at the top of the net to retie the game, aided by Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Ducks scored on the power play when Bonino was able to go around Niemo’s leg. Getzlaf and Fowler got their second assists of the game with Bonino’s goal to make it 3-2. This would be the first of four straight goals for Anaheim.

Before Beleskey’s goal, Thornton had an empty net but Ben Lovejoy was able to come up from behind and block Thornton with his stick.

Getzlaf got into a semi-breakaway and shot off the goal post and into the net to make it 5-2 at 1:14 of the third period. This gave him his fourth career 20-goal season and took Niemi out of the game.

Down shorthanded about 15 seconds later, Saku Koivu went into a clean breakway about a minute into San Jose’s power play. Koivu’s shot missed and Andrew Cogliano scored off the rebound against Alex Stalock, Niemi’s replacement.

The Sharks scored their second power play less than a minute later. Bracken Kearns got his second goal in two games against the Ducks as he tipped in Matt Irwin’s shot from the blue line in front of the net.

 

Game notes: Cogliano has started 500 straight NHL games, the fifth to do so in NHL history. San Jose starts the New Year playing the Edmonton Oilers January 2 at 7:30pm.

 

Joe Thornton, Power Play Ease Absence of Hertl

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, CA – On a day when Sharks fans received coal in their stockings it was a man known for his beard, larger-than-life figure and propensity for giving to others that delivered a present to San Jose fans. With the news that rookie-phenom, Youtube sensation and dream aficionado Tomas Hertl would require surgery on his knee, injured on a knee-on-knee hit by Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown last Thursday, Jumbo Joe delivered a Sharks victory over the red-hot Colorado Avalanche in a 5-4 shootout at the SAP Center Monday night. Jolly Old Saint Joe erased any fears of a dip in production without his usual running mate, wrapping up the second-straight Sharks win in games without Hertl with a bow on top.

The Sharks captain finished the night with what should be called a Joe Thornton hat trick, assisting on three of San Jose’s four regulation goals in 20:22 of ice time. His second assists of the night, coming on line-mate Brent Burns’ tenth goal of the season was an absolute work of art. Thornton curled along the boards to shake an Avalanche skater before feeding a streaking Burns with a backhand pass to the tape of Burns’ stick. Burns fired the trigger in the slot point-black to tie the game.

It’s not the first time Burns has been the prime beneficiaries of Thornton’s play this season, notching 19 points (10g, 9A) in just 24 games while skating primarily on a line with the Captain but it’s rookie Hertl’s chemistry with the two veteran forwards that had people taking notice. The youngster established himself as an offensive force with 15 goals already this season on the left wing beside Thornton and Burns. Now the Sharks, already struggling for offense amidst power play woes and a Logan Couture scoring slump faced the quandary of replacing another potent offensive weapon.

“I think you’ve seen it, we’re confident in our group,” said Brent Burns. “We have a lot of elite skill. Sometimes it’s just about switching it up.”

Coach Todd McLellan held open auditions to fill Hertl’s vacancy on the top trio on Saturday, shuffling lines in the Sharks 3-2 shootout defeat of the visiting Dallas Stars. While Jumbo Joe scored the game-winner in the skills competition Saturday, the more promising sign that the Sharks could sustain the loss of Hertl is Thornton’s connection with Joe Pavelski.

“He’s playing well,” praised Thornton of the Plover, Wisconsin Native. “He finds himself in front of the net wide open. He just has such a nice shot. Tonight he just complemented me and Burns so well. He’s such a smart player, he’s feeling it right now.”

How sizzling is Pavelski? Twice Pavelski and Thornton have combined to produce points in the standings out of nothing Pavelski received a Thornton pass for a dramatic goal to force a shoot-out Saturday night then again Monday the Thornton to Pavelski connected on late-game heroics, with diminutive Joe tying the game with Antti Niemi pulled and 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

“Pavs has been a real clutch player over the past two weeks,” said McLellan. “He’s the go-to guy. He’s been getting it done. We’re happy for him and we’re happy for us.”

McLellan is likely more satisfied with the sudden gelling of a power play that was empty on its last 13 opportunities. McLellan scrapped the stagnant groupings of five and introduced two new power play units Monday night, with the results paying immediate dividends to the tune of a 2-for-4 clip. Jason Demers and Matt Irwin each cashed in on man-advantage opportunities, with both blue liners scoring from point shots with traffic in front.

“That’s the reason, pretty much, why you win or lose in the NHL right now,” said Thornton. ”Your penalty kill has to be good and your power play has to be good. Our power play hasn’t been very good but we’ve been able to win a couple games without it but it’s something we needed.”

Other than recapping the play of the evening, McLellan played coy with the media regarding the more difficult questions regarding player confidence.

“It’s Christmas, let’s all go home and enjoy it,” ended McLellan. “I’ll answer those questions when we come back.”

Sharks win a thriller against the Avs

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Ever since San Jose Sharks played Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs series back in in the 2010 Stanley Cup, the games between the two teams had a rivalry feel to them. They were often packed with big hits, fights and back and forth scoreboard. The next matchup at SAP Center on Monday night was no exception, and had all that. The Sharks came out on top against the Avs, winning their ninth straight at home against them, this time by the score of 5-4 in a shootout.

Colorado Avalanche is a young team on the rise. Having not qualified for a playoffs spot since that series against the Sharks almost four years ago, they were rebuilding through lottery picks in the NHL draft, including picking up Nathan MacKinnon as the first overall pick last summer (he went on to score in the game). They also went through a coaching switch, hiring their former player and a hockey legend Patrick Roy who made his NHL head coaching debut this season. All the changes are now paying off, as Colorado were just two points behind the Sharks in the stranding coming into this game.

Avs got the first lead in the game. Their rookie McKinnon scored his eighth goal of the season to break the scoring in the game half way through the first period, with a wrist shot on the power play. Sharks’ Jason Demers tied the game three minutes later, also on the power play, scoring with a big heavy slap shot from just above the face-offs circle as Joe Thornton laid a great pass for him.

Colorado took the next lead in the game, with their captain Gabe Landeskog scoring at the end of the first period, capitalizing on a fast transition, leaving him wide open in front of Antti Niemi, who was unable to react in time. That’s how these new Avs play – counter attacking, and moving the puck fast throughout the ice. That left the game 2-1 in favor of the visiting team, going into the first intermission.

Besides the exciting action, the game also featured two fights in that period. First Mike Brown knocked out Cody McLeod with repeated punches, sending his opponent to the dressing room with blood all over his face. Few minutes after that former Shark Jamie McGinn dropped the gloves with Brad Stuart to get the crowd even more riled up.

Sharks came back firing on all cylinders in the second period. They played faster, more focused and went to the net at every opportunity. The increased pressure resulted in two goals – one by Brent Burns and another one by Cody Irwin – both from the top of the face-off circles. The home team did not give much room for the Avs to come back either, and Joe Thornton said after the game that he thought that the Sharks played the best single period of the whole season, as they took 3-2 lead going into the third period.

It seemed as if the Sharks would finish the game with a victory as the game was winding down, but that’s not how the Avalanche saw it. They not only tied the game with less than two minutes left, but took 4-3 lead scoring just 12 second after the tying goal. San Jose pulled the goaltender for an extra skater, and climbed back into the game on a goal by Joe Pavelski.

Sharks could have ended the game in overtime, getting a golden 4-on-3 power play opportunity, but came up empty, taking the game into a shootout.

Antti Niemi stopped all his two tries by McKinnon and Matt Douchene, while Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau scored on their tries, letting the Sharks earn the extra point over their opponent.

While it was frustrating for the team and for the Sharks coach Todd McLellan to end the third period like that, the fact that they came back and still won the game helped them go on a short Christmas break in a happier mood.

“A wild finish,” said McLellan describing the game. “It’s disappointing that we couldn’t hold on, for whatever reason. You saw it in the third – we went on our heels. We didn’t back off. To come back and respond with a goaltender pulled, it alleviates some of that.”

The Sharks next travel to Phoenix where they take on another divisional rival Phoenix Coyotes on Friday.

Sharks beat Stars in shootout

Published on by philliptorres2013Leave a comment
SAN JOSE, CA - DECEMBER 21: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammages after he scored the winning goal in an overtime shoot-out against the Dallas Stars at SAP Center on December 21, 2013 in San Jose, California. The Sharks won the game 3-2. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 21: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammages after he scored the winning goal in an overtime shoot-out against the Dallas Stars at SAP Center on December 21, 2013 in San Jose, California. The Sharks won the game 3-2. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (22-8-6) hosted the Dallas Stars (17-12-6) on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. This exciting thriller was worth the price of admission as it took a Joe Thornton goal in the fifth round of a shootout to decide the winner. The Sharks came away with the 3-2 victory as they rallied late to earn the W.

San Jose fell behind early as Ray Whitney and Antoine Roussel scored the first two goals in the game to take the early 2-0 advantage. Jason Demers put San Jose on the board at 11 :47 in the second period. Demers slapshot goal was his first goal of the season with assists from Tyler Kennedy and Andrew Desjardins.

Joe Pavelski tied the game up at 2-2 with his 14th foal of the season at 4:24 in the third and final period. Pavelski scored on a nice backhand shot. Thornton and Marc Edouard Vlasic.

Thornton scored the lone goal in the shootout and gave San Jose just its fourth win in December. The Sharks will be back on the ice Monday as they will host the Colorado Avalanche. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.

Sharks Lose to Kings 4-1, Hertl Injured

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

LOS ANGELES- It appears that the Visitor’s Curse still haunts the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center. The mischievous spirit might even be getting more violent. Thursday night, the Sharks lost to the Kings by a score of 4-1. They also lost star forward and rookie Tomas Hertl to a knee-on-knee hit from LA’s Dustin Brown. How long the team will be without Hertl is not yet clear.

The fact that the Kings won was not at all out of the ordinary for these teams, the home team has won going back 15 games now. What was unusual was the score: 4-1. It has been some time since a game between these two ended with such a lopsided result. Patrick Marleau, playing his 1200th NHL game, scored the only Sharks goal.

McLellan made a couple of lineup changes for Thursday’s game, including moving Martin Havlat to the second line with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. He put Scott Hannan back in, paired with Brad Stuart. He also put Tyler Kennedy in, on the fourth line with Mike Brown and Andrew Desjardins.

The first penalty of the game went to the Kings at 3:25, to Drew Doughty for holding. The Sharks had several good chances, a couple that looked like dead certainties (one for Couture, another for Irwin) but they missed. The Kings had a good short-handed chance late in the penalty but Niemi gloved it.

The Sharks lost a lot of races to the Kings in the first period. Dump-ins were about as effective as turnovers. As a result, the Sharks were outshot through most of the period, though by the end of it they were only behind 13-11.

With a minute left in the period, the Kings’ Dustin Brown collided with Tomas Hertl just inside the Sharks’ zone. The knee-on-knee hit earned him a five minute major. Hertl left the ice hobbling. During the ensuing delayed penalty, Brent Burns earned a penalty for interference. The teams finished the period playing 4-on-4. James Sheppard was tapped to fill in for Tomas Hertl on the Thornton line.

The second period started with the teams still at 4-on-4, and when Burns’ penalty expired the Sharks still had over 2:30 left on the man advantage. The Sharks finally found a way to sustain pressure, but two good chances in close and an Irwin shot off the post were all the Sharks had to show for the power play.

The Kings’ goaltender Martin Jones was very good, but the Sharks were unable to take advantage of the second chances they did create. As McLellan said before the game, how well Jones has played was not the Sharks’ biggest challenge:

I think for our group it’s more about preparing to face six players rather than one goaltender. The five others that are on the ice do a tremendous job for them defensively and they position themselves well around the net, it allows the goaltender to feel comfortable and make a lot of saves. They’ve been successful playing that way. It’s not just the guy wearing the pads, it’s the other five that you’ve got to beat as well.

The first goal of the game came at 5:26 of the second, scored from above the left circle by the Kings’ Alec Martinez, with an assist to Tyler Toffoli. The goal came from a shot made possible when the Sharks failed to clear the puck or control it despite several tries. At least three, maybe four Sharks touched it in the defensive zone before Martinez got it.

Joe Thornton was called for holding against Anze Kopitar at 9:03. Despite starting in their own zone, the Sharks’ penalty killers (including Mike Brown now) cleared the puck five times and even got a couple of short-handed shots off. As soon as the power play expired, however, Slava Voynov made a clean pass from the Kings’ zone, right onto Tyler Toffoli’s stick at the Sharks’ blue line. He skated in and put a shot in the far corner to give the Kings a 2-0 lead.

An impressive series of saves by Martin Jones was punctuated by three inexplicably failed shots from Sharks Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels. Wingels even tried from both sides of the net, and he almost poked it in behind Jones but the rookie goaltender twisted around and stopped it with his glove.

During the second period, the teams were even in shots at ten, with total shots being 23-20 for the Kings. Of course, the 2-0 score was more significant, especially since the Kings had not lost when leading after the second since March 30.

Instead of challenging that pattern, the Sharks gave up another goal 36 seconds into the third period. Jeff Carter was given far too much time in the Sharks’ zone, and an ill-advised slide to block a shot left Niemi alone with one of the better shots in the league. Assists went to Dwight King and Robyn Regehr.

The Sharks drew another penalty when Jake Muzzin pushed Martin Havlat into the boards from behind. From camera distance, Havlat didn’t appear injured but he was certainly shoved from behind. He was out playing a shift later on the second power play unit.

The Kings killed the penalty off, and then they scored again. This time it was Dwight King’s goal, with the assists going to Carter and Regehr.

The Sharks got another chance on the power play when Mike Richards went to the box for high-sticking at 6:37. As soon as the penalty expired, the Kings went the other way 3 on 2, but didn’t score.

With just over two minutes left in the game, San Jose’s second line made it in to the Kings’ zone and Marleau scored his 16th of the season. A lone assist went to Martin Havlat.

The final shot count was preposterously even at 32 for each team. The Sharks’ power play went 0-4, their penalty kill was 1-0.

The Sharks play their next game at home on Saturday against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop at 7:30 pm.

Sharks power play sinks the Wild

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

Sharks were looking for answers to the questions about their recent struggles after they lost four in the row. They found these answers on Thursday back at SAP Center against Minnesota Wild. The key to overcoming those struggles, as it turned out, was a great game from special teams.

Sharks power play shined against the Wild, and was credited with all the three goals of the night after going 3 for 6 on their attempts. On the other side of the ice, Sharks penalty kill was perfect, killing all three attempts they faced while stopping eighth power play unit in the league.

“I think we obviously found the work ethic on the power play,” said Joe Pavelski after the game where he scored two. “It certainly didn’t look pretty, but we’ve taken more shots, and got a lot more pucks back, and feel a lot better now.”

The game started well for the Sharks, like it often did this season ay home. With Wild taking penalties, Joe Pavelski scored a power play goal at 5:54 mark in the first period. After passing the puck along the boards, Dan Boyle found Pavelski with the pass at the top of the face off circle. Pavelski shot it Iow and it went into the goal after hitting one of the players in the crease and going between Niklas Backstrom’s pads.

Wild did not stop taking penalties in that period, and with their fourth penalty in that stretch of the game, they gave the Sharks 5-on-3 power play for 1:30. Sharks could not score with the two men advantage, but still had 30 second to play on one man advantage. It was at that time that Tomas Hertl put one into the net. The goal came as a result of a great individual play from Tommy Wingels who kept the puck from clearing, powered his way towards the net and passed it to Hertl who was wide open in the front.

Wild got into more penalty trouble in the second period. One of the key moments in game happened when Zenon Konopka was sent into the penalty box with a double minor for high sticking. Sharks scored again, with Joe Pavelski earning his second goal of the night, as he picked up the rebound neat the crease and put it past Nicklas Backstrom’s who was stretched out on the ice after making a save.

With the three goal lead, the Sharks put themselves into defensive mode, and their penalty kill had to work hard to protect the lead after Wild were awarded several power plays. None of them were as important as when Tomas Hertl was sent into the box, earning his first NHL penalty for a holding against Jonas Brodin. Wild were all over the Sharks in their zone, and with Brad Stuart breaking his stick, it looked a lot like 5-on-3 for a while. Sharks fought hard, and were able to stop the Wild from scoring, keeping their advantage to three goals. Hertl made a great play as well coming out of the box, as he chased after the puck, preventing an icing call on the play, and allowing his tired teammates to change.

“[That play by Hertl] was huge,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “He comes out of the penalty box, we got the clear, both teams are exhausted, so to have them get the line change with us already having used our time out and having have to continue. That was a pretty big and important point.”

Minnesota Wild finally broke their scoring drought in the third period when Brodin scored in front of the net on a deflected shot that was taken by Justin Fontaine at 12:36 mark in the third period. But their effort came a little too late and the Sharks were able to defend their lead and win the game.

With the victory, the Sharks ended their 4-game losing streak, and no doubt added confidence in their special teams ability, which was not consistent in the last few weeks. They are next back in action on the three game road trip that starts on Saturday in Nashville, followed by games in St Louis and Los Angeles.

Sharks skid continues against the Islanders

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
By Ivan Makarov
San Jose Sharks returned to California after a disappointing four game road trip where they won just once. They hoped to turn things around playing at home where they won the last five games. Instead, their skid continued, as they allowed a third period breakdown, the Islanders come back, and their opponent’s win in the shootout.
The Islanders were in the middle of the losing streak themselves, having lost the last 10 games. However, solid play from their netminder and a great third period helped them break through and finally win.
A key turning point happened early in the third period. Sharks were up 2-0, but it became a one goal game just 51 second after the play began. Tomas Vanek scored by finding the puck in the crease after Antti Niemi was unable to freeze the puck after the shot by John Tavares who was near the crease after a great individual effort and drawing all defense to him.
New York went on to tie the game with less than two minutes left in regulation with an extra skater on the ice after their goaltender was pulled. John Tavares won the face-off inside the Sharks zone against Joe Pavelski and Kyle Okposo put one into the net. Antti Niemi was screened on that play by the Islander players and didn’t appear to see the shot coming.
“He lost it clean,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan about Pavelski’s play. [Islanders] scored short side high. You’d like to get beat by a different shot. You’d like to be in the shooting lane. But it was a draw like that, and they got one freebie and they made it count.”
It was an even game in overtime, with NY having the slight advantage and the best scoring chance. With 1:16 remaining in overtime, Antti Niemi saved the game with a stretch glove save after a breakaway attempt by Brock Nelson. This was a great save in the very important moment of the game, taking it to the shootout.
Logan Couture scored on his shootout chance but Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle didn’t. Kyle Okposo became a hero again, scoring on his attempt after Boyle missed, and winning the game for his team.
There were still positives in that game despite the outcome.
The power play looked dangerous and was credit with the first goal. Patrick Marleau scored his 14th goal of the season after a rebound he picked up inside the face-off circle.
Joe Pavelski found the net for the first time in seven games, scoring Sharks’ second goal. Sharks’ center played aggressively on the forecheck, helping the puck stay inside Islanders zone and forcing a turnover. As he picked up the puck, he passed it back towards the blue line where Dan Boyle was skating by himself. Boyle shot the puck on the net, Poulin made the save, but it bounced back to Pavelski who put it inside the open net. This was Pavelski’s 10th goal on the season.
Sharks also had a great start in the game, outshooting the Islanders 18-3 in the first period, and outshooting them overall 48-28.
But in the end, it was losing key battles at the start and the end of the third period that cost them the win.
“Whether or not we deserved [the outcome], we ended up with it,” said McLellan. “I thought we started the game very well. I thought we got a little lose in the second period and decided we wanted to trade chances, giving up some odd number rushes. We gave up a goal in the first minute and the last minute of the third. … Our top line right now is getting beat, along with the goaltender, and it has to improve.”
They will be back in action on Thursday at SAP Center against Minnesota Wild.
Games Notes
  • The Islanders played game four of their five-game road trip in San Jose. It was the first of two meetings between the clubs this season.
  • Evgeni Nabokov was back to SAP Center, although did not dress up for the game due to injury. He was given a loud ovation during the first period when video board played his highlights from the time he was a San Jose Shark.
  • Two Sharks players registered multi-point nights: Patrick Marleau (1-1=2) andDan Boyle (0-2=2).
  • Patrick Marleau is now in sole possession of 77th place on the all-time goal scoring list (418 career goals).
  • Patrick Marleau led all Sharks skaters with seven shots on goal.

Sharks fall to Hurricanes 5-3

Published on by philliptorres2013Leave a comment
RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Phillip Torres

RALEIGH, N.C-The San Jose Sharks (19-5-5)  fell to the Carolina Hurricanes (13-12-5) 5-3 on Friday as they hosted the San Jose Sharks. The victory for Carolina gave them the all-time series lead, 15-14, against the Sharks. The Hurricanes rallied to score four goals in the final period to earn the victory.

The Sharks lead 2-0 for the first half of the game. Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic put San Jose on the board to give them the early advantage. Jason Demers earned the assist on the first goal and Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl earned the assists on the Vlasic snap shot goal.

Jay Harrison scored his second goal of the season at 11:36 in the second period to cut the lead in half to make it 2-1. Zach Boychuk and Riley Nash earned the assists on the play. The score remained 2-1 Sharks until the start of the third period.

The final frame was dominated by Carolina as they exploded for four goals. Nash scored his second goal of the game and third on the year to tie the game at 2-2. Jordan Staal gave the Hurricanes the 3-2 advantage and first lead of the game at 6:42. Nathan Gerbe and Elias Lindholm were credited with the assists.

Justin Braun tied the game for the Sharks with a slapshot at 9:35 with assists from Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. This was the last goal that San Jose scored in the contest. Elias Lindholm scored what proved to be the game winning goal at 14:00. Eric Staal tacked on an an insurance goal late in period to cap off the four goal period.

San Jose will be back on the ice Tuesday December 10 as they will be hosting the New York Islanders. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM.

California teams dominate in battle for top spot in NHL Pacific

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

SAN JOSE–The Sharks played like a Stanley Cup Champion during this five game homestand in which they won all five games at SAP Center. The Sharks now head to the road to face Toronto, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Minnesota for a four game road trip. The Sharks concluded their five game homestand with a overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night 4-3. These were no doubt the two best teams in the Pacific in the NHL.

This was a very physical game there were five fights already in the first period. These two teams don’t like each other and these are two excellent teams as a matter of fact I was looking at the Western Conference there are three teams from California that occupy the top three spots in the Pacific San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim. One of those teams is going to win the conference those are the best three teams right now and they have the best chances to stay all the way through.

I like the Sharks chances their playing very tough and one other team in the Western Conference that is tough is the Chicago Blackhawks and watching the NHL this last month the western teams are much more physical and they dominate the Eastern Conference which is interesting and for many years it was the east but now the west rules they seem to have bigger players, faster players more physical and the Sharks have a very good mixture of players so it’s going to be a good season for the Sharks.

 

Sharks play by play announcer Dan Rusanowsky before the game on Saturday night the voice of the Sharks for radio told me to keep my fingers crossed he thinks this might be the year but we said that last year too. The Sharks are very aggressive and their aggressive again on Saturday night as they fought the Ducks from a 3-3 tie to win in overtime 4-3. There is still a lot of game left and they have lost only one game in San Jose this year and the Ducks are undefeated at home.

The Sharks are now 18-3-5 with 41 points and the Ducks are 18-7-4 with 40 points, this is a real good homestand that the Sharks put on with wins over Tampa Bay, New Jersey, L.A., St. Louis, and Anaheim. The game on Saturday night was a big game for the Sharks because right after Saturday’s win they flew to Toronto to begin a four game road trip which starts on Tuesday night. The Sharks will be playing seven games in nine days which includes a brief return to San Jose for two games before heading back out again for another three games on the road.

The Sharks delivered on Saturday night and it was a good rivalry and it’s not a like the Dodgers and the Giants because that’s baseball since their days in New York. This is a very good rivalry, if the Sharks ever had a rival they have to look at the Ducks and the Kings. The Ducks are a very good team and organization they play in a beautiful place the Honda Center and a few years ago it was known as the Arrowhead Duck Pond just across from Anaheim Stadium from Highway 57.

The Ducks have a good thing down there and they get the crowds down there and a population of 354,000 people live in Anaheim almost like the size of Oakland. San Jose has over a million but it’s a good rivalry and we like to see these three teams in the Pacific Conference and the three teams I like their odds are the Kings of Los Angeles, the Ducks of Anaheim and the Sharks of San Jose. Like I said before one of those three teams from California is going to win the Pacific and the Western Conference.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio