NHL podcast with Len Shapiro and Jerry Feitelberg: Blues Sundqvist out for season with torn ACL; Leafs observing Marner with ankle injury could be back in a week; plus more news

St Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL as announced by the Blues on Wed Mar 27, 2024 (UPI photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season for the St Louis Blues after he had torn his ACL. Sundqvist left Monday’s against the Vegas Golden Knights at 9:50 in the second period after he got hit by the Knights defenseman Braydon McNabb. Sundvist once again out for the rest of the season.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner will be out at least a week with a high ankle sprain. Marner was at a optional practice Thursday morning giving head coach Sheldon Keefe an opportunity to see how he’s coming along. Marner was injured on Mar 7th against the Boston Bruins and has missed eight games since.

#3 Quite a celebration for TJ Oshie who celebrated his 1000th NHL game. Oshie’s family came out to congratulate him before the Washington Capitals game against the Winnipeg Jets. Which the Capitals ended up winning 3-0. Before the game during warm ups everybody wore a number 77 sweater in honor of Oshie’s 1000th game.

#4 The Arizona Coyotes were eliminated when the Knights gained a point after defeating the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Coyotes fell into a second half funk and just couldn’t recover and their elimination from post season was for the fourth straight season. The Coyotes are excited about their new players coming from the draft and young talent for next season.

#5 The San Jose Sharks are looking to snap their long eight game losing streak later tonight at the Target Center in Minnesota. The Sharks who lost their last two games against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime 5-4 and on Monday night to the Dallas Stars 6-3 all on home ice in San Jose. Tonight they face the Minnesota Wild.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks Lose To Dallas Stars 6-3, Now On 8 Game Losing Streak

Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski (16) takes the puck against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta (84) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, March 26th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – In the “Tank” the San Jose Sharks host the Dallas Stars in a weekday throwdown. The Sharks continued their losing streak extending it to eight straight loses 6-3 at SAP Center.

Last game the Sharks blew a four goal lead to the Chicago Blackhawks to lose 5-4. Thomas Bordeleau (2g, 0a) potted his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the first period, the first time in his career notching two goals in a period. Fabian Zetterlund (2g, 1a) matched his career-high with a three-point effort and his first goal in the game came at 0:16 seconds of the opening second period, besting William Eklund (0:17, Nov. 16, 2023 vs. STL) for the fastest goal scored by a Shark to start a regulation period this year. Klim Kostin (0g, 1a) has registered six points (2g, 4a) in his first eight games with San Jose, including a point in (1g, 2a) in three of his past four games played. William Eklund (0g, 1a) has points (2g, 4a) in six consecutive games on home ice. 

 The first period was a period of missed opportunities for San Jose. A couple big passes that led to breakaways, but no goals for the Sharks. For the Stars it was the exact opposite. Esa Lindell got a slashing call and the missed opportunity for the Sharks of getting a power play goal was capitalized by Wyatt Johnston on a breakaway shorthanded goal, 1-0 Stars.

Johnston in his last game at SAP was a hat trick and now with another goal here, he has 27 total on the season. The Stars weren’t done in the first period, Mason Marchment scored a goal that happened so fast, fans and even some players didn’t even notice the goal occurred at first. After a very quick review it was an easy call that it was a goal, 2-0 Stars, and there was no real energy in the building going into intermission. 

Huge period for both teams, as it was a hot period from the puck drop to the buzzer signaling intermission. 14 seconds into the period, Jason Robertson scored his 25th goal of the season and the third straight goal for the Stars this game, 3-0 Stars.

10 seconds later Alexander Barbanov scored the first goal for SJ, 3-1. A Sam Steel holding call for Dallas then led to a power play goal for San Jose courtesy of William Eklund and it was 8 seconds into the power play. 3-2 and the arena woke up. The period stayed on fire as Luke Kunin and Ty Dellandrea got into a fight and they were throwing hands the old school way and this electrified the crowd for more.

Stars captain Jamie Benn scored, continuing his five game goal streak and gave Dallas the most dangerous lead in hockey, a two goal lead, 4-2 Stars. The fight wasn’t over for the Sharks this period as Kostin kept the game close with a laser wrist shot for a goal, 4-3. The fans were still electric, but Johnston scored another goal, his second of the night and the Stars headed into the third with a 5-3 lead. 

There was only one goal in the third and it was from Robertson, who scored on a power play goal and that was basically the end of the game. A game that had hopes for the Sharks, but before you know it, it was over, 6-3 Dallas. 

Now an 8 game losing streak, San Jose Sharks next game against the Minnesota Wild in the Twin Cities on Thursday, March 28th.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson: Sharks try to snap out of 7 game skid tonight against Dallas at SAP

Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) takes the puck against the San Jose Sharks right wing Filip Zadina (18) and left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 23, 2024 (AP News photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson:

#1 The San Jose Sharks bring a seven game losing streak into SAP Center tonight. After dropping a four goal lead on home ice last Saturday to the Chicago Blackhawks.

#2 The Blackhawks who had to come back from a 4-0 deficit on Sharks ice got some big help from Seth Jones who scored two goals in just 18 seconds into overtime for game match draw.

#3 It was a long wait but it was the first time the Blackhawks won coming back from four goals down since October 12th, 2009 when they beat the Calgary Flames 6-5 in overtime.

#4 The Sharks are trying to work they’re way out of this seven game skid. Sharks head coach David Quinn said the Blackhawks were just opportunistic in coming back to from a four goal deficit.

#5 The Sharks host the Dallas Stars tonight at 7:30pm at SAP Center. The Stars and are second in the Western Conference. The Stars have won eight of their last ten games and are on a four game win streak.

Titus Wilkinson is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks give up five unanswered goals to Chicago in 5-4 overtime loss

Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Thomas Bordeleau and his teammates celebrate his goal (taken on 3/23/24).

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Sharks continued their home stand against the other worst team in the league the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

The hometown kid Devin Cooley would be getting his first start at SAP Center as he was in between the pipes. Cooley had played one game for the Sharks previous to this one also against Chicago where he gave up four goals in a loss.

For the Blackhawks, it was veteran Peter Mrazek in goal who heading into this one had a 3.09 GAA and .904 SV%.

There was only one goal scorer in the opening period and it was Thomas Bordealeau who lit the lamp twice.

The first one came on the powerplay off a beautiful tip out front by Bordealeau who got his fifth of the season.

Later in the period, Bordeleau ripped one top shelf around a Chicago defender extending their lead and putting him on hat-trick watch.

The Blackhawks had to feel deja vu in the second period as this time it was Fabian Zetterlund scoring a goal on the power play and even strength. The even-strength goal would come just 16 seconds in as he ripped one past the glove of Mrazek. The second goal came just over a minute later as William Eklund fead Zetterlund an incredible pass backdoor giving Fabian his first career 20-goal season.

After these four goals unfortunately for San Jose it would be all downhill.

It started with Ryan Donato who shoveled home a rebound past Cooley cutting the Sharks lead down to three.

A little later in the period, Tyler Johnson found himself wide open in front of the net and deposited home a pass from Donato.

San Jose was almost able to get a response in the third but Mrazek who has consistently been one of Chicago’s best players robbed Bordeleau of his hat-trick goal.

Chicago would then cut San Jose’s lead down to one as this time Seth Jones found the back of the net.

It looked like the Sharks were gonna be able to hold out until with just a little under a minute left Phillip Kurashev stuffed home his 15th of the season tying the game up at four. Kurashev had easily been one of Chicago’s best scorers as of late as he had 12 points in his past ten games heading into this one.

That meant overtime was next and Chicago wasted absolutely no time ending it just 18 seconds in as Jones wristed home his second of the game and robbed Cooley of his first career win.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Ryan Donato 2nd: Fabian Zetterlund 3rd: Seth Jones

The shots in the game favored Chicago 31-30 San Jose dominated on the power play going 2/4 while the Blackhawks went 0/2.

San Jose will look to bounce back on their home ice against Dallas a team they have also blown big leads to. That game will be played on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks host Bedard and Blackhawks tonight at SAP Center

Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard (98) gets congratulations from the Chicago bench after scoring a second period goal at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Tue Mar 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Let’s face it everybody wants to see the Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard on Saturday night at SAP Center. It doesn’t matter that both the Blackhawks and Sharks are both dead last in their respective divisions the Blackhawks are a draw and fans want to see Connor Bedard.

#2 Bedard is having a rookie season with 21 goals, 33 assists, and 54 points. No telling how many goals and assists he would have if he didn’t get the broken jaw earlier this season but he’s no doubt having a great year.

#3 Bedard also won the Stellar Player of the week Award twice so far this season so that pretty much indicates that Bedard will no doubt be a mega star in the NHL and a huge impact for the Blackhawks.

#4 Meanwhile the San Jose Sharks have lost six straight games and they suffered a tough loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. The Sharks tied the Lightning in the first period and they hoped to capitalize but the Lightning struck right back scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to shut down the Sharks.

#5 The Sharks are back the the drawing board again looking for that 17th win of the season as they face the Blackhawks at SAP Center in San Jose. The Blackhawks are 19-46-5 and the Hawks have lost two straight games going into this game tonight.

Mary Lisa does the San Jose Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Duclair Gets 2 Points In His Return Game At The Tank As Tampa Bay Lightning Beat The San Jose Sharks 4-1

The Tampa Bay center Brayden Point (21) gets the puck past San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the third period at SAP Arena in San Jose on Thu Mar 22, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, March 21st, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Anthony Duclair’s return to the tank. The Sharks hope to turn it around here at the SAP Center against the Lightning who are 37-25-6 and fourth in the Atlantic Division.

Tampa Bay have won four straight games and have for years been one of the toughest opponents in the NHL. The Sharks lost their sixth game in row after the Lightning came back after the Sharks tied it 1-1 in the first period. Tampa Bay wins it 4-1.

The first period was an exciting surprise for fans watching the game, because it went from day to night at the drop of a hat. The first goal was scored by Tampa Bay in the first five minutes courtesy of Nicholas Paul.

Paul’s 19th was off an unfortunate bounce for San Jose goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, making it 1-0 early in the period. The Sharks tied it up on a breakaway goal from their young star William Eklund, who was assisted by Jacob MacDonald. 1-1 and it was that way until the first intermission. Duclair was awarded a big ovation from the San Jose crowd when he was put on the jumbotron, but had a quiet opening period in his return to SJ. 

Quiet second period for both teams. The only thing that got the crowd on their feet was a fight between Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Conor Sheary that didn’y last even 30 seconds, but was enough to keep the fans energetic. 1-1 still by third intermission.

While on a power play, Brayden Point scored a goal past Blackwood, giving him 39 on the season so far and the Lightning a 2-1 lead early in the third period.

The Lightning weren’t done in the third. Duclair got on the board with a goal that counted for his 20th of the season and recording his 80th assist on the season was Nikita Kucherov as Tampa Bay gained a two goal lead in the final period and the momentum seemed to be nowhere near the Sharks favor.

The nail in the coffin was Point scoring his second goal of the night on a timer assisted by Kucherov (his 81st assist) and Duclair (his second point of the night).

The positive for the Sharks in this game was that Eklund now has 5 points in 5 consecutive home games, but other than that, there was nothing to write home about. Next game for the Sharks will be Saturday against Conor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks as the race for the draft lottery continues. 

Sharks Fall Prey to Surging Predators, Lose 8-2

San Jose Sharks goaltender Chrona Magnus (30) was pelted with shots all night here the Nashville Predators right winger Michael McCarron (47) celebrates after scoring in the second period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tue Mar 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 8-2 to the Nashville Predators Tuesday. The Predators have now won 13 of their last 15 games, and earned overtime points in the other two of those 15. Roman Josi, Jason Zucker, Michael McCarron, Luke Evangelista, Mark Jankowski and Tommy Novak scored for Nashville.

Juuse Saros made 18 saves for the win. Mikael Granlund and Mario Ferraro scored for San Jose. Magnus Chrona made 32 saves in the loss. The Sharks have now lost five in a row. In their last ten games, they have one win, one overtime loss and one shootout loss.

After the game, two former Predators described the game in gloomy terms. Mikael Granlund described the game as: “A good thirty minutes and bad next 30 minutes.” Luke Kunin said: “Bad in the D zone, not closing quick enough, giving ‘em too much time and space, them getting behind us, us turning pucks over. I think it was pretty clear the things we were doing to kind of feed their offense.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn gave the Predators credit for playing well: “They obviously are in a great groove right now, they’re playing really good hockey, they’re fast, they’re physical, they really play to their identity, each line plays to their identity, they know who they are.” On the other hand, of the Sharks he said: “I thought we did a good job for the first 30 minutes and [then] just really got away from giving ourselves any type of chance.”

The first goal of the game came midway through the first period. Filip Forsberg got to the puck after a faceoff, sent it to Ryan McDonagh at the point. McDonagh sent it along the blue line to Roman Josi who scored with a slap shot.

Mikael Granlund tied the game at 17:18. Klim Kostin’s pass found Granlund skating into the zone clear of any defenders. He took a quick wrist shot to score his tenth of the season. Assists went to Kostin and Mario Ferraro.

Mario Ferraro gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot from high in the zone at 5:46 of the second period.

Jason Zucker tied it back up at 9:37. When Colton Sissons’ shot trickled under Chrona, Zucker got behind the goaltender to push it over the line. Assists went to Sissons and McDonagh.

Michael McCarron gave the Predators the lead again at 15:26. Roman Josi skated down to the net and had almost reached the goal line when he centered the puck into some traffic. Keifer Sherwood took a shot and that created a rebound that went to McCarron for a shot at an open net.

Luke Evangelista made it 4-2 at 17:50. Skating across the slot, he took a backhand shot that beat Chrona. Assists went to Josi and Forsberg.

Cole Smith deflected a shot into the net after time expired for the period, scoring the first of two consecutive disallowed goals for the Predators.

Luke Evangelista pushed the puck into the net early in the third period but the goal was called back as Zucker pushed Chrona into the net before Evangelista took the shot.

Michael McCarron scored his second of the night at 10:35 of the third period. He caught a pass off the boards and shot around some traffic to score. An assist went to Sherwood.

Mark Jankowski made it 6-2 at 14:13, deflecting a shot from Tyson Barrie. Barrie and Anthony Beauvillier got the assists.

Filip Forsberg scored his second of the night just 30 seconds later. Gustav Nyquist failed to score from the goal line but created a rebound for Forsberg. Assists went to Nyquist and McDonagh.

Tommy Novak scored his 15th of the season to make it 8-2 at 16:16 with a backhand shot. Assists went to Sherwood and Jankowski.

The Sharks next play on Thursday back in San Jose against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks and Blue Jackets battle of two last place teams tonight

Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) checks the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) into the boards during the second period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks took a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Friday night. The loss was the Sharks second consecutive loss in a row.

#2 The Sharks defense was lacking they skated with only five defenseman. Jacob MacDonald fell ill and had to sit out the game taking away one more defensive player to the already struggling team.

#3 In goal for San Jose was Magnus Chrona who saved 25 shots but allowed five goals. Chrona simply did not get enough protection up front and the Penguins crashed the net once they realized there was a weakness in the San Jose defense.

#4 Sharks head coach David Quinn said that he knew the defense was slow reacting but said he loved the competitiveness and heart the team had in the game. Quinn just had hoped that they could have been a little bit better defending around the net.

#5 The Sharks face off with the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 4:00pm PDT at at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The Blue Jackets are having their own struggles. Their last in the Metropolitan Division at 22-33-11 with 55 points. They have lost five of their last ten games. How do you see this battle tonight the Sharks have 39 points going into this game.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 6-3 to Penguins; San Jose faces off with Columbus Saturday

The San Jose Sharks Magnus Chrona (30) puts the stop on a shot by the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 6-3 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, Evgeni Malkin, John Ludvig, Rickard Rackell and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry made 29 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks. Magnus Chrona made 25 saves in the loss.

The Sharks had to play with only five defensemen when Jacob MacDonald could not play due to sudden illness. After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said that this may have been a factor in a disappointing third period:

“I thought we were a little slow reacting defensively tonight but I just loved their compete, I thought we really battled hard. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to defend a little bit better around our net in the those instances in the third period. But maybe it was fatigue, you’ve got five D and they’re playing a ton of minutes so it’s a tough ask.”

Noel Acciari gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 10:28 of the first period. Acciari tipped a shot from Erik Karlsson in the middle of the blue line. Assists went to Karlsson and Drew O’Connor.

Fabian Zetterlund scored to tie the game at 14:31. Zetterlund caught a rebound from Calen Addison’s shot to score his 17th of the season. Assists went to Addison and Henry Thrun.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 19:01. Vlasic took a shot from below the goal line that bounced off of Jarry and Marcus Petterson before going into the net. Assists went to Klim Kostin and Mikael Granlund.

A goal from Jeff Carter tied the game back up at 4:11 of the second period. Carter skated into an open space in front of the net as Emil Bemstrom made a pass from the other side.

Evgeni Malkin scored at 11:34 to give the Penguins their second lead of the game. He picked up a rebound at the corner of the net and poked it behind Chrona. Assists went to Drew O’Connor and Lars Eller.

At 16:10 of the second period, Alexander Barabanov deflected a Granlund shot into the net but he did so with a high stick so it was called back.

Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks to tie the game 3-3 at 18:42. Mikael Granlund gathered up a rebound from a Vlasic shot, then found Kostin through traffic with a pass. That was Kostin’s first goal as a Shark.

Midway through second period, Mikael Granlund got tangled up with Bryan Rust along the boards. He went down with his right leg and ankle folding in an unnatural position. He had to be helped from the ice but did return before the end of the period.

John Ludvig scored from the blue line to give the Penguins their third lead at 2:38 of the third period. Assists went to Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Reilly Smith.

Rickard Rackell made it 5-3 at 4:38, deflecting a shot by Joseph from the blue line. Assists went to Joseph and Ludvig.

Bryan Rust made it 6-3 with an empty net goal at 18:04. Assists went to Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins had just four shots on goal in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Canucks Demko out with lower body injury; Sharks eliminated from playoffs for 5th straight year; plus more news

Vancouver Canucks Goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) is out with a lower body injury and is listed as day to day. (Canadian Press via AP file photo)

On the NHL podcasst with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko the number one goaltender for the Canucks is listed week to week with lower body injury. Demko left with the injury on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-0 win. Demko had 12 saves when he had to leave in the second period at 6:40. Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet says he’s not worried.

#2 NHL analyst and NHL six time Stanley Cup Champion legend Mark Messier said the Vancouver Canucks are in a great position to win the Stanley Cup this season. Vancouver is 42-17-7 and are first in the Western Conference.

#3 The San Jose Sharks loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night 3-2 eliminated the Sharks from post season play. Causes for the elimination were the injuries to Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. The Sharks have the worst record in the NHL at 16-41-7 this the fifth straight season that the Sharks have not made post season.

#4 NHL analyst and NHL six time Stanley Cup Champion legend Mark Messier said the Vancouver Canucks are in a great position to win the Stanley Cup this season. Vancouver is 42-17-7 and are first in the Western Conference.

#5 If the NHL Playoffs were to start today there are four teams from Canada that would qualify, the Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. The last time a team from Canada won the Stanley Cup Finals was 31 years ago.

#5 Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard demonstrated why he’s all the hype against the Anaheim Ducks getting a career high of five points as the Blackhawks lit up the Ducks with seven goals in their 7-2 win in Chicago.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com