Colorado dominates San Jose in second of back to backs 6-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Noah Gregor gets warmed up.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The second of backs to backs against Colorado was none to kind to San Jose as the Sharks lost 6-2.

In between the pipes for the Sharks was Kaapo Kahkonen and for Colorado it was Alexander Georgiev.

Offense took awhile to get going but unsurprisingly Erik Karlsson was the one to get things going as he scored at the 15:43 mark getting the Sharks on the board.

Before the end of the first Colorado was able to respond as Mikko Rantanen scored a big goal his 50th of the season tying the game back up.

At the end of the first the shots favored Colorado 7-6.

Rantanen continued his momentum in the second by scoring another goal just 2:32 into the second period breaking the tie.

A little later in the period Nathan MacKinnon scored his 37th goal of the season with Samuel Girard and Rantanen getting the assists.

Completing the hat trick Rantanen got his third of the game bringing his goal total up to 52 this time MacKinnon and Devon Toews got the assists on the goal. After the goal Kahkonen was pulled and Reimer was subbed in.

After the Avalanche went on their four goal run Karlsson dished a beautiful pass to Steven Lorentz who tapped it home to make the score 4-2.

Colorado did respond before the buzzer went off as on a breakaway Ben Myers scored his second goal of the season.

At the end of the second the shots favored Colorado 22-14.

The third period began with more Avalanche offense as Ben Myers scored just 3:12 into the final period of play getting his second goal of the game.

That goal ended up being the last goal of the game as Colorado won 6-2.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Mikko Rantanen 2nd: Nathan MacKinnon 3rd: Matt Nieto

The Sharks next game is Saturday against the Oilers at 1 p.m. at home.

Av’s use overtime goal to tip Sharks 4-3

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) celebrates with Valeri Nichushkin (13) after scoring in overtime against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center in San Jose Tue, April 4, 2023, (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Nathan MacKinnon’s overtime goal, his second of the game, lifted Colorado to a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks Tuesday at SAP Center in the first of two back-to-back home games against the Avalanche.

MacKinnon scored the game-winner for the Avalanche (45-24-6, 96 points) at 3:13 of the overtime period, assisted by Devon Toews. It was MacKinnon’s 36th tally of the season and Toews’ 36th helper.

The Avalanche took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on first period goals by Jack Johnson at 4:29 and Evan Rodriguez at 6:24. San Jose cut its deficit to 2-1 at 12:55 of the second period on Kevin Labanc’s 14th gpal of the season from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson.

Colorado extended its lead to 3-1 when MacKinnon scored his first goal of the game at 17:54 of the second period.

The Sharks (22-39-15, 59 points) forced overtime with a pair of goals in the third period – Jacob Peterson’s second goal of the season at 5:50 came on the power play while the Avs’ Kurtis MacDermid was serving a 2-minute minor for hooking. Labanc scored the equalizer at 7:11 from Noah Gregor and MacDonald. It was Labanc’s 15th goal of the season.

Alexander Georgiev stopped 28 of the 31 San Jose shots he faced in the Colorado nets. Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen faced 42 shots and made 38 saves.

The Sharks next two games are at home against Colorado on Thursday and Saturday against Edmonton,

Gregor Hat Trick Paces Sharks to 7-2 Rout of Coyotes

The San Jose Sharks right winger Danil Gushchin (75) and defenseman Jacob MacDonald (9) are thrilled with the results against the Arizona Coyotes at the Mullet Arena in Tempe AZ on Sat Apr 1, 2023 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks (22-39-15) seem to have missed the memo on tanking for the best lottery odds, routing the Arizona Coyotes (27-37-13) Saturday night 7-2 from Mullett Arena.

Noah Gregor scored his first career NHL hat trick, Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Gushchin picked up their first NHL goals and Erik Karlsson had four assists to sit five points shy of 100 points on the season with six games to play for the Sharks season (22-39-15). J.J. Moser and Milos Kelemen scored for Arizona (27-37-13)

Gregor opened the scoring 1:30 into the game after Nico Sturm forced a turnover at the Coyotes blue line. Gregor took the puck and scored easily for his 6th goal of the year.

Jacob Peterson stayed hot after joining the Sharks. He scored his first goal of the year on the power play at the 8:38 mark on the power play. He now has four points over his first five games with the Sharks.

Kyle Criscuolo broke through for his first goal of his career at the 13:02 mark when Clayton Keller turned the puck over, leaving Criscuolo alone on a breakaway. Moser pulled the Coyotes within two by scoring on the power play with 2:53 left in the first. Criscuolo had previously played 16 games in the NHL after parts of two seasons.

Gushchin picked up where he left off in the USHL and AHL, sniping a top corner power play goal 1:41 into the second. He was making his NHL debut, lighting the lamp for a 4-1 edge.

Gregor potted goal number two at the eight minute mark of the third. Logan Couture picked up his 27th goal at the 10:10 mark on the power play. Gregor converted the hat trick with 5:13 left to play. Kelemen scored his first career goal for the Coyotes to close the scoring ledge, advantage Sharks 7-2. Kaapo Kähkönen made 29 of a possible 31 saves in net for San Jose.

By virtue of winning their last three contests, the Sharks now sit in 29th place, out of the top spot in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. They may move further down the standings after two games versus the Avalanche this week.

Henry Thrun has NHL debut to remember propelling Sharks to victory in overtime 4-3

Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Kevin Labanc and Noah Gregor celebrate a goal together against the Winnipeg Jets.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- On home ice the Sharks played a solid game against the Golden Knights winning in overtime by a final of 4-3. 

In goal tonight for the Sharks was James Reimer while Laurent Brossoit got the start for the Golden Knights.

Making his NHL debut tonight was prospect Henry Thrun for the Sharks while Thomas Bordeleau made his season debut for San Jose.

The game got off to a quick start as just 4:16 into the first Mario Ferraro scored on a slap shot breaking the ice early. On the goal Henry Thrun was also awarded an assist getting his first NHL point in his first game.

A little later in the period Oskar Lindblom tapped home a beautiful feed from Mario Ferraro making it a 2-0 game. Once again Thrun got an assist on the goal along with Ferraro showing exactly why San Jose acquired him.

It was not all good news in the first for the Sharks though as on a misplay with the puck behind the net by Reimer Vegas capitalized. Nicolas Hague was the one to tap it into the wide open net scoring his third goal of the season.

After the first the shots favored San Jose 6-5.

Early on in the second the Sharks found themselves in penalty trouble as Erik Karlsson headed to the box for tripping.

On the power play Vegas scored as Ivan Barbashev potted his 15th goal of the season tying the game up at two.

Later in the period the Sharks found a response as Martin Kaut fead a nice pass to Thomas Hertl who tapped in his 21st goal of the season. Jacob Peterson also got an assist on the goal. 

At the end of the second the shots still favored San Jose at 11-9. 

In the third Vegas did not go away without a fight as on a bouncing puck out front Michael Amadio banged it home to tie the game back up at three. 

The Sharks were hit with a late scare in the third as with less than five minutes left Jacob MacDonald took a tripping penalty putting the Golden Knights on the power play. 

San Jose was able to kill off the penalty and pushed the game to overtime. 

In overtime on a terrible turnover by Alex Pietrangelo the Sharks rushed back the other way with Logan Couture leading the pack. All alone Couture was able to capitalize and send Sharks fans home happy with an overtime win. 

“I was just trying to keep it simple and enjoy the first couple of shifts,” Henry Thrun said postgame. 

The Sharks next game will be on Saturday against Arizona on the road at 7 p.m. 

San Jose Sharks game wrap: Reimer and Gregor Show Their Worth in 3-0 shutout

San Jose Sharks right winger Kevin Lebanc (62), center Noah Gregor (73), and defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) celebrate defeating the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 28, 2023 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Troy Ewers

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks (20-39-15) hosted the Winnipeg Jets (41-31-3) as we close this final stretch of the regular season. Going into the game all eyes were on Erik Karlsson, who was ten points away from 100 points on the season, but they were facing off against a Jets team who was hungry for their playoff spot. The Sharks upset the wild card contender Jets shutting them out behind a great goaltending performance by James Reimer in the 3-0 win at SAP Center.

In the first period, Sharks attacked that tough Jets defense by dominating possession in the first five minutes and even drawing a penalty by minute eight. The San Jose offensive attack had a big burst of energy when Noah Gregor scored on a five hole goal making the game 1-0 early in the first.

Gregor left this game with two points (one goal and one assist) and said tonight was a “solid win” and considering the night he had and his pending free agency, he also looked at this game as a “ chance to prove to the organization he should stay around”, but Gregor wasn’t the only one who had something to prove this game.

Reimer, who a week ago was under public scrutiny over the pride night situation, not only wanted to silence the critics, but also show the front office that he “still has a fire in him” as he also could be a free agent at the end of this season. Reimer had a phenomenal game and on three occasions made saves that led to big ovations from the arena and on top of that he had a shutout in net. Reimer and Gregor showed off in front of this crowd and sparked the team’s energy.

Second period was a defensive battle with no scoring, but the third period is where Gregor got his second point of the night with an assist to Labanc and Karlsson would get point #91 with an assist to Kaut which would also be the last goal of the game.

Coach David Quinn called this game San Jose’s “most solid win in a while” and he grinned at the idea that his squad might be playing spoiler to opponents who have their sights on the postseason, especially since Vegas is coming into town on Thursday.

This game was a morale boost and the first time in a while in the Sharks locker room they had music playing to celebrate a win. Next game will be the debut of the Sharks’ latest signing from Harvard, Henry Thurn and this final stretch of games may not seem important, but ending this season on a high note is a huge reward.

With a new coach, new GM, and roster changes all season, ending this season with moments like Tuesday night make a fanbase breathe easier, but the Sharks are getting closer to the end of the trial run, because next season is the real test.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Troy Ewers: Sharks attempt to get win tonight against Jets after tough loss Saturday in Calgary

San Jose Sharks’ Logan Couture (39) scores on Winnipeg Jets goaltender David Rittich (33) during overtime of an NHL hockey game, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Monday March 6, 2023. (Canadian Press photo via AP)

On the Sharks podcast with Troy:

#1 The San Jose Sharks lost their ninth consecutive contest Saturday Afternoon, falling to the Calgary Flames 5-3 from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

#2 Erik Karlsson picked up a pair of assists notch a single-season high in assists and Nico Sturm, Logan Couture and Martin Kaut scored, but the lone good news from the Sharks (19-39-15) this weekend was via the signing of college prospect Henry Thrun out of Harvard.

#3  Logan Couture’s netfront drive put the Sharks on the board at the 14:25 mark of the first period. Karlsson took a pass from Andrew Agozzino and drove down the right wing, pulling Jacob Markstrom to the post before feathering a pass to a crashing Couture for a deflection goal, his 25th score of the year. Karlsson picked up his 67th assist, a single-season career high on the play.

#4 Nico Sturm tied the game 4:52 into the second period, backhanding a Noah Gregor shot pass by Markstrom for his 14th goal of the year. Karlsson assisted on the goal as well, his 90th point of the year with nine games left to play. 

#5 The Winnipeg Jets (40-25-8) come to the SAP Center tonight to face off with the Sharks. The Jets place second in the NHL Western Conference Wild Card standings winning five of their last ten games. The Jets lost their last game to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday 4-1 how do you see the Jets and Sharks matching up tonight here in San Jose?

Troy Ewers podcasts San Jose Sharks hockey at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Karlsson Sets Career High in Assists, Sharks Lose 5-3 to Flames; Ninth straight loss for San Jose

Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) is all smiles as the Flames had a break out game against the San Jose Sharks at the Saddledome in Calgary on Sat Mar 25, 2023. Sharks goaltender Kappo Kahkonen (36) can only skate away (photo by NHLFlames)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks lost their ninth consecutive contest Saturday Afternoon, falling to the Calgary Flames 5-3 from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. Erik Karlsson picked up a pair of assists notch a single-season high in assists and Nico Sturm, Logan Couture and Martin Kaut scored, but the lone good news from the Sharks (19-39-15) this weekend was via the signing of college prospect Henry Thrun out of Harvard.

Tyler Toffoli scored twice for the Flames to surpass the 30 goal mark and tie a career high for the Flames (33-26-15) who now sit four points pack of the Winnipeg Jets for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

Nazem Kadri scored 5:45 into the third period, netting his 23rd of the year, to put Calgary ahead 4-3. Tyler Toffoli added the empty netter with 1:10 left in play for the final score. The Sharks had led 3-2 late in the second period after trailing 2-1 after the first period.

MacKenzie Weegar and Toffoli scored in the first 10 minutes of the first period but Logan Couture’s netfront drive put the Sharks on the board at the 14:25 mark of the period. Karlsson took a pass from Andrew Agozzino and drove down the right wing, pulling Jacob Markstrom to the post before feathering a pass to a crashing Couture for a deflection goal, his 25th score of the year. Karlsson picked up his 67th assist, a single-season career high on the play.

Nico Sturm tied the game 4:52 into the second period, backhanding a Noah Gregor shot pass by Markstrom for his 14th goal of the year. Karlsson assisted on the goal as well, his 90th point of the year with nine games left to play. Martin Kaut added his third goal of the year and second with the Sharks since coming over at the trade deadline just 22 seconds later.

The Flames responded at the 5:39 mark of the period, tying the game just 25 seconds after the Kaut goal. Trevor Lewis intercepted a failed Sharks clear and passed it to Walker Deuhr, open to Kaapo Kahkonen’s right on the far post. Deuhr ripped it home for his fifth goal of the season. Kahkonen made 25 saves on 29 shots in the Sharks net.

The Sharks return home Tuesday night looking to snap their losing skid. They’ll face the Winnipeg Jets, the team directly above the Calgary Flames in the standings. After that, the Vegas Golden Knights await a Thursday night tilt at home for the Sharks. The possibility that the loss streak will be at 11 by the time the Sharks face the Coyotes in Glendale on Saturday remains real given the quality of opponents ahead.

Canucks 3 goal scoring in first and third periods do in Sharks 7-2 at Rogers Arena

San Jose Sharks netminder James Reimer (47) was kept busy facing 21 shots and allowing seven goals against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Thu Mar 23, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA –The Shark tank continued at Rogers Arena in Vancouver as San Jose (19-38-15) lost 7-2 to the host Canucks (32-34-5) to inch ever closer to the best lottery odds in what promises to be one of the most talent-filled drafts in NHL history. The Sharks are now winless in their last eight games and have just one victory since February 20th.

The Canucks opened the scoring at 6:15 of the first on a horrible giveaway by Tomas Hertl as he passed it directly to J.T. Miller in his own zone, who buried it past Sharks goaltender James Reimer for his 29th of the season and fourth in three games. Andrei Kuzmenko scored for the Canucks two minutes later before Hertl replied with his 20th of the season shortly after.

The assists went to Erik Karlsson and Jacob Peterson, with his first point as a Shark. After an impressive long stretch of 5-on-5 pressure by San Jose in the Canucks zone late in the period, they reverted to being the Sharks before the buzzer as Dakota Joshua scored for Vancouver with just 4/10ths of a second left after some pretty passing on the fly by the Canucks got them through the Sharks D.

San Jose didn’t fare much better in the second, showing little power play life against Vancouver’s dead-last-in-the-NHL penalty kill. Reimer gave up a big rebound – one of many – a little past the halfway mark of the game, which a left-alone-on-the-doorstep Conor Garland easily tapped in to make it 4-1.

The teams woke up the crowd with a quick flurry of goals in the middle of the third frame: The Sharks Andrew Agozzino scored shorthanded (with his first of the year in just his second game) on a nice snapshot before the Canucks quickly answered back with goals by Vasily Podkolzin and Phillip Di Giuseppe.

Vancouver’s Sheldon Dries scored a late shorthanded goal with under ten seconds left. The low-shots game wound up 21-19 in Vancouver’s favor. The Sharks conclude their 3-game western Canadian road swing in Calgary Saturday night before returning home to face the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday and the Vegas Golden Knights next Thursday.

Sharks Fall to Oilers 5-4 in OT, Four Goals Overturned

San Jose Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44), Erik Karlsson (65), Fabian Zetterlund (20) and Logan Couture (39) celebrate after a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during second-period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Mon Mar 20, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks lost to the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime Monday night in a contest that saw an unofficial record four goals overturned. Erik Karlsson scored a pair of goals to set a career high and Alexander Barabanov and Steven Lorentz scored as well for San Jose (19-37-15). Darnell Nurse scored the OT winner for the hosting Oilers (40-23-8) and and Mattias Ekholm netted a pair. Connor McDavid was “limited” to just two points on assists.

Tomas Hertl had a goal wiped off early in the first when Barabanov was ruled offside, but the Russian winger would atone for rushing in too early at the 5:48 mark of the first period. Barabanov took a Hertl pass and clapped a slapshot past Jack Campbell for the 1-0 lead. Nick Bjugstad answered back with his 16th of the year 1:20 later. The Oilers would have goal number two erased later in the period on a goaltender interference call off a Zach Hyman chance.

Kailer Yamamoto scored just 30 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 lead, but the Sharks had an answer on a presumed Andreas Johnsson goal. It’d be erased on another goaltender interference call with Logan Couture grazing Campbell. Steven Lorentz would tie the game at the 8:32 mark when he batted the puck past Campbell. Andrew Agozzino, called up after serving as Barracuda captain all season, had the primary assist on a tap pass for the goal.

Erik Karlsson gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at the 10:23 mark, beating Campbell on a set of back-hand fore-hand dekes that left jaws dropped. Fabian Zetterlund and Couture assisted on Karlsson’s 21st of the year. Ekholm answered back at the 11:48 mark on a back-hander, but Karlsson stepped up again with 5:37 left in the period.

Karlsson beat Campbell on a wrist shot, his 22nd goal of the year. Karlsson now has a career year in goals after topping his 2014-15 season total of 21 and a career past in points with 87. He sits just one assist shy of matching his career-best set in 2015-16.

Noah Gregor had a goal called off for offside as well, and Ekholm then made the Sharks pay for it by tying the game with just 3:47 left in regulation. Darnell Nurse scored just 15 seconds away from a shootout to finish off the comeback.

Edmonton outshot the Sharks 51-32 including a decisive 8-3 margin in OT. James Reimer still managed a .902 save percentage, saving 46 of 51 Oilers shots in his first game since Saturday night’s refusal to wear a themed warm up jersey in support of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Sharks continue the Western Canada swing, facing the Canucks Thursday before returning to Alberta to face the Flames Saturday.

Islanders hand Sharks sixth straight loss 4-1 on Pride Night

The New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri (21) celebrates a goal with center Brock Nelson (29) as the San Jose Sharks goaltender Kappo Kahkonen (36) and defenseman Derrick Pouliot (55) look on at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 18, 2023 (INDTVUSA photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 18, 2023

While the San Jose Sharks celebrated Pride Night by wearing special warmup jerseys prior to their game on Saturday against the New York Islanders supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, Sharks goaltender James Reimer chose not to participate.

In a statement, Reimer cited religious beliefs, saying, in part, “I have no hate in my heart for anyone, and I always strived to treat everyone that I encounter with respect and kindness. … I strongly believe that every person has value and worth, and the LGBYQIA+ community, like all others, should be welcomed in all aspects of the game of hockey.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture said Reimer had the right to make his own decision, saying, “Every individual has a choice and he made his.”

On the ice, the Sharks scored first, but the Islanders eventually won 4-1 at SAP Center. New York improved to 36-27-8 (80 points), while San Jose lost its sixth straight game and fell to 19-37-14 (52 points).

After Kevin Labanc scored his 12th goal of the season at 7:31 of the first period, it was all Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the equalizer at 16:08 on a shorthanded goal, and Kyle Palmieri’s 12th goal of the season at 2:18 of the second period put New York ahead to stay.

Ryan Pulock scored the third Islanders goal at 5:24 of the second, and Zach Parise netted his 18th goal at 5:19 of the third period to complete the scoring.

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 29 saves on 33 Islanders shots. New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced.

The Sharks hit the road north of the border next week, with stops in Edmonton on Monday, Vancouver on Thursday, and Calgary next Saturday.