Tag: sap center

Kings still too much for Sharks

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

by Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Playing their toughest opponent yet, the current Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the team that eliminated them from playoffs in the memorable fashion last season, San Jose Sharks failed to impress and fell 4-1 at home.
It was a preseason game and Sharks head coach Todd McLellan benched a few key players, including Joe Pavelski, Marc Eduard Vlasic  and Justin Braun. But the Kings were also missing Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll, Jeff Carter and Tyler Tofolli, so on paper, the rosters looked evenly matched.

But it all came down to the Kings being more effective with their scoring chances, and more stingy in goal.

Joe Thornton opened the score in the game 88 seconds into it after a good puck possession inside the Kings zone. Sharks center got the puck from a rookie defenseman Taylor Fedun, paused and put it past Jonathan Quick.

Half way through the first period Drew Doughty tied the game at 1-1 on a great individual effort as he picked up the puck around center ice from Justin Williams, skated past two Sharks players and put it top shelf on Antti Niemi, scoring his first goal of the preseason.

Sharks could have taken the lead towards the end of the period when Patrick Marleau got out on a breakaway, but he was unable to shoot the puck as Kings’ defenseman caught up with him and blocked his stick at the same time as Marleau got close to the net.

Kings took the lead in the game early in the second period when Dustin Brown capitalized on the Sharks’ mistakes in their own end and put the puck high into the net. The Sharks were scrambling to get into the position unable to match the Kings speed on the zone entrance and it was too late.

Justin Williams doubled the lead and scored the third goal for the Kinds towards the end of the second period. He was the first on the rebound from the shot by Dwight King as LA players surrounded Antti Niemi. The follow up shot by Williams did not look all that strong, but it squeezed into the goal under Niemi’s pad.

Dwight King made it 4-1 for the Kings half way through the third period as he broke into the Sharks zone with speed on the left wing, and put the puck into the net above Antti Niemi’s shoulders who did not react fast enough.

On the positive side of things, Sharks rookies looked confident against a strong opponent, generating scoring chances and speed. Sharks looked faster on the transition and while entering the zone. On the negative side, Antti Niemi looked rusty and is in part to blame for the score, failing to save the Sharks when they needed him the most. Sharks were also sloppy with the puck giving it away 22 times vs just 9 giveaways for the Kings. The Sharks also allowed the Kings to outshot them at home 30-24 – not something that happened very often last season against any opponent.

The crowd also expected the game to be a bit more heated after the history between the two teams in the last post season, with Sharks blowing 3-0 lead in the series and allowing the Kings to beat them in the best of seven and go on to win the Stanley Cup. But overall the players kept their emotions and tempers in check, perhaps saving them for the regular season opener on Wednesday, October 8, when they meet again in Los Angeles. It’s preseason and not many are paying attention just yet, so why waste energy?

Sharks preseason games continue on Friday when they travel to Arizona to face the Coyotes.

Sharks drop fourth straight

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
Vancouver Canucks' Brad Richardson (15) is congratulated after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Vancouver Canucks’ Brad Richardson (15) is congratulated after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA – Counting last year’s playoffs, San Jose Sharks have beaten Vancouver Canucks in nine straight games. The streak came to an end on Thursday night as Sharks were defeated 4-2 and have lost their fourth game in a row.

Sharks fell two goals behind in the first half of the game, and while correcting some of the weaknesses in their game, they were unable to execute a come back.

The scoring in the game got off to a quick start as both teams exchanged goals early on. Sharks scored first on a strange bounce around the net. Joe Thornton was passing the puck along the boards inside Canucks territory but it bounced off the top netting, and into the goal off the Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo’s back. Canucks responded with a tying goal by Brad Richardson who scored from close range after Sharks turned the puck over inside their zone.

Sharks defensive woes continued when Mike Santorelli made it 2-1 for the visiting team by scoring yet another goal in front of Antti Niemi that saw Sharks defense got caught in the middle of the change and could not stop a developing fast attack by Vancouver.

But Sharks responded only a minute later with Mike Brown scoring his first goal in the Sharks uniform after a breakaway attack and a great pass from James Sheppard that found him all alone in front of Luongo. Brown put the puck high and say Luongo’s blocker to tie the game at 2-2.

Sharks continued to struggle on the defense, and allowed what was perhaps the most embarrassing goal of their season so far at the end of the first period. In a situation that appeared safe Jason Demers was on his own blue line but bobbled the puck while trying to pass it to Scott Hannan. It was easily intercepted by Alexandre Burrows and in the confusion of all and scrambling to get the puck back Sharks defensemen fell on top of each other, allowing Chris Higgins to face Antti Niemi all alone and put the puck into the net, giving Canucks 3-2 lead going into the first intermission.

Second period did not start any better for San Jose, as Canucks doubled their lead on a goal by Zack Kassian on a redirect from Kevin Bieksa shooting all the way from the blue line. The goal made it 4-2 and forced Sharks to switch their goaltenders as Antti Niemi headed to the bench and got replaced by Alex Stalock after allowing four goals on 12 shots.

Stalock’s presence improved Sharks focus and their play on defense. Having only put 11 shot on goal in the first two periods, it wasn’t until the third that San Jose picked up their game offensively. They held the puck more, and started winning the battles in the tight areas. As their play improved, so did the play of Roberto Luongo who was on time to the puck and poisoning himself well each time.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Todd McLellan pulled the goaltender for extra skater in the zone. That helped generate chances, but none of them were realized by the Sharks, and they lost yet again.

After three home games in a row, the Sharks will travel to Canada where they will face the Jets, Flames, Canucks and Oilers with the last stop in Chicago before returning to SAP Center for five game home stand in the second half of November. It may be a good time to get on the road again where coaches can spend more time with the players, address some of the bad habits that are starting to creep into the team’s play, and simplify their game, as they do when playing away from their home crowd.

Sharks lose again

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Buffalo Sabres’ Cody Hodgson (19) scores the game-winning goal past San Jose Sharks’ Antti Niemi, of Finland, during the shootout of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. Buffalo won 5-4. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Ivan Makarov

What on paper looked like one of the easiest games of the early season for the San Jose Sharks, turned out to be one of the wildest and disappointing games so far. Playing at home against the last team in the league Buffalo Sabres, Sharks had to come back from behind multiple times to force the overtime, but in the end, they still lost the game 4-3 in the shootout.

“This was a fear of mine that we would be complacent and that we would turn it up when we thought we had to,” said disappointed Sharks head coach Todd McLellan after the game. “And that’s exactly what we got. I thought we were outworked for the large part of the game, and out detailed, certainly.”

Sharks outshot the Sabres 51-36 during the game, but did not look like the better team, chasing the puck, being sloppy on defense and not capitalizing on many rebounds given up by Ryan Miller.

Marty Havlat opened the scoring in the game as he picked up on the rebound from Patrick Marle shot inside the zone following a long possession in the offensive zone and the score remained 1-0 in the first period. But it was in the second period that Sharks lost the lead by allowing Buffalo to score two goals – first one by Drew Stafford who capitalized on the Sharks turnover by Tyler Kennedy inside their own zone, and the second one by Cody McCormick who scored by picking up the puck off the face-off won by his own team inside the Sharks zone, making it 2-1 in favor of the visiting team.

Sharks fell even farther behind at the start of the third period when they were unable to kill a penalty on Dan Boyle’s hooking call. Tyler Ennis scored just 15 second into the power play on a pass from Cody Hodgson as the two of them were standing all alone in front of Antti Niemi.

Sharks climbed back into the game two minutes later when Tyler Kennedy and Tomas Hertl scored two goals within 70 seconds to tie the game at 3-3. But the score did not remain tied for long, as Henrick Tallinder picked up a puck Sharks could not control inside their zone and put it past Antti Niemi, who wasn’t at his best on that play and should have made the save.

Sharks finally tied the game on the first power play goal of the night with less than four minutes remaining in the regulation. With the mad scramble in front of Miller, Tommy Wingels was the first to reach the puck with a dive as it was bouncing in the crease. But that was all the offense the Sharks could produce, and Antti Niemi allowed Matt Moulson and Cody Hodgson to score against him in the shootout, while Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl were unable to do the same against Ryan Miller.

Sharks are now winless in their last three after starting the season with 10 wins in the first 12 games. They take on Vancouver Canucks next at the SAP Center on Thursday.