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Sharks Score Touchdown, Win 7-2 Over Oilers for Fourth Straight

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks won their fourth game in a row Tuesday night at home, destroying the Edmonton Oilers 7-2 to stay three points behind division-leading Vegas with two games in hand.

Evander Kane and Joonas Donskoi scored two goals, Erik Karlsson picked up three assists, registering a 14th straight appearance with an assist. Marcus Sorensen scored a penalty shot goal for San Jose, Timo Meier and Brent Burns, also had multi-point efforts for San Jose and Aaron Dell made 20 saves. Alex Chiasson and Milan Lucic scored for the Oilers, who have lost eight of their last 10.

The Sharks scored enough goals to win in the first period alone, exiting the period up 3-1. Evander Kane redirected a puck off an Oiler skate behind starting goalie Cam Talbot 6:37 into the game with a Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson assisting on the wing’s 15th goal of the year. Kane now has points in six consecutive games. Marcus Sorensen converted his penalty shot chance with 7:03 left in the period and Joonas Donskoi scored just under a minute after Chiasson scored a power play goal with 5:25 left in the frame.

San Jose picked up where they left off in the second, with Kane this time redirecting the puck off his own skate past Talbot 6:32 into the middle frame. Brent Burns and Timo Meier assisted on the goal for a 4-1 lead. Milan Lucic scored just his second goal of the year 10:18 into the second, but Brent Burns power play strike at 15:37 restored the 3 goal cushion and eventually chased Talbot from the game. Talbot made 13 saves before yielding the net to Mikko Koskinen.

Joe Thornton scored on an intended pass to Lukas Radil 1:04 into the third and Donskoi scored his seventh goal in six games at the 10:44 mark to kick the extra point. Erik Karlsson assisted on the goal to collect his third multiassist game in a row.

The Sharks hit the road to face the Pacific division leaders Vegas Thursday night at 7:00 pm. The Golden Knights have won their last seven.

Karlsson Assists in 13th-Straight, Sharks Beat Kings 3-1

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks extended their win-streak to three games Monday night, beating the rival Los Angeles Kings 3-1 at the SAP Center. Erik Karlsson collected his 33rd, 34th and 35th assists to put his streak at 13-games with a helper, becoming the sixth defenseman in league history to do so.

Tomas Hertl scored his 15th goal of the season, Joonas Donskoi stayed hot with his 11th of the year and Joe Thornton pitched in with an empty-net power play strike. Martin Jones made 22 saves and picked up his first assist as a San Jose Shark in the victory. Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings.

Donskoi picked up his seventh point in six games, beating Kings goalie Jack Campbell on a rebound off an Evander Kane shot with 2:17 left in the first period. Karlsson picked up the secondary assist, his first of three assists on the night.

Anze Kopitar tied the game 3:42 into the period after redirecting a Dustin Brown pass behind Jones to tie the game. Ilya Kovalchuk also assisted on the then-tying goal.

Tomas Hertl broke the tie at the 9:09 mark after Martin Jones fed Karlsson behind the Sharks net to start the rush. Karlsson snapped the puck from just inside the San Jose blue line to Hertl as he entered the Kings zone two zones away. Hertl buried the back-hander to put San Jose up 2-1. Joe Thornton would add his seventh goal of the year with 21 seconds left in play, reeling in Karlsson’s clearing pass to put the puck in the empty net. The freebie goal came with the Sharks on the power play, finishing the night 1 for 3.

The Sharks face the Edmonton Oilers in the second game of a back-to-back Tuesday night at 7:30 pm. Aaron Dell is expected to start.

Gulls sink the Barracuda 5-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Diego Gulls stormed out to an early lead and never looked back as they dominated the San Jose Barracuda in a 5-1 victory on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

San Diego (14-11-1-3) drew first blood early in the first period when Chase De Leo scored his seventh goal of the season at the 4:13 mark when he was able to beat Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (6-5-3) with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 odd man rush. Joseph Blandisi and Matt Berry received assists.

Max Jones doubled San Diego’s lead when he scored his 10th goal of the season late in the opening frame. Jones’s shot from point-blank range that beat Bibeau through the five-hole came at the 14:27 mark. Sam Carrick and Luke Gadzic received assists.

Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle (10-5-0) was the main reason for San Diego’s success as he frustrated San Jose from start to finish. The Cuda outshot San Diego 13-5 in the first period, but weren’t able to get one in the back of the net.

San Diego extended its lead to 3-0 when Sam Steel finished off a pretty cross-rink pass from Troy Terry that beat Bibeau for his sixth goal of the season at the 6:23 mark. Trevor Murphy received the secondary assist.

San Jose (18-6-1-3) finally got on the scoreboard just before the end of the middle frame when Dylan Gambrell skated down the right side and found an uncovered John McCarthy all alone in the slot and the captain’s backhander beat Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle for his seventh goal of the season at the 19:54 mark.

Despite outshooting San Diego 18-5 in the second period, Boyle would continue his dominance over the Cuda, only allowing one goal on 31 shots through 40 minutes of action.

San Diego ended any thought of a San Jose comeback with two late third period goals. Carrick cashed in on a 3-on-1 opportunity when he scored his 17th goal of the season at the 14:02 mark. Then, Terry closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal at the 18:06 mark.

Boyle, who was reassigned back to Gulls yesterday, ended up making 34 saves on 35 shots for his 10th victory of the season. Bibeau suffered the loss after allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/6 on the power play. San Diego went 0/3.

Barracuda mascot Frenzy celebrated his birthday during the game.

The announced attendance was 3,666.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel up to Stockton to take on the Heat to close out the calendar year on Monday, December 31 at 5:00 pm at Stockton Arena.

Sharks take down Ducks 4-2; Burns scores game-winner

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the night where Brent Burns played his 1000th NHL game (including 428 in a row), it was only fitting the defenseman would follow script and score the game-winning goal as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Thursday evening at SAP Center.

Burns’ fifth goal of the season came while the Sharks had sustained pressure inside the Ducks’ defensive zone. Burns received the puck at the point from Brendon Dillon and fired a slap shot off the left post into the back of the net with 9:39 remaining in the third period.

Anaheim (19-15-5) drew first blood on their second power play of the game. Josh Mahura slapped in a shot from the point that hit off Nick Ritchie. Jacob Silfverberg collected the rebound and was able to tap home the puck past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (15-8-4) behind the goal line for his 10th goal of the season at the 10:33 mark.

San Jose (20-12-7) came back to tie it up late in the period on a cycle play by their fourth line. Barclay Goodrow sent the puck around the boards behind the net to Joonas Donskoi who backhanded the puck right in front of the crease, where Melker Karlsson beat Carter Rowney to the puck and slid it past Ducks goaltender John Gibson (15-12-4) for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:05 mark.

If not for Gibson, the Sharks would have had the lead at the end of the first 20 minutes. Joe Thornton had an empty net to shoot at off a rebound and Gibson robbed him with his stick half way through the first period. Justin Braun and Lukas Radil had point-blank chances earlier on, only to come up with what the bird left on the rock.

Gibson was replaced in the net by backup goalie Chad Johnson to start the second period as he was injured in a collision with Sorensen earlier in the first period.

San Jose grabbed the lead early in the second period, thanks to another cycle play this time by their top line. A shot from the point by Joakim Ryan was deflected onto captain Joe Pavelski’s stick and he tried jamming home the puck repeatedly on Johnson. Marcus Sorensen crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound into the net for his seventh goal of the season at the 5:44 mark.

Evander Kane had a short-handed breakaway with just over 10 minutes remaining for the Sharks, but his attempt to slide the puck between Johnson’s five-hole was denied.

Speaking of great saves, Jones made a fantastic save on Silfverberg, who was all alone to the right of the crease, and his shot was stoned by a diving Jones with 2:25 left in the middle frame.

Jones almost shot the puck into his own on the next shift when he was attempting to clear the puck behind the net. It hit the right post and caromed out in front of the net where Rowney had a chance at an empty net only to have Jones recover and make the save.

Anaheim received a power play toward the end of the period and put a flurry of shots on net including Jones fighting a shot from the point off of his shoulder that hit the cross bar, but stayed out of the net as the Sharks survived the final minute to head into the intermission up by a goal.

The Ducks tied it back up early in the third period. A battle along the right board was won by Josh Manson. Rowney then centered a pass over to Kifer Sherwood, who gathered possession of the puck between the face off circles and snapped a wrist shot that trickled past Jones for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:53 mark.

Tomas Hertl sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left in the game as Anaheim had pulled Johnson for an extra attacker with a minute left in the game. Goodrow would get his third assist on the evening.

Jones made 25 saves on 27 shots to earn his 15th victory. Gibson only played the first period and suffered the loss, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced. Johnson made 20 saves on 23 shots in relief.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Anaheim was 1/4.

This was the second game of Erik Karlsson’s two-game suspension that resulted from a hit on Los Angeles Kings’ Austin Wagner.

Joakim Ryan returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last 11 games.

Burns is the 4th ever Shark to score a goal on his 1000th game. The others were Gary Suter, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

UP NEXT: The Sharks head out on the road to take on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, December 29 at 1:00 pm.

Barracuda ground the Eagles 3-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Once the San Jose Barracuda were able to get their legs underneath them in the second period, they took full advantage, scoring three unanswered goals in a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Eagles on Thursday afternoon at SAP Center.

Colorado (15-10-3-1) drew first blood just past the halfway mark of the first period. Micheal Joly pick pocketed the puck off of Calvan Fitzgerald. He raced down the right-wing and centered a pass over to Dominic Toninato who buried the puck off the crossbar past Cuda goaltender Josef Korenar (12-1-1) for his fourth goal of the season at the 10:57 mark. It was the first ever goal by Colorado on San Jose ice.

San Jose (18-5-1-3) put pressure on Eagles goaltender Pavel Francouz (13-6-2) late in the period when Truchon-Viel had a point-blank chance that he shot wide with under three minutes left. Then, while on the power play, captain John McCarthy’s attempt was stoned away by Francouz off a nice give and go with Francis Perron. San Jose outshot Colorado 9-8 in the opening frame.

Nick DeSimone had a breakaway chance early in the second period seconds after he stepped out of the penalty box, but the puck slid off his stick on his shooting attempt on Francouz.

Perron evened the game at 1-1 on the power play for San Jose. His wrist shot had some english on it that was too much for Francouz to handle at the 9:16 mark. Perron leads the Cuda in overall goals with 13 and power play goals with six. He is on a three-game goal streak.

San Jose received their first lead of the game half way through the middle frame.  Maxim Letunov picked up the puck in the neutral zone and moved in to the Eagles zone away from the defense. He found a wide-open Kyle Wood, who snapped home a perfectly timed wrist shot past Francouz on the short side for his second goal of the season at the 11:26 mark.

The Cuda managed only five shots in the second period, but two of them were in the back of the net. The Eagles had even less shots with just three.

Letunov gave the Cuda an insurance goal to take a 3-1 lead on the power play half way through the third period. Letunov’s attempted pass to Alex True was broken up, but he quickly pounced back on the puck and snapped it past Francouz for his sixth goal of the season at the 11:27 mark. Letunov was finally rewarded for all his hard work as that was his first goal in his last 17 games. Wood and Jeremy Roy received assists.

Korenar made 14 saves on 15 shots to earn his 12th victory and sixth in a row. Francouz made 29 saves on 32 shots in suffering the defeat. He is now currently 2-1 against San Jose.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play. Colorado was 0/2. San Jose is second in the AHL on the penalty kill with a percentage of 86.8%.

Colorado is now 9-2-2 over their last 12 games. San Jose is now 2-0 against the Eagles at SAP Center and have earned at least a point in all four games this season.

The victory clinched the best record for the first half for San Jose and means head coach Roy Sommer will be the head coach of the Pacific Division at the AHL All-Star Game, held on January 28th, 2019 in Springfield, Mass. This will be the third time for Sommer coaching in an All-Star Game.

The announced attendance was 2,525.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the San Diego Gulls on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 5:00 pm at SAP Center.

Sharks fall to the Coyotes in a shootout 4-3

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks had lost two straight game before Sunday’s tilt versus the Arizona Coyotes at the SAP Center. In case you missed, San Jose lost to Los Angeles 3-2 in overtime at the SAP Center Saturday.

Prior to the faceoff, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer made a swap of the Swedes. Tim Heed was in for Erik Karlsson. Karlsson was suspended for two games for an illegal hit to Austin Wagner’s head Saturday. When it comes to starting goaltenders, the Sharks’ Aaron Dell got the nod, while the Coyotes’ Darcy Kuemper was in net.

The opening period was an action-packed, back-and-forth affair between the two teams.

The Sharks went on the power play after Oliver Ekman-Larsson elbowed Kevin Labanc with 6:27 left in the opening period. Tim Heed scored on the power play for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead with 4:49 left. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Thornton received the assists. With the assist, Thornton moved into the 10th spot on the NHL’s all-time assists leaders list with 1,041.

But the Sharks’ lead was short-lived as the Coyotes quickly tied up the score 1-1. Just 20 seconds later, Alex Galyenchuk scored the equalizer for his fourth goal of the season. Clayton Keller received the lone assist.

The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the first. Shots were 11-10 in favor of the Coyotes. The Sharks, however, played fairly consistent defense that helped them stand their ground.

Of course, a Pacific Division matchup wouldn’t be possible without a bitter fight, and that was exactly what happened in the second period. Both teams dropped the gloves, and as a result, the officials handed out penalties to Brenden Dillon and Niklas Hjalmarsson for roughing and Conor Garland for hooking.

Joe Pavelski was called for slashing Ekman-Larsson with 9:55 left in the second. The Coyotes went on the power play and Galchenyuk scored for his second goal of the game (and fifth goal of the season) on a 5-on-3 to give his team a 2-1 lead with 7:39 left in the second. Keller and Nick Schmaltz received the assists.

The Sharks trailed the Coyotes 2-1 at the end of the second. Shots were 21-16 in favor of Arizona. San Jose’s lackluster effort affected them and that’s why they fell behind in the stanza.

The Sharks tied the game 2-2 just 4:17 into the final period. Tomas Hertl unleashed his Hertl power for his 11th goal of the season. Vlasic and Justin Braun received the assists.

But the Sharks’ lead disappeared in the blink of an eye. Just 1:49 later, Conor Garland scored his second goal of the season to help the Coyotes to a 3-2 lead. Richard Panik and Jakob Chychrun received the assists.

Hertl, however, tied the game 3-3 with his second goal of the game (and 12th goal of the season) with 6:07 left in the third. Braun and Evander Kane received the assists.

The score remained in a 3-3 deadlock at the end of regulation, so the tilt went into overtime to determine a winner.

The Sharks were on the power play after Garland served a Coyotes penalty for too many men on the ice, but they were unable to capitalize with the man advantage, so the game went to down to the wire in the form of a shootout. In the first round, Galchenyuk fired, while Pavelski missed. In the second round, neither team succeeded. And, frankly, the third time wasn’t a charm as Logan Couture missed and the Sharks fell to the Coyotes 4-3 in a shootout. San Jose lost its third game in a row. Dell made 23 saves on 26 shots in a losing effort for the Sharks.

Kuemper made 35 saves on 38 shots en route to a Coyotes victory.

The Sharks return to action on Thursday, Dec. 27 at the Honda Center against the Ducks. Faceoff set for 7:30 pm PT on NSCA and PRIT.

Roadrunners’ late goal edges Barracuda 4-3 for series split

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jordan Gross might want to pencil in a vacation to Silicon Valley during the off-season as he had a weekend to remember. He scored the game-winning goal with under two minutes remaining in the game to help the Tucson Roadrunners defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

Gross rifled a shot from the right point for the game-winner at the 18:06 mark of the third period that beat Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (6-4-3) over his left shoulder for his fourth goal of the season. It was his second goal of the night and third in the two-game series. Before this weekend, Gross hadn’t scored a goal in 17 straight games.

San Jose (17-5-1-3) drew first blood early in the first period. Jeffery Truchon-Viel sent in  shot from the left-wing and Evan Weinger cleaned up the rebound, putting the puck past Roadrunners goalie Merrick Madsen (5-3-0) for his sixth goal of the season at the 2:48 mark.

Tucson (16-8-3-1) tied it up just under two minutes later when Jordon Gross scored the first of his two goals. He was able to beat Bibeau from the right corner of the point after Lane Pedersen won a face-off draw. Gross’ third goal of the season came at the 4:43 mark. Brayden Burke also received an assist on the goal.

Dylan Gambrell regained the lead for San Jose halfway through the opening frame when he was set up by captain John McCarthy and Rourke Chartier. He moved into the slot and wristed one past Madsen for his eighth goal of the season came at the 10:37 mark.

Tucson continued the see-saw battle once again getting the tying goal two minutes later when Kyle Capobianco scored his fourth goal of the season when his shot beat a screened Bibeau at the 12:38 mark. Laurence Dauphin received the assist.

In the second period, Tucson gained their first lead of the game when Trevor Cheek scored his fourth goal of the season at the 3:20 mark. Keaton Middleton coughed up the puck in his own zone which resulted in a breakaway for Cheek whose shot was poked checked away by Bibeau, but it deflected off his back and into the net. Robbie Russo and Capobianco received assists.

A key moment in the game came half way through the middle frame when the Cuda were able to kill off a double-minor penalty for high-sticking to Maxim Letunov.

Pederson then went off to the sin bin for holding and San Jose were able to take advantage. Truchon-Viel scored the equalizer seconds after the power play expired on the rebound. The rookie forward’s sixth goal of the season came at the 11:23 mark. Alex True and Thomas Gregoire received assists.

Madsen made 29 saves on 32 shots to earn his fifth win. Bibeau make 33 saves, including three breakaway attempts (two of those were short-handed), on 37 shots in the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Tucson was 0/4.

San Jose suffered its first regulation home loss since mid-October. They’re record is now 10-2-0-1 at the Shark Tank.

The announced attendance was 4,609.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return to action on Thursday, Dec. 27 as they host the Colorado Eagles in a matinée match up at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

Perron scores game-winner, Barracuda beat Roadrunners 4-3 in OT

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Francis Perron continues to be the San Jose Barracuda’s best clutch player as he scored the game winning goal in overtime to defeat the Tucson Roadrunners 4-3 in a Pacific Division battle on Friday evening at SAP Center. The Cuda came back from a two-goal deficit and scored the game’s final three goals.

Alex True started a 2-on-1 odd man rush in the neutral zone. He fed a pass over to Perron at the blue line and skated in fired a wrist shot that went off the blocker of Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska and into the bottom left corner of the net for his team-leading 12th goal on the season a the 1:48 mark of overtime.

“The D-guy (Tucson defender) made a great play actually, a great dive,” said Perron. “I wanted to pass it at first. Then I kinda hesitated after that. Saw the hole on the short side and it went in.”

Lane Pedersen drew first blood for the Roadrunners (15-8-2-1) on the power play. Tyler Steenbergen sent in a shot on goal that hit off Nick Merkley and onto the stick of Pedersen who buried the puck past Cuda goalie Joesef Korenar (11-1-1) for his seventh goal of the season at the 11:01 mark of the first period.

Dylan Gambrell took advantage of a turnover in the Tuscon defensive zone and skated in all alone on Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska (7-4-4) and put a deke on Miska and scored into an open net to tie the game up at 1-1. The unassisted goal, Gambrell’s seventh of the season came at the 12:29 mark. He has now scored a point in four out of his last five games.

Hudson Fasching gave Tucson the lead just 12 seconds into the second period. Steenbergen fed a pass over to Fasching along the left boards and he skated behind the net and his wraparound backhander beat Korenar top-shelf for his ninth goal of the season.

Jordan Gross put Tuscon up by two goals, thanks to a fortunate bounce. Darik Angeli’s pass from the blue line hit a Cuda defender’s stick and bounced right over to a wide open Gross, who pinched in from the point, and snapped in a wrist shot past Kornear to the short side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 5:33 mark.

Jon Martin brought San Jose (16-4-1-3) right back into the game when he raced in from the left side of the blue to retrieve a loose puck sent in from the neutral zone by Francis Perron. Martin skated in with a backhand, forehand move that deflected off of Miska into the back of the bet for his third goal of the season at the 14:06 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer when Keaton Middleton pounced on a loose puck and slammed it home for his third goal at the 6:40 mark of the third period. Maxim Letunov and Manny Wiederer were trying to jam in the puck in a mad scramble out in front of the net. The puck leaked out in between the face off circles where Middleton pinched in and cleaned up the rebound. Anti Suomela and Wiederer were credited with assists.

“It tells you something about this group in there when they’re done 3-2,” said head coach Roy Sommer. “Not a lot of teams come back going into the third (period) especially against a team like Tucson. To come back like that, it was fun.”

Merkley had a breakaway opportunity with under two minutes left in the third period after stealing the puck from Middleton at the Cuda blueline, but his chance was stoned away by Kornear.

Korenar made 20 saves on 23 shots to earn his 11th victory of the season. Miska, who had an outstanding game in his own right, made 29 saves on 33 shots in the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Tucson was 1/5.

Gambrell’s goal also sparked a flurry of teddy bears being tossed onto the ice as it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night at SAP Center. The hundreds of stuffed animals caused about an eight minute delay as the team and it’s staff helped put them in bags and get them off the ice so the game could resume.

“We’ve had that game in juniors and college”, said Gambrell. “That was the first time I got that one so it was pretty exciting.”

San Jose currently has the best home winning percentage in the AHL with a record of 9-1-0-1.

Perron now has scored a point in 10 of his last 12 games including three multi-point games over that stretch.

The announced attendance was 4,455.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda and Roadrunners go back at it again on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 6:00 pm at SAP Center.

Jets Bounce By Sharks 5-3

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Photo credit: @hockeynight

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks’ five-game win streak came to an end at the SAP Center on Thursday night, with the Winnipeg Jets beating their hosts 5-3. Joe Thornton tied Marcel Dionne for 10th all-time in career assists, Joonas Donskoi picked up his 100th career point and Evander Kane had a pair of points in the loss to his former team. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves and Nikolaj Ehlers had a hat trick to give the Western Conference leaders their 48th point of the year.

The Jets scored first in a wild first period that saw a combined five goals, starting on a miscue by Brent Burns. The defenseman’s point shot went right into defenseman Dustin Byfuglien’s shin pad, resulting in a breakaway. The burly blueliner buried the puck for his 4th goal of the year just 51 seconds into the game.

San Jose tied the game after Joe Thornton and Evander combined on alittle give and go 45 seconds later, with the former Jet Kane scoring to knot the score at 1-1. Thornton’s assist was career assist 1040 for Jumbo, moving him into a tie with former Los Angeles Kings great Marcel Dionne for 10th place all-time in assists.

Joe Pavelski would tip a Kevin Labanc shot past Hellebuyck on the power play 11:27 into the period, his team-leading 22nd goal of the season scored from just outside the crease.

The Jets would again prey on the Sharks luck after a dump-in by Blake Wheeler caromed off the stanchion harmfully back into the slot, where Ehlers could score the easy tally with 7:28 left in the first. Mason Appleton gave his team the lead with a drive-by goal just 1:12 later for his first of the year.

The Sharks looked like they were back on the comeback after Donskoi scored his 6th of the year with just seconds left in the period on a opposite side redirection from a Kane pass. The Sharks’ forecheck forced Hellebuyck to turn the puck over behind his net, and Kane’s hard work on the boards pried the puck loose. Kane was potent all evening against his former team, firing 10 shots on goal to go with four hits. He played for Atlanta and Winnipeg from 2009 to a midseason trade to Buffalo in the 2014-15 season, playing in 361 games and amassing 222 points.

The Jets would put the dagger in the Sharks with just over three minutes left in regulation after a turnover on a breakout put the puck on the stick of a Jets forward on a 2-on-0. Martin Jones played the puck aggressively, allowing Ehlers to score his second of the night. He also would add the hat-trick after being awarded an empty net goal after a Sharks player impeded with his path to the vacant cage. Blake Wheeler assisted on all of Ehlers’ goals.

The Sharks look to get back to their winning ways with a pair of home games before the holidays, with the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes coming to town for Saturday and Sunday tilts, respectively.

It’s Two Times the Timo in Sharks’ 3-2 Win Over Stars

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks scored three unanswered goals to comeback from a 1-0 deficit before hanging on for 3-2 win over the visiting Dallas Stars Thursday night at the SAP Center. San Jose has now won three games in a row after losing their previous four. Timo Meier scored a pair of goals to continue his torrid stretch and Joe Thornton scored his fifth of the season. Logan Couture had a multi-assist night, his 14th and 15th points in 13 games, and Martin Jones 20 made saves.

Both teams engaged in a defensive standstill after 20 minutes, allowing a combined eight shots on goal with zero goals. Dallas broke through early in the second, with Radek Faksa scoring his fifth goal 3:35 into the middle frame.

After that, it was Timo time. The Swiss sophomore blasted a point shot past Stars goalie Anton Khudobin with 3:40 left in the second. He potted San Jose’s next goal 12:50 into the 3rd, driving hard to the net and redirecting a Logan Couture pass into goal for a 2-1 lead. Meier now has eight points in his last six games.

Joe Thornton scored an easy redirect just over five minutes later for his fifth goal of the season after Radim Simek’s point shot hit a blocker and ricocheted to the future Hall of Famer. Marcus Sorensen also added an assist on the Sharks 3-1 goal. Thornton was a game-time decision after missing practice Wednesday.

Miro Heiskanen scored his seventh of the year, victimizing the Sharks with 7:36 left in regulation on a bad line change, but San Jose would hold with the net empty for Dallas to pick up the win. They next travel to Chicago to face the reeling Blackhawks Sunday at 4:00 pm PST.