Tag: Sharks

Sharks back rookie Makiniemi to his first NHL win 6-1

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~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ December 9, 2022

ANAHEIM – After losing two close ones to the Ducks last month in overtime, San Jose broke through with a 6-1 multi-goal win in regulation Friday night.

Goaltender Eetu Makiniemi made his first career start after entering in relief of Kaapo Kahkonen the previous game. This outing included a 2-on-1 shorthanded stop as he veered to his right across the net in the first period. Makiniemi made 23 saves. San Jose head coach David Quinn commented, ¨…this game may take on a whole new complexion on that 2-on-1. They get the shorthand and the first power play if they score…it’s amazing what one play can do early in a game when a goalie makes a big save.¨

It was the Sharks’ first win in their teal and yellow Reverse Retro jerseys, wearing them the second of six times during the season. Coach Quinn referred to the team´s win as ¨thorough,¨ as they broke a four-game losing streak.

Special teams was also up to par as San Jose killed three penalties while scoring once. 

Anaheim began with the first three shots on goal and built up to a 5-1 advantage before the Sharks notched the 1-0 lead. Erik Karlsson connected the diagonal dots to Timo Meier at 10:18 who positioned himself stick side behind goalie John Gibson. It was Meier´s second goal in as many games as Tomas Hertl collected the secondary assist. 

In the second, Scott Harrington earned his first goal with San Jose in the three games he has played as he shot down the slot, breaking the Ducks´ Cam Fowler´s stick in the process. With the primary assist, Kevin Labanc tacked on his 200th NHL point. 

A second Anaheim penalty in the game at 6:55 of the second led to two goals eight seconds apart.

Alexander Barabanov, who was questionable before the game, pushed the puck out to Karlsson from behind the net who reacted right away for the 2-0 lead at 7:53.

Teammate Niko Sturm got in the action as well as he was able to strike before Gibson could get back to the net securely.

At 9:37, Trevor Zegras gave the Ducks some life as he broke Makiniemi´s shutout from the right faceoff circle.  

Anthony Stolarz entered in place of Gibson to start the third period.

The teams combined for another three penalties in the first half but the period looked like it might remain scoreless, until Nick Bonino scored an empty netter at 16:18. 25 seconds later, teammate Steven Lorentz, who missed the last game due to the flu, gave the Sharks a sixth goal. This preceded the game´s first fight 11 seconds later, featuring Anaheim´s Sam Carrick and San Jose´s Jonah Gadjovich and roughing calls to Meier and the Ducks´ Max Jones at 18:47.

Game notes: The California rivalry also featured the Jay- brothers, that is Jaycob (Sharks) and Jayson (Anaheim) Megna, playing each other in the NHL for the first time. Meier (1 G, 1A), Tomas Hertl (2A), Karlsson (1G, 1A), Bonino (1G), Barabanov (2A) and Labanc (1A) all kept point streaks alive. San Jose next heads home for one game to host the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday at 7:30pm. 

Ducks win one for Vaakananien 4-1; First Sharks loss of the pre season

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The San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks faced off in pre season action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Fri Sep 30, 2022 (@AnaheimDucks photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ September 30, 2022

~ ANAHEIM– After losing Urho Vaakanainen to a scary collision midway into the first, the Ducks propelled forward in front of a crowd of 13,616, backing goalies John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz over the San Jose Sharks’ split squad Friday.

Though Vaakanainen had to be stretchered off after his momentum literally headed him into the boards, he fortunately had full consciousness and movement as he eventually made it to UCI Medical Center.  

Four was the magic number this time in a reversal of fortune between tonight’s game and the teams’ last meeting on Tuesday. Anaheim matched their goal total from that game (preseason high), which they lost 5-4, but this time the one goal they relinquished was a low for San Jose this preseason along with their first loss. 

Both of the Sharks’ split squad games started at 7pm, with the other half playing Northeast in Vegas, winning 7-3 over the Golden Knights with Danil Gushchin´s hat trick.

The Ducks scored first at 9:46 but the celebration was short-lived as this was when Vaakanainen got hurt after securing the primary assist. Derek Grant´s goal was his first of the preseason and Max Jones had the secondary assist. 

Three missed shots and two penalties later from San Jose, Anaheim took advantage as Max Comtois made it 2-0. Comtois scored over goalie Kappo Kahkonen´s right shoulder two seconds after Kahkonen saved Ryan Strome´s shot on the left. The Ducks had strung together eight shots since the Sharks’ last shot and Comtois´ goal occurred on the fourth shot of the 5-on-3 power play. Strome and Troy Terry obtained their second assists of the preseason.

Just over a minute later, Anaheim made their lead triple. With a defender in front, Frank Vatrano was able to score from the inside edge of the left faceoff circle. 

The Sharks finished the period with the last five shots. 

Forty-four seconds into the second, San Jose kept rolling as they obtained a power play advantage.  The teams then traded as it became a period of penalties. with Derrick Pouliot called for slashing at 3:30, Drew Helleson holding at 6:02, and Comtois and Montana Onyebuchi simultaneously served at 10:05. 

Logan Couture broke through Gibson´s wall, when he scored during the holding penalty, making it 3-1. Nathan Beaulieu took the goal back though during even strength at 9:21 as he pulled up going down the slot.

Stolarz took Gibson´s spot and the Ducks then committed and fought through three straight penalties, one 37 seconds into the penalty at 12 minutes and the third at 15:29. 

The period ended with the Sharks called for the last penalty of the second, with 31 seconds left. 

In the extra free shootout for fun, Couture was second up for San Jose and scored again, but Anaheim won it in the fifth round. 

Game notes: With these last games stateside over for the Sharks, just more than half of the team will reunite after cuts, before they head to Berlin, Germany as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge. San Jose will first face Eisbaren Berlin Tuesday October 4 to cap the preseason before starting the 2022-2023 regular season in Europe as well.

Reimer wins first of preseason 3-1 as Sharks split in Anaheim 

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San Jose Sharks Jeff Viel (left) and the Anaheim Ducks Sam Carrick (right) scrum with an official trying to get control of the melee in the first period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thu Sep 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ September 30, 2021

~ ANAHEIM– San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer stayed in net the whole game as the Sharks closed out September and the road part of their preseason, 3-1 over the Anaheim Ducks Thursday. 

It was Reimer´s first full game of the preseason as he saved 24 of 25 shots. Combined with Sunday´s game, San Jose went 1-1 versus Anaheim down at the Honda Center. The Sharks scored three goals in each contest, this one resulting in a win. A la both contests, the regulation winning team also won the bonus shootout after, as Lane Pederson went high over the second goalie of the night for the Ducks, Anthony Stolarz. 

San Jose went net neutral with special teams, going 1-of-4 on the power play and giving up a shorthanded goal, as Anaheim went 0-for-3. Sharks´ coach Bob Boughner commented on the power play, ¨…it’s nice to get the third goal on the power play, but I liked our mentality of just simplifying, put some more pucks and bodies at the net. That’s what we’ve been trying to stress here in camp.¨

Ryan Merkley had his first goal and assist of the preseason and seven other San Jose skaters earned points.

10 seconds into the game, there was a fight between the Sharks’ Jeffrey Viel and the Ducks’ Simon Benoit. This would be the first of a combined nine penalties in the first period, three of them occurring concurrently. 

At 6:15, Adam Raska shoved Benoit into the away bench which caused the door to open. Benoit ended up leaving the ice and Sam Carrick retaliated, charged with a roughing penalty. 

With a 2-on-1, Anaheim´s Benoit-Olivier Groulx had no problem with that, scoring his second goal versus San Jose this preseason as he went top shelf. Buddy Robinson and goalie John Gibson earned the primary and secondary assists on the shorthanded netter 32 seconds later. 

It took nine minutes for the Sharks to get their first shot on goal. Gibson was able to corral Radim Simek´s attempt. 

San Jose tied the game up at 12:49.  Alexander ¨Sasha¨ Chmelevski attacked from the left and Merkley and Dylan Gambrell from the right, with Merkley credited with the goal. It was all three skaters’ second points of the preseason. 

At 17:28, both Viel and Carrick were charged with their second penalties of the night, roughing. 

With 25 seconds left in the opening period, Gambrell was cited for hooking, giving the Ducks a one-man advantage. The Sharks ended up outshooting Anaheim 10-8. 

The second period was limited to one goal and one penalty, which both occurred around halfway, at 9:05 and 11:05. Benoit also returned to the ice.

In the middle of the right faceoff circle, Raska bounced the puck off the board and sent the puck straight across to Viel as Viel quickly went around Gibson stickside. This gave San Jose their first lead in Anaheim this preseason.  Artemi Kniazev was also credited with an assist.

The Ducks’ Jacob Perreault was the only one charged with a call, roughing, though afterwards multiple skirmishes broke out.

Both teams finished the closing period with multiple penalties, Anaheim with more and the one that resulted in a goal.

The Sharks’ Kevin Labanc made a clean shot from the left faceoff circle, scoring at 15:40. Merkley and William Eklund got the assists, Eklund´s second of the preseason. 

Up Next: San Jose will face the Ducks one more time this preseason, but first time at home, Monday October 4 at 7pm. 

Sharks lose first exhibition game to Ducks 6-3

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The San Jose Sharks forward Tristen Roberts (52) is all happy after scoring a second period goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Sun Sep 26, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim (AP News photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ September 26, 2021

~ ANAHEIM– The mostly back-and-forth game went to the home team as the Anaheim Ducks’ Kodie Curran scored the game-winner with a Gordie Howe hat trick in the Sunday victory.

For the San Jose Sharks, this was the first of a split-squad game, with the other half of the team playing the Golden Knights in Las Vegas later at 7pm.   

New Shark Nick Bonino and Jake Middleton each earned two points with a goal and an assist apiece, Bonino’s goal accomplished during the power play.  

Both teams scored in each period of the first preseason game of the 2021-22 NHL season Sunday. That included the extra exhibition period after the third period buzzer, which the Ducks also won by way of Curran. 

San Jose went 1 of 5 on the power play while the Ducks went 1 of 2. Each team went with two  goalies during the game, for the Sharks, Alexei Melnichuk and Zach Sawchenko saved 8 of 10 and 14 of 16 shots respectively and for Anaheim, Lukas Dostal and Olle Eriksson Ek saved 13 of 14 and 11 of 13 on their end.

The crowd saw some fighting action just over a minute into the game when Middleton took exception to a hit on his teammate and got into it with Sam Carrick. 

The Sharks had trouble getting into their offensive end at first with not one player present until about two minutes in and then multiple skaters around three minutes in. John Leonard had San Jose´s first shot on goal around the five minute mark. 

Hampus Lindholm got the Ducks up on the board first at 5:30 with a slapshot from the point. 

The Sharks got a chance for redemption on the power play with a roughing call to Alexander Volkov six seconds later. Ryan Merkley missed a shot and Kevin Labanc´s two shots were blocked by Curran.

Anaheim went on their first power play at 9:36 when Nicolas Meloche was called for holding.

The fourth penalty of the first period occurred when Marc-Edouard Vlasic´s stick was held by Buddy Robinson. San Jose was able to capitalize on their second power play. Merkley was able to stop the clear to keep it in their end and Bonino made a diagonal shot off the post at 14:53 after a pass from Joachim Blichfeld.  

The second period also saw an early fight but not before an earlier goal. Volkov altered 

Kevin Shattenkirk´s shot to give the Ducks the 2-1 lead at 1:39. Curran received the secondary assist. 16 seconds later, Meloche (second penalty) and Curran were cited for fighting. At the same time, a concurrent penalty was given to Volkov, his second of the night, for interfering with Blichfeld.

Halfway through the second period was when the goalie changes occurred. The Sharks took advantage of the fresh goalie at 10:24 to re-tie the game at two apiece. Tristen Robins scored his first, helped by Dylan Gambrell and Rudolf Balcers. 

At 15:36, Anaheim went back ahead. Vlasic’s pass went behind the net to Sonny Milano instead, who made a straight pass to the incoming Benoit-Olivier Groulx, as Groulx converted. 

In the third, after a barrage (four in the span of 36 seconds) of shots by the Ducks, Balcers shot in between two defenders and went top post for the game´s third tie at 6:35.  Middleton and Bonino earned the assists. 

Starting at 12:03, scored three goals in a span of six minutes and 20 seconds. Troy Terry found a wide open Curran on the left for the first. Robinson got the second assist. Momentum continued in Anaheim´s favor as they went on their second power play. Volkov aimed at the net as the puck went behind Sachenko. Unable to fish it out, Terry was able to poke the puck into the net to make it 5-3. It was Milano´s second assist. With 1:37 left, Greg Pateryn made it three goals in the third period with an empty-netter to conclude the regulation scoring.

In the exhibition shootout, the Ducks went first as it went from Jacob Perreault to Labanc to Volkov to Alexander Barabanov to Milano (the first one who did not score) to Hertl (blocked) to Curran (scored) to Leonard (wide). 

Up Next: In the second split squad game in Las Vegas the Sharks defeated the Knights 4-2 at the T Mobile Center. On Tuesday, the Sharks will host their home preseason opener against the Los Angeles Kings at 7pm. 

Feature: Sharks In Desperate Need of More Power Play Opportunities

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Peter Elliott

CHICAGO–Peter DeBoer’s squad was deprived of something other than a win on Friday night: opportunities on the power play.

The Sharks only had one chance to execute on the man advantage in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It lasted 22 seconds.

San Jose’s only time on the ice with less than five red sweaters was during the third period, when Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy was booked to the penalty box with an interference minor. 22 seconds later, Brent Burns was sent off to the Sharks penalty box on a holding minor, offsetting the Sharks’ 5-on-4 upper hand. If I haven’t stressed it enough, 22 seconds is not enough time to type a tweet, much less let alone score a goal.

The power play had been a strength for the Sharks all season and a reason for their high offensive benchmarks. But lately, not so much.

The team is suffering through a scoreless 0-19 stretch in the power play category, an unusual drought for a team that has been so stellar on the man advantage for the majority of the season. The Sharks still remain among the best in the league in the category, up there with division leaders Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay. But if their recent struggles continue, they surely won’t keep up with that company for very long.

“We need to get a little bit of that confidence back, stepping over the boards and understanding that it can win us some games,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski of his team’s power play scoring skid, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “We need to be better there. Bottom line is we need to execute, make another play, stick one in the net.”

As noted, it’s absence has been sorely missed on the offensive side of the ice recently. Especially on Thursday night during a 7-1 blowout at the hands of Nashville, in which DeBoer’s squad failed to net on a single goal during their five power play opportunities. The Sharks undoubtedly just need both more opportunities and repetitions with the power play. 

Success will come soon.

The power play magic that has helped the Sharks postseason aspirations is currently M.I.A., but luckily for the Sharks, they’ll have time to re-discover it before a Sunday evening game against Minnesota. The Wild boast a pedestrian penalty kill percentage of 80.8%, which makes the playoff contending Wild a ripe target for a power play resurgence.

San Jose has been able to maintain a 6-5 record in the month of February, although that is not ideal for a team in the middle of a tight playoff race. A stronger showing on the man advantage certainly could have alleviated some of those deficits.

The Sharks are set to square off against the Blackhawks again on March 1 in San Jose. Maybe then, the Sharks can get a power play that lasts a whole 30 seconds.

Couture Returns, Sharks Ground Flyers 4-2

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: leadercall.com SJ Sharks Logan Courture

SAN JOSE, Calif. – When the schedule makers at the NBC Sports Network put Wednesday’s San Jose Sharks-Philadelphia Flyers match-up on the channel’s “Rivalry Night” there must have been some clairvoyants in the room. The midweek heavyweight tilt at the SAP Center had the type of snarl usually reserved for the Battle of California or the Keystone State Showdown.

Despite the distant between Silicon Valley and the City of Brotherly Love there was no, well, love lost between the two teams on the ice. San Jose (18-16-2) skated away with a 4-2 win in a heavy contest loaded with 53 hits, 46 penalty minutes and a few goals as well. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns lit the lamp for the Sharks, while Joe Pavelski scored a pair. In total, San Jose scored 3 power play tallies. Logan Couture had a pair of assists in his return to the Sharks lineup.

Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier tallied Philadelphia’s markers. Martin Jones made 17 saves on 19 shots to give the Sharks their 16th win in the last 19 games against Philly since 2002.

“Our special teams was the difference,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “That was a desperate team that came in here. They tried to be physical to the point of taking some bad penalties and we made them pay for that.”

Ever the cagey veteran, Joe Thornton inserted himself into the fray almost immediately Wednesday. The 36-year-old center was engaged from the drop of the puck, levying a pair of hits and nearly dropping the gloves with Radko Gudas after a heated discussion in the first period.

It was only a matter of time before no. 19 found his way onto the scoresheet, be it by roughing minor, fighting major, his usual assist or a goal. Luckily for Jumbo, it proved to be the latter at the 9:53 mark of the second period after the alternate captain flipped the puck over Mason’s shoulder on a San Jose power play.

“I was just enjoying the game,” said Thornton. “That’s why you play the game, the fun moments.”

Thornton started the play, taking the puck behind the visitors’ net. He swung the puck to Mason’s left, connecting with Patrick Marleau at the faceoff circle. Marleau went back up the wing to Thornton, who had now positioned himself just outside the crease. From there, Thornton slapped the puck up and over Mason’s left shoulder for his 7th goal of the season.

Logan Couture, returning to the ice after missing 7 games with an arterial bleed in his right leg, also assisted on Thornton’s goal. It was Couture’s 3rd point of the season (all assists) in just his 6th game after missing 24 of the first 26 games with a leg injury.

“It’s great,” said Burns when asked how it feels to have Couture back. “It’s tough when you see a guy out for a while. You see how hard he’s working and the bad bounce when he came back. IT’s great to see. IT’s going to be a little while for him to eventually feel comfortable, but it’s good to see him back.

“You could see it in the lineup right away,” added Pavelski. “That’s another big time player. What he brings to the team, the energy he brings and the confidence definitely helps.”

He looked comfortable in his return, playing 15:22 minutes with a -1 rating. He would also assist on Burns’ game-tying strike in the 3rd.

“It was a great crowd,” said Couture. “We need to build on this, but it feels good to come back and win the game.”

In total, Couture saw 5:43 of power play time.

“On the power play I felt comfortable,” said Couture “I had the puck. It was lucky that we had some many power plays. I was able to establish that game, feel the puck, get some chances, build my confidence up that way.”

“It comes naturally to him,” said DeBoer of Couture’s work on the power play. “Those guys have a special chemistry. We just have to keep that up.”

The Flyers (15-14-7) responded with a Claude Giroux score with 4:11 left in the 2nd after the centerman won the faceoff from Thornton and flung the puck into Jones’ midsection. While Jones made the initial save, the puck’s momentum carried it down to the ice and between the netminder’s pads for the Flyers captain’s 12th goal of the campaign.

“I’ve had Claude on a couple teams I coached,” said DeBoer. “I had him on the Canadian team. He’s a special guy. He’s the best in the world at different things. The goal surprised me, but not who did it.”

Philadelphia took the 2-1 lead on a defensive lapse by the Sharks early in the 3rd. Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier were sprung on a 2-on-0. Couturier took Simmonds’ feed and put it on his backhand to best Jones for his 6th of the year 4:19 into the 3rd.

Though the Sharks haven’t had many power play opportunities at home (their 44 man advantages entering Wednesday ranks dead last in the NHL), they also haven’t taken advantage of the special teams edge either. They have the 8th worst power play percentage at home this year, a mere 15.9 percent. Despite those figures, San Jose managed to get it down a man up not once, but twice, Wednesday night with Brent Burns finding the equalizer 5:54 into the final period of regulation.

“In the past few games a bounce buried us at times,” said Pavelski. “We got that feeling on the bench tonight where it wasn’t going to get us down. We got a big power play goal from Burns to get us back in there. It felt good.

With RJ Umberger in the sin bin for slashing Brenden Dillon, the Sharks newly potent power play set up in the Flyers’ end. Joe Thornton took the puck from the right faceoff dot and slid it to Couture in the front right crease. Couture’s no-look backhand pass missed Marleau’s stick, but landed on a crashing Burns’ tape in the slot. Burns ripped the shot over Mason’s blocker to knot the contest up 2-2 with just under 14 minutes to play.

“We have certain sets we work on,” said Couture. “Burns’ goal is a set that we’ve had for a while. You have Marleau in the slot and he usually comes down the side which opens the backdoor for Burns.”

The power play nearly was the culprit of the game-winner for San Jose, but a matter of seconds changed the Sharks special teams night. Captain Joe Pavelski netted his 19th of the year just 3 seconds after Shane Gostisbehere exited the box at the 13:45 mark on a cross-ice one-timer from Justin Braun.

Pavelski, who missed Tuesday’s practice with the flu, earned his power play goal almost 5 ½ minutes later to ice the contest. The forward took a pass from Marleau on the boards and ripped a backhander past Mason for his second of the night after Marc-Eduoard Vlasic held the puck in at the blue line.

“You can see his importance to us,” said DeBoer. “All the big guys were great though, Thornton, Vlasic Braun, (Paul) Martin.”

The Sharks ended the night converting half of their power plays, going 3-for-6 with a Flyer in the box.

“Our power play unit does well when we’re moving and reading off each other,” said Burns.

When asked about how it felt for the NHL’s worst home team to get a win in front of a sold-out, the Sharks captain was frank.

“It’s what we expect,” said Pavelski. “Obviously now that’s the template we have to copy and play with. It was a good win tonight. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”

The Sharks get another stab a wowing the home crowd when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the Shark Tank January. After that, they’ll continue the homestand with contests against Eastern Conference foes the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Notes:

Tommy Wingels dropped the gloves twice, once in the second against Chris VandeVelde and again in the 3rd against Jakub Vorachek. Because only a punch or two was thrown, the 2nd altercation was ruled a minor for roughing, not a five minute fighting major. DeBoer on Wingels: “I thought Tommy Wingels had one of his best games all year. He was in the middle of it. He jumped in and fought for a teammate.” …Brent Burns leveled VandeVelde with a hit in the offensive zone that injured the Flyers Forward. Said Burns: “Most of the time I turn around and hit with my butt. I felt pretty strongly that I hit him in the midsection strongly. It’s tough to see someone get hurt. I hit him in the midsection, I don’t know if he hits his head on the ice or what but it’s tough to see.”

Early Deficit Undoes Sharks in Homestand Finale with Islanders

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. –True to recent form, a poor start once again took a bite out of the San Jose Sharks chances for a win Tuesday night at SAP Center. The Sharks (7-8-0) allowed two goals to the New York Islanders in the opening five minutes and never managed to dig themselves out of the quick hole they found themselves in, falling 4-2. Joel Ward and Brent Burns tallied the Sharks goals, while Alex Stalock made 20 saves in a relief appearance. Perennial Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares netted a pair of goals to lead the Islanders (8-5-3) to victory.

“We wanted to get a better start and it just didn’t happen,” said Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski after the game. “A bad bounce or bad change, it happens. You’ve got to fight through it.”

San Jose has now lost 7 of 9 games this season when allowing the opponent to score first. The Sharks scored first in their first 5 games of the season, but have yet to score first in consecutive games since. Over the last 10 games, the Sharks netted the first goal only twice. Their record over the last ten games now stands at 3-7-0.

Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones’ night ended after facing just three shots. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer had seen enough from Jones and opted to pull his netminder for Alex Stalock after goals from John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski in the first 3:30 of play.

“We need a momentum change,” said Jones. “Alex stepped in the last couple games and played great. It’s no fun being pulled but I’m not surprised.”

“You’ve always got to be ready,” said Stalock. “That’s the job of a back-up, injury or change of pace.”

The Islanders captain Tavares struck the opening blow on a rebound of a Brock Nelson shot, the first two shots of the game, at the 36 second mark. Three minutes later, Grabovski managed to turn a defensive zone faceoff into a rush up ice and a wrist shot for his third goal of the season.

“You can give up a bad goal in this league and recover,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “You can’t give up two goals and expect to win.”

Joel Ward regained a stake of the team lead in goals in the second period on a piece of strong forechecking against Travis Hamonic. Ward lifted Hamonic’s stick along the boards, picking the Islander’s pocket before power to the net. The veteran beat former Shark Thomas Greiss in the crease for his 8th goal of the season at the 10:14 mark of the period.

“We got within one, which gives us a chance,” said Pavelski. “But we want to be playing with the lead.”

Despite only cutting the deficit in half, the Sharks second period performance gave plenty of hope to fans and coaches alike. San Jose outshot the Islanders 14-6 in the frame, drawing the 16,558 fans in attendance to a standing ovation following one specific spectacular shift.

All the momentum built up from a strong second was zapped from the building with another quick strike to open the third. Isles defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored his second goal in as many games, rocketing one of his patented slap shots past Stalock clean for a 3-1 lead 45 seconds into the final frame of regulation.

“I thought it was going to hit my pads,” said Stalock. “It’s a bad feeling when you have no sensation of a puck.”

Brent Burns made the game interesting late, taking a Thomas Hertl pass from behind Greiss and slicing it past Greiss pad for his 5th goal of the season with 5:11 left to play. Despite an offensive surge for the Sharks, Greiss managed to hold on for the win following his 34 save effort. John Tavares added an empty net goal to ice the win for New York.

With the Sharks going 1-3 on a recent homestand, they’ll be looking forward to the road. They’ve fared much better away from SAP (4-3) than at home. They’ll open a six-game road trip with back-to-back contests in Detroit Friday night and a meeting with Jack Eichel’s Buffalo Sabres Saturday afternoon. The six city trip will also make stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Notes: The Sharks had one power play on Tuesday and failed to score, running the streak to 21 straight power plays at home without a goal. They have yet to score on the man advantage at home this season…Melker Karlsson returned to action with the Sharks, playing almost 16 minutes and registering 3 shots on goal while primarily playing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. On having Karlsson return to the line-up DeBoer said: “I thought he was good. First game in a long time. You can see that he’s an NHL player. He can help us”.…The loss puts the Sharks below .500 for the first time all season.

Pavelski Scores a Pair But Sharks Stumble Against Blue Jackets

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks saw Tuesday night’s contest at SAP Center against the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets as an opportunity to take advantage of a team in turmoil. Instead, the Sharks (6-6-0) now find themselves looking answers after losing 5-2 in a match-up against a team with only a pair of wins on the season.

Joe Pavelski scored both goals for the Sharks and goalie Martin Jones struggled through a 17 save, 4 goal performance against a Columbus team that recently fired their coach and was struggling under new coach John Tortorella.

“It was not good enough,” said Jones. “We played a backwards game, let up an early goal and let in a few soft ones in the 2nd. We need to be better. Everyone needs to be better. We got outworked tonight.”

The Sharks dug an early hole after committing two penalties in the opening five minutes. They managed to kill off a Chris Tierney stick infraction a minute and a half into the game, but weren’t as lucky after defenseman Brenden Dillon skated to the box 4:23 into the game.

With the man advantage, Brandon Dubinsky skated to the left faceoff dot and took a shot on Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Jones stopped the initial attempt, but Brandon Saad was waiting in the goal crease to tuck the loose puck home for a 1-0 lead with 12 seconds left on Dillon’s infraction.

“We got the first kill,” said Pavelski. “We almost got through the second one which would have given us a boost. We were on our heels early. It has to change, we have to break this mold where we’re getting scored on first.”

The Sharks Captain matched the team-best of 7 goals on the season in the waning seconds of the first period. Pavelski crept into Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease, redirecting a point shot from Justin Braun past the Russian netminder with 1:04 left in the period.

The Blue Jackets regained their lead nearly halfway through regulation after Scott Hartnell beat Jones for his 5th goal of the season at the 8:54 mark. Hartnell started the play behind the Sharks net, skated out towards the faceoff dot to Jones’ right then spun around and ripped a shot rapid-fire that beat Jones over the near post shoulder.

Pavelski again drew the Sharks three minutes later, receiving a backhand feed from Joonas Donskoi before deking out Bobrovsky to move past Joel Ward for the team lead in goals.

Pavelski’s goal was the result of a heads-up forecheck from Donskoi along the offense boards. Donskoi snuck behind Nick Foligno preparing to move the puck out of the Columbus defensive end and sent it back towards the goal line for Pavelski’s tally. The assist on the play was Donskoi’s 2nd career NHL point and first since returning from injury October 28th.

“It’s hard to come back after an injury,” said Donskoi. “I think it’s getting better but I’m not happy. We still lost. It’s disappointing.”

The tie was short lived due to miscommunication by Jones and defenseman Brent Burns. Jones went to play a dump-in behind his net and settle the puck for Burns. Burns, however, didn’t react in time to stop an advancing Blue Jacket from springing the puck loose. Columbus forward Boone Jenner snuck in to net his 7th goal with 1:28 left in the 2nd.

If the Jenner goal didn’t deflate the Sharks heading into the 2nd intermission, defenseman Ryan Murray’s strike with 59 seconds left in the period certainly did. Murray slid a point shot through a crowd in front of the net to put Columbus up 4-2 and chase Jones from the contest.

“I think it went off one of our guys’ gloves,” said Jones. “It was a bit of a deflection, a bit of a screen.”

Over his 40 minutes of ice time Jones allowed 4 goals while making 17 saves. His replacement, Alex Stalock, faced only 2 shots over the final period, but Matt Calvert scored an empty netter for the final 5-2 marker.

At the other end of the ice, Bobrovsky stood on his head for most of the contest to earn his third win of the season. The former Vezina trophy winner turned aside 41 of 43 shots he faced, keeping the Sharks power play off the board after four opportunities.

“For our power play we demand a lot out of ourselves,” said Pavelski. “We expect a lot. It’s just unacceptable. It was a big momentum swing for us. We’ve created some momentum off it when we’ve had chances. It doesn’t do anything for the wins.”

“Everybody goes through tough stretches,” said Jones. “We know we have a good group in here. We know we’ll respond. We’ve got the group in here to do it. The main thing is to show up tomorrow, have a good practice and move on.”

The Sharks will have to move on quickly with the Florida panthers coming to town Thursday night followed by a visit from another reeling team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Southern California rivals come to town Saturday night with a lowly 2 wins and six points, tied for the lowest mark in the NHL.

Rinne, Predators Fourth Line Prey on Sharks

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks hoped having a pair of forwards return to the line-up Wednesday night might bring about scoring depth, especially at home where coach Pete DeBoer had final change and a chance at exploiting mismatches. Despite the returns of Joonas Donskoi and Ben Smith, the Sharks (5-4-0) scoring woes continued in a 2-1loss to the visiting Nashville Predators (7-1-1). Pekka Rinne held the Sharks to a lone goal, a goal by center Joe Pavelski, on 21 shots.

“He’s a good goalie,” said Pavelski. “He’s one of the better ones in the league. With all the goalies you have to get traffic. If they see it, they stop it.”

The Finn shut down San Jose to one goal or less for the fourth time in the last six games. In those games, the Sharks are 1-3-0, topping the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in the shootout for the sole victory on October 16th.

Nashville winger Eric Nystrom baffled Jones early, unleashing a dart from the left circle that beat the San Jose netminder to his stick side at the 3:22 mark of the 1st.

“You need a save there,” said Jones. “Early in the game you need a save there. It’s tough to come back from. That’s a tough defensive team with a good goalie.”

The Sharks held a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal after the period, but goalie Pekka Rinne and the Predators withstood a San Jose power play to get the home team off the stat sheet after 20 minutes.

It took 15 shots, but the Sharks final snuck a puck past Rinne in the 3rd period, with the Sharks captain tying the game 1:28 into the frame. Pavelski pounced on a rebound in the crease off a Matt Tennyson shot for his fourth of the season. Matt Nieto, taking a turn on the top line after playing the majority of the game on the third forward unit, also picked up an assist.

“It feels good to score,” said Pavelski. “But that’s that moment, then you move on for the next one. They got the next one. It takes away from it.”

Calle Jarnkrok gave Nashville that next one halfway through the period, taking a Gabriel Bourque pass and ripping it over Jones’ glove for his first goal of the season, the game winner Wednesday.

“The difference tonight was that their fourth line had two goals,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “That was the difference in the game. Everyone else cancelled each other out.”

In total, Nashville scored on 2 of 24 shots against Jones.

“They didn’t have much,” said Pavelski of the Predators offensive chances on the night. “We didn’t have much. That’s how it is against those guys. The power play has to start putting one in.”

The Sharks special teams was 0-2 on the night, extending a scoreless streak to six straight opportunities with the man advantage. They also went 2-2 on the penalty kill.

“The special teams battle was even tonight,” said DeBoer. “They didn’t get one either. We need to start scoring there for sure. We had some great looks. Eventually something is going to go in.”

The Sharks will be looking for some treats from their nearly-whole lines and power play unit on Halloween when they visit the Dallas Stars Saturday before continuing the road trip with a pit stop in Colorado. After that, the team returns to SAP for four-straight home contests.