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That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s vs. Giants Bay Area Rivalry on Tap

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The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants open up a brief two game series at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Apr 26, 2022 (photo from sfgate.com)

A’s vs Giants: Bay Area Rivalry On Tap

That’s Amaury News and Commentry

By Amaury Pi-González

SAN FRANCISCO–The two Bay Area teams will face each other in a quick two-game set at Oracle Park this Tuesday and Wednesday, with both games’ first pitch scheduled for 6:45. Two teams right now on different paths. A’s rebuilding and with an uncertain future, the Giants try to prove they can win again over 100 games and advance into the playoffs over the heavily favorite LA Dodgers.

This is a friendly rivalry, with many families split with their support of their favorite team. April is usually the lowest attendance month of the baseball season but there should be no problem with attendance at Oracle during this mid-week series between the A’s and the Giants, maybe not sellout crowds but definitely plenty of people.

This regional rivalry had it’s epic moment during the 1989 World Series, interrupted by a strong Earthquake which postponed that October Classic for 11 days.

The A’s swept the Giants during that historic and memorable 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Those were different times, the Giants were playing at Candlestick Park one of the most maligned major league stadiums in history and the A’s were playing in the middle of their very successful late 1980’s when they advanced to three consecutive World Series with the direction of their Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa.

In 1988 World Series the A’s lost to the Dodgers, in one of the biggest upsets in history. 1989 they swept the Giants and in 1990 they lost to Cincinnati.

Nobody was talking about the Oakland Coliseum and how bad it was because the team was winning, and winning cures everything. For many hardcore A’s fans they still talk about the great team that should had won those three consecutive World Series.

The A’s are only the second team do to such when they won three consecutive World Series in 1972,1973 and 1974. Only the New York Yankees under various dynasties, winning as many as five World Series in a row during the 1950’s.

The A’s have a rookie manager in Mark Kotsay and a cast of inexperienced players, mixed with veterans like Jed Lowrie and Stephen Vogt. The Giants under skipper Gabe Kapler in his second season trying to disprove most of the experts that predicted they will not win as many games again as last season.

That prediction is not fair, because 2021 was a great surprise for the Giants as many of their players (including veterans Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford) enjoyed their best season. In a way the Giants have a chip on their shoulders.

They still are not getting a lot of respect from the national baseball media. The Giants organization would like nothing more than to win this year’s World Series, and in the process, tie the A’s with a fourth World Series title.

The history of these two major league franchises is similar in many ways. With the A’s today threatening to possibly leave Oakland for Las Vegas, if the plan for the new Howard Terminal stadium is not approved.

In 1992 the Giants under owner Bob Lurie who agreed to sell the Giants and move them to Florida almost came to fruition. The Giants have longer roots in the Bay Area, they arrived from New York (1958) 10 years prior to the A’s arriving from Kansas City (1968).

Oracle Park is one the most attractive major league parks. I broadcast their inaugural game in the year 2000, doing their Spanish play by play, today, the park that has shared four names: Pac Bell, ATT, SBC Park and now Oracle Park, is 22 years old, hard to believe.

It is always fun to see the A’s and Giants playing on the same field.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Win 5-4 in SO Over Vegas, Bordeleau Scores Shoot Out Winner; SJ’s third win in last four games

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San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) congratulates Thomas Bordeleau (23) who scored the shootout goal against the Vegas Golden Knights at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Sun Apr 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won a nail-biter in Las Vegas Sunday, winning 5-4 in the shootout. Thomas Hertl, Nick Bonino (2) and Timo Meier scored for San Jose, and Thomas Bordeleau scored the shoot-out winner. James Reimer made 42 saves for the win. Chandler Stephenson, Max Pacioretty, William Carrier and Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas. Logan Thompson made 25 saves in the loss.

Thomas Hertl gave the Sharks a lead by cleaning up a rebound at 11:43 of the first period. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov ands Jaycob Megna.

Chandler Stephenson tied it at 14:23 on a power play, cleaning up a rebound from a Max Pacioretty shot. Assists went to Pacioretty and Alex Pietrangelo.

Pacioretty gave Vegas a 2-1 lead with a shot from the right circle at 7:46 of the second period. An assist went to Shea Theodore.

William Carrier made it 3-1 at 9:59 with a one-timer off a pass from Keegan Kolesar. Assists went to Kolesar and Nicolas Roy.

Nick Bonino cut the lead back down to one at 18:55, redirecting a Jaycob Megna shot. Ab assist also went to Matt Nieto.

Nicolas Roy made it 4-2 for Vegas at 6:35 of the third period with a shot off a William Karlsson pass. Assists went to Karlsson and Shea Theodore.

Nick Bonino scored his second of the night to make it 4-3 at 17:54 with a shot from the point.

Timo Meier tied the game 4-4 with one second left. Brent Burns took and initial shot from the blue line and Couture and Meier took turns trying to knock it into the net.

The game went through a scoreless overtime and into the shootout. The only skater to score was Sharks rookie Thomas Bordeleau, the sixth and final shooter.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home against the Anaheim Ducks at 7:30 PM PT.

Warriors Suffer Crushing Loss to Denver 126-121

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, is defended by the Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney, center, and forward Draymond Green at the Ball Arena in Denver during game 4 of the NBA Playoffs (AP News photo)

Warriors Suffer Crushing Loss to Denver 126-121

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors led their series against the Denver Nuggets 3-0. This afternoon the Warriors tried to finish off Denver to win the series. While this was not a critical game for Golden State a win would give the team considerable time to rest and heal.

More time for Stephen Curry especially and Jordan Poole who has been nursing his shooting wrist at times. It’s a given that extra time off would be of great benefit for the entire team.

This was the last chance for the Nuggets so you can bet they would be playing their A-game in Game Four. For Denver it was win or go home. Win they did as they had the lead throughout the game no doubt they’re best game against Golden State in a 126-121.

The Nuggets won the first quarter 26-21 and went on to win the second quarter 37-31 leading at the half 63-52. Nikola Jokic had a great first quarter but cooled off a bit in the second. He still had twenty plus points in the first half.

When Jokic gets into a rhythm it can spell disaster for any team. He would finish the first three quarters with 33 points.

With under three minutes left in the game the Warriors were down by one point 117-116. This became a wild game after a horribly slow three quarters from Golden State.

With 1:47 left Curry tied the game at 119 with a three points play, a basket and free throw. The Nuggets would turn the ball over and Curry would give the Warriors the lead 121-119. Jokic would come right back to tie the game 121-121.

Monte Morris would give the Nuggets the lead 123-121and Will Barton would seal the deal with a three-point jumper to beat the Warriors. Denver had fought off elimination and now it would be Game Five back at Chase Center. There will be no brooms in this series.

This was a hard fought game but when Jokic shoots for 37 points it makes it very tough. He was dominate throughout the entire game.

This was his best game of the series and he got a lot of help from Monte Morris, Aaron Gordon, Bones Hyland and DeMarcus Cousins all shooting double digits. Denver needed their entire team to play lights out in order to beat the Warriors.

An awful lot went wrong for the Warriors. They fought from uphill for most of the game. Curry had a very tough first half entering the game earlier than expected when Klay Thompson committed two very early fouls. It became very apparent that he was just not ready to go in.

The team missed far too many open shots and Curry missing four free throws was also not something we see too often if at all. Poole had a quiet game with only eleven points so it was really amazing that the Warriors almost pulled this game out. This was a very disappointing game for the team.

Denver played much better than the Warriors in this game. “Steph made some brilliant plays,” said Head Coach Steve Kerr in regards to the final two minutes of the game. “We just started too late to win a road game. We got away from our game plan,” he said.

So now this series will head back to Chase Center for a Game Five on Wednesday. There will a bit of time to rest up for the team and finish off this series at home. Tipoff will be at 7:00 PM.

Joc Pederson Slugs His Way To SF Win 12-3; Giants sweep Nats in three games

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San Francisco Giants hitter Joc Pederson slugs a first inning home run a solo shot against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in DC on Sun Apr 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

Joc Pederson Slugs His Way To SF Win 12-3

By Barbara Mason

In the past the Giants have had problems with the Washington Nationals. That was then and this is now and the San Francisco Giants (11-5) were playing today for a sweep of the Nationals (6-12). They beat Washington in the first two games of the series the first game a 7-1 beatdown Friday night.

The Giants have had a lot of success in the early innings of games this season and they went right to work in the first two innings of this game leading after two 4-1. Joc Pederson hit a home run to lead off in the first inning and he did not look back.

As this game progressed it became obvious that he was just getting warmed up. Wilmer Flores singled in the first innings driving Brandon Crawford home to lead 2-0.

The Giants continued to extend their lead in the second inning when Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice and Thairo Estrada scored from 3rd base. Brandon Belt came to bat and tripled in the second driving Joey Bart home to extend the lead 4-1

Yadiel Hernandez had a single for the Nationals in the 1st inning and hit a homer in the third inning pulling to within a single run of San Francisco 4-3. The Nationals would fail to score for the rest of the game.

San Francisco had a single in the fifth inning from Wilmer Flores driving Joc Pederson home. Joc Pederson had his second home run of the game in the seventh inning for a 6-3 lead.

The ninth inning of the game was a monster inning for the Giants scoring 6 runs. Brandon Belt scored on a single from Flores who had an incredible game. Luis Gonzalez would single and drive in Crawford and Mauricio Dubon.

Estrada hit a sacrifice and Flores would score. Next up at bat was Austin Slater who hit a single and Gonzalez and Jason Vosler scored for a final score of 12-3. This was one of the most productive innings from the Giants all season.

San Francisco had a great start in this game and an equally strong finish in the ninth inning. The Giants had swept the Nationals not an easy feat in today’s game. Joc Pederson was the heavy hitter in this game and kudos to Wilmer Flores who also contributed so much to this win.

Monday the Giants will take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Rodon will be on the mound to start tomorrows game for San Francisco and Corbin Burnes will start for the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 PM PT.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Rangers Martin leads with shutout over A’s; Montas’ great outing is showcase for other teams shopping him

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Texas Rangers Martin Perez throws against the Oakland A’s in the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Apr 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

Michael Duca joins Amaury on That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Oakland A’s (8-8) having a tough time getting some offense they dropped the first game of this three game series to the Texas Rangers (5-9) on Friday 8-1 and then were shutout on Saturday 2-0.

#2 On Saturday A’s starter Frankie Montas actually had a decent outing with eight strikeouts, giving up just two earned runs on three hits the two runs coming in the top of the eighth inning in a heartbreaker 2-0 loss.

#3 This is a showcase game for Montas a lot of teams who were shopping for Montas will continue to bang on the A’s door it’s surprising that Montas is still with the club.

#4 Sunday starters for the Rangers Garett Richards (0-0 ERA 4.50) and for the Athletics Cole Irvin (1-1 ERA 4.32) for a 1:07 pm PDT first pitch at the Coliseum.

Michael Duca joins Amaury Pi Gonzalez for That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Lack of hitting leads to A’s recent loses

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Texas Rangers’ Eli White (41) gets in ahead of the tag by Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy, front left, after a ball hit by Rangers’ Brad Miller in the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Apr 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Oakland A’s (8-8) having a tough time getting some offense they dropped the first game of this three game series to the Texas Rangers (5-9) on Friday 8-1 and then were shutout on Saturday 2-0.

#2 On Saturday A’s starter Frankie Montas actually had a decent outing with eight strikeouts, giving up just two earned runs on three hits the two runs coming in the top of the eighth inning in a heartbreaker 2-0 loss.

#3 This is a showcase game for Montas a lot of teams who were shopping for Montas will continue to bang on the A’s door it’s surprising that Montas is still with the club.

#4 Charlie, talk about the Rangers Brad Miller who did get a big hit in the eighth inning for two RBIs that was the difference as the A’s have lost three of their last four games.

#5 Sunday starters for the Rangers Garett Richards (0-0 ERA 4.50) and for the Athletics Cole Irvin (1-1 ERA 4.32) for a 1:07 pm PDT first pitch at the Coliseum.

Join Charlie O every other Sunday for the Oakland A’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Espinoza’s hat trick give Earthquakes 4-3 comeback win over Sounders

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The San Jose Earthquakes celebrate a penalty-kick goal by Cristian Espinoza during the second half against the Seattle Sounders at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sat Apr 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE– Cristian Espinoza picked a great time to score his first hat trick.

Espinoza’s penalty shot in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half earned the San Jose Earthquakes a 4-3 come from behind victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

With the score even at three, video review concluded that Nouhou Tolo took down Francisco Calvo inside the box to concede the penalty early into stoppage time of the second half.

Espinoza kicked the penalty shot into the lower right corner as Sounders goalie Stefan Frei guessed wrong diving to the left to complete his first hat trick in a Quakes uniform as well as hand San Jose their first win of the season.

This was the first match played since Matias Almeyda was let go as head coach of the team by San Jose this past Monday and the first match coached for interim coach Alex Covelo. He had served as head coach of the club’s MLS NEXT Pro side Quakes II during their inaugural season in 2022. Covelo earned his first win in his coaching debut for the Quakes.

San Jose finally earned its first win in its eighth matches. Seattle have lost two matches in a row after having a three-match point streak.

Seattle (2-4-1) drew first blood on a penalty shot after Nathan took down Raul Ruidiaz inside the box with a sliding tackle. Nicolas Lodeiro converted the penalty in the 14th minute for his first goal of the season.

The Sounders doubled its lead six minutes later in the 20th minute off of a set piece. Lodeiro’s free kick was finished off with a header by Cristian Roldan into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

San Jose (1-4-3) answered back with Espinoza’s first goal of the game in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half. Espinoza cleaned up his own rebound after his initial shot went off a Sounder defender and right back to him for his second goal of the season.

Seattle regained its two-goal lead in the in the 57th minute. Lodeiro picked up his second assist when he set up Jordan Morris with a cross into the middle of the box where Morris tapped it in past Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski for his team leading second goal of the season.

The Quakes began their comeback three minutes later with Espinoza’s second goal of the match. Espinoza sent in a shot from a tough angle that handcuffed Frei and went into the back of the net on the short side in the 64th minute.

San Jose scored the equalizer a minute later when Jackson Yueill scored a tic-tac-toe goal set up by Jamiro Monteiro for Yueill’s first goal of the season.

Marcinkowski finished the match with four saves on seven shots on target to earn his first win of the season. Frei made three saves on seven shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with six corner kicks. Seattle had two.

UP NEXT: San Jose travel to the Big Apple to take on NYFC on Sunday 5/1 at 10:00am at Yankees Stadium.

Barracuda end horrible season with 15-game losing streak in 5-2 loss to Silver Knights

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San Jose Barracuda forward Danil Gushchin (75) like the rest of the Barracuda were caught in the headlights of the Henderson Silver Knights at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson in the final game of the season for the Barracuda (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The season is finally, mercifully over for the San Jose Barracuda.

In a season where the team was handcuffed by its roster, the ‘Cuda lost their regular season finale 5-2 to the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday evening at Dollar Loan Center.

San Jose finished the season on a franchise worst 15-game losing streak (0-13-2) in where head coach Roy Sommer and his coaching staff had trouble many nights being able to have a full lineup out on the ice. Henderson has won five games in a row and will face off against the Ontario Reign in the Pacific Division Playoffs.

Henderson (34-28-4-1) drew first blood early in the first period scoring the only goal in the opening 20 minutes. Colt Conrad set up Connor Corcoran who snapped home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Alex Stalock for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:59 mark.

The Silver Knights doubled its lead early in the second period with an even strength goal. Jermaine Loewen finished off a two-on-one odd man rush with a wrist shot from point blank range for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:13 mark.

San Jose (20-42-4-2) cut the lead in half with a power play goal at the 7:04 mark. Kyle Topping’s wrist shot hit off a Silver Knights defender and past Silver Knight’s goalie Isaiah Saville for his first goal of the game and third of the year.

Henderson regained its two-goal lead just over two minutes later on the power play. Jonas Rondbjerg cleaned a rebound near the crease for his 14th goal of the season and second in two games against San Jose at the 9:08 mark.

The Barracuda once again made it a one-goal game with Topping’s second power play goal of the game late in the middle frame. A fortuitous bounce found its way onto Topping’s stick and he wired a wrist shot past Saville for his fourth goal of the season at the 17:55 mark.

Henderson put the game away with two goals late in the third period. Jack Dugan scored an empty net goal with Stalock pulled for an extra attacker, his sixth goal of the season at the 18:14 mark. Then Connor Ford scored his first goal of the season on the Silver Knight’s second power play goal at the 18:59 mark.

Saville (6-1) finished the game stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced to earn his sixth straight victory. Stalock (4-10-2) made 16 saves on 20 shots and ended his season with 10 straight losses.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Henderson finished 2-for-8.

San Jose is still winless against Henderson in Las Vegas/Henderson.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Ben Jones 2) Corcoran 3) Ford.

Miller’s eighth inning single gets Texas 2-0 win over Oakland

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The Texas Rangers Brad Miller swings for an eighth inning two run single that was all the Rangers needed to defeat the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Apr 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

The Oakland A’s were back in action on Saturday as they took on the Texas Rangers in the middle game of the series. The A’s lost the opener against the Rangers on Friday by the final of 8-1. On Saturday, the A’s would look to get back on track against the Rangers at RingCentral Stadium in Oakland. The A’s were unable to pull out the win on Saturday losing in a shutout 2-0.

The A’s couldn’t get much of anything started on the offensive side of the ball. The A’s had three line hits in the ballgame and none of them came to threaten the Rangers.

The first hit was a third inning two out double that didn’t amount to anything as Tony Kemp struck out as the next hitter. The A’s second hit was a two out single from Christian Pache, and their final hit was a one out double from Stephen Piscotty. Overall, the A’s had no runs, three hits, and two walks.

For the Rangers, they received all of their offense in the eighth inning. The Rangers scored twice on a Brad Miller single that ended in an interference call at home plate to score the second run. The Rangers didn’t do much on offense but it was just enough to move past the A’s. The Rangers finished on offense with two runs, five hits, and one walk.

On the pitching side of the ball, Frankie Montas pitched a great game for the A’s. Frankie went 7.1 innings allowing two runs, three hits, and a walk. It was a solid mine that would ultimately be spoiled by the way it ended in the eighth inning.

For the Rangers, Martín Pérez pitched six innings of shut out ball allowing two hits and a walk. Matt Busch got the save in the game pitching the ninth inning.

The A’s will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday as they play in Oakland at 1PM PST.

Sharks Beat Blackhawks 4-1, Ten Sharks Earn Points

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San Jose Sharks center Nick Bonino, center left, is congratulated by defenseman Brent Burns (88), center Thomas Bordeleau, center right, and center Scott Reedy (54) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Apr 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Saturday. The Sharks showed some good depth in scoring, with ten Sharks in all earning points in the game. Jasper Weatherby, Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen made 27 saves for the win. Tyler Johnson scored for Chicago and Kevin Lankinen made 15 saves in the loss.

The Sharks announced the Bay Area media’s selections for end-of-year award winners after the game. Timo Meier was named player of the year, Jonathan Dahlen was named rookie of the year. Brandon Coe was named prospect of the year and James Reimer won for Media Good Guy.

On Saturday, the Sharks got goals from both Meier and Hertl, something that has not happened for a while. It is likely that the return of linemate Alexander Barabanov had something to do with that. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that he would like to see Barabanov, a free agent this summer, return next season: “I think that that line works together, I think that he’s a guy that provides offense and, you know, this is a team that could use that. Now, I’m not on the business side, the numbers side, so that’s a different story but yeah, I like him as a player.”

The first goal of the game came from Jasper Weatherby and the Sharks’ all-rookie fourth line at 6:03. Sasha Chmelevski carried the puck in and around a defender before taking a shot. Scott Reedy picked up the rebound and sent it back at the net for Weatherby to redirect in.

The Blackhawks out-shot the Sharks 9-4 in the first period. They also beat them in the face-off circle, winning 56% of the draws.

Tomas Hertl made it 2-0 at 1:08 of the second period. Timo Meier carried the puck into the zone two-on-one with Hertl and made the pass just above the circle. Goalie Kevin Lankinen could not get across in time to stop Hertl’s shot. Assists went to Meier and Jaycob Megna.

Timo Meier added a third for the Sharks at 10:34. Meier and Alexander Barabanov entered the zone only to be blocked by Blackhawks. Meier pushed the puck through Alex Vlasic to Barabanov, who had to battle Seth Jones for control of the puck. Barabanov managed to move the puck to the net and Meier caught up to it at the corner of the net where he tapped it in with an outstretched stick.

Tyler Johnson broke the shut-out at 15:38. Jonathan Toews got away from Megna behind the net and made a backhand pass from just below the goal line. The pass got to Johnson up the slot for a clear shot. Assists went to Toews and Seth Jones.

The first penalty of the game came in the second period, and it went to the Blackhawks. The Sharks power play got one shot and gave up one short-handed shot. Chicago again out-shot the Sharks, 10-7, and beat them on the draw, winning 57% of the face-offs.

Nick Bonino scored on the power play to make it 4-1 at 6:19 of the third. With Scott Reedy screening the goaltender, Bonino had some time to pick his spot through traffic. Assists went to Brent Burns and Logan Couture.

The third period saw more penalties, with two for each team. The Sharks power play got the goal and three shots. Their penalty kill gave up three shots and had one short-handed shot. The final shot count was 28-19 Blackhawks and the final face-off tally was 28-18 Blackhawks.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights at 7:00 PM PT.