Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal no match for No.2 Arizona in 89-61 loss; Cal moves onto Pac 12 Tournament Wednesday

Cal Bears Jordan Shepherd led Cal in scoring last Saturday against the Arizona Wildcats with 16 points. Cal will be dependent on Shepherd’s offense as the Bears face the Washington State Cougars Wed Mar 9, 2022 at the Pac 12 Tournament. ( file photo by Sports Illustrated)

On the Cal podcast with Morris:

#1 Anytime you know your going to face the Arizona Wildcats (28-3) you know you have your work cut out for you such was the case in Saturday’s 89-61drilling of the basket by the Wildcats who threw up 62% of their shots from the floor against the Cal Bears (12-19).

#2 The Wildcats didn’t show any ware at all after playing five games in ten days in an almost NBA type schedule the Wildcats have won nine of their last ten games.

#3 But what may have been most impressive was the Cats put up 89 points despite having to deal with Cal’s plodding pace, and a couple of impressive, but short-lived stretches of play by the Bears.

#4 Oumar Ballo, the transfer from No. 1 Gonzaga, led the Cats with 16 points on 7 for 7 shooting from the floor. Ballo was the biggest piece of Arizona’s octet of reserves that combined to shoot 18 of 24 from the floor and 7 for 7 from the foul line.

#5 Next up for Cal the Washington State Cougars (18-13) to open the Pac 12 Tournament who have won five of their last six games and also defeated the Oregon Ducks (18-13) by 20, 94-74 at Washington State on Saturday. This will be game one for Cal at the Pac 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

Join Morris Phillips for the Cal Bears podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with Barbara Mason: Warriors on four game losing streak; Will try again in Denver tonight

The call may not have gone the way Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James may have wanted as he’s seen here reacting after being called for a foul but he wound up scoring a team leading 56 points against the Golden State Warriors on Sat Mar 5, 2022 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Los Angeles Lakers (28-35) LeBron James had the hot hand against the Golden State Warriors (43-21) on Saturday night with a team leading 56 points and the Warriors had complications trying to shut his offensive game down.

#2 The Lakers 124-116 win snapped their four game losing streak it had to be a relief for a LA team with a tandem of superstars like LeBron, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony.

#3 For the Warriors it just seemed like a struggle to shut down LeBron’s game as LeBron said in the post game conference, “I felt pretty good with my game tonight, every part of the floor, and I was able to make a couple plays to help us win,”

#4 It was the third highest point total for the regular season for LeBron, For the Warriors it just seemed like a struggle to shut down LeBron’s game on the defensive side of the ball.

#5 Klay Thompson said his shot wasn’t falling and some even hit the backboard on Saturday night. How do you see Thompson and the Warriors as they match up tonight against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver.

Join Barbara for the Warrior podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Ducks, Sawchenko Gets the Start

San Jose Sharks goaltender Zach Sawchenko, right, stops a shot by Anaheim Ducks center Adam Henrique in second period action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

ANAHEIM- The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks Sunday. Adam Henrique, Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim and Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves for the win. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose and Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves in his first NHL start.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about Sawchenko’s performance:

“Sawzy, I thought he stood tall. I thought that he gave us the saves we needed early, he made some big saves to keep the momentum on our side. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the two points for him. But for his first full start I think he should be pretty happy with it.”

Undrafted, Sawchenko played for the San Jose Barracuda and the Allen Americans from 2019 to 2021 before signing with the Sharks at the end of last season.

The goaltender talked about making his first start: “It was a long road to get here. I think it’s that much more special, doing it here with the same team that I started with whatever it was, four years ago or three years, whatever the number is.” Sawchenko is of Ukrainian descent and he was asked about the performance of the Ukrainian anthem that played before the game. He said: “Obviously it’s cool. It was cool to hear that yesterday in San Jose too.”

The game-winning goal came after a very convenient line change by the Ducks, and Boughner was not happy about it:

“It’s just a complete, disastrous blown call. And the thing that pisses me off the most is they don’t even come over to the bench, they race off the ice. Just, the respect to come and explain it. Everybody missed it, no review, if you watch it, the replay, it’s too many men all day long.”

The game started with a fight between Jeffrey Viel and Sam Carrick.

Logan Couture made it 1-0 Sharks at 7:47. Couture carried the puck in, looking for the pass but took the shot instead and sent the puck right under Stolarz. Assists went to Timo Meier and Santeri Hatakka.

The Sharks came out of the first period with the lead and a shot lead of 10-9. The Sharks had to kill three penalties and had one power play in the period. Their penalty kill gave up just one shot and had two short-handed shots. Their power play got two shots on goal.

The Ducks tied it up at 1:41 of the second period. Max Comtois’s shot went off of Sawchenko and then off of Adam Henrique and into the net. Assists went to Comtois and Troy Terry.

A little over a minute later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the lead back for the Sharks with a shot from the blue line through traffic. The puck wet off of Kevin Shattenkirk’s leg and into the net. Nicolas Meloche got the assist.

Sony Milano tied it up again with 20 seconds left in the period. The puck came out of a scrum in front of the net and Milano was right there and in the clear to put it away. Assists went to Adam Henrique and Cam Fowler.

The second period had just two penalties called, one to each team. Each power play got just one shot in. The Sharks were badly outshot in the period, 13-6 Ducks.

At 7:03 of the third period, Jacob Middleton puck the puck in the net during a penalty kill but the play was called offside and the goal was called back. Middleton was about half a stride ahead of the puck that Nieto was bringing over the line. To follow up on that valiant effort, Middleton took a stick to the face at the end of the penalty kill to give the Sharks a power play.

Nine seconds into overtime, Logan Couture was covering Adam Henrique while the Ducks had the puck. Couture took an eye off of Henrique, who was near the bench. While Couture was looking away with Henrique behind him, Rickard Rakell jumped on the ice at the other end of the bench, giving himself a good lead on Couture and Burns both. Rakell skated into the zone alone and beat Sawchenko over the glove. Assists went to Terry and Fowler.

After the game, the teams conferenced about the play. It could have been a too-many men on the ice play since Henrique was lackadaisical about getting off the ice. But the goal held up.

The Sharks struggled in the face-off circle Sunday, winning just 38% of the draws. They improved in the third, winning 53% of them. The Sharks excelled at blocking shots, however, blocking 28 to the Ducks’ 7.

The Sharks lost Radim Simek to injury late in Saturday’s game, giving Santeri Hatakka a chance in the lineup Sunday.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:30 PM PT.

Leonard’s hat trick power Barracuda past Roadrunners 6-2

San Jose Barracuda John Leonard acknowledges his teammates and fans after scoring a goal one of three to make a hat trick against the Tucson Roadrunners at SAP Center in San Jose on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–John Leonard recorded his first ever hat trick as the San Jose Barracuda routed the Tucson Roadrunners 6-2 on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose have won two out of its past three games. Tucson has lost four games in a row.

Tucson (17-26-3-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Hudson Fasching made a cross rink pass over to Michael Carcone who rifled a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Emond for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 3:42 mark.

San Jose (17-28-2-0) answered back at the 7:40 mark when John Leonard scooped up a loose puck just outside the Roadrunners crease. Leonard lifted a backhander over the stick of Roadrunners goalie Ivan Prosvetov for his 14th goal of the season.

Leonard has a goal in three consecutive games.

San Jose gained its first lead on the power play midway through the second period. Leonard’s shot from the left wing caromed over to Lane Pederson on the right side. The former Roadrunner forward cleaned up the rebound into an open net for his first goal in a Barracuda jersey at the 9:23 mark.

Tucson scored the equalizer early to start the third period. A shot from the point Matt Foley sneaked it’s way off the post into the net for Foley’s first goal of the season at the 2:26 mark.

San Jose answered back less than three minutes later. Dillon Hamailuk found a trailing Nick Merkely in the slot and Merkely buried a wrist shot past Prosvetov for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:07 mark.

The Barracuda scored an insurance with their second power play goal of the game. Merkley found Joachim Blichfeld near the right side if the net. Blichfeld’s one timer bounced off Prosvetov and into the back of the net for his 17th goal of the season at the 12:26 mark

San Jose sealed the deal with 3:04 remaining in the final frame when Leonard scored his second goal of the night, a one timer past Prosvetov for his 15th goal of the season.

Leonard finished off his hat trick with a nice move to get Prosvetov to go down before sliding the puck underneath him for 16th goal of the season with 55 seconds left in the game.

Emond finished the evening stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced to earn the victory. Prosvetov made 28 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Tucson was 0-for-4.

This was the first Barracuda game that has featured two women as on ice officials. Samantha Hiller served as one of the referees and Kirsten Welsh served as one of the lines persons.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

1) Leonard 2) Emond 3) Merkley

The game featured the second Paws & Pucks promotion where fans were able to bring their dogs to the game. It also was a Hockey Is For Everybody night.

UP NEXT: San Jose goes on the road to take on the Ontario Reign on Wdnesday 3/9 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.

Headline Sports podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Griner accused of drug smuggling in Moscow; Where MLB and players stand in lockout; plus more

The Phoenix Mercury star player Brittney Griner (42) is in a holding cell in Moscow as Rep Barbara Lee has demanded for her release. Griner has been detained for at least three weeks. (AP file photo)

On Headlines podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Phoenix Mercury and WNBA All Star Brittney Griner as it was learned that she had already been in a Russian prison for three weeks when it was announced on Saturday that a dog sniffing for drugs at the Moscow Airport flagged her suit case for cannabis. Griner is looking at ten years if convicted of illegal drug smuggling.

#2 Jerry on two issues surrounding the MLB lockout should the players consider relenting on the luxury tax and the players said the would relent on going from 12 to 14 teams for playoffs.

#3 Jerry another tough game for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators. The Sharks have lost ten of their last 12 games and the Predators have now won four of their last eight games. The Sharks were shutout for most of the game with the Preds carrying a 4-0 lead after two periods if you thought that was bad Nashville scored four more unanswered goals in the fourth period to crush the Sharks 8-0 in a shutout laugher.

#4 Back to baseball MLB and the players are still far apart on revenue sharing and the big market teams vs. small market teams, salary arbitration, and the MLB minimum salary.

#5 The Golden State Warriors (43-21) melted down in the fourth quarter 35-22 they just could get any offense going and struggled to even keep up with the Los Angeles Lakers (28-35) this is all kind of shocking as the Warriors have lost seven of their last eight games and have lost four games in a row.

Jerry F is filling in for Bruce Magowan who does Headline Sports podcasts every other Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardinal close out regular season with 65-56 loss to ASU

The Arizona State Sun Devils jump for joy after nailing down a victory against the visiting Stanford Cardinal at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (photo by Arizona State Sun Devils Athletics)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 5, 2022

For the second straight game, Stanford took a halftime lead but couldn’t sustain it, as the Cardinal fell to Arizona State 65-56 Saturday at Tempe, Ariz., in the Pac-12 men’s basketball regular season finale for both schools.

Senior Marreon Jackson netted 18 points in his final home game, as the Sun Devils (14-16 overall, 10-10 Pac-12) finished their conference schedule with four straight victories and seven wins in their final eight games.

Stanford closed out the Pac-12 slate with five consecutive losses, dropping seven of its last eight games.

Jackson was eight of 15 from the field, along with six assists, six steals and six rebounds. Jalen Graham was next for ASU with 16 points on five of six field goals, and DJ Horne added 12 points and four assists.

Spencer Jones and Brandon Angel each scored 14 points to lead the Cardinal. Jones connected on three of five behind the arc, and Angel made four three-pointers. Harrison Ingram grabbed nine of the Cardinal’s 36 rebounds to go with four assists and three steals.

Stanford (15-15 overall, 8-12 Pac-12) led 32-30 at the intermission. Alonzo Gaffney hit a jumper to tie the game to open the second half, and followed with a 3-pointer at 16:41, putting the Sun Devils up 35-32.

Jaiden Delaire responded with a 3-pointer for the Cardinal, but Graham converted a three-point play, Horne and Jackson hit baskets, and ASU had a 43-37 lead.

Brandon Angel sank a three–pointer with 6:13 to play, putting the Cardinal up 52-51, but the Sun Devils responded with a 10-0 run and didn’t look back.

Stanford and ASU will meet in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Earthquakes down a man come back to earn a point against the Crew in a 3-3 draw on match’s final play

Francisco Calvo (80) of the San Jose Earthquakes scored two goals in the final two minutes at Pay Pal Park in San Jose for the win over the Columbus Crew on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (photo by San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Francisco Calvo has only played two games for the San Jose Earthquakes but has already made an immediate impact.

Down by two goals late in the second half and down a man, Calvo scored two goals off two separate headers in the final 10 minutes of the match to earn a 3-3 draw for San Jose over the Colombus Crew on Saturday afternoon at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose (0-1-1) drew first blood early thanks to Paul Marie who drew a penalty kick for San Jose in the fifth minute after Milos Degenek fouled him inside the box.

After video review Christian Espinoza made a slight hesitation before beating Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room with a low show to the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Quakes were on the wrong end of a controversial call in the 33rd minute. Jamiro Monteiro battled for a loose ball with Darlington Nagbe when both collided with one another. Referee Guido Gonzales Jr. initially issued a yellow card to Monteiro.

After video review, the call was changed to a red card an automatic ejection for Monteiro. They called swung momentum over to the Crew’s side.

Columbus (1-0-2) finally cashed in with San Jose being down a man in the 40th minute. Steven Moreira dribbled inside the box and crossed the ball over to Lucas Zelarayán who blasted a shot into the top right corner for his second goal of the season.

Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda decided to shake up the lineup to start the second half. In were Cade Cowell and Judson for Chofis and Eric Remedi to bring in more of an attacking presence.

Philadelphia gained its first lead in the 68th minute off a set piece. A corner kick resulted in Yaw Yeboah crossing the ball back into the middle where Gyasi Zardes one timed the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Union scored what appeared to be an insurance goal five minutes later off a free kick. Zelarayán recorded his brace when he was able to bend in his right footed shot past Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski in the 73rd minute.

San Jose cut the lead to one goal in the 84th minute. Ján Gregus centered a free kick from 25 yards out into the middle of box where Francisco Calvo was left unmarked and headed the ball past Room for his first goal as a member of the Earthquakes.

Calvo’s heroics came on the last play of the match thanks to a gaffe by Room that gave San Jose a corner kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Once again it was Gregus who centered the ball into the middle of the box and Calvo headed the ball into the lower right corner for his brace.

Marcinkowski made four saves on seven shots. Room finished with one save on four shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with four corner kicks. Colombus had nine.

Nathan, who suffered a torn meniscus in last Saturday’s season opener vs. the New York Red Bulls. He had surgery on Monday and is expected to miss up to two months.

San Jose had their undefeated record vs. Columbus at PayPal Park extended to four matches (2-0-2). Additionally, the Earthquakes extended its unbeaten streak of eight straight home matches against Columbus (4-0-4) dating back to a 3-0 loss in August 2009, also snapped. The eight-game run is San Jose’s longest active home unbeaten run against any single opponent.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Philadelphia to take on the Union on Saturday 3/12 at 4:30pm at Subaru Park.

Fourth Quarter Meltdown Hands Warriors Fourth Loss In A Row 124-116

LeBron James who scored a game leading 56 points against the Golden State Warriors takes the ball against the Warriors Andrew Wiggins (22) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (AP News photo)

Fourth Quarter Meltdown Hands Warriors Fourth Loss In A Row 124-116

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night two struggling teams were trying to set their ship right. The Golden State Warriors (43-21) took on the Los Angeles Lakers (28-36) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and fell to the Lakers 124-116. The Warriors have lost four in a row for the first time this season.

When the season started, the Warriors almost looked unbeatable and the Lakers with their impressive starters were actually picked to win the Western Conference. Fast forward and the Lakers are fighting to maintain a spot that will make them eligible for the play-in game. They have lost every game since the All-Star dropping four in a row.

The Warriors, although in a much better spot than Los Angeles, having been struggling losing seven of their last nine games. They are missing Draymond Green and right now there is no timetable for his return. Golden State does have the second best record in the NBA.

Before the game Magic Johnson was explaining exactly what has been happening with the Lakers and their lack of offense and defense. Everything that he said could have been applied to the Warriors as well. Both of these teams were hoping to turn things around tonight.

The first quarter was all Lakers as they took a 25-11 lead. They were pounding the Warriors in the paint and keeping the Warrior offense at bay. It was an ugly start for Golden State. As the quarter began to wind down the Warriors made a move cutting the Laker lead in half 32-25.

After the quarter Head Coach Steve Kerr was asked what he though of the first quarter. “I didn’t think much of it,” he said. “We didn’t put up much of a fight.” The way that Golden State ended the quarter was far better than their start.

The Warriors kept the pressure on the Lakers and at 7:12 in the second quarter had taken the lead 45-40. There had been a 24 point turnaround since the start of the game. The early Laker start had gone completely awry. After trailing by as much as 14 in the second quarter the Lakers made a move as the half came to an end trailing by the score of 67-62.

LeBron James had scored 26 points in the first two quarters. The high score for the Warriors was off the bench as Jordan Poole came away with 16 points. Stephen Curry had 14.

The Warriors continued to lead through the third quarter but it all turned around in the fourth. The Golden State offense began to stumble and LeBron hit a couple of three’s that gave the Lakers their first lead of the second half 100-97.

The Golden State defense needed to tighten up. The final seven minutes of this game was electrifying. Great offense and defense by both teams, a flurry of three’s and this game was up for grabs.

The Warriors had a meltdown in the final three minutes offensively and defensively. Giving the Lakers wide open looks was not going to win very many games and late game turnovers sealed the Warriors fate as they lost their fourth game in a row.

LeBron finished with an amazing 56 points. Curry had 30 points and Poole had 23 off the bench for the Warriors in just one of another disappointing game for Golden State. This loss coupled with the Memphis Grizzlies win dropped the Warriors into third place in the Western Conference.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Warriors as they take on the Denver Nuggets Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Heat upend Barracuda 4-3 with Valimaki’s OT winner

It takes two to tango the Stockton Heat’s left winger Alex Gallant (20) and the San Jose Barracuda defenseman Montana Onyebuchi (79) mix it up at the Stockton Arena on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Every point is a critical one for the San Jose Barracuda.

They overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period but weren’t able to pick up the second point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Stockton Heat on Saturday evening at Stockton Heat.

Juuso Valimaki scored 52 seconds in the extra session, his second of the season, to give the Pacific Division leaders their 31st win of the season.

San Jose have lost two out of its past three games. Stockton snapped its two-game losing streak and still only have single digit losses in regulation.

Stockton (31-9-4-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Nick DeSimone made one move around a Barracuda defender before firing a wrist shot at the net that was tipped past ‘Cuda netminder Alexei Melnichuk by Luke Philp for his 17th goal of the season at the 3:50 mark.

The Heat doubled its lead just past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Emilio Pettersen centered a pass from behind the net to Walker Duehr who buried a wrist shot past Melnichuk for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:37 mark.

San Jose (16-28-2-0) were even with Stockton on the shot clock with nine shots but weren’t able to get nothing past Heat netminder Dustin Wolf.

The Barracuda cut the lead in half midway through the second period. Dillon Hamaliuk led an odd man rush into the Heat zone. Hamaliuk found Sasha Chmelevski all alone in front of the crease and the Orange County native beat Wolf with a one-timer for his 10th goal of the season at the 10:04 mark.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead late in the middle frame when a big hit at the ‘Cuda blueline led to a two-on-zero that resulted in Pettersen scored his fifth goal of the season at the 17:03 mark.

San Jose scored two goals in the third period to force overtime.

Artemi Kniazev made a backdoor centering pass to a wide open Hamaliuk and he buried a one-timer past Wolf for his second goal of the game.

It was Hamaliuk’s first multi-point game of his AHL career.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer on a three-on-one rush after a turnover by Stockton in their own zone. John Leonard skated in a wired a wrist shot past Wolf for his 13th goal of the season at the 14:15 mark.

Wolf finished the evening stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 34 saves on 38 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams did not have a power play opportunity as neither team drew a penalty during the game.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Valimaki 2) Pettersen 3) Philp

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday 3/6 at 5:00pm at SAP Center.

Sharks Shutout 8-0 by Predators; Eighth loss in ten games for San Jose

The Nashville Predators Michael McCarron (47) gets congratulations from teammates after scoring a first period goal against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell 8-0 to the Nashville Predators Saturday night in San Jose. Michael McCarron, Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, Matt Luff, Yakov Trenin and Mikael Granlund scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the shutout win. Alex Stalock made 22 saves before being replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who made 6 saves for the Sharks. It was the most goals the Sharks have ever given up in a shutout loss. The Sharks also have also been shutout at home more than any other team this season.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“That was the worst one of the year, for sure. I think, you know, regardless of the score, at three-nothing I thought we were actually playing a pretty competitive game. We were playing pretty hard. We only gave up two chances in the first period and I think we only generated one. So it’s a pretty even first period, regardless of the shot clock. I thought the second period, the chances we did have [Saros] made saves or [we] hit a couple posts, hit a crossbar. Once it got four-nothing we got away from our game.”

Before the game, the Sharks expressed their support of Ukraine by displaying the Ukrainian flag on the jumbotron while playing the Ukrainian anthem. It was also “You Can Play” night at the tank, promoting inclusivity in the sport. The Sharks wore rainbow jerseys during warm-ups and they held a ceremonial puck drop from San Jose sled hockey player Zack Nazareno.

Michael McCarron scored the first Nashville goal at 10:43 of the first period, off of a pass from behind the net. Assists went to Philip Tomasino and Date Fabbro.

Matt Duchene made it 2-0 with a shot up the middle from the blue line. That shot made its way through traffic and into the net at 18:30 of the period. Assists went to Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen.

Well past the ten minute mark, the Sharks were still at three shots on goal. By the end of the period, they had only managed five to Nashville’s eleven.

Roman Josi added a third goal for Nashville at 2:43 of the second period. Assists went to Matt Luff and Philip Tomasino.

Matt Luff made it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period, gathering the puck up as it slipped out of a melee in front of the net. Assists went to Tomasino and McCarron.

Duchene scored his second of the night 4:43 into the third period. He skated into the zone seemingly unnoticed by the Sharks defense and scored with a late backhand. Filip Forseberg and Mattias Ekholm got the assists.

Michael McCarron scored his second of the night at 6:07, redirecting a shot from Luff. Assists went to Luff and Josi.

The Sharks replaced Stalock with Sawchenko after that goal.

Yakov Trenin scored and unassisted goal at 11:13. He picked off a pass by Marc-Edouard Vlasic that came right to him above the blue paint.

Mikael Granlund scored a power play goal at 13:06. His shot from the bluel line went ight up the middle through traffic. Assists went to McCarron and Josi.

The Sharks power play got three shots on goal, and gave up two short-handed shots. Their penalty kill gave up oe goal and four shots.

Rudolf Balcers was back in the lineup Saturday. Erik Karlsson has been practicing but is not expected to play before next week.

The Sharks play again on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 5:00 PM PT.