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Boyle’s back bar shot seals comeback OT win

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Photo Credit: Unknown

By Pearl Allison Lo

It was a swift and abrupt end for the Vancouver Canucks, after upon video review, the referee acknowledged San Jose Sharks’ Boyle’s goal had entered the net for a 2-1 win Thursday.

31 seconds after Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin went off for hooking at 2:07 of overtime, Boyle made the Sharks’ fourth time on the power play count. Boyle was aided by Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture for San Jose’s second consecutive overtime win, as they took the season series over the Canucks 3-1 in an early finale.

Couture had a chance with 3:11 left to go in the first period, moving across the ice against traffic, but his shot was muffled up front by goalie Roberto Luongo. The Sharks later controlled the majority of the possession as the first period neared its end. San Jose’s Marc Edouard Vlasic with three shots on goal, was the only one with multiple shots. Ryan Kesler led with almost half of Vancouver’s blocks with four.

The Sharks’ second power play was majorly controlled by the Canucks, and included an offensive blocked of a shot attempt by Luongo with his stick.

Vancouver’s Alexandre Burrows was called for interference to give San Jose their third power play at 11:10 of the second period. The set up for the Canucks’ go-ahead goal then started when Pavelski was called for interference 40 seconds later. After the then even matchup expired, Vancouver was given a 36 second man advantage, with which they capitalized.   After a faceoff win and Burrows’ wide shot, Kevin Bieksa was awarded his first goal of the season, slapping the puck in the net from 56 feet away. Bieksa was helped by Sedin with his 18th assist and Burrows.

The Sharks were outshot 20-9 in the second period.

In the third, it looked like the Canucks would be ending their two game losing streak amidst their momentum since the second period. However, with an extra attacker, San Jose was able to stay alive. Joe Thornton went down, but was able to pass it to Boyle, who eventually got it to Tomas Hertl, on Luongo’s left side, as Hertl scored with just over a minute left. Thornton had his 18th assist and Hertl had his 11th goal.

Re the goal, Boyle responded, “The puck came out and I was going to shoot originally, and then…guys kinda came together and I changed my mind at the last minute…”

Game notes: Vlasic led the team in shots at the end of the game with six and led in ice time, along with Boyle, as both stayed on for 22:34. Vancouver’s Dan Hamhuis led all skaters in ice time with 25:40. Thornton extended his points streak to six games. The Sharks will go for three in a row when they face the Edmonton Oilers at 7pm PST Friday.

Larry Levitt on the NHL

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by Larry Levitt

SAN JOSE–The Youth coming into the NHL now has such talent it’s really amazing to see there’s so many teenagers and 21 year olds coming in here in the first year and they are not intimidated by the game or the speed or the pace and they’re actually holding their own. Of course Tomas Hertl of the Sharks is also one them.

The Anaheim Ducks are near the bottom in penalty kills but the Ducks are on the move and are in first and statistics can be skewed a little. When you have a very bad penalty kill and your not doing well and yet your doing great five on five, your playing five on five more than your killing penalties hopefully so there are more full strengths than making it up on the other end.

The Sharks looked pretty good against Phoenix the other day in a shoot out loss 3-2 at SAP arena last Saturday night the way I would explain this game they have moments where they fall asleep and lose their focus and those moments are when good teams capitalize on you and the Coyotes are a very good team this year.

Every team in the west is very well rounded but the team that the Sharks usually have trouble with the Coyotes being one of them is because of the great goaltending of Mike Smith. They took advantage of him in the first game when he was really off his game but when he’s on his game he’s a tough guy to beat. They could have beat him it’s the Sharks own fault they had some loses of focus and allowed some really cheap goals but it is what it is and they’ll take the one point out of it as a gift.

My biggest fear is Buffalo their an NHL team, yes they play in the east and their record is 2-13-1 so they’re really playing poorly on the stat sheet but their actually a pretty good team. They’re a young team they have four young rookies on their team that are doing actually quiet well. The problem is when the Sharks face a team like the Sabers you don’t want to mail a game like that in.

You need to go out there and play your game, the way the Sharks need to look at that game last Tuesday night and say “let’s use this as a real good fine tune to get our focus and get our system in place and get ready for Vancouver Thursday night” but you can not look past Buffalo. You got to play that game and you got to really bear down and if it happens to be a blow out then use your third and fourth lines.

If it’s not a blow out you really need to stay focus because they’re an NHL team and in any game, any team, can win on any given night. The Canucks are no exception but I don’t know if they’re buying into head coach Mike Tortorella’s system and it’s going at the one step that Phil Kessler and and the Sedin twins are one, two and four for forwards time on ice in the NHL. So the Canucks top line is logging a lot of minutes.

Larry Levitt does NHL and ECHL hockey commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

Game of Firsts Keeps the Sharks on Top

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By Mary Walsh

OTTAWA- Sunday, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-2 with goaltender Alex Stalock making his first NHL start. Stalock had played in 2 NHL games before, but always in relief. James Sheppard and Andrew Desjardins also scored their first goals of the season, bringing the number of 2013-14 Sharks with goals to 16. The Sharks are now 10-1-1 this season.

After the game, Stalock spoke on CSNCA‘s television broadcast:

Being there before, going in in relief is a little bit easier, because you don’t have all day to think of it. But you’re thinking about it all night– I found out yesterday– and thinking about it all day today. But it was nice to have a five o’clock game, a quick turnaround, didn’t have much time to think, just go and play.

Stalock stopped 38 of 40 shots from the Senators. The Sharks had not allowed more than 31 shots in a game before Sunday. The Senators’ quick, persistent forecheck was one reason they had so many shots. The Sharks’ energy level was inconsistent, almost sluggish at times. That could be because Sunday’s game followed a very quick turnaround.

The Sharks’ game in Montreal had ended a mere 17 hours earlier. Only two San Jose players had not played the night before: Stalock and forward Mike Brown. Other changes to the lineup included moving James Sheppard to the top line with Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl. Sheppard had been a healthy scratch two games earlier. Matt Nieto was out, though he had been expected to play. After the game started, news came that he was not a healthy scratch.

The Sharks didn’t look especially weary to start the game. Tomas Hertl reminded everyone that he bears watching when he elluded the Senators defense and slid the puck by Craig Anderson just 1:16 into the game. Andrew Desjardins followed at 6:35 with a quick, hard backhander that surprised everyone. Desjardins had to look over his shoulder to follow his shot, since his back was to the net. That gave the Sharks a two goal lead.

The Sharks played with that lead for just over four minutes. At 11:07 of the period, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson cut the lead in half with a shot from the point, while Cory Conacher screened Stalock.

With under three minutes to go in the period, San Jose’s Mike Brown was called for interference on Kyle Turris. With Brown in the box, Logan Couture initiated a short-handed rush off a pass from Tommy Wingels. Couture’s shot was stopped, but Anderson went down to stop Couture’s shot. Before he could recover, Wingels pounced on the puck for a shorthanded goal.

It was during the second period that the Sharks looked weary. With very little zone time, they still managed 11 shots, but the Senators outskated them at every turn. Karlsson’s first period goal served as a model for the Senators’ second goal, the only one scored in the second period. Near the midpoint of the period, with traffic buzzing in front of Stalock, Marc Methot‘s slapshot from the blue line brought the Senators back within one.

The Sharks came out refreshed for the third period. It took Joe Thornton under 90 seconds to get behind the goal line with the puck. James Sheppard, just arrived in front of the net, took Thornton’s pass and put the Sharks back up by two.

A little over six minutes later, Justin Braun and Joe Pavelski executed a play that should show up on the week’s highlights. Tommy Wingels picked up a mishandled puck from Senators defenseman Jared Cowen, carried it out of the Sharks’ zone and passed it to Pavelski who was just crossing the Senators’ blue line. Pavelski sent the puck to Justin Braun, who entered the zone at a good clip. Each player had pressure to contend with. The Sharks’ defenseman continued almost to the corner, drawing defense away from Pavelski and Anderson far out and to the side of the net. Anderson slowed Braun’s shot but it got by, sitting behind the goalie for a beat before Pavelski came flying in to put it home. Pavelski finished by crashing into the goal post. The goal was reviewed in case it had gone off of his skate. The goal held up as Pavelski had his stick well in position on the way in.

Each team had 3 power plays in the game, neither scored on any of those. The Sharks return to California tonight, finishing up their road trip on Wednesday, against the Kings in Los Angeles.

San Jose Sharks Testing the Depths

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By Mary Walsh

It is never a good thing when a roster player is out due to injury, as so many San Jose Sharks are right now. That obvious truth should not tarnish a high-quality silver lining. As effective as the Sharks have been over the last several seasons, their depth has not been tested as it is being now. The Sharks have had to fill spots in the lineup to replace (in the order they fell): Martin Havlat, Adam Burish, Raffi Torres, Brad Stuart, Dan Boyle and Brent Burns. Thursday in Boston and Saturday in Montreal, they were without five of those six. They even had to go without Tommy Wingels for most of the Boston game. However you measure the value of one player, that list punches holes in every line, every aspect of the Sharks’ game except goaltending. In the midst of this injury epidemic, Doug Wilson acquired Mike Brown. In the big picture, it seems that acquiring Brown had little to do with the Sharks’ injury problems.

The replacements the Sharks already had were not all likely to be playing in the NHL this season.  The most conspicuous of them, Tomas Hertl, has reduced the odds to slim or nil that he will be sent down to the AHL, barring some freak salary cap or roster size event that forces him out.  Would he have had the chance to make such an impression if Raffi Torres had been available? Freddie Hamilton and Matt Nieto, though both showed promise, were very likely to spend this season in the AHL with the Worcester Sharks. John McCarthy has been up and down and back again, as has Matt Pelech. Scott Hannan, the presumptive seventh defenseman acquired last season, has played in all but one game this season.

Those players have turned in respectable to excellent performances, and until last Thursday, helped keep the Sharks’ point streak intact.  We can’t know how the team would have done with every asset ready to go. The games got closer when the team lost Dan Boyle, and then Brent Burns. How much of that was their absence alone? How much of it was the natural ramping up of play as opponents found their legs after rocky starts?

The point is moot. Hannan has held down the fort on the blue line, and the bevvy of young players from Worcester have kept the forward lines moving. The readiness of those young players does the organization proud. They don’t have to be Brent Burns or Logan Couture or Raffi Torres, they just needed to not be a drag on a fast-moving ship. They did better than than that, by and large.

San Jose fans might not have seen these reinforcements in action were it not for what could have been a season-crippling casualty list. The missing starters will return, gradually. Replacements will be sent down again, but knowing they can step in and be better than “not a liability”… that is very exciting for the team. When playoffs roll around, chances look slim that the team will be overwhelmed because one or two key players get hurt (or suspended).

So why acquire Mike Brown? In his first game as a Shark, Brown wasn’t a problem. He didn’t take penalties or cause a wreck. He performed as advertised. He brought energy on the forecheck but only got credit for one hit. On the stat sheet that stands out, since Tomas Hertl was second in hits behind Zdeno Chara and Shawn Thornton in the game. Hertl had significantly more ice time at his disposal than Brown, and the fact remains that Brown was fine. That is saying something on his first day with the team.

He still doesn’t seem like a necessary addition. The Sharks might not be winning lopsided games now, but they are doing more than keeping themselves afloat. Many have said this team looks better than they ever have. The season is long, there is no straight course through it. Were it not for so many injuries at the start of the season, the Sharks might not have tested the depths of their organization so extensively. The team will certainly be stronger as their experienced players return, but so far the pressure hasn’t crushed them. It hardly slowed them down.

Larry Levitt on Sharks and Bulls hockey

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 by Larry Levitt

DALY CITY–The San Jose Sharks who opened up their first three games at SAP Arena and won all three there’s nothing like home cooking that makes a big difference. The team is well rounded they have strength throughout all four lines now. The fourth line is a little weaker than what I would have expected but surprisingly their coming through really strong probably the biggest surprise obviously is just analyzing the guys individually it looks like Joe Pavelski has taken his game to another level too.

Pavelski is one of those players that’s out on the ice a lot and does a lot of the little things that doesn’t get noticed by most people and it’s really exciting to see him have a good year. For Tomas Hertl scoring four goals on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers he doesn’t speak much English so maybe when the fans are yelling at him he doesn’t get too excited and doesn’t realized what he’s done or what he hasn’t done and he’s a 19 year old rookie.

Hertl is exciting the best part he puts the fun back into the game he’s always smiling and on the other hand you have to feel sorry for the Rangers they were playing on back to back nights coming from Los Angeles where they played the Kings the night before and it was a tough game. They really didn’t have their legs and were always slow to the puck and there have never been more pucks that have bounced the right way than that night.

Everytime the puck went off something it went right to a Shark and Joe Thornton got a lucky bounce it was a clearing pass it went off the end of a stick that was laying on the ice that was broken and went right to Thornton so he was able to pass it right up to Hertl and there was a goal. Every bounce seemed to go right for the Sharks that night to a Shark player.

The Rangers goalie Hendrick Lundquist was pulled from the game and sometimes when you pull the goalie to make a statement to your team because they’re not playing well and sometimes you pull the goalie because he’s not playing well. It was a combination of both but the team didn’t really support him at the beginning the Rangers did get the first goal of the game but it was on a five on three power play but after that they really didn’t support him. They were really slow to the puck and when they were shooting it and getting the puck they were trying to knock it off the boards and it would bounce right to the Sharks players.

The Sharks win that one 9-2 and played the Canucks on Thursday night and continue their winning streak now at 4-0 after winning their first road game in Vancouver.

San Francisco Bulls update: Bulls head coach Pat Curcio is quite a head coach and he’s really helped a lot of players and one of the players actually made it to the NHL playing for Toronto they see that Curcio has a lot of heart he’s put a lot into the team and therefore their going to try and benefit from that and make their career better for that reason.

The Bulls are an exciting club to watch in their first year they did very well they made the playoffs their expectations were set any lower. The thing is just keep that exciting brand of hockey going and keep it out in the neighborhood that their playing well and playing hard and the people who are really enjoying the sport will come watch them.

The longest part of travel for the Bulls are when they make their long trek to Alaska to play the Aces which they have on tap for the first week in April. The Bulls will miss the freezing ice and snow and the beginning of April will work for them. The players love to play the sport it’s just a matter of the travel and once your in the ice rink and skating it’s all just a game.

As far as the travel when your in a minor league set up like the ECHL your going to have the buses your going to have the long drives not as much luxury but that’s part of paying your dues to get in the Big Boy league.

The Bulls have a long eight game road trip to open up the season with the rodeo coming to the Cow Palace which takes precedence so they’ll melt the ice after these two pre season games at the Cow Palace. The Bulls will go on the road and sometimes being on the road forces a team together more and maybe be more solid of team players. There’s no where to hide when your own the road. Your so close to each other and that might be a benefit if they play their cards right they make it a benefit.

Larry Levitt does weekly commentary on San Francisco Bulls and San Jose Sharks hockey for Sportstalk Radio

Hertl scores four in Sharks big victory

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
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SAN JOSE, CA – OCTOBER 8: Tomas Hertl #48, Matt Irwin #52 and Jason Demers #10 of the San Jose Sharks celebrate Hertl’s goal against the New York Rangers during an NHL game on October 8, 2013 at SAP Center in San Jose, California. (Photo by Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Ivan Makarov

With the strong preseason and a three points in two games to start his rookie campaign in the NHL, Tomas Hertl was no longer a mystery around the NHL coming into the game against New York Rangers. But the show that he put on Tuesday night will be remembered for a long time in San Jose and beyond.

Four goals scored by the Sharks forward was the most ever scored by the rookie in teal as Sharks went on to win the game 9-2. The crowd gave Hertl a standing ovation and he couldn’t stop smiling while sitting on the bench.

“This is crazy. This is like a dream, ” said Herlt after the game. “Four goals! Never even in a Czech league have I had three goals. NHL.. It’s crazy!”

The most beautiful goal scored by Hertl was the one that will be replaying on TV networks and online for a while, as he put it between his legs and backhanded with a great move top shelf while on the breakaway.

“[That move] is something I don’t have in my bag,” said Joe Thornton, laughing, while talking about the goal. “It was awful pretty.”

San Jose played a great game from start to finish, and with the help of good bounces, things went their way and the score showed it.

The most telling goal about how it all went came about in the second period. It was 3-1, the Sharks were outhitting, out skating and out playing the Rangers by that point. Not that they really needed it this time, but the luck went their way once again as Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl picked up a puck that was stopped on the ice by opponents’ broken stick. With speed, Hertl broke through and with a nice move put it behind New York’s goaltender Henrick Lundquist to make it 4-1 and chase Lundquist out of the game only half way through.

All of 15 Sharks ended the game with points, including Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi. Five Sharks had multi-point games.  Hertl was not the only rookie who had a memorable night, as Matt Nieto scored a goal and recorded two assists on the third line.

Rangers’ Brad Richards opened the score  when his team was on 5-on-3 power play early in the game as Brad Stuart got penalized for elbowing and Sharks sent another player into the box for having too many men on the ice during that penalty. Richards was an open player at the top of the face-off circle and he beat Antti Niemi on the glove side.

Sharks were still killing a penalty when a counter attack chance turned into a goal when Marc Eduard Vlasic scored on a shot from high inside the zone, which seemed to have surprised Rangers all star goaltender Henrick Lundquist. Vlasic’s goal was his first of the season and tied the game at 1-1.

Three minutes later, Dan Boyle made it 2-1 as he slap shot the puck from the blue line right after the face-off win by Joe Pavelski inside the Rangers zone. Boyle was helped by Tommy Wingels who was screening Lundquist in front as he was skating by.

But it was in the second period when Sharks energy really picked up and they took over the game completely, scoring three goals in three minutes, making it 5-1 in their favor. Such outcome completely deflated the Rangers who were playing on the second night in a row after a game in Los Angeles against the Kings on Monday night.

A memorable performance by the Sharks rookie helped get the Sharks get to 3-0 on the season before they get on the road, as they play in Vancouver on Thursday night.

Game Notes

  • Tomas Hertl became the youngest NHL player to score four goals in a game since March 30, 1988 (Jimmy Carson, Los Angeles Kings). In total, he is the 4th youngest player in NHL history to score 4 or more goals [Credit: Elias Sports].
  • Tomas Hertl becomes the only player to score a total of six goals in his first three games as a Shark. Rob Gaudreau (1992-93) and Jan Caloun (1995-96) had four goals in their first three games as a Shark, the highest totals before tonight.
  • Tomas Hertl’s four goals ties a Sharks franchise record for most goals in a game by a Shark (Owen Nolan, 12/19/95 @ Anaheim).
  • Tomas Hertl logged 11:12 of ice time during tonight’s game. He becomes the fourth player since 1987-88 to log less than 11:30 of ice time and score four goals in a single game.
  • Players who now have three game point streaks: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, and Logan Couture.
  • Marc-Edouard Vlasic became the 12th Sharks defenseman to score a shorthanded goal (Last: Scott Hannan, 03/16/07 vs. Columbus) [Credit: Darin Stephens].
  • Matt Nieto scored his first NHL point with an assist on a Dan Boyle goal, and followed that up with his first NHL goal at the 8:16 mark of the second period. Nieto finished the game with three points (1-2=3), a +2 rating, and the game-winning goal.
  • Jason Demers set a career high in points as well as assists (0-3=3).

Sharks thump on the Canucks at home

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

by Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — A lot of things went right for the Sharks in their preseason game against Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center on Tuesday night.

They got plenty of scoring chances which resulted in a lot of goals. They limited the Canucks scoring chances to close to nothing, which helped Antti Niemi earn a shutout. They avoided the penalty box all night. Their lines seems to gel well together. And they won their game 5-0.

“Once we established [the pace of the game], we were on puck, we were hard,” said happy Sharks head coach Todd McLellan after the game. “The special teams were great tonight.”

Of course, it was just a preseason game with very little on the line. But even then, the coaches are watching and are experimenting with player combinations, tactics and special teams, building the foundation for a long season ahead.

Sharks rookie Tomas Heart opened the score early in the game at 10:37 of the first period. Deep inside the Canucks zone, Scott Hannan shot the puck from a sharp angle just outside the center circle, allowing Hertl, who stood right in front of the net, and puck went off him into the net. This was Hertl’s second goal of the preseason, as he’s getting great looks playing on the top line alongside Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.

Dan Boyle increased the Sharks lead to 2-0 three minutes as he scored on a wrist shot from a pass from Tyler Kennedy as he joined the attack. Kennedy did all the work on that goal, hitting the goalpost earlier, and keeping the puck inside the zone after it rebounded off Canucks goaltender Eddie Lack and then finding Boyle wide open.

Once it started to rain, it began to pour.

Joe Thornton added third goal for the Sharks half way through the second period after he scored on a one timer after a pass by Patrick Marleau on the Sharks power play.

Logan Couture added to the scoreboard on yet another Sharks power play with less then a minute remaining in the second period. Standing right between the face-off circles, he got a quick pass form Joe Pavelski, and fired it on goal and into the net with his signature wrist shot. That made it 4-0 for the Sharks.

This marked two power play goals for the Sharks top power play unit, which McLellan mentioned will stay intact. The second unit had its chances, but McLellan indicated he’ll continue to change who’s playing there.

Thomas Hertl made another case that he belongs in the NHL and on the Sharks top line when he never gave up on the play in the Canucks zone at the start of the third period, and kept on fighting for the puck, eventually putting it in with a wrester, scoring his second of the night, and Sharks’ fifth goal that made it 5-0 for the home team.

“He’s good around the net,” said Sharks captain Joe Thornton when asked about his thoughts on Hertl’s play so far in the preseason. “He scored around the net in the last game too. He’s very competitive. He just goes to the net and is not afraid of that area.”

As for the Canucks, they looked disorganized, undisciplined, and almost as if they didn’t want to play in that game. They did not look like a team that will be competing for a playoff spot next season.