Tag: Tommy Wingels

Torres Returns, Donskoi Shines, in Sharks Preseason Win

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By Mary Walsh

The Sharks won their first preseason home game on Friday night. They defeated the Arizona Coyotes squad 3-1, or 4-1, depending on whether you count the exhibition overtime session. Sharks goals were scored by Brendan Dillon, Joe Pavelski, Joonas Donskoi and Ben Smith. The Coyotes goal was scored by Antoine Vermette.

Raffi Torres returned to the lineup in the team’s third game of the preseason. He was on the starting line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton but after that Joonas Donskoi played on that top line. Donskoi has impressed in training camp, and his performance Friday continued to show why he is a serious contender for a spot on the NHL roster. Goaltender Al Stalock made his first preseason appearance as well, after sitting as backup for Martin Jones in Vancouver.

The first goal of the game came from Brendan Dillon less than five minutes in to the game. It was a shot from near the point, which bounced aloft in traffic in front of the net, before skipping over Anders Lindback’s shoulder. Assists went to Tommy Wingels and Dylan DeMelo.

At the ten minute mark, the Coyotes had just one shot recorded, to the Sharks’ 8. The Coyotes got another shot in the following minute. A fight and a small melee followed, landing Tommy Wingels, Brendan Dillon, and Arizona’s Brendan Shinnimin in the box. Wingels got two minutes for roughing, Shinnimin got two for slashing, and Dillon got two for cross-checking. The Coyotes had the first power play of the game. The Sharks penalty kill held up pretty well, considering how much trouble they had getting the puck cleared. Stalock made a couple of very stretchy saves to make up for the glitches in the system and preserve the lead.

The Sharks also took the second penalty, this one an interference call on Justin Braun. A penalty kill unit of Donskoi, Vlasic, Tierney and Mueller made efficient work of the first shift. Pavelski, Torres, Dillon and DeMelo finished up the kill for the Sharks.

With two minutes left in the first, the Sharks got their first power play. It was a penalty on Steve Downie for roughing. The Coyotes had less trouble clearing the puck out than the Sharks did. They cleared it a few times before the period and the power play ended, still 1-0 Sharks.

The Coyotes had almost evened the shot count by the end of the first, and did draw even in the first 30 seconds of the second, at 9-9.

The first five minutes of the second showed the Coyotes to advantage. They had several chances attacking the Sharks net, and Stalock was busy. The Coyotes took their second penalty of the game, at 7:23 of the period. It was a holding penalty to Lucas Lessio. The first power play unit again consisted of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Joonas Donskoi.

Matt Tennyson, Chris Tierney, Tommy Wingels, Brenden Dillon and Matt Nieto made up the second power play unit.

A blink after that penalty ended, the Sharks got another chance when Arizona’s Dakota Mermis went to the box for holding the stick. This time the power play started with Goldobin, Tennyson, Tierney, Wingels and Mueller. Thornton, Pavelski, Donskoi, Vlasic and Braun were on the second unit, the one that scored.

Vlasic’s shot from the point was deflected by Joe Pavelski in front of the net. The second assist went to Joe Thornton.

In the last five minutes of the period, Mike Brown was called for goaltender interference. The Sharks’ penalty kill seemed to find its feet this time around, pushing the Coyotes out quickly and even mustering a short-handed chance in the first minute.

That penalty kill was tested again, with just over two minutes left in the second. This time the penalty went to Mirco Mueller, two minutes for tripping Steve Downie. There were 28 seconds left in the period when the Coyotes finally got on the board. The power play goal was scored by Antoine Vermette. While partially screening Stalock, he tipped a shot from Connor Murphy. The second assist went to Max Domi.

By the end of the second, the Sharks were well ahead on the shot clock again, 26-18. The score was 2-1 Sharks.

The third period saw the teams off to an even start. In the first ten minutes, there were six shots, three from each team. Mirco Mueller got a round of applause for a fine hit, but there was little other clear advantage to cheer about. The teams seemed very even.

The line of Goldobin, Meier and Smith had a very good shift with around seven minutes left. Meier and Goldobin are well met when it comes to moving the puck around through traffic. It was not the most elegant showing but they showed tenacity and quickness enough to regain control many times.

With just over six minutes left in regulation, Tommy Wingels carried the puck to the net and bumped Lindback. No whistle blew, no horn went off. But the Coyotes went right back the other way and pushed Vlasic into Stalock. The penalty went to Joe Vitale for interference on Vlasic.

On the ensuing power play, Joonas Donskoi scored on the last of three tries by several Sharks in front of the net. His shot was quick and clean and from right in the slot. It was his first goal of the preseason. Assists went to Dylan DeMelo and Joe Thornton.

The final score, before the obligatory 3 on 3 overtime session, was 3-1 Sharks. The shot count stood at 37-26 Sharks. DeBoer started Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic as the first trio for the Sharks. The second group were Donskoi, Wingels and Braun. Goldobin, Nieto and Tennyson went third.

For good measure, the Ben Smith scored in the final two seconds of overtime, so the Sharks own the game and the extra game.

The even-strength lines were fairly consistent throughout the game. They were:
Tierney, Wingels, Nieto
Thornton, Pavelski, Donskoi
Goldobin, Meier, Smith
Torres, Lerg, Brown

The defense pairs were:
Tennyson, Mueller
Dillon, DeMelo
Vlasic, Braun

The Sharks shot leaders for the game were Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joonas Donskoi. Justin Braun and Vlasic led the team in ice time. Al Stalock made 25 saves for the win.

For the Coyotes, Max Domi and Lucas Lessio led in shots, while Connor Murphy and Stephan Elliott lead the team in ice time. Anders Lindback made 34 saves for his team.

The Sharks play again Saturday at 6:00 pm.

Sharks Ready for Restart

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By Mary Walsh

In the past, GM Doug Wilson has used the phrase “refresh, reset” instead of “rebuild” to describe what he was trying to do with the San Jose Sharks. Last year, “rebuild” creapt into the sound bites, but there were no standout changes to go with it. Now, with a new coaching staff and new players in key roles, the team faces something akin to an operating system upgrade.

As with an upgrade, many little glitches may just go away, while some handy shortcuts will have to be put back in place. For a while at least, the system will seem cleaner simpler than previously. How much reward the Sharks will reap from the changes will depend on some very familiar factors, from individual player performance to the mental resilience of the group. This is the conundrum that has faced the Sharks for years: they have been good enough to expect that they could do more, but they haven’t. New Head Coach Peter DeBoer has said he won’t tear everything down because there is a lot of good in the team and the way they do things. How much of that good can he salvage without also preserving the bugs and glitches?

One of the familiar questions is leadership. Tommy Wingels was asked about the captaincy issue on the first day of camp. He said:

I think it’s important that someone does wear the C. That being said, that guy’s not going to be the only guy that’s a leader on this team. One guy wears the C but we’ve said around here that this is a team of leaders. If you have one guy doing it all, you’re not going to be great.

The leadership question carries over from last season. That captainless experiment did not exactly devolve into mob rule, but it was far from a well-organized attack unit. That DeBoer plans to put letters on leaders may just be a band-aid but it is a hole that needs to be plugged. It is an obvious first step to bringing the team into a semblance of order. It is just the first of many changes that need to be made.

Joe Pavelski said that the changes to the team are palpable:

There’s a good energy in the room. When you walk into the building and you see the new hallway and the new locker room, it just adds that energy. Even when we were away in the summer and we added those pieces, there was an energy I could feel, excited to get back when I got back and see everybody and get on the ice. Like the signings we’ve had and the improvements and we’ll move forward from that and hopefully it will be positive.

The changes to the locker room decor are a strong visual signal: this is not the same as before. It was not a complete redesign, but changes in wall covering and paint colors are enough to make the room almost unrecognizable. It reminded me of the attention given to the dressing rooms at 49ers Stadium last year. Perhaps that experience drove home the importance of little things like color and texture, the effect they can have on the psyche. That particular game, played out of that particular room, may not be worth repeating, but the new look will be a daily reminder that this season is not last season or the one before that.

Ironically, a fresh start is what a team wants every season. In that regard, newness is not new. Tommy Wingels described the challenge of the clean slate goal:

I think that’s the mindset every player needs to have every year when training camp starts. I don’t think you can expect to be in a certain position based on the previous year. You got to re-earn it every single year, every practice, every exhibition game, into the start of the season. I think Pete has come in and made it clear that what you did in the past doesn’t matter, you’ve got to earn your opportunity this year.

Joe Thornton does not think it will take the team very long to adjust to the new systems under the new coach:

Hopefully just exhibition, hopefully Game One we’ll be ready to go. But who knows, I don’t think it’s going to take a long time to get used to his system. It’s relatively the same as Todd’s, but who knows? Hopefully the more we play games, get six or seven exhibition games under our belt, we’ll be ready to play his system.

This morning, who knows how long it will take? Once the Sharks play a couple of games, they will probably know.

The Sharks will play in Vancouver tonight, one of those exhibition games Thornton mentioned. If the changes are change enough, I would not expect a smooth performance right away. If they play well and win, great. If they play badly and lose, or even play badly and win, it could mean they are figuring out a new way of doing things. The only real failure possible would be if the team looks too much as they have always looked. Even then, they have a few more exhibition games to get their new act together.

Senators Hand Sharks 8th Home Loss

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- A 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators was not the game the Sharks were looking for. Home is where the heart is, or maybe it’s just where they have to let you in when you come knocking. In any case, home has not been a very lucky place for the Sharks. After seven straight losses, the Sharks were looking for their first home win in February. They finished the month with not one home win.

Sharks goals were scored by Tommy Wingels and Patrick Marleau. Wingels is the only Shark to have faced Senators’ goalie Andrew Hammond before Saturday, as they played against each other in college. Ottawa goals were scored by Mike Hoffman (2), Mark Stone and Erik Karlsson. The loss left the Sharks still two spots and three points out of a wild card playoff position, with just 19 games left to play. Eight of those will be played at home, for better or worse.

The game started auspiciously for the Sharks. Matt Irwin battled his way past one Senator then eluded three more to put the put in the vicinity of the blue paint. From there, James Sheppard and Tommy Wingels took over to push the puck past Ottawa goaltender Hammond. Coming off of back to back shutouts, it ended his streak at 122:27. Assists on the goal went to Matt Irwin and Matt Nieto.

The Sharks continued to assert themselves through the rest of the first period. The shot gap was as high as 9-2 at one point, which did not accurately reflect how disorderly the Senators were. Their best chance came during the final minute of the period, when a couple of shots and rebounds made Niemi work in the Sharks’ net. The Senators buzzed but the Sharks pushed them back out.

The first ended with the score 1-0 Sharks and the shots 12-10 Sharks.

A couple of minutes into the second period, Tommy Wingels was called for hooking. It was the first penalty of the game. The Sharks handled the penalty kill well, and a couple of minutes later Brent Burns was called for interference after taking Colin Geening into the boards a little bit late.

The Senators’ power pay had a good chance early when Mika Zibanejad got around the Sharks defenders. He skated in close enough to push Niemi back a little but the Sharks netminder gloved the puck anyway.  It took the Sens another try to tie the game. A shot from the point came off the back boards to Erik Karlsson. Karlsson put the puck under Niemi’s pads for his 15th of the seaosn. Kyle Turris was given the assist.

The teams were also tied on the shot clock near the midpoint of the game, with 17 shots each.

To balance things further, each team sent a player to the box at 9:10: Logan Couture for tripping and Mark Stone for cross-checking. The game did remain pretty even for a while, with the teams trading shots and not scoring.

The Sharks got their first power play with 7:03 left in the second period, when Colin Greening went to the box for boarding. It took the Sharks 22 seconds to sort out their power play. A shot from Brent Burns at the blue line hit Pavelski in front of the net and bounced to Marleau on the side. Marleau put it past Hammond for his 14th of the season. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

The calls kept coming. With 5:42 left in the second, Kyle Turris went to the box for holding. The Senators started their penalty kill better this time, making the Sharks chase them around the ice for a bit. The Sharks got control of the puck with almost a minute gone in the power play, and then they were called for icing. Their next attempt produced a shot but did not hold the zone for long.

The second power play was a mess but the shift after it ended was good. Barclay Goodrow made a legitimate nuisance of himself for the Sens, at both ends of the ice. The fourth line seemed to lead the way back for the Sharks, as the Thornton-Pavelski-Hertl line came back with a better shift than they had had in some minutes.

The Senators had a good last minute of the second period, as they had in the first, but they only gained ground on the shot clock, not the score board. The second ended with the Sharks still ahead in both categories, 23-22 in shots and 2-1 on the scoreboard.

The Senators tied the game up again when Antti Niemi could not corral a rebound, leaving a gap for Mark Stone to shoot through. The goal came at 3:52. The assist went to Kyle Turris.

Brendan Dillon went to the box for tripping, a reasonable penalty to take as he was stopping a dangerous-looking breakaway. The gamble did not pay off, as the Senators took the lead during the ensuing power play. A shot from the point went close by the outside of one post, came off the backboards perfectly for the Senators’ leading scorer Mike Hoffman. The assists to Mika Zibanejad and Erik Karlsson.

There were moments in the latter part of the third period that looked like a mirror image of the first period, with the Sharks struggling to get through the neutral zone and the Senators stopping them at every turn. The Sens crept ahead on the shot clock and held fast to their 3-2 lead.

In the last five minutes, the Sharks did show more composure, minimizing turnovers and throwing the puck away less. But the Senators had their game in order and the lead made them steadfast. When the Sharks pulled Niemi for the extra skater, it did not take long for the Sens to take the puck off of them. It was Mike Hoffman who scored in the empty net.

Line changes: Tye McGinn was inserted on a line with Andrew Desjardins and Barclay Goodrow. Matt Nieto moved to a line with Tommy Wingels and James Sheppard. Tomas Hertl got another shot at the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. That left Melker Karlsson on a line with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau.

Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in hits with five, and in shots with four. Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked four shots and Brent Burns led in ice time at 25:17. Antti Niemi made 27 saves on 30 shots.

Six Senatoers had three shots apiece, while only four had no shots. Mark Borowiecki led the Sens in hits with six and Erik Karlsson was their ice time leader at 28:22. Andrew Hammond made 28 saves on 30 shots for the win.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the Montreal Canadiens.

With the trade deadline looming, Sharks fans may have no more than trade envy to look forward to. To that end, the Blackhawks have acquired pending UFA Antoine Vermette from the Arizona Coyotes, in exchange for defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and a 2015 first round pick. They also added Kimmo Timonen from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for conditional picks.

The Anaheim Ducks acquired Tomas Fleischmann from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Dany Heatley and a third round pick.

The Panthers added Jaromir Jagr to their lineup in exchange for picks to the New Jersey Devils. With the Dany Heatley addition they must have felt a need for some veteran playoff experience to guide their thriving young group forward. They got it.

The LA Kings acquired defenseman Andrej Sekera from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a prospect and a first round pick. The Winnipeg Jets acquired Jiri Tlusty from the Hurricanes, in exchange for a 2016 third round pick and a 2015 conditional sixth round pick.

Out of the conference but still worth noting for Sharks fans: Daniel Winnik has been traded from the Maple Leafs and has joined the Pittsburgh Penguins for the playoff run.

Sharks Lose to Kings, Hockey Wins at Levi’s Stadium

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By Mary Walsh

SANTA CLARA– The San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in the NHL’s 2015 Stadium Series game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski summarized his team’s disappointment over the loss: “You want to push towards that second season and right now we’re not there. There’s nothing given to us and we gotta go earn it.”

While the game was very important for the standings points, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was not disappointed with his team:

We were disappointed in the outcome. I’m not disappointed in the effort and what our group put into the game. We would have preferred to win. It was a hard-fought game by two good teams that played a pretty even match. So the outcome is very disappointing, but everything else we’re proud of. I think our city and Northern California has to be extremely proud. You take Mr. Gund 25 years ago had a vision of bringing a team here, and brought it here, and a quarter century later we’re playing an outdoor game with 72,000 people in a brand-new football stadium. Who would have ever thought that could happen?

“We’re still not even close to being secure in a playoff spot, we have a lot of work left to do.” That was Drew Doughty after the game, but it would have been a true statement from a player on either team in Saturday night’s game. This is what made the game so important to both teams– the race for a playoff spot in the west will be a dog fight for the rest of the season. Calgary and Vancouver are crowding the top of the Pacific Division behind the Ducks. The wild card slots are over subscribed with Winnipeg and now Minnesota pressing. No contending team is secure or is likely to be until the last buzzer goes.

If the Los Angeles Kings wanted to ruin the Sharks’ big party in Santa Clara, they made a good start of it. Just 2:46 into the first period, a Jake Muzzin shot from the blue line went by Niemi on the short side. It was tipped by Kyle Clifford and it was deflating for the 709,000 plus stadium crowd.

Near the seven minute mark, the Kings drew a penalty from Brenden Dillon for holding. The call was delayed and the Kings took advantage of the extra time to make the Sharks look harried. It took the Sharks several seconds to finally touch the puck and get a whistle. The Sharks’ had a tv break to regain their composure and their penalty kill came out looking more settled. They evicted the Kings from the zone several times before the power play ended.

The Sharks had less success at five on five and by 13:30 of the first, the Sharks were trapped in their own end and counting on Niemi and luck to keep the puck out of their net. The shot clock read 9-3 Los Angeles.

Near the sixteen minute mark, John Scott corralled the puck and carried it through the neutral zone where he, Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson made things interesting for Jonathan Quick. It was the crowd’s first reason to cheer in a while.

They had another chance with just over a minute left. the sharks had been creeping back on the shot clock when, right off an offensive zone draw, Brent Burns took the puck, skated a little and shot it from the half-boards to tie the game. The assist went to Tommy Wingels.

By the end of the first, the Kings were still leading in shots but just barely. The Sharks had pushed all the way back to 12-10, holding the Kings to just three shots in the last seven minutes of the period.

The Sharks started the second period where they left off in the first. They caught and passed the Kings in shots, though both teams were hanging back a little, keeping extra bodies by the blue lines to compensate for some pretty rough ice. Even from the press booth (way up high) you could see how not smooth the zamboni left the ice during intermission. There were no puddles but the puck’s trajectory vaguely resembled that of a bumble bee.

At 7:24, Robyn Regehr went to the box for hooking, giving the Sharks their first power play of the night. The Kings could not get the puck out for more than a minute, but aside from an early sequence featuring exceptional saves by Quick, the power play generated nothing concrete.

The Kings had another power play at 13:06 of the second, when Matt Irwin went to the box for hooking Kyle Clifford in front of the San Jose net. The kings held the zone for over a minute too, and one shot by Jamie McBain from the blue line looked pretty dangerous but beyond that the Sharks handled the Kings’ power play well.

The Sharks had their second chance on the power play soon after, when Jake Muzzin went to the box for delay of game after sending the puck over the glass. This Sharks power play was less sharp. The Kings sent them out, chasing the puck into their own zone, then Quick’s net came off its moorings and the power play minutes were eaten up fruitlessly. A few too many passes were attempted in hostile conditions. The only things that seemed to get through were some hard blasts from the slot.

By the end of the period, the Sharks were ahead in shots 25-18 but the game was still tied at one.

The Kings came out strong in the third, with an early shot going through Niemi but just wide. That may have given the Sharks a scare because they did push the game the other way in the minutes after that. But it was the Kings who scored next.

Marion Gaborik used a hard shot from the slot to beat Niemi. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was trying to come across to stop him but at least two Sharks were caught flat-footed and watched Gaborik go by. Jeff Carter got an assist on the goal.

At the midpoint of the third, Joe Thornton drew a tripping penalty from Dustin Brown. The teams were tied at 26 shots each, and neither team had scored on the power play. The Sharks’ third power play was their least effective of the game. They tried too many passes and took too few shots.

The Sharks were unable to tie the game up again and the final score was 2-1 Kings. The Sharks won 33 faceoffs to the Kings’ 31. The Sharks had three power plays to the Kings two, both teams had perfect penalty kills. The hits were 45-49 Sharks, the shots blocked 18-14 Kings. The biggest imbalance in the game was in giveaways (18-7 Sharks) and takeaways (13-5 Sharks), though those stats really should balance each other out. Perhaps not, in a game that requires more simplification than anything else.

The Sharks’ lines looked a little different on Saturday, with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau reunited on a line, with Melker Karlsson as the third member. Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels formed the other half of the top six. Tomas Hertl, James Sheppard and Matt Nieto formed the third line, and John Scott, Tyler Kennedy and Andrew Desjardins forming the fourth line.

Tommy Wingels led the Sharks in hits with 11, while six Sharks had four each. Brent Burns led the team in shots with six. Antti Niemi made 27 saves on 29 shots faced.

Drew Doughty led the Kings in shots, Trevor Lewis led the team in hits with six. Jonathan Quick made 31 saves on 32 shots for the win.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at SAP Center against the Detroit Red Wings.

Sharks Beat Coyotes for McLellan’s 300th Win

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 Friday. It was the Sharks’ 300th win with Todd McLellan as head coach, making him the second-fastest NHL coach to reach that mark. It was also the first time the Sharks beat the Coyotes in regulation in Glendale with Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith in net.

Joe Pavelski brings a lot to the San Jose Sharks in terms of consistency and leadership, but he has not scored very many NHL hat tricks. He is not someone you see wearing a lot of plaid either. He isn’t that kind of flashy. On Friday he scored three goals, one at even strength, one on a power play and one into an empty net. Joe Thornton had assists on all three goals. Barclay Goodrow scored the other Sharks goal, the game winner.

Speaking about the Sharks’ recovery from a poor first period, Pavelski said: “The first just can’t happen, happen again. I think we’re understanding, this time of year, the soft stuff just isn’t going to cut it for us. I think that’s kind of what was said in between the first and second.”

It would be unfair to say that only a continent-wide natural disaster, one that spared no NHL franchise outside Arizona, for the Coyotes to get into the playoffs this season. It is just very unlikely as they are having one stinker of a season. Anyone who has been following the Sharks this season knows that such an opponent has a pretty good chance of beating the Sharks.

The Sharks did not start the game well. Outshot and outscored, it was one San Jose’s worst first periods of the year, against a lackluster opponent. During the first intermission, Tommy Wingels summed it up: “That was about as bad of a first period as we can play. No emotion, getting beat in one on one battles, poor defensive play. I could go on and on, but it’s got to be better in the second period.”

The Sharks were better in the second period, and the third.

Less than two minutes into the first period, Sharks defenseman Mirco Mueller turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Arizona’s newly acquired Mark Arcobello took advantage of that and shot at an unscreened Niemi to give the Coyotes the lead.

Arcobello also took the first penalty of the game, which gave the Sharks a chance to pull themselves together. They had one good chance off a Tomas Hertl shot that found Matt Irwin, Tommy Wingels and Matt Tennyson all near the net. None of them could put the puck around Smith, and after that the Sharks turned the puck over in their zone. the puck found its way back into the Coyotes’ zone but neither team could do anything productive with that. The only player who seemed able to put the puck where he wanted it was Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith.

The Sharks took the next penalty, an interference penalty to Matt Tennyson at 13:08. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made a number of good saves before the Coyotes’ Sam Gagner intercepted a failed clear from Brent Burns. Gagner sent the puck back to the corner, where Keith Yandle passed it out to Martin Erat in the slot. 2-0 Coyotes. Assists to Yandle and Sam Gagner.

By period’s end, the Sharks had been outscored 2-0 and outshot 12-7.

Joe Pavelski opened the second period with a goal 27 seconds in. From behind the goal line, he attempted a pass to Melker Karlsson in front of the net. The puck didn’t reach Karlsson, but bounced off a defenseman and into the net. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Scott Hannan. Half way through the period, the Sharks took another penalty but kill it off.

Todd McLellan moved Tomas Hertl to the fourth line and Chris Tierney up to the third not long after that penalty kill. The move paid off as Hertl drew penalty at 10:57.

The Sharks had some trouble getting their power play going, as a couple of bounces near the blue line kept them out of the Coyotes’ zone. With 11 seconds left in the power play, a check from Tommy Wingels drew retaliation from Oliver Ekman-Larsson. This second power play looked to be in trouble again as Patrick Marleau fanned on a pass at the blue line. A quick recovery turned the tide and a couple of passes later, Joe Pavelski scored again to tie the game. Assists on the power play goal went to Logan Couture and Joe Thornton.

The third period began with promise for the Sharks. An early chance came off a pass from Mirco Mueller that found Matt Nieto up the ice. Nieto did not score but it was a good sign that the Sharks were going in the right direction. It took them just over six minutes of playing time to get there, and Barclay Goodrow was the lucky shooter.

Goodrow came into the zone at speed in a two on one with Andrew Desjardins against Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy. After convincing Murphy and his goaltender that a pass was a good possibility, Goodrow shot instead and gave the Sharks the lead. Assists went to Brent Burns and Antti Niemi. Desjardins made the play possible despite falling in the neutral zone and having to get back to his feet quickly enough to catch up and protect the two on one.

With the win, the Sharks remain in the second spot in the Pacific Division with 66 points. The Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks are right behind them with 63 points each and several games in hand.

Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in shots with five. Tommy Wingels led in hits with four. Mirco Mueller led the team in blocked shots with four. Antti Niemi made 34 saves on 36 shots for the win.

Five different Coyotes had three shots apiece: Sam Gagne, Kyle Chipchura, Michael Stone, Lauri Korpikoski and Brendan Shinnimin. Jordan Martinook led the Coyotes in hits with four. Mike Smith made 22 saves on 25 shots faced.

On the injury front, some updates on absent Sharks came out. Kevin Kurz of CSNCA reported that defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, currently on injured reserve, skated Friday in San Jose and does not have a concussion. Additionally, defenseman Justin Braun could be close to returning, if the initial recovery time of 4-6 weeks was accurate.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 5:00 PT against the Tampa Bay Lightning in San Jose.

Sharks Fend Off Flames, Win 4th in a Row

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AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks started a two game road trip with a 3-2 win against the Calgary Flames. Going into Saturday’s game, the Flames had won four in a row, Sharks had won three. The Flames were 11-1-2 when scoring first, as they did Saturday. To up the ante, the Flames had a third period scoring differential of 24, while the Sharks had a lamentable minus 4. If the Sharks thrive on a challenge, entering the third period tied with the Flames was a fine one.

It was not a pristine performance from the Sharks, but head coach Todd McLellan summed it up well after the game:

We… found a way to beat a hot goaltender, found a way to get ourselves back into the game. Our first period was not anywhere near what we needed it to be, but we chatted a little bit between periods and we responded well.

Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 33 shots for the win. Patrick Marleau scored the game winner, while Tommy Wingels, Logan Couture and Justin Braun all had two point games.

The Flames dominated play for the first five minutes, peppering Niemi with shots while the Sharks had trouble getting through the neutral zone. The Sharks started to show some cohesion around the ten minute mark, with some sustained zone time and a few shots. Overall, the Flames dominated play in the first, keeping the Sharks’ recorded shot count to just three in the first fifteen minutes of the period.

Kennedy left the game during the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return for the second.

The Flames scored the first goal in the last three minutes of the period. David Jones passed the puck to Mark Giordano who was just coming across the blue line with some speed. His slapshot came so fast that Niemi never saw it coming. It was Giordano’s seventh goal of the season. Assists went to David Jones and Curtis Glencross.

In the final minute, Logan Couture took a shot that went off the post, and the Sharks picked up their game in the final few shifts of the period. By the end of the period, the Flames led the Sharks in shots 12-8, and the score stood at 1-0 Flames.

The Sharks started the second period by losing the faceoff, but they chased the puck down and pushed the Flames into the offensive zone. Justin Braun came up with the puck off some good forechecking from Tommy Wingels. With a backhand shot that looked like an afterthought, Braun beat Karri Ramo to tie the game. The assist went to Wingels.

That backhand worked so well that Logan Couture decided to try one after some nifty stick handling around a Flames defender. He got control of the puck after John Scott wrested it from the Flames’ Raphael Diaz. Couture’s shot went off the far post and in, abruptly giving the Sharks the lead. Assists went to to John Scott and Justin Braun.

The Sharks took the first penalty of the game midway through the second period, an interference penalty to Brent Burns. Not only was the Calgary power play seventh in the league, but it was also on a four game scoring streak. The Sharks killed that off without allowing a shot to get through to the net.

The next penalty went to the Flames, with just under five minutes left in the period. The Sharks held the zone well but only got one shot to the net during the power play.

Back at even strength, the Flames tied the game after the Sharks lost track of Johnny Gaudreau, who set himself up in front of the net. Jiri Hudler passed the puck to him and he had plenty of time to push it past Niemi. Assists went to Hudler and Matt Stajan.

At the end of the second, the Flames led in shots 21-16. For the period, the shots were 9-8 Flames.

The Sharks’ Brendan Dillon was called for interference just 3:26 into the third period, putting the Sharkson the penalty kill. Johnny Gaudreau had a quick chance that had Niemi scrambling to stop it but the Sharks penalty killers did come to the rescue. Another close call came with 35 seconds left in the penalty, with the puck bouncing like a lotto ball, but the Sharks killed the penalty off. The Flames managed three shots on that power play.

Midway through the period, the Marleau-Couture-Wingels line had a spectacularly relentless shift, moving the puck through and around the Flames zone. Scott Hannan and Matt Irwin held the blue line, while pass after pass kept the Flames chasing the puck around. Finally, a few quick moves behind the goal line between Wingels and Couture ended with a shot from Patrick Marleau to give the Sharks the lead again. Assists went to Couture and Wingels.

The Flames responded ferociously, hemming the Sharks into their zone for a very long shift. An icing gave the Sharks a chance to regroup, and the Sharks escaped for line changes after Goodrow blocked a shot out of the zone.

Driving the net at 14:55, Tomas Hertl drew a holding penalty against TJ Brodie. 31 seconds into the power play, Matt Stajan was called for hooking, giving the Sharks a two man advantage for nearly 90 seconds. The first minute of that 5 on 3 produced just two shots but looking promising. Ramo stopped the shots, holding the second.

The Flames won the next faceoff and the Sharks’ power play fell apart after that, with the Flames clearing the puck twice and getting a short-handed breakaway. Niemi stopped the shot but the Flames came alive, running roughshod through the Sharks zone. The Flames drew a penalty and played with an empty net for more than 30 seconds before their power play even started.

With Braun in the box for tripping, the Flames pulled Ramo for a sixth skater. Burns, Couture, Vlasic, Thornton, Pavelski and Hannan all pitched in for the closing penalty kill. The Sharks only got the puck out twice, but it was enough to hold on for the win.

The final shot count was 35-30 for the Flames.

Joe Pavelski led the team in shots with six, Marc-Edouard Vlasic led the team in shots blocked with four. Vlasic also led the Sharks’ skaters in ice time with 24:32.

Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan led the Flames in shots with five each. Curtis Glencross and Ladislav Smid each blocked three shots. Karri Ramo stopped 27 of 30 shots for Calgary. Dennis Wideman led all skaters in ice time with 28:44.

Matt Nieto was out with an injury, while Tye McGinn and Mirco Mueller sat as healthy scratches.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 6:00 PST in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Sharks Jump Out to 4 Goal Lead, Hang On to Win

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Before Saturday’s 6-4 win over Anaheim, the Sharks were not sure whether or not Logan Couture would be able to play. “This morning I woke up and my eye was swollen, I could barely see out of it, so I knew something was up,” he said after the game. Considering how Couture played on Saturday, maybe he should consider wearing an eye patch before all of his games, to mimic a pregame eye problem.

After the game, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of Couture’s performance:

I thought he had a hell of a game, probably his best game of the season in my opinion. He was all over the puck, he played well defensively, he looked really good.

Couture and Patrick Marleau ended the game with two points each while Wingels earned the first star and four points for the game. They were the most effective line in the game. Antti Niemi made 30 saves on 34 shots (seemingly all in a frenetic third period), and Tomas Hertl’s backhand goal ended up as the game winner. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf scored three of the Ducks’ four goals.

The Sharks started very well, but ended the second period and started the third in a muddle. With the Ducks closing in, McLellan used his time out. In those seconds, Wingels explained, the coaches reminded to team to get back to the way they started:

What made us effective in the first two periods? Playing a north-south game, that was being physical, getting in on the forecheck and creating pressure. I thought when they did score, we kind of started circling a bit, taking pucks east-west.

Clearly, the reminders worked.

The first goal of the game came from Logan Couture, midway through a grinding first period. The puck bounced a bit in front of the net and it was on a second or third bounce that Couture put it over the prone Ducks goaltender. Wingels and Marleau got the assists on the goal.

Almost two minutes later, Ducks forward Matt Beleskey tied the score on Anaheim’s fourth shot of the game. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s shot from the blue line traced a line of four players all stacked in front of Niemi, making the shot very difficult to see. Beleskey tipped it in to score his 11th of the season. Assists went to Lindholm and Devante Smith-Pelly.

At 12:41, Justin Braun went to the penalty box for delay of game, taking the first penalty of the game. Perhaps disatisfied with a waste of a perfectly good lead, Logan Couture promptly took it back with a short-handed breakaway, made possible by a fallen Duck at the  blue line. Couture was patient and precise taking the shot, scoring his tenth of the season.

With just over a minute left in the period, Matt Irwin drew a high-sticking penalty on Jakob Silfverberg. At the time, the Sharks were pinned in their zone and they needed a break. The break they got, and a power play goal as well. With 13.6 seconds left in the period, Wingels and Pavelski moved the puck into the zone, then passed it to Joe Thornton in the opposite corner. He passed it back across the blue paint to a waiting Pavelski.

The period ended with the Sharks leading 3-1, and leading in shots 14-5.

Almost three minutes into the second period, Tommy Wingels tipped a Patrick Marleau shot from the blue line to stretch the lead out to 4-1. It was Wingels’ seventh of the season. Assists went to Marleau and Justin Braun.

The Sharks’ fifth goal came from Tomas Hertl, after he collected the puck along the wall when Josh Manson tried to clear it. Hertl punctuated the goal with a little stick handling in front of the goalie, with James Sheppard acting as a screen. That was it for Ducks’ goaltender Frederik Andersen. Jason LaBarbera came on in relief.

The Ducks used their time out, and seconds after play resumed, the players were piled up in the corner for some fisticuffs. James Sheppard, Matt Irwin and Tomas Hertl were all in the thick of it. In the end, Hertl and Sheppard were in the box for the Sharks, while Devante Smith-Pelly and Matt Beleskey went for the Ducks. The Ducks got a power play out of it as Sheppard received and extra two minutes for boarding.

The Sharks killed the penalty off and the ice opened up until Mike Brown was called for closing his hand on the puck. That was 9:37 in to the second.

With 3:33 left in the period, John Scott was called for hooking. The Sharks did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone and kicking the puck back out when the Ducks did dump it in.

Back at even strength, Ryan Getzlaf carried the puck over the line and passed it to Corey Perry as he bore down on the net. A nifty lift put it over Niemi’s pad and gave the Ducks a boost.

At the end of the second period, the Sharks led 5-2 and shots were 26-19 Sharks.

After the game, Logan Couture commented one of the Sharks’ more glaring bad habits this season:

For some reason this year we’ve just been getting away from it for periods at a time, letting the other team get back in games and take it to us. And that’s exactly what we did, we turned pucks over, we.. I don’t know, it’s tough to understand why we do that but luckily we were able to survive it.

Seconds into the third, Corey Perry cut the Sharks’ lead to 5-3. Matching penalties to Mike Brown and Patrick Maroon followed shortly after, putting the teams four on four. After a save and a fairly spectacular second save, Antti Niemi was beaten again, this time by Ryan Getzlaf. The assist went to Corey Perry. With the gap closed to one goal, McLellan used the Sharks’ time out.

The next good chance for the Sharks came from the Sheppard-Hertl-Nieto line, after the Thornton-Pavelski-McGinn line pushed the action back into the Ducks’ zone for a bit. The Sheppard line had a couple of good chances, both featuring shots from Hertl after strong work along the walls from Nieto and Sheppard.

A penalty to the Ducks came at 6:30 of the period. Renee Bourque went for hooking Nieto. Little came from that, though Niemi had to make some good saves on more short-handed chances from the Ducks. By the middle of the period, the shots were 31-30. At 10:13, Mike Brown went back to the box for hooking.

The Sharks survived a broken stick for Vlasic, then escaped to the Ducks’ zone for a game of catch. Another trip up and down the ice, another short-handed chance, and Matt Nieto drew a penalty on the Ducks, negating the last 18 seconds of the Brown penalty, and putting Ryan Kesler in the box. The Ducks did not get a shot on goal during that power play.

The power play generated three or four shots for the Sharks, and kept the Ducks busy for a spell.

The Sharks earned another power play with just over two minutes left in regulation, when Josh Manson went to the box for hooking Tommy Wingels. The Ducks pulled LaBarbera to even things up. With 26 seconds left in the power play, Matt Nieto scored into the empty net after Tommy Wingels got the puck to him with a neat pass. It was Wingels’ fourth point of the game. It was Nieto’s second point of the season.

Tommy Wingels led the Sharks in hits with seven, Tomas Hertl led the team in shots with five. Brendan Dillon led the team in blocked shots with four, but he and his defense partner Brent Burns both finished with minus two ratings.

Frederik Andersen made 14 saves on 19x shots, Jason LaBarbera made 15 saves on 15 shots for the Ducks. Corey Perry led the Ducks in shots with six, Tim Jackman led in hits with five, Mat Clark led them in blocked shots with three.

Mirco Mueller, Matt Tennyson and Barclay Goodrow were scratched. Tyler Kennedy also did not play.

The Sharks next play the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, December 2, at 7:30 PT in San Jose.

Sharks Lose to Coyotes in Shootout

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE–Saturday night, the Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3. The game went to a shootout giving the Sharks one badly needed point but little else to celebrate. The game’s first and last goals were both scored by Antoine Vermette. The Coyotes’ Devan Dubnyk made 40 saves for the win. For the Sharks, Tommy Wingels, Andrew Desjardins and Joe Pavelski all scored to get the team to overtime.

The Sharks’ first goal of the game snapped a five game pointless streak and a ten game goalless streak for Tommy Wingels. It was an impressive short-handed goal to boot. After the game, Wingels said:

Our penalty kill gave one up early in the game so to get one back was important for us.

You’re not happy when you get scored on the penalty kill, and whether that makes you anticipate better or try harder, psychologically, I don’t know but Goody made a really good play. Both getting it out and on the rush so I just had a the easy job of putting it in.

Andrew Desjardins’ goal was his first of the season.

While many have said that practice is very important, so important that the lack of it may account for some of the Sharks’ recent losses, Todd McLellan did not think it important enough to sit a player who has never practiced with the team. After being traded to the Sharks for Jason Demers, Brenden Dillon arrived in time for the morning skate, but his gear did not. Despite not being able to participate in that practice, he was in Saturday’s game, paired with Brent Burns. Matt Irwin sat out.

The Arizona Coyotes have found ways to lose a lot of games this season. Sometimes they play very badly, other times they just draw the short luck straw. In any case, they quickly tumbled down the Pacific Division standings and have languished there through the first quarter of the season. All of that, next to the Sharks’ recent habit of losing to weak teams, did not bode well.

The Sharks gave up the first goal at 6:08 of the first period, to the Arizona Coyotes power play. The puck trickled out in front of Niemi and Antoine Vermette tapped it through the five hole. The Sharks seemed to have a serious communication failure there, as no one at all was defending Vermette as he loitered in the slot not far from the blue paint.

The Sharks also gave up the second goal, this one a shot from David Schlemko as he skated in fast enough to give himself a clear view of the net. It went just inside the post and out again, almost as if it did not want to rub the two goal lead in.

The Sharks did outshoot the Coyotes in the first, 11-7, despite the penalty. Still, none of those shots could beat Coyotes goaltender Devan Dubnyk.

The Sharks started the second period with some unconvincing play in the offensive zone. They were not very difficult for the Coyotes to push back out.

At 2:46, Andrew Desjardins went to the penalty box for tripping Tobias Rieder. A short-handed excursion quickly followed and gave the Sharks a draw in the Coyotes zone. After the draw, the Sharks again took control and after a couple more tours of the Coyotes’ end, Barclay Goodrow, Mirco Mueller and Tommy Wingels went in three on one to get the Sharks on the board. After such a lackluster start to the game, that brazen attack was certainly surprising.

Tommy Wingels also drew the Sharks’ first penalty, a holding call on Shane Doan at 11:34. The Sharks’ power play had a couple of good chances, most notably an opening for Brent Burns, but he hooked the puck up into the netting and out of play.

At 15:34, Vermette went to the box for boarding Tyler Kennedy. The second Sharks power play looked a lot less dangerous than any of their penalty kills. Then, 19 seconds after the power play ended, Andrew Desjardins found himself with a clear view of the net from the faceoff circle. He also had the puck. He shot it past Dubnyk and tied the game.

By the end of the second period, the Sharks led in shots 25-13.

The tie did not last long. 52 seconds into the third period, during a ferocious Coyote attack on the Sharks’ net, a rebound came out and pinballed around before Shane Doan helped it past Dillon and Niemi. Assists to Sam Gagner and Tobias Rieder.

At 7:12 of the period, Arizona’s Michael Stone went to the penalty box for tripping Patrick Marleau. Just prior to the penalty, the Sharks were showing distinct signs of life. A couple of good passes to get them out of the zone involved McGinn and Dillon, and some clean, composed puck movement from the Thornton line, put pressure on the Coyotes defense.

The power play was a little slow getting started, marked by a number of passes that required some patience. The Sharks waited the Coyotes out, until Couture was able to find Burns at the middle of the blue line with a tidy pass that Burns blasted on net. Joe Pavelski deflected it in to tie the game again.

The rest of the period seemed to be played mostly in the Sharks’ zone, but in the final seconds of the period the Sharks made a very good push, complete with good shots from Joe Pavelski and a zone entry with maneuvers through traffic from Sheppard. That last one, had Sheppard managed to put the puck in the net, would have been a nice addition to a highlight reel. Alas, he did not and neither did anyone else.

1:05 in to overtime, Coyotes captain Shane Doan went to the box for high-sticking Matt Nieto, who went to the bench holding his right hand gingerly. The Sharks’ power play featured an amazing almost goal saved by a Coyote sprawled in the net behind Dybnyk. Nothing else came close. A small pile up in the net at the end of the power play did remind me of this accident. Just like that pileup, everyone walked, or skated away. Unlike that accident, it was over very quickly.

The shootout went all three rounds, with Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Barclay Goodrow shooting for the Sharks. Sam Gagner, Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette shot for the Coyotes. Vermette shot last and was the only shooter to score.

Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in shots with seven. Tommy Wingels led the team in hits. Three Sharks blocked three shots each: Patrick Marleau, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun. Antti Niemi made 22 saves on 25 shots.  Newcomer Brenden Dillon had one shot on goal, four hits and one blocked shot.

Jason Demers, who presumably had his equipment in time for the morning skate, seems to be fitting in nicely with the Dallas Stars.

The Sharks next play at 7:30 on Wednesday the 26th. They will face the visiting Calgary Flames at SAP Center in San Jose.

Sharks Win 3-1, Score 2 Goals in 3rd

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE–Saturday night, three Sharks lines scored three goals to defeat the New York Islanders 3-1. Additionally, instead of giving up a lead in the third frame, the Sharks picked up the pace, took the lead and stretched it out. This marked a shift away from recent bad habits.

Tomas Hertl and James Sheppard scored the Sharks’ first and third goals of the game. The game winner was a goal from Logan Couture, the second Sharks goal of the night. Even if the lines were switched around a bit during the game, getting goals from three of the four lines had to please Sharks’ head coach Todd McLellan.

While he started the game on the fourth line, Hertl continued to be part of the second power play unit. That is where he was playing when he scored Saturday. After the game, head coach Todd McLellan said of Hertl and the bottom six:

We moved him up a line and rewarded him with that. In turn, Shep gelled with Burr and Desi down the stretch in the last period and a half. So, as it turns out we had a kid line and a veteran group of players that both contributed to the win tonight.

The Islanders struck first almost ten minutes in to the first period. Kyle Okposo scored it. Okposo had spent a lot of time in the Sharks’ zone, he seemed a likely candidate to score first Saturday.

The game to that point had been a tough back and forth affair, with the shot count low but even. Of the Sharks’ lines, the Couture-Marleau-Wingels line seemed to be spending the most time in the Islanders’ zone.

The Islanders’ goal was followed closely by a power play for the Sharks, when Ryan Strome went to the box for high sticking. The Sharks’ first power play unit of Thornton, Couture, Marleau, Pavelski and Burns had some excellent chances but Islanders’ goalie Jaroslav Halak was there every time. A line change brought Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels out with Nieto and Vlasic. At 10:23, Tomas Hertl scored his first of the season to tie the game. Assists went to Tommy Wingels and Matt Nieto.

After the game, Hertl said of the goal:

Tommy Wingels’ pass was very very nice for me so it was [a] very easy goal.

Tommy Wingels said, of that goal and what it may portend:

It’s good to see him score. I think everyone could see a big smile on his face after. Sometimes it only takes one goal to really get you going and we hope that’s the case with Tomas.

By the end of the first period, the shots on goal had tilted dramatically for the Sharks, 17-6.

To start the second period, the Sharks were missing a defenseman as it was announced that Scott Hannan was questionable to return. At 2:45, Tommy Wingels went to the box for holding. The Sharks penalty kill was efficient and teal jerseys spent some time in the Islanders’ end as well. Matt Nieto blocked a shot that looked painful, and Antti Niemi made some good saves to keep the game tied.

The Sharks were still outshooting New York 2-1, but that lead was getting harder to maintain. By the 15 minute mark, the Sharks only had two shots on goal. McLellan predictably started jumbling the lines. Hertl moved to the third with Goodrow and Tierney, Sheppard down to the fourth with Burish and Desjardins. It looked briefly as if Marleau might have been moved to the Joe line but on the next faceoff, Nieto was still with Thorton and Pavelski.

The second period ended with only 11 shots fired, five by the Sharks, six by the Islanders.

At 1:55 of the third period, Jason Demers went to the box for contact to the head of Cory Conacher. Conacher left the game for about ten minutes of play. He returned to the bench with 9:31 left in the period.

The Islanders used that power play to eat into the Sharks’ shot lead. It took the Sharks several minutes to regain their momentum, but they took the lead for the first time at 11:50 of the period. Logan Couture redirected a shot from Justin Braun. The second assist went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The game went from good to better for the Sharks at 15:35 when James Sheppard scored his first goal of the season, off a nice short pass from Adam Burish. A secondary assist went to Andrew Desjardins.

With 3:50 left in regulation, Conacher was escorted from the game by an official with a ten minute misconduct.

At 18:47, Adam Burish was called for holding. The Islanders used their timeout but the Sharks held on for the win.

Final score: 3-1 Sharks.
Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in shots on goal with 7. Brent Burns led the team in hits with 6. Mirco Mueller led the Sharks with 6 blocked shots, Brent Burns also led the team in ice time with 26:29. Antti Niemi made 19 saves on 20 shots.

For the Islanders, the shots leader was Anders Lee with 3, while Cal Clutterbuck led the team with 11 hits. Hamonic, Visnovky and Hickey each blocked 3 shots. John Tavares led the Islanders in ice time with 23:51. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves on 31 shots.

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The Sharks’ scratches were John Scott, Tye McGinn and Matt Irwin.

The Sharks next play at 7:30 pm on Thursday at SAP Center, against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Sharks Can’t Get By Sabres, Lose 2-1

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The Buffalo Sabres scored two quick goals in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 Saturday afternoon. After the teams ground out two scoreless periods, Cody Hodgson took advantage of a defensive lapse to open the scoring at 3:43 of the third. Just over two minutes later, Nicolas Deslauriers extended the Sabres’ lead to 2. The lone Sharks goal was scored by Brent Burns less than 30 seconds after that.

Sabres goaltender Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves in the game, and 15 of those were in the third period. That reflects the sharp disparity in the Sharks’ play during the first two periods and the third. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said the team just took too long to wake up:

Just by looking at their record, 1 and 7, we shouldn’t have lost this game. But they’re a hard-working team, they play a good system. We were too late on waking up in the third.

Saying the Sharks needed to wake up did not entirely account for their defensively clean but otherwise tentative first two periods. Giving up the two goals let something loose for the team. Forward Tommy Wingels described it as a type of useful panic:

We played a more energized game in the third. When we kinda got behind you hit the panic button in a good way. But we’ve got to find a way to get those chances and that energy in our game earlier. It’s a work in process now but we can’t keep saying it’s things we’re going to work on. We’ve got to execute it now and see some changes.

Asked whether it stings more to lose to a team that has yet to win in regulation, Logan Couture said:

I think it stings that we’ve lost four in a row. I mean I could care less what the Buffalo Sabres are doing right now. San Jose Sharks have lost four straight games, two at home, and haven’t played well.

It can be difficult to identify important moments in games that are low in both penalties and goals. It could be little things like a puck passed into skates that snuffs out a nice zone entry, or a pass during a power play that ends up leaving the zone via an empty point. It appears that the team is just failing to communicate, again.

Couture mentioned two disappointing plays that he and Patrick Marleau failed to score on:

I didn’t know he was there until I heard the crowd actually. I was looking back. I heard the crowd so I looked up. He’s so fast it’s tough to get an angle to pass to him. It’s my fault on that one. But the other one, two on one, we’ve got to score on that one.

The team seemed constrained and there were definitely some knocks and pings in the engine.

The lines changed very little, if at all, through the game. James Sheppard started on a line with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. Joe Pavelski started the game on a line with Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton. Chris Tierney was also back in the lineup, with Tommy Wingels and Matt Nieto onhis line. Finally, John Scott, Adam Burish and Andrew Desjardins made up the fourth line.

Of the forward lines, the one that stood out was the third with Tierney, Wingels and Nieto. Of those three, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said:

Unfortunately they were on the ice for a goal but I thought Chris Tierney maybe had his best game for us. Tommy Wingels, Matt Nieto, certainly through the first two periods were our best line.

Through the first two periods, it looked like the team would make it through without giving up too many goals– their stated objective after the last couple of games.

As the first period wound to a close, the Sharks were being outshot 5-6 and the game remained scoreless. The Sharks were winning the faceoff battle 9-3, but there was little else to measure the game by. Neither team dominated in zone time, both were guilty of giving up the puck when they should not have. With 55 seconds left, Andrew Desjardins was called for interference and the Sabres went on a power play.

The Sharks killed off the rest of that penalty to end the period and to start the next one.  By the first tv timeout of the second, the shots were 8-7 Sabres. The Sharks’ game lacked excitement but they were still winning faceoffs and had not given up and goals yet.

The Sharks got their first power play when Rasmus Ristolainen went to the box for interference at 11:51 of the second. That power play featured some judgment lapses and communication failures but the Sharks did create some chances.

Possibly the most exciting chance of the period came when Chris Tierney managed to carry the puck behind the Buffalo net and try a wrap-around. It was close and very authoritative but it did not go in.

Buffalo got another late power play at the end of the second when Scott Hannan was called for tripping Chris Stewart. This time, the Sharks’ penalty kill looked much bolder. Two good short-handed chances punctuated the kill, until the Sabres lost their man advantage with a second left in the period. Tyler Ennis went to the box to set the Sharks up for an early power play in the third.

The second period ended with the shots 14-9 San Jose. The Sharks had won 17 faceoffs to the Sabres’ 10.

Wingels and Tierney started the third period with Vlasic and Braun, as the teams were still four on four. 24 seconds later, Wingels was called for holding the stick. That put the Sharks down a man and negated the power play they were anticipating. Burns, Pavelski and Hannan handled the four on three shift and made it back to four on four.

In the four on four play, Andrew Desjardins had the best chance on a breakaway. Sabres clogged the passing lanes but left him with a clear view of Sabres goalie Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth stopped him. The penalties expired and the Sabres attacked at even strength.

Cody Hodgson scored his first goal. It looked as if the Sharks simply lost track of Hodgson and he found himself alone with an open net. Assists went to Drew Stafford and Zemgus Girgenson.

The second goal was a little like the first. The puck squeezed through Stalock’s glove side and trickled into the blue paint. No one was there to stop Deslauriers from putting it across the line. Assists went to Cody McCormick and Sam Reinhart.

Finally, the Sharks bit back at 13:50. Brent Burns put it past Neuvirth, as unassisted as it gets. Burns avoided Marcus Foligno at the blue line, carried the puck through the slot to the far boards and took a shot that flew through traffic and past Neuvirth. Buffalo did not lie down after that but the Sharks finally looked like they were in the hunt.

By the time Todd McLellan used his timeout with 1:38 to go, the Sharks had taken as many shots in the period as they had in the previous two combined.

Tommy Wingels led the Sharks in shots with four. John Scott led the team in hits with seven in just 5:52 of ice time. Brent Burns led the team in ice time with 22:30. Alex Stalock made 12 saves on 14 shots.

Lineup notes: Jason Demers was out, Mirco Mueller was in. Tye McGinn and Eriah Hayes were out, John Scott and Chris Tierney were in. Matt Irwin was still in the lineup, paired with Scott Hannan, while Mueller was back with Burns.

The Sharks reassigned Eriah Hayes to the Worcester Sharks of the AHL on Friday. Hayes played four games with the Sharks since his recall on October 18.

From a Sharks press release on Friday:

Sharks Defenseman Brent Burns, often recognized by his untamed hair and mountain-man beard, today announced the  return of Burnzie’s Buzzcut for Charity. In an effort to raise funds to support Defending the Blue Line, the Katie Moore Foundation, and the San Francisco Zoo, Burns is going to allow his teammates to give him a buzz cut and shave his beard. From now until November 1st, the Sharks Foundation will be accepting donations at sjsharks.com/buzzcut with the goal of raising $5,000 for each of these worthwhile charities.