Tag: Tommy Wingels

San Jose Sharks Logan Couture Attacks the Net

Sharks Win Preseason Game in Arizona

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-By Mary Walsh

Friday night, the San Jose Sharks won a contentious preseason game against the Arizona Coyotes. Prospects Barclay Goodrow, Chris Tierney, Eriah Hayes and Mirco Mueller all played well, suggesting that any of them could end up starting the season in San Jose.

Goals from Matt Nieto, Tye McGinn and Tommy Wingels gave the Sharks their third win of the preseason. Alex Stalock was in goal and made 23 saves on 24 shots. Rob Klinkhammer scored for the Coyotes, and Mike Smith made 31 saves on 33 shots faced.

Matt Nieto opened the game with an early goal, in his line’s first shift. Couture’s backhand pass went right to Nieto for a goal at 1:08 of the first period.

A few minutes later, Couture was hit from behind by Kyle Chipchura. Justin Braun took issue with that and fought Chipchura. Couture made his way to the bench under his own steam. Braun was given a two minute penalty for boarding, a five minute major for fighting and a ten minute misconduct. Chipchura received five minutes for fighting, five minutes for boarding, and a ten minute game misconduct. It came out to two minutes of five on five, followed by three minutes of five on four for the Sharks.

More than ten minutes went by in the first period without the Coyotes getting credit for a shot. In the same time, the Sharks had five. The hit and the fight seemed to turn the tide for the Coyotes in the minutes before the power play started. They had a couple of good chances but the Sharks defense held them off.

Right at the end of the power play, Matt Irwin was also hit hard, by Joe Vitale. No penalty was called.

The second period started out more evenly, with the shot clock registering almost equal (3-2) for the first five minutes. A shot from Eriah Hayes in the sixth minute lead the way for a Sharks charge. Despite a lost faceoff, the fourth line stirred things up in the offensive zone. A penalty to Rob Klinkhammer for goaltender interference tilted the ice back in the Sharks’ direction. A simultaneous hit by Vitale on Braun went unmentioned by officials.

The power play did not pay off for the Sharks.

After the power play expired, Tye McGinn and B.J. Crombeen fought right after the faceoff. While the game was contentious, it is not clear whether any particular incident led to the bout.

By the thirteen minute mark, the shots for the period were up to 10-3 Sharks.

Eriah Hayes hit Keith Yandle in front of the Coyotes net, and then attempted to fight him but Yandle declined. This raised the ire of the Coyotes and after the scrum was dispersed, Hayes went to the penalty box. A roughing minor to John Scott and an embellishment minor to Yandle took them out of play for two minutes as well. The Sharks killed the penalty off.

The last five minutes of the period saw the Coyotes pushing to tie the game, and getting their shots to the net. The Sharks were saved by the bell as the period ended with a pile of bodies in front of Alex Stalock and the Coyotes nipping at the puck.

The shot count for the period ended 11-8 for the Sharks.

Stalock faced some pressure from Shane Doan early in the third period but he was ready for it.  The teams played a balanced game for the first five minutes, with some good chances but few sustained onslaughts from either side.

A handful of penalties came out of a mess along the boards at 6:55 of the second. Tommy Wingels went to the box for kneeing Michael Stone, while Brent Burns and Matt Smaby went with matching roughing minors.  That brought the power play count even with two per team. Stone did stay in the game after some attention from the Coyotes trainer.

Barclay Goodrow and Chris Tierney got involved with a number of Coyotes after a hit by Goodrow on Hodgman. Tierney caught a punch but after some discussion, no penalty was called.

Seconds after the next faceoff, Joe Pavelski spotted McGinn’s stick in front of the net. Mike Smith had just made an impressive save but lost his stick in the process. Pavelski and McGinn took advantage of the situation to put the Sharks up 2-0. Assists went to Pavelski and Brent Burns.

A defensive zone pass from Mueller to Nieto went awry when Nieto lost his footing. Rob Klinkhammer took advantage of that and put the Coyotes on the board.

The period was not the Sharks’ most dominant, with the Coyotes finally nosing ahead on the shot clock. The Coyotes pulled their goaltender late to try for the tying goal, but Tommy Wingels put the game away in the last thirty seconds. A pass from Justin Braun found Pavelski near center ice, and Pavelski found Wingels in position to shoot at the empty net.

The final shot count was 34-24 Sharks.

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The absence of Nikolay Goldobin from the last two games suggests that he may not crack the roster to open the season. Still, his performance thus far suggests that he will be in the NHL sooner than later. His linemates, however, are looking more ready by the day. Barclay Goodrow and Chris Tierney were on a line with Tommy Wingels in the Arizona game, and one of them could very well push out a more seasoned player for the early part of the season. They have kept pace and made good plays in all of their preseason appearances.

Eriah Hayes used Friday’s game to make a good argument against him being pushed out. With hard work in the corners, four hits, and two blocked shots, he made the most of his spot on the fourth line with Adam Burish and John Scott.

At the start of camp, many expected Matt Tennyson to be kept in San Jose as the seventh defenseman. That did not come to fruition, and he has (for now) been assigned to the Sharks’ AHL team in Worcester. At the moment it looks like Mirco Mueller could well open the season in San Jose. The Sharks’ new radio team made particular mention of how Mueller knocked Rob Klinkhammer down, in a game that started off with a lot of physicality.  The 19 year old Mueller does not appear intimidated by the NHL preseason. He did make an error in the first period that had his goalie scrambling a bit but on balance he played a very smart game. He also acquitted himself well on the penalty kill.

It is still possible that Taylor Doherty of Taylor Fedun will stay, but Mueller is certainly making a good case for himself.

The Sharks’ lines were as follows in Arizona:
Forward lines: Goodrow-Wingels-Tierney/McGinn-Pavelski-Hertl/Marleau-Couture-Nieto/Hayes-Burish-Scott
Defensive pairs: Demers-Irwin /Braun-Vlasic /Mueller- Burns
Stalock in goal

The Sharks will play their final game of the preseason on Saturday, against the Ducks in Anaheim.

NHL Free Agency: Independence Day Weekend

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By Mary Walsh

The Fourth of July has come and gone without much fuss for the Sharks in the free agent market. A few Sharks have moved on, several San Jose rivals in the Pacific Division appear to have gotten better while the Sharks have only made some small moves.

Along with signing free agents John Scott and Taylor Fedun, the Sharks made qualifying offers to three of their RFAs. Jason Demers has filed for arbitration, Tommy Wingels has been signed to a three year contract and there is no news yet on James Sheppard.

The announcement that the NHLPA and the NHL agreed on a lower than expected salary cap for the upcoming season has caused some consternation around the league. The cap is set at $69 million while some had anticipated it would be over $72 million.

Only Philadelphia and Chicago find themselves over the cap right now. For the Flyers, this is a mere technicality. Chris Pronger is still on their roster until they can put him back on LTIR, and removing his salary will push them back below the cap. They still do not have a lot of room to work with, but like the Sharks they are not in “win-now” mode.

Chicago is a couple million above the cap, but they have 23 players on their roster so they are only a move or two away from the line. Their roster is pretty solid, and with the addition of Brad Richards they do not have a lot of work to do.

Dallas won the Spezza trade sweepstakes, giving up several assets including Alex Chiasson, a promising young forward. In other notable moves, they also signed goalie Anders Lindback, Ales Hemsky and Patrick Eaves. The Stars have no present plans to do more.

Closer to home, Los Angeles and Anaheim are safe under the cap after making some key additions. Los Angeles resigned Marian Gaborik, a late season acquisition who worked out very well for the Kings on their run to the Stanley Cup. They are just under the cap now but they appear set.

Anaheim added Ryan Kesler, one of the bigger names available this Summer. They also lost Teemu Selanne to retirement. You can’t compare Kesler to Hall of Fame bound Selanne, but he is a good addition, so the Ducks could be considered status quo. That status was pretty good last season. On top of that, the Ducks have over $13 million left in space, and 22 on the roster.

In terms of cap space, the Sharks are in a good position. They have plummeted to 21st on CapGeek’s list, a list you want to be at the bottom of… if you plan to add players. Even after the Sharks sign Demers and Sheppard the team will have 23 on the roster and probably have a substantial sum left over. Before signing Wingels, the Sharks had almost $14 million to work with.

The loss of Dan Boyle and Martin Havlat could be significant if either or both of them plays well and healthy this upcoming season. But for San Jose’s purposes, they were often without one or the other last season, due to injury or coaching preferences. If the Sharks are roughly as good as they were last season, will it be enough to get them into the playoffs? Have their rivals improved so significantly? Marian Gaborik is arguably the biggest difference for the California teams. The Kings might have a better regular season than last.

Ex-Shark Notes:

John McCarthy, never quite a regular in the Sharks lineup, has signed a one year two way contract with the St. Louis Blues.

Sena Acolatse, who never appeared in the San Jose lineup, has signed with the Calgary Flames.

Martin Havlat, after the Sharks used one of their compliance buyouts on the remainder of his contract, signed with the New Jersey Devils.

As has been widely announced, Dan Boyle signed with the New York Rangers for two years at $4.5 million. For those concerned that he and Brian Boyle might have a conflict of 22s, no need to worry. Brian has moved on to Tampa Bay.

Also in Tampa Bay now is Evgeni Nabokov, presumably to back up Ben Bishop in goal. The Lightning roster has a very young average age, so another veteran was probably on GM Steve Yzerman’s shopping list.

Thomas Greiss, last year of the Phoenix Coyotes, has signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Depending on the sort of year Marc-Andre Fleury is having, Greiss may get to start quite a few games, or at least play in several.

Remember the Alamo: Sharks Have A Lot To Think About

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By Mary Walsh

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, they say. Then again, sometimes things that can kill you do, in fact, kill you, and many things that cause you no pain at all can make you stronger. Pain, loss and failure are not necessary ingredients for success, they are just common obstacles you must overcome on the road to pretty much anywhere. So what do you do with a humiliating meltdown performed at the very worst moment, on a national stage? Assuming it has not killed you, you can remember it and nurse that awful feeling until you have a chance to redeem yourself. Or not.

Friday, some Sharks shared their present thoughts with the media. It had been less than 48 hours since the team made a historically noteworthy playoff exit. As one of only four teams to give up a 3-0 series lead to be defeated in the seventh game, they will be remembered for choking in the worst way.

Todd McLellan was asked what went wrong, what lead to the loss of a series the Sharks lead by three games to none.

I spoke about this at the press conference after the game and my opinion hasn’t changed one bit. In fact, I’m a little more frustrated at this point than I was even at that point, if you can believe it. We got beat in a number of different areas. The core of their group stepped up and performed at a very high level, ours fell off a little bit and my disappointment is as much or greater now than it was at at that moment.

What added to the frustration?

Probably having the chance to go back and look at it again. It is what it is, we went and looked at it again and it just makes us more frustrated.

Joe Thornton was asked if he had any explanation for what went on in the last four games.

No. I think I’ll think about that, you know, probably until next year sometime. You know, the way we played in the first three games and then what we did in the last four, it’s mind-boggling. And I think I will lose sleep probably for the next couple of months for sure on that.

Tommy Wingels was asked if playing in World Championships next week would help get the taste of the loss out of his mouth.

It won’t do it. It’s an honor to play for them and to an extent you’re excited when you get asked but without a doubt I’d much rather be playing for a Stanley Cup still. Regardless of what happens over there the disappointment of what happened isn’t going to go away, and to be honest that’ll be on my mind the entire time.

Patrick Marleau was asked about this series as a defining moment for the Sharks.

Yeah, it’s obviously a low point for us. Like you said it’s going to be with us for a long time so we have to use that as a motivational tool to get better and to learn from it and to know that you never want to feel this way again.

Scott Hannan was asked if, after time to think about it, there were any answers to how the series came unravelled.

No, there’s not, it’s disappointing, it’s gut wrenching that this happened. We’re going to have to deal with that for a while until we can set things right and turn it around. It’s going to eat away at you all summer and all next year.

Brent Burns was asked if he had any additional thoughts after a day and a half.

I think it’s still pretty fresh. It’s still tough, you’re not really prepared for it to be over. Nothing new. Waking up today it’s tough, it’s hard to imagine what happened but it’s sure to take a long time.

Dan Boyle was asked how his last couple of days had gone.

Horrible. This is the first time I left my house since I got back after the game. It’s definitely the worst loss of my career and yeah, I’m not going to get over this for a long time. This one hurts a lot.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic was asked if this is a series worth remembering.

I mean, Boston won the Cup the year after they did what we did this year.

Did he think that humiliation motivated the Bruins?

Probably, they had something to prove. When you sweep and then get swept it’s embarrassing and hopefully we do the same.

One recurring theme in all of the locker cleanout interviews was  that the loss would take a long time to get over. Will the Sharks’ disastrous 2014 playoff ousting stay with them, in a way that might be productive? How will they respond? Raffi Torres said:

We just gotta figure out what we want to do here. Do we want to be a team that lives with the past, is this going to haunt us and just do the same thing over and over again? Or are we really gonna get pissed off and come back and see what we’re really all about. You gotta have a year, you know. Yeah, we’re gonna win a lot of games next year and probably going to make the playoffs again, but at the end of the day if you don’t show up and really want it, and really want to win, it’s not going to happen.

Of course, Doug Wilson has some work to do. In cases such as these, when an otherwise competitive team falls apart in the clutch, a common response is to fire the coach. That is clearly not something Wilson is in a hurry to do, nor should he be. How do you replace one of the top coaches in the league? It would be, to say the least, a gamble. And it was another recurring theme in the interviews: the players did not blame the coach. Antti Niemi put it concisely:

He’s been a great coach obviously and we played winning hockey all the time. And we have great systems we play, the whole team followed the systems and I think we worked hard. So I think he’s been a great coach, the whole coaching staff has been great.

It is rare for players to voice criticisms of their coach, and in any case it doesn’t answer the question: would another coach get better results, at least in the short run?

To study how teams fare after this particular failure you have to work with an impossibly small sample size. In the most recent example, the Boston Bruins did not replace their coach or significantly alter their core group. They did add several significant players, so the San Jose roster may need to be bolstered. Then again, those were the Bruins, not the Sharks. When you only have four cases and only two in the last quarter century, it would be folly to think you have a pattern to follow.

The only player in this narrative not available for comment Friday was Sharks majority owner Hasso Plattner. What he will make of the situation, what he might do about it, is difficult to even guess at. Possibly the most frustrating part of this is that such humiliation only happens to the best teams. It is not humiliating unless you have a team that should have won. That is why two of those other three were able to win the Stanley Cup so soon after squandering three game leads in the playoffs. It is an awful feeling for Sharks and their fans, but at least it is proof that they are close enough to success to amplify failure into a disaster on a par with the Alamo, minus the fatalities of course.

Have the Sharks Figured Out Who’s On Third?

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By Mary Walsh

Before last Thursday’s game in San Jose, Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau was asked about the difference between playing the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings. He said:

They’re a little further north? I think LA is more of a harder team as far as bigger and more physical, where these guys play physical but they’re a better skating team and have more depth in their scoring. I mean, if they ever get completely healthy and they have Pavelski back on the third line, that’s… that’s pretty deep. They’re as deep as any team in the NHL I think.

That comment echoes a sentiment held by most Sharks observers from the start of the season. The team is still missing Tomas Hertl and Raffi Torres, but will they need to move Joe Pavelski back to the third line at all? Or has the Sharks coaching staff finally found a new third line that doesn’t need the team’s second best scorer at its center?

The present third line includes two players who have been used most erratically through the season. Martin Havlat and James Sheppard have spent time on just about every line, including the fifth. Their performance has been accordingly inconsistent– maddeningly so– until now. Seeing them in the lineup and in the same position with some consistency is gratifying. Both players bring skill to the team, and the team will need it on a regular basis.

The budding stability of that line is somewhat dependant on the top six. Asked about the Sharks’ top line on Saturday, Washingon Capitals coach Adam Oates said: “Well first of all, which one’s their top line? They got two…”

If you look at ice time per game, you certainly don’t find a season-long indication of which Sharks make up a top line. The usual suspects are there, the top three forwards being Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, in that order. Yet they do not make up one line. The next three forwards in even strength ice time are Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels. So in terms of time on ice, which points to coaching staff expectations, the top six have been a fluid group all season.

What about points? Same list, though in a slightly different order: Thornton, Pavelski, Marleau, Couture, Burns and Wingels. But those players are not all playing in the top six now, and the top three on both lists are not the top line, with the second three being the second line: it has been Thornton centering Burns and Pavelski, while Couture centers Marleau and Matt Neito. The performance of the top six forwards has been so even that they are hard to tell apart in terms of stats.

The Sharks are deeper than they have ever been. This is precisely why, at the start of the season, the general assumption was that the Sharks could afford to not have Joe Pavelski in the top six, that he could center an over-fortified third line. Despite that depth and due to an unprecedented number of injuries for the team, the coaching staff struggled through most of the season to find a third line that worked. The current stretch of five games in a row with the same three players there looks like a record for the 2013-14 Sharks.

The third line of Havlat, Sheppard and Wingels is not the only thing that has been fixed for the last five games. The top six have also been steady, and only one winger on the fourth line continues to rotate. This is surely a function of being in the home stretch- the team needs stability to get ready for playoffs. But it is also a sign that the coaching staff likes these lines. Otherwise, the rotation of players would probably accelerate.

Before Thursday’s game against the Ducks, Sheppard said:

I think our whole team is playing well, that helps. Everyone’s moving the puck and kind of getting into a rhythm so I think all the lines kind of benefit from that. We want to keep it simple with a little bit extra, because I think we can do both: get pucks deep and make sure we don’t turn pucks over at the blues, but at the same time we can make plays like we did in New York.

Though it isn’t the only unit settling in, the third line still jumps out at me as being a “final piece” of this team. Havlat and Sheppard have not had a chance to find their game in such a consistent situation all season. Both have been scratches, both healthy and not quite healthy. Both have played all over the board with every linemate on the the team. Until recently, their play was inconsistent at best. Wingels has done the same marathon line swapping, but he has thrived. It takes all kinds.

Much of the success of this third line can be attributed to Sheppard’s improved play. Where Havlat’s play has consistently been better when he has time with the same linemates, Sheppard’s path to a regular spot in an NHL lineup has been rocky. It was littered with enormous early pressure, an intractable injury, and finally a long road back. For him to perform consistently is not surprising given the original assessment of his skill: he was a first round draft pick and his first NHL coaching staff believed he should and could be ready to play in the NHL at 19 without any time in the AHL. They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That looks to be true of James Sheppard.

If Raffi Torres comes back sooner than later (which looks increasingly unlikely), will the lines shift again to move Pavelski to the third line? Will he end up there in the playoffs? If both Torres and Tomas Hertl come back, probably there will be another significant line shuffle, but there is no rush. Tommy Wingels has shown that he can be as versatile as Pavelski, and Havlat and Sheppard are finally finding their game. The line is strong enough to not justify pulling a top scorer out of the top six.

Third Line Hot: Sheppard, Havlat Picking Up

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks started this season with an unprecedented number of injuries, some that occurred before the season and some that happened early in. One of the casualties of those injuries was a reliable third line. The team had trouble generating steady scoring without moving Joe Pavelski up to the top six, though it had been widely presumed he would be most valuable centering the third line. With just 14 games remaining, the Sharks may have finally solved the third line conundrum. The combination of James Sheppard, Martin Havlat and Tommy Wingels could be the line the team has been looking for.

The trade deadline came and went without any moves for the big club, apart from most of the injured players returning to the lineup. Some of those players are still adjusting to game speed, others have been adjusting to new linemates again and again for most of the season. Martin Havlat and James Sheppard fall into that second category. Good games from those two have been a significant factor in the team’s recent winning streak, currently at five in a row.

Tommy Wingels, of course, has balanced the trio perfectly. His consistently effective and smart play is no surprise. Of course he does well there, as he does well anywhere from first to fourth line. He is the perfect compliment to two players who have been all over the map thus far, two players the team needs to get more from.

Havlat returned from the injured list long before the Olympic break, but still sat for many games. He played 28 of a possible 59 before the Olympic break, putting him ahead of Raffi Torres and Adam Burish in playing time, but still behind the ball in terms of catching up with the rest of the team. In all, Havlat has 14 points in 35 games played this season. Since the Olympic Break, he has played seven of nine games, scoring three goals and earning an assist. Just before the break, he earned two points, meaning that six of his season points and four of his seven goals have come since February 1. His game looks to be on the upswing.

James Sheppard, who has been on the third line with Havlat for a couple of games now, has played 53 games, eight of nine since the break. In those last eight, he has seven points, including two two-point games. Like Havlat, he has earned a sizeable chunk of his 15 season points since February 1: nine in his last ten games, to be precise.

Martin Havlat and James Sheppard have had a couple of good games together now. Todd McLellan, a habitual line-juggler on a normal day, has outdone himself where Havlat is concerned, moving him all over the board. Nonetheless, Havlat’s game was lining out even before the break, without the benefit of seeing the same linemates from game to game. Whether it is a function of improved communication or confidence, passes were connecting, shots were coming, he was playing more games. That is not to say McLellan was wrong to move Havlat around, hindsight is not really 20/20. Havlat is playing well now, but that doesn’t mean he would be playing better if he had not moved so much between lines or played more. Perhaps the mad formula worked, perhaps it didn’t. In any case, Havlat’s game is strong now and that is all that matters.

How much of Havlat’s absence from the lineup has been due to health and how much to dissatisfaction with performance is unclear. In any case, McLellan seems to have found a balance he likes in terms of how much to play Havlat. As for where to play him, the jury is still out. Perhaps he has found a spot he likes him in now, but it is too early to tell. It might depend on James Sheppard.

James Sheppard is the surprise of the month. All season, the team’s observers (myself included) have assumed that the Sharks needed Joe Pavelski centering the third line to be at their best. Pavelski’s stellar performance on the top line was something that would do until the team was healthy again and he could be put back where the team really needed him. James Sheppard is the first player to really knock a hole in that assumption. Is he finally the guy to solidify that third line? Can Pavelski stay on the wing?

It is early still, only two games in to the Havlat, Sheppard, Wingels line. Unquestionably, if a line is going to work it will work better with more practice. As the regular season winds down to the playoffs, it would be a good thing for this third line to get more time together. All three have the talent to play in the top six, all three have spent some time on the fourth line. Whatever the reasoning for ever putting them on the fourth line, as a third line they could very well be the key to rolling over future opponents. Considering how long both Havlat and Sheppard have been wearing question marks over their heads, that would be a truly satisfying outcome as plot lines go.

Raffi Torres could be the line buster there. So far, McLellan has used him primarily on the fourth line, presumably to ease him back in to the game. I think it is likely that McLellan is being proactive in avoiding injury, or extra-cautious with his response to any little symptom. Some have called him over-cautious keeping Torres out after just a couple of games with limited minutes. How can you be over-cautious with a player who just returned from a long layoff? The reason people avoid surgery is that it creates more injury on top of the initial problem. It does take longer to recover when you cut the patient up. Before his return, Torres said:

I’ve done enough off the ice, I feel as good as I’m going to feel, I need to play games now I think. Ultimately I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a force out there and to be on my game. But I understand it’s a process and it takes some time and I’m cool with that.

That isn’t the same as saying that he was 100%- it only meant that the next step in his recovery was to start playing. He’s cool with that process. At the rate he has put up points in the few minutes he has played (five points in five games), everyone should be cool with it.

The Sharks would like to catch Anaheim but their spot in the playoffs is secure now. They will need every resource available to them when the post season arrives. Keeping players like Havlat and Torres ready but not tired looks like a solid plan. The time for heroics is yet to come.

Kings Beat Sharks 1-0, Stalock Sets New Shutout Record

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks lost 1-0 to the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center on Monday night. It was the first game in 15 between San Jose and Los Angeles that went to the visitor. In the middle of the loss, Alex Stalock broke Evgeni Nabokov’s franchise record for shutout minutes, set back in 2009. Stalock has reset the record at 178:55.

Did Stalock know he was on the verge of breaking that record?

Other than [Logan Couture] reminding me every single day, but… I don’t know what it was at.

It was 171:18.

The game was one of the hardest fought low-scoring games the Sharks have played in a long while. That was exactly what Sharks head coach Todd McLellan had expected:

We got the game we thought we’d get from both teams really. It was a very tightly contested game, not a lot of chances at either end. They buried their one opportunity and we had a couple that we didn’t. That’s probably the end of the story. I thought that eight minutes of penalty kill time didn’t help us at all and to nullify a couple of power plays by taking penalties.

The game was noteworthy as a third start for Stalock in six games. McLellan has expressed an intent to start Stalock more, to compensate for the added wear and tear that Niemi might incur going to the Olympics. He appears to be sticking to that plan.

The Kings started the game with a long spell in the Sharks’ zone. They got credit for two shots before play went the other way.

When the first penalty was called, just over five minutes had gone by and only four shots had been recorded, three from Los Angeles. The penalty went to San Jose’s Brad Stuart for holding. Kings didn’t get more than a shot on the power play.

A few minutes later, LA’s Colin Fraser decided that punching Brent Burns would be a good idea. No one else thought so and the pair were separated quickly. Both went to the box with matching roughing minors.

The Sharks finished the four on four time in the Kings’ zone, but the best chance they had was a quick shot from Pavelski that went just wide. With 4:52 left in the period, the shots were 7-3 for the Kings.

By the end of the period, the Kings led in shots 8-4.

Early in the second period, Robyn Regehr went to the box for interference, giving the Sharks their first power play of the game. The Kings did an excellent job of keeping the Sharks away from shooting lanes, which is essentially what they had been doing all game.

The Sharks didn’t have to wait long before they were on the penalty kill, as Dan Boyle went to the box for holding. The Sharks penalty killers, didn’t allow the Kings to spend much time in their zone at all, several times turning them back entirely before they could cross the blue line. the Kings managed one or two good chances but their power play wound up being even less effective than the Sharks’.

With 11:08 left in the second, the teams got another shot at four on four, when Joe Thornton and Anze Kopitar went to the box for hooking and roughing respectively. As before, neither team could sustain any offensive pressure.

After such a hard-fought thirty-plus minutes, Stalock’s shutout streak ended with a quick shot from Anze Kopitar, off a pass from Jeff Carter. Anze Kopitar slipped around the Sharks defense and Carter sent a carefully-timed pass right to him. After the game, Stalock explained what he saw:

It was kind of a two on one and a half I guess. We had a guy coming back, and he passed it across. We got a stick on it, maybe it slowed it down and bought him a little time and he ended up beating me on a one on one play.

The Sharks drew a penalty in the final minute of the second period, a hooking call on Willie Mitchell. The Sharks didn’t get a shot on that power play, in the second or third period.

The shots at the end of the second period were 13-8 for the Kings.

Early in the third period, the Kings’ Slava Voynov went to the penalty box for cross-checking Bracken Kearns, but just 17 seconds later, Joe Thornton went to the other box for hooking. It was the third time the teams had played four on four in the game.

With 10:13 left in the period, the Sharks finally drew even on the shot clock, but the Kings were keeping those shots hurried and unscreened.

With 9:52 left, Joe Pavelski went to the penalty box for four minutes after high-sticking Kopitar in the mouth. The penalty kill started out inauspiciously. The Sharks had a short-handed chance but a minor collision between Stalock and Brad Stuart followed, and then a pile up of bodies on top of Stalock in the Sharks’ crease. The referee talked briefly to Stalock and play resumed.

The Sharks had time to get their penalty kill together. Tommy Wingels described that successful kill as a chance to build momentum:

Hard-fought, that’s for sure. I think our penalty kill at the end there gave us a chance to win the game. When you kill off a four minute penalty there, you get some momentum off it and I think we did. Ultimately with your penalty kill you want to keep yourself in the game and I think in the third there we did a good job with it.

The Sharks did get the puck cleared at regular intervals, keeping their penalty killers fresh. As the last minute of the kill started, Marleau and Wingels broke away for a decent chance, but the Kings’ defenders held Wingels up enough to prevent him getting a good shot off.

By the end of the penalty, the teams were still tied in shots, 20-20. A timeout and three shots later, the Kings had broken through the visitors curse by holding on to win 1-0.

Alex Stalock made 20 saves on 21 shots. Bracken Kearns lead the Sharks in shots on goal with five, Matt Irwin getting credit for four shots. Tommy Wingels and Mike Brown lead the Sharks in hits with five each, while Jason Demers and Brad Stuart lead the team in bockled shots with three apiece.

Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the shutout. Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar lead the Kings in shots with four each, Matt Greene led the Kings in hits with five, Greene and Willie Mitchell lead the Kings in blocked shots with four each.

Two Milestone Goals Lift Sharks Over Ducks

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- In a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, one Shark scored his first NHL goal, another scored his 100th, and the Sharks-Ducks home ice advantage grew a little more. In seven of the last eight games between the two, the win has gone to the home team. The Sharks’ win was tarnished, however, by an injury to Tommy Wingels. Wingels left the game in the first period and did not return.

Logan Couture’s recent trouble scoring goals might be explained in hindsight by the fact that it was his 100th he was trying to score. Such a milestone is bound to play a little hard to get. Bracken Kearns was chasing his first, though he hadn’t had may chances to score it. The audience at SAP Center was suitably appreciative of the occasion, and continued to respond enthusiastically every time Kearns turned up on the video screen.

The Sharks’ best line of late tore into the Ducks defense early, pelting Andersen with shots and staying just a step ahead of the Ducks defenders. Andersen did well to stop as many as he did but finally Brent Burns put one past him from just a few feet in front of the blue paint. The first goal of the game was scored just over a minute in. Assists went to Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton.

Pavelski was called for interference at 6:48. The second penalty killing unit to get on the ice included Andrew Desjardins, Joe Thornton, Justin Braun and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The unit set up a good short-handed chance for Thornton and Desjardins, who made their way into the Ducks’ zone two on one and managed a couple of shots on Anderson, even after the Ducks’ defense caught up with them.

Logan Couture got off the schneid with panache, carrying the puck through the neutral zone, skating around two Ducks defenders and stick-handling his way to the net to score his 100th career goal with a backhand. The goal put the Sharks up 2-0, at 10:07 of the period. Assists went to Brent Burns and Jason Demers.

With a little over five minutes left in the first, the Ducks had a series of good chances in the Sharks’ zone, while the Sharks were caught mid-line change and unable to get the puck out. Finally Niemi was able to glove it. Kearns, Brown and Kennedy took the ice for the defensive zone draw with Stuart and Demers on defense. Kearns won the faceoff and got the puck back to Demerws but Demers couldn’t clear it the first time. They had to try again. The third line managed to move play into the Ducks’ zone, where the Couture line took over, but the Ducks quickly drove them into the neutral zone.

Todd McLellan moved Matt Nieto to the second line when Tommy Wingels went awkwardly into the boards early in the first. Wingels appeared for another shift but then went to the dressing room and would not return to the game.

First period ended 2-0 Sharks, with shots on goal at 14-13 Anaheim.

Almost ten minutes elapsed in the second, including the end of a San Jose power play to start the period, when Andrew Desjardins carried the puck behind the Ducks’ net. Under pressure he managed to pass the puck out in front where the late-arriving Bracken Kearns picked it up in the slot and scored his first NHL goal. Assists went to Desjardins and Mike Brown.

With 7:50 left in the second, Daniel Winnik was caught in the face with the butt end of a Shark’s stick. He stayed down for some time and got up with blood near his eye but no penalty was called. Logan Couture represented the Sharks in a brief conference with the referee at center ice. It did appear to be incidental contact, but Winnik and the Ducks were understandably agitated about it.

The second period ended with the Ducks still ahead on the shot clock, 24-19, but the Sharks ahead 3-0 on the score board.

The Sharks got their second power play of the game at 8:47 of the third period when Corey Perry went to the box for a high hit on Brad Stuart. The Sharks’ power play didn’t pay off and a successful penalty kill energized the Ducks. It still took them a few shifts to score.

Antti Niemi’s shut-out bid ended at 11:32 of the third, when a quick pass from behind the Sharks’ net found Patrick Maroon with no one in front of him. A shot just indside the far post brought the score to 3-1. Assists went to Corey Perry and Cam Fowler.

The game ended without any further scoring and the Sharks won 3-1. The final shot count had the Ducks still on top with 31 to the Sharks’ 23.

The Ducks’ shots leaders for the game were Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Kyle Pamieri, credited with three each. For the Sharks, Brent Burns led the team with 5 shots. Mike Brown led the Sharks in hits with five, followed by Kearns with four. Mark Fistric and Patrick Maroon led the Ducks with five hits each.

The three stars of the game were Brent Burns, Antti Niemi, and Bracken Kearns.

Sharks Lose to Kings 4-1, Hertl Injured

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By Mary Walsh

LOS ANGELES- It appears that the Visitor’s Curse still haunts the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center. The mischievous spirit might even be getting more violent. Thursday night, the Sharks lost to the Kings by a score of 4-1. They also lost star forward and rookie Tomas Hertl to a knee-on-knee hit from LA’s Dustin Brown. How long the team will be without Hertl is not yet clear.

The fact that the Kings won was not at all out of the ordinary for these teams, the home team has won going back 15 games now. What was unusual was the score: 4-1. It has been some time since a game between these two ended with such a lopsided result. Patrick Marleau, playing his 1200th NHL game, scored the only Sharks goal.

McLellan made a couple of lineup changes for Thursday’s game, including moving Martin Havlat to the second line with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. He put Scott Hannan back in, paired with Brad Stuart. He also put Tyler Kennedy in, on the fourth line with Mike Brown and Andrew Desjardins.

The first penalty of the game went to the Kings at 3:25, to Drew Doughty for holding. The Sharks had several good chances, a couple that looked like dead certainties (one for Couture, another for Irwin) but they missed. The Kings had a good short-handed chance late in the penalty but Niemi gloved it.

The Sharks lost a lot of races to the Kings in the first period. Dump-ins were about as effective as turnovers. As a result, the Sharks were outshot through most of the period, though by the end of it they were only behind 13-11.

With a minute left in the period, the Kings’ Dustin Brown collided with Tomas Hertl just inside the Sharks’ zone. The knee-on-knee hit earned him a five minute major. Hertl left the ice hobbling. During the ensuing delayed penalty, Brent Burns earned a penalty for interference. The teams finished the period playing 4-on-4. James Sheppard was tapped to fill in for Tomas Hertl on the Thornton line.

The second period started with the teams still at 4-on-4, and when Burns’ penalty expired the Sharks still had over 2:30 left on the man advantage. The Sharks finally found a way to sustain pressure, but two good chances in close and an Irwin shot off the post were all the Sharks had to show for the power play.

The Kings’ goaltender Martin Jones was very good, but the Sharks were unable to take advantage of the second chances they did create. As McLellan said before the game, how well Jones has played was not the Sharks’ biggest challenge:

I think for our group it’s more about preparing to face six players rather than one goaltender. The five others that are on the ice do a tremendous job for them defensively and they position themselves well around the net, it allows the goaltender to feel comfortable and make a lot of saves. They’ve been successful playing that way. It’s not just the guy wearing the pads, it’s the other five that you’ve got to beat as well.

The first goal of the game came at 5:26 of the second, scored from above the left circle by the Kings’ Alec Martinez, with an assist to Tyler Toffoli. The goal came from a shot made possible when the Sharks failed to clear the puck or control it despite several tries. At least three, maybe four Sharks touched it in the defensive zone before Martinez got it.

Joe Thornton was called for holding against Anze Kopitar at 9:03. Despite starting in their own zone, the Sharks’ penalty killers (including Mike Brown now) cleared the puck five times and even got a couple of short-handed shots off. As soon as the power play expired, however, Slava Voynov made a clean pass from the Kings’ zone, right onto Tyler Toffoli’s stick at the Sharks’ blue line. He skated in and put a shot in the far corner to give the Kings a 2-0 lead.

An impressive series of saves by Martin Jones was punctuated by three inexplicably failed shots from Sharks Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels. Wingels even tried from both sides of the net, and he almost poked it in behind Jones but the rookie goaltender twisted around and stopped it with his glove.

During the second period, the teams were even in shots at ten, with total shots being 23-20 for the Kings. Of course, the 2-0 score was more significant, especially since the Kings had not lost when leading after the second since March 30.

Instead of challenging that pattern, the Sharks gave up another goal 36 seconds into the third period. Jeff Carter was given far too much time in the Sharks’ zone, and an ill-advised slide to block a shot left Niemi alone with one of the better shots in the league. Assists went to Dwight King and Robyn Regehr.

The Sharks drew another penalty when Jake Muzzin pushed Martin Havlat into the boards from behind. From camera distance, Havlat didn’t appear injured but he was certainly shoved from behind. He was out playing a shift later on the second power play unit.

The Kings killed the penalty off, and then they scored again. This time it was Dwight King’s goal, with the assists going to Carter and Regehr.

The Sharks got another chance on the power play when Mike Richards went to the box for high-sticking at 6:37. As soon as the penalty expired, the Kings went the other way 3 on 2, but didn’t score.

With just over two minutes left in the game, San Jose’s second line made it in to the Kings’ zone and Marleau scored his 16th of the season. A lone assist went to Martin Havlat.

The final shot count was preposterously even at 32 for each team. The Sharks’ power play went 0-4, their penalty kill was 1-0.

The Sharks play their next game at home on Saturday against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop at 7:30 pm.

Sharks fall to Hurricanes 5-3

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RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – DECEMBER 06: Jiri Tlusty #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marc-Edouard Vlasic #44 of the San Jose Sharks watch a shot deflect away from Alex Stalock #32 during their NHL game at PNC Arena on December 6, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Phillip Torres

RALEIGH, N.C-The San Jose Sharks (19-5-5)  fell to the Carolina Hurricanes (13-12-5) 5-3 on Friday as they hosted the San Jose Sharks. The victory for Carolina gave them the all-time series lead, 15-14, against the Sharks. The Hurricanes rallied to score four goals in the final period to earn the victory.

The Sharks lead 2-0 for the first half of the game. Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic put San Jose on the board to give them the early advantage. Jason Demers earned the assist on the first goal and Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl earned the assists on the Vlasic snap shot goal.

Jay Harrison scored his second goal of the season at 11:36 in the second period to cut the lead in half to make it 2-1. Zach Boychuk and Riley Nash earned the assists on the play. The score remained 2-1 Sharks until the start of the third period.

The final frame was dominated by Carolina as they exploded for four goals. Nash scored his second goal of the game and third on the year to tie the game at 2-2. Jordan Staal gave the Hurricanes the 3-2 advantage and first lead of the game at 6:42. Nathan Gerbe and Elias Lindholm were credited with the assists.

Justin Braun tied the game for the Sharks with a slapshot at 9:35 with assists from Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. This was the last goal that San Jose scored in the contest. Elias Lindholm scored what proved to be the game winning goal at 14:00. Eric Staal tacked on an an insurance goal late in period to cap off the four goal period.

San Jose will be back on the ice Tuesday December 10 as they will be hosting the New York Islanders. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM.

The Sharks Got What They Need

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- If the 2013-14 Sharks had to come up with a wish list right now, I believe it would take a lot of thinking. They are 2-0 against the top-ranked team in the league now. They might have a case of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” though Todd McLellan is probably making some adjustments to his fourth line today. Nothing drastic, nothing GM Doug Wilson would have to get involved in.

Saturday morning, Ducks’ Head Coach Bruce Boudreau had some thoughts about what the Sharks need:

You give these guys space, they’re gonna burn you. They can skate, they’re big, they’re strong, so you have to play a perfect game or San Jose is going to eat you up.

Space. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask, and it is the kind of thing everybody appreciates. Good call, Coach Boudreau.

The Sharks do have some good space-makers. Most conspicuous of these is Brent Burns. He isn’t a new addition to the team but he is in a relatively new role. He has had some frustrating injury troubles in the last couple of seasons, and he was missed. If he can finally be a mainstay as a forward, he almost counts as a new acquisition.

Brent Burns isn’t what Doug Wilson said he wanted when he traded for him:

“Brent is an elite first-pairing defenseman that is just coming into his prime,” Wilson said. “We feel that he gives our blueline tremendous depth and versatility… -SJ Sharks press release

So Burns has not become the defenseman Wilson wanted then, but he is what the Sharks need now. The team wins more, scores more, does better with Burns the forward in the lineup. He is fast, strong, aggressive and unpredictable on the ice, and he brings intangibles that might be less obvious to the naked eye.

Of playing with him, Joe Thornton said:

He’s so big and so strong and he has such a good shot… and he just has so much fun out there. It’s so fun being a part of his line, you know I just have a smile on my face most of the game because the stuff he does is amazing.

Without Burns in the lineup, the team has scoring punch and can win plenty of games, but they do score more with him. He makes space and incites chaos that San Jose’s considerable offensive talent can take advantage of. Apparently he puts people in a good mood too.

I always say the same thing, I never want a lineup to change, but this year, I think I might finally be right. The Sharks shouldn’t need any more pieces to make this their most effective season to date. The have depth and experience on the blue line that must make most NHL teams green with envy. They have to sit defensemen that other teams would gladly play into the ground.

San Jose has a wealth of talent on their forward lines. It is safe to call the third line overqualified, with Martin Havlat, Joe Pavelski and Tyler Kennedy settling in there. The only lingering doubts are which wingers to use on the fourth line, which McLellan seems to answer on a game by game basis. Despite being a natural center, John McCarthy has been very effective as a winger there. The Sharks give Andrew Desjardins the edge as a center, but McCarthy has the experience to slide over if needed, since that is where he mostly played in Worcester and college.

Still, it is fun to play the “what piece would make the difference? There must be someone to add, shopping season is coming!” Some of those pieces are already in place in the form of a retasked Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl the wonder-rookie, and the evolution of Tommy Wingels’ game.

Wingels is clicking at a higher rate and more consistently than ever before. He hits, he shoots, he grinds and crashes, all with increasing polish and precision. He has moved flawlessly up and down the lineup, fitting in an scoring on all top three lines.

If additions and improvements like that don’t make enough difference, then the team is hopeless. If you still need more, remember the team has Raffi Torres in the shop, and they sent Matt Nieto back to Worcester. This is why the Sharks need space: they have a lot of players playing well, and reserves in the hold.