Logan Couture’s 300th goal of career helps propel Sharks over Maple Leafs by final of 4-3 in OT

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

Credit to San Jose Sharks Twitter. The San Jose Sharks celebrate their overtime win against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks took on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night the Sharks picked up an overtime win 4-3 at the SAP Center on Thursday night.

The game couldn’t have started off better for the Sharks as Logan Couture on a breakdown in puck management by the Maple Leafs got a goal just 27 seconds in. The assists went to Matt Nieto and Alexander Barabonov as the Sharks as they’ve done many times this season got on the board first.

Feeling the momentum that first line continued to get chances as Nieto not too long after the goal streaked in and shot one wide.

Erik Kallgren the starting goalie for the Leafs had to be on his toes early in the game as the chances piled on.

Despite the early momentum the Leafs found a way to respond as David Kampf scored off a nice pass by Alexander Kerfoot and helped as well by Mitch Marner. It came at the 14:46 mark of the first and seemed to breathe new life into the Leafs.

Helping to further the Leafs continued pressure the Sharks took a too many men penalty and put a dangerous power play on the ice. The penalty kill would come through for the Sharks though the Leafs had plenty of good looks.

By the end of the first a shot count that originally favored the Sharks now favored the Leafs at 9-5.

The second period for the Sharks got off to a rocky start as Radim Simek got a penalty for tripping. The penalty kill that has been extremely good though for the Sharks continued to be as they killed it off.

Following that up would be the Maple Leafs though as they would take two penalties simultaneously to give the Sharks a five on three. With both T.J. Brodie and Pierre Engvall sitting in the box blood was in the water for the power play unit.

It would not take long for the power play unit to capitalize as Erik Karlsson gave it to Barabonov on a one touch who then feed it to Couture for the goal. Couture’s second goal came with still some time left on the five on three and so the Sharks remained on the power play.

The power play then struck again for the Sharks and at first it appeared to be Couture’s giving him the hat trick. However after further inspection the goal went to Timo Meier though by that time it was too late as many hats had already been thrown.

Meier commented on the delayed correction after the game, “Yea I mean sorry for all the people that threw the hats but you know you’d love to see Logan get a hat trick. But anyways were happy to win the game.”

With a 3-1 lead it seemed like everything was clicking in the second period for team teal. The Leafs actually ended up taking another penalty this time for delay of game but it was killed off this time by penalty kill.

In the dying moments of the second period though the Sharks gave up a four on two and the Leafs converted on the defensive blemish. This time Marner got the goal from Morgan Rielly and Alexander Kerfoot making it a 3-2 game off tic tac toe style play.

With the third period starting and the Sharks having a sour taste in their mouths they did not get off to a great start. As the penalty kill would be busy with a couple quick penalties.

On one of these penalties the power play for the Maple Leafs came through as Auston Matthews one timed an absolute bomb from the top of the slot. The assists going to Rielly and John Tavares on the goal that tied the game at three.

For the rest of the period the teams fought back and forth exchanging chances. The Maple Leafs though ended up with the more threatening looks as Kaapo Kahkonen had to be sharp making 22 saves.

The teams fought to a draw and so overtime would have to be played in front of the home crowd for the Sharks. Those same fans though had something to cheer about pretty quickly into the match.

Off a beautiful defensive play by Timo Meier on a pass he poked it away and spotted Erik Karlsson skating out of the zone. On a perfect pass he fead Karlsson and Erik did the rest as he went backhand forehand top shelf to end the game in OT at 4-3.

“It was nice the way it developed I think I just had to get going and trust Timo that he would get the puck there. I made up my mind fairly early and stuck to it and it went in,” Karlsson said postgame.

For the home crowd at SAP Center it was an exhilarating win and a great way to end the game.

The San Jose Sharks next game will be against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at SAP Center for a 1:30pm faceoff.

Historic night for Kessel as Golden Knights upend Sharks 4-2

The Vegas Golden Knights Phil Kessel scored in the first period in his 990th consecutive game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Oct 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Vegas’ Phil Kessel scored his first goal of the season while establishing an NHL record for durability on Tuesday, as the Golden Knights defeated San Jose 4-2 at SAP Center.

The NHL Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights improved to 6-2, while San Jose is in sixth place in the Pacific with a 2-7 mark.

Kessel – who broke in with the Boston Bruins in 2006 and also played for Toronto, Pittsburgh and Arizona – has played in 990 straight games, breaking the old record held by Keith Yandle. He hasn’t missed a game since 2009, playing 12 consecutive seasons without missing a contest.

Kessel’s goal, the 400th of his career, came at 15:51 of the first period, assisted by Brett Howden.

San Jose came back with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead in the second period. Nico Sturm’s fourth goal of the season at 5:53 was the equalizer, and Matt Nieto scored his first goal of the season at 19:25, assisted by Tomas Hertl.

55 seconds into the third period, Vegas tied the game at 2-2 on a goal by Shea Theodore. William Karlsson’s third goal of the year put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2 at 13:13. Mark Stone tacked on the fourth Vegas goal at 14:15.

Only three penalties were called in the game – one against Sturm for interference at 15:14 of the second period, and two against Vegas in the third period.

James Reimer stopped 27 of 31 shots for San Jose, while the Golden Knights’ netminder Adin Hill faced 31 shots, stopping 29.

The Sharks host Toronto on Thursday, with a 7:30 p.m. opening faceoff.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Red Wings Soderblom scores in first NHL game; Bolts top CBJs 5-3 plus much more news

The Detroit Red Wings Eric Soderblom (85) seen here battling with the Montreal Canadiens in Little Casers Palace in Detroit on Fri Oct 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt the Detroit Red Wings Eric Soderblom scored in his NHL debut as the Red Wings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 in Detroit on Friday night. It was the first win for Red Wing coach Derek LaLonde and goaltender Ville Husso saved 29 shots in the shutout.

#2 Tough loss for the Columbus Blue Jackets Johnny Gaudreau in his home debut as Gaudreau and Gustav Nyquist both scored but the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning were too much with goals scored by Steve Stamkos scoring twice, Corey Perry and Ross Colton scoring a goal each in the Lightning’s 5-3 win.

#3 You know it’s hockey season in Winnipeg when the fans loose their minds on opening night and Winnipeg Jets goaltender Conner Hellebuyck puts a stop on 40 shots at the Jets net to hold off the New York Rangers 4-1 on Friday night. The Jets Mark Scheifele scored twice and Shane Gagner and Kyle Connor each had a goal for the Jets in the win.

#4 Matt, have to ask you what was it like to see the Carolina Hurricanes Brent Burns in different uniform other than the San Jose Sharks Friday night at SAP Center and what kind of an reception did he get before the game and Sharks TV broadcaster was sworn in as a US Citizen after waiting some 40 years?

#5 Some of hockey’s top stars say that the Toronto Maple Leafs Austin Matthews can score 60 goals again this season says the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane and the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin.

Join Matt Harrington for the NHL podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro: Lightning eliminate Leafs in game 7; Canes Domi scores twice in 2-1 win; plus more

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) celebrates with teammate Victor Hedman (77) after knocking the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup in Toronto in game 7 on Sat May 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len:

#1 One thing you can say about the Tampa Bay Lightning their like a boom a rang just was soon as you thought they were done they come back.

#2 The Bolts got help from one player who did all the work Nicholas Paul who scored twice that was all Tampa Bay need to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to three in the best of four out of seven in a 2-1 game seven win to advance.

#3 The Carolina Hurricane’s Max Domi had a pair of goals and an assist which help defeat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Carolina. It was a series where the home team won each of the games as the Canes won the series 4-3.

#4 Rounding off Saturday night’s action the Edmonton Oilers shutout the Los Angeles Kings in game 7 in Edmonton 2-0. Oilers goalie Mike Smith stopped all 29 Kings shots for the win.

#5 The Oilers Connor McDavid and Cody Ceci scored a goal a piece both goals turned out to be critical for the Edmonton win.

#6 Evander Kane has been a big value for the Oilers in the regular season and in the playoff push, in hindsight do you think the San Jose Sharks who put him up for free agency might be thinking that they made a mistake letting Kane get away?

Join Len for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Rangers stay alive with 5-3 win over Penguins; Panthers eliminate Capitals; plus more

New York Rangers center Mike Zibanejad congratulates left winger Chris Kreider after a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Fri May 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The New York Rangers avoided getting eliminated as Chris Krieder scored a third period goal at 1:28 that broke a 3-3 deadlock with a shot from the left point that deflected off the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Louis Domigue for the score. The Rangers would win it 5-3 tying the series at 3-3.

# 2 The Florida Panthers advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals at the Capital Center. The Panthers Carter Verhaeghe scored at 2:46 in overtime for the game winning shot.

#3 The Dallas Stars defeated the Calgary Flames on Friday to tie up the series 3-3 with a 4-2 win. The Stars Joe Pavelski said that they are a confident group that can play through tight games and the Stars have been competitive in the playoffs.

#4 The Boston Bruins avoided elimination on Thursday with a win to tied up the series with the Carolina Hurricanes 3-3. Both teams meet again today for a 1:30 pm PDT puck drop.

#5 The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs face off at 4:00 pm PDT as the series is tied at 3-3.

#6 Kings-Oilers battle in Edmonton tonight at 7:00 pm PDT as this series is tied 3-3 everything on the line tonight.

Join Matt throughout the NHL Stanley Cup postseason for analysis on the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins win a game push past Hurricanes 4-2; Leafs pour it on Lighting in 5-2 win; Caps get huge win over Panthers 6-1

Boston Bruins’ Charlie Coyle (13) scores on Carolina Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov (52) during the first period of Game 3 at TD Garden in Boston on Fri May 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Boston Bruins came into the TD Waterhouse Garden down 2-0 knowing if they’d drop Friday night’s third game they’d have their backs to the wall going into a game four down 3-0 such was not the case as he B’s saved themselves but cutting the visiting Carolina Hurricanes lead down to 2-1.

#2 Matt, talk about Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman and how crucial was he stopping 25 shots and allowing two goals in the 4-2 win.

#3 The Bruins Brad Marchand scored a goal and had two assists and David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored and had an assist for the Bruins how important were these guys in game 3.

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs came into this game with grit playing against one of the toughest teams in the NHL the Tampa Bay Lightning in this round 1 as they came away with a three goal 5-2 win. The Leafs scored twice in the first and third periods and goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 32 shots and allowed to two goals.

#5 The Leafs now lead the Lightning 2-1 in the best of seven series. For the Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots a good number but allowed three goals. Was this game a matter of Vasilevskiy just not being on his game or was the Leafs offense just that good and had their way with the Lightning defense?

Join Matt Saturdays for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Pens to face Rangers in first round; Sabers overtime win against Blackhawks 3-2; plus more

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues (9) scores on Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender J-F Berube (30) in first period action at PPG Paints in Pittsburgh on Fri Apr 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Pittsburgh Penguins (46-25-11) advanced to the playoffs with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets (37-38-7) 5-3 on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will face the Rangers for the Eastern Conference first round in game 1.

#2 Both the Buffalo Sabers (32-39-11) and the Chicago Blackhawks (28-42-12) concluded their regular season with the Sabers getting an overtime win over the Blackhawks 3-2 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo Friday. The Blackhawks started out with a 2-0 lead but the Sabers came back and tied it up in the second period 2-2. The Sabers Casey Mittelstadt got the overtime game winning goal at 2:53.

#3 The Boston Bruins lost their last game of the season to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night 5-2 and will face off with the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Leafs will play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

#4 It was the first win for Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price since game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Finals. It was a landslide of goals scored by the Canadiens 10-2 over the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the Belle Centre. Price stopped 37 shots and it was his 700th start and 712th game with the Canadiens for his 361st career win.

#5 In his first game in five seasons for the Detroit Red Wings goaltender Magnus Hellberg it was like riding a bike you just don’t forget. Hellburg stopped 20 shots by the New Jersey Devils to help in a 5-3 win at the Prudential Center on Friday night. Hellberg played five years in the Kontinental Hockey League before signing an Apr 13th free agent contract with the Red Wings.

Join Matt throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the NHL podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Montreal Legend Lafleur passes at 70; Wild’s Kaprizov passes 100 points for the season; plus more

Former Montreal Canadien Guy LaFleur was a staple in Montreal sports, LaFleur was a five time Stanley Cup Champion and scored 50 or more points for six consecutive seasons (file photo from nhl.com)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 He was called the cornerstone of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty, scoring at least 50 goals for six straight seasons for the Habs superstar Guy Lafleur died at age 70 after a three year battle with cancer. LaFleur played from 1971 to 1985 and returned to playing from 1988-91 and was a five time Stanley Cup Champion.

#2 The Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov scored his 100th point and then eclipsed it on Friday against the Seattle Kraken at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul in a 6-3 win. Kevin Fiala set a Wild record with five assists for points in nine consecutive games.

#3 The Ottawa Senators goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 33 shots enough to hold back the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Friday night in Columbus. The Senators won in a shootout 2-1. The Sens Tim Stutzle scored the only goal in the shootout enough for Ottawa to get by Columbus.

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs Wayne Simmonds was fined $2250 for charging the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Mikhail Sergachev at 15:21 of the third period of Thursday’s game in Tampa Bay. The money goes to the Players Emergency Assistance Fund.

#5 The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks are at SAP Center in San Jose. The Blackhawks have won two of their last 11 games, more recently winning two of their last five games. The Sharks come into tonight’s game winning one of their last 11 games.

Matt does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Canadiens hosting game with no crowd limit; Leafs won’t deal goalies; plus more

Montreal Canadien fans can fill up the Rogers Centre in Montreal tonight as they Habs host the Edmonton Oilers for the first allowed capacity game after many years of Covid 19 protocol restrictions (file photo Fox News)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens face off tonight with no crowd limits, mask mandate still in effect. They expect 18,000 fans at Rogers Centre in Montreal. Fans are happy they get to fill the arena how safe will this decision be?

#2 Matt, the Toronto Maple Leafs say they have no plans to deal goaltender Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek. Both goaltenders combined have allowed 31 goals in the last seven games there have been calls in Toronto by fans and the media to trade one of the goalies. Kyle Dubas the Leafs general manager said he doesn’t need to deal either goalie but would like to obtain more defense.

#3 Matt how important is it that the Philadelphia Flyers Kevin Hayes has returned to the line up after missing 15 games and is expected to return this Saturday. Hayes said he had a bad groin infection that spread to his left side. Hayes says he feels pretty good now.

#4 The San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer is week to week with a lower body injury he sustained in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights on Tuesday who played in his 12th straight game. Matt, was it a matter of the Sharks just over played Reimer or some way some how Reimer was going to run out of gas and something was going to happen. Also talk who the Sharks most likely will go with in goal Adin Hill, Zachary Sawchenko, or Alex Stalock?

#5 Matt, the Carolina Hurricanes will get a shot at hosting the Stadium Series on Feb 18, 2023 when they host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium at North Carolina State University in Raleigh NC.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks open five game road trip Sunday in Chicago

San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) takes control of the puck against Toronto Maple Leafs center Mitchell Marner (16) at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Nov 27, 2021 (AP News photo)

SJ Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len, the San Jose Sharks (10-9-1) embark on a five game road trip back east they open up against the Chicago Blackhawks (7-11-2). Tell us how you see this five game trip and the Sharks chances of success on this trip.

#2 The Sharks have lost five of their last eight games including a tough loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs (15-6-1) 4-1 on Friday night.

#3 James Reimer San Jose goaltender allowed four Toronto goals and saved 13 and was later relieved by Adin Hill who didn’t allow any goals and had 16 saves.

#4 Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll was like Wall he stopped 33 shots and allowed just one goal and the Maple Leafs defense kept the Sharks pretty much at bay much of the night.

#5 The Sharks play the Blackhawks Sunday afternoon at the United Center the Blackhawks have had their share of issues they started the season losing nine in a row, they had the David Aldrich sex scandal which played a role in disrupting the team, they fired their head coach Jeremy Colliton and assistant coaches Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell leaving with a 1-9-2 record on Nov 6th. Since new coach Derek King has taken over the Blackhawks are 6-2 and won their last game against the St Louis Blues (10-7-3) on Friday night in overtime 3-2. How do you see the Sharks matching up against the Hawks Sunday?

Join Len Shapiro for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com