Sharks Finish Preseason with 5-1 Loss to Vegas

photo from mercurynews.com: Evander Kane #9 of the San Jose Sharks shoves linesman Kiel Murchison in the third period of the Sharks’ preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on September 29, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kane received a game misconduct for an abuse of officials penalty. The Golden Knights defeated the Sharks 5-1.

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks dropped their final preseason game 5-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday in Las Vegas. Vegas goals came from William Carrier, Jimmy Shuldt, Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone and Reilly Smith. Danil Yurtaykin scored the only San Jose goal, during the third period. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 38 shots for the win, while Martin Jones stopped 17 of 21 shots during the first two periods and Aaron Dell made 10 saves on 11 shots for San Jose.

With almost all of the likely NHL lineup in the game, the Sharks managed 12 shots on net in the first period, but could not score. They did kill a penalty half way through the period, after Timo Meier was called for goaltender interference. Vegas had 14 shots and scored once at the end of the period. The Sharks had just gotten the puck out of their zone bu could not get it past the center line before Vegas carried it back in. Tomas Nosek carried the puck down along the boards while Carrier drove the net. Nosek took the shot and it went off of Carrier and in.

Early in the second period, Brenden Dillon was called for holding, putting the Golden Knights on the power play. Jimmy Schuldt scored in the second minute of that penalty. After a quick give and go along the blue line with William Karlsson, Schuldt’s shot from the point went right by Jones. Assists went to Karlsson and Reilly Smith.

A dispute between Evander Kane and Valentin Zykov at 7:31 resulted in matching roughing minors for the players and some 4-on-4 time for the teams. After almost a minute of very fast back and forth play, Jonathan Marchessault scored off the rush, making it 3-0 Vegas. Marchessault had a step on Joe Thornton coming through the neutral zone, and stayed just ahead of a charging Mario Ferraro as they bore down on the Sharks net.

Kane and Zykov went at it again at 10:17, this time receiving fighting majors.

The Sharks had a good shift in the offensive zone with about five minutes left in the period, until a quick pass from Schuldt found Max Pacioretty lurking at the Sharks blue line. Pacioretty took the puck in and made a quick pass to Mark Stone who shot the puck past Jones to make it 4-0.

On a line with Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane, Danil Yurtaykin scored at 1:10 of the third. Yurtaykin caught the puck behind the net, carried it to the front and put it in with a quick backhand into traffic. Assists went to Kane and Hertl.

A couple of minutes later, Reilly Smith made it 5-1 Vegas with a power play goal. Timo Meier was in the box for slashing Brayden McNabb, and it only took the Vegas power play 13 seconds to score. Assists went to William Karlsson and Marchessault.

The Sharks took 11 more penalties in the period, and Vegas took eight, but the score did not change. Among those penalties were misconducts for Evander Kane, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Max Pacioretty, Brenden Dillon, Deryk Engellund and Kevin Labanc.

Late in the first period, Logan Couture took a puck to the hand but he played through the game.

The Sharks’ lineup Sunday included new faces Lean Bergman, Danil Yurtakin and Jonny Brodzinsky up front. On defense, Dalton Prout and Mario Ferraro were in while Radim Simek and Tim Heed sat out.

The Sharks will be back in Las Vegas on Wednesday to start the regular season at 7:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Gambrell to make team; Hertl and Kane a great duel on the third line; plus more

Photo credit: sjbarracuda.com

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks finally picked up a win this time past the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center on Thursday night a 4-1 win. Was the difference in this game as opposed to previous games the Sharks wanted to shake off those first three loses and just wanted to come out and play hard for a win?

#2 Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl both scored a goal each that helped the Sharks. There is no doubt that Kane and Hertl will be valuable this season.

#3 One thing about Thursday’s game, both teams were scoreless going into the third period and the Sharks took turns trying to light the lamp. Dylan Gambrell made the team after scoring two goals.

#4 The Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane line should be potent and ready for opening night. The Sharks will play the Knights in Vegas on Sunday (preseason) and on Wednesday night and T-Mobile Center is a tough place for hockey.

#5 In closing talk about Marty Jones in net and how’s his defense has been looking, he’s certainly working to keep the puck out of the net this season.

Join Mary Lisa each Saturday for the Sharks podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden Knights Beat Sharks 3-1 in Preseason

@SanJoseSharks photo

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The Vegas Golden Knights scored once per period to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Saturday’s preseason game at the SAP Center. Max Pacioretty scored once and got assists on the other two Vegas goals, scored by Valentin Zykov and Alex Tuch. Antti Suomela scored San Jose’s only goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in the win, while Martin Jones made 26 saves for San Jose.

Three players made their first appearance in this preseason for the Sharks on Saturday: forwards Logan Couture and Melker Karlsson and defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov. Knyzhov was signed by the Sharks in July as a free agent.

Martin Jones gave up one goal on four shots in the first period. That goal came off of Valentin Zykov’s stick. Zykov found a rebound right in front of Jones and put it around him with a back hand. Assists went to Nick Pacioretty and Cody Glass.

At the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury saw eleven shots from the Sharks and stopped them all. Four of those shots came from Lean Bergmann, playing on a line Logan Couture and Jonny Brodzinski. Some of those shots also came on the game’s first power play, during which San Jose did not score.

Just past the seven minute mark of the second, Antti Suomela had a nice breakaway chance, displaying some speed. Fleury stopped his shot. Around the midpoint of the period, the teams were pretty close in shots, with Vegas at five and San Jose at four. Vegas had already surpassed their shot count from the whole first period.

Max Pacioretty scored the second goal for Vegas at 14:38 of the second. A play behind the net got out in front of Jones with just one defender to help him out. Pacioretty had a lot of room to move and shoot. Assists went to Cody Glass and Reilly Smith.

Moments after the next faceoff, a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot from the blue line was neatly deflected by Antti Suomela to get the Sharks on the board. A second assist went to Kevin Labanc.

By the end of the period, the Golden Knights had 14 shots on goal while the Sharks had 9.

Just 18 seconds into the third period, Kevin Labanc was called for slashing Cody Glass. During the ensuing power play, Alex Tuch scored, giving the Golden Knights the 3-1 lead. Assists went to Pacioretty and Jimmy Schuldt.

The rest of the third period was full of penalties, compared to the single penalty called in the first two periods. Dalton Prout and Valentin Zykov were called at 4:36 for cross-checking each other. At 11:36, Nicholas Roy was called for hi-sticking Antti Suomela.

The next preseason game for the Sharks will be on Tuesday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 7:00 PM PT.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Skaggs’ death a shock to the baseball world; Coco takes out Serena; plus more

Photo credit: @molly_knight

On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 How shocked is the baseball world after finding out about the death of 27-year-old Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in his Texas hotel room during the Los Angeles Angels’ trip to face the Texas Rangers. The game was canceled.

#2 Was the loss at Wimbledon for Venus Williams to 15-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff more a pass the baton moment, defeating Williams in the first round of the tournament or was it a match for Williams trying to figure the younger player out?

#3 Megan Rapinoe is no doubt the face of the US Women’s Soccer team. She was confident, showed leadership, she took on Trump and the White House. How important is Rapinoe to women’s sports and how she represents women in the US World Cup?

#4 How realistic is it that San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner will be traded sooner or later? The New York Yankees are chomping at the bit at getting a shot at getting Bumgarner.

#5 The San Jose Sharks dealt their captain Joe Pavelski to the Dallas Stars. Did the concussion that Pavelski sustained in the playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights play a role in the Sharks parting ways with Pavelski or was it something else?

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Force Game 7 With 2-1 Win Over Golden Knights in 2OT

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 2-1 in the second overtime of Game 6 of their playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday. Martin Jones was hands down the star of the game, making 58 saves to Marc-Andre Fleury’s 27. Those 58 saves set a record for Jones and also the franchise. Regulation goals came from Logan Couture for the Sharks and Jonathan Marchessault for the Golden Knights. The teams will return to San Jose for Game 7 on Tuesday.

The Sharks got off to a fast start in the game, taking a significant lead in shots until the middle of the period. That was the last such lead they would have in the game. In the first period, they fell behind by one shot, 10-9. In the second period, Las Vegas outshot them 17-7 and in the third period the Golden Knights won the shot contest by a whopping 17-4. On top of that, the Sharks blocked 34 more shots. This was the onslaught that Sharks goaltender Martin Jones faced Sunday.

After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said:

Yeah, we knew Joner was on, you could feel it, for sure. You know, you’re looking at the scoreboard and the shots are saying what they are. But the way Joner was moving, seeing the puck, you know, it wasn’t two-on-ones, breakaways, guys weren’t getting behind us. It was still a pretty tight-knit group out there and guys were blocking some shots and hanging in there.

Martin Jones said “It was a good game, obviously. We stuck with it the whole night. Give our guys a lot of credit, some huge penalty kills in overtime and the third. Yeah, everybody chipped in with stuff today.”

The officials seemed to have put their whistles away for overtime, ignoring some fairly obvious penalties from tripping to holding on both sides. They ignored it all until Barclay Goodrow slashed the stick out of Brayden McNabb’s hands at 10:46 of the second overtime. The Sharks still had no shots on goal in the period.

The penalty appeared to be the death knell for the Sharks. Instead, Marc-Edouard Vlasic cleared the puck from the front of the net up to Tomas Hertl in the middle of the blue line. Hertl took off as fast as skaters are able to halfway through the fifth period. He barely stayed ahead of Shea Theodore, then slowed and took a shot from inside the face-off circle. Fleury couldn’t stop it. The Sharks won the game short-handed with their first shot of the period.

The first goal of the game did not come until the final 10 seconds of the first period. While Timo Meier fought Deryk Engelland for the puck in the neutral zone, Logan Couture skated up and plucked the puck away from them. He kept skating into the slot and veered away into the face-off circle while taking a shot that got by Marc-Andre Fleury. Timo Meier got the assist. It was Couture’s fourth of the playoffs.

The Sharks had one power play in the first period, a penalty to Shea Theodore for tripping Tomas Hertl. They had just one shot in that power play.

The second goal of the game came in the middle of the second period, from Joathan Marchessault for the Golden Knights. Shea Theodore took a shot from the blue line into some traffic and Jones stopped that one, but there was a small rebound that Marchessault got to. He pulled it around the prone goalie and put it in the net. It was Marchessault’s third of the playoffs. Assists went to Shea Theodore and William Karlsson.

Each team had a power play in the second period. Las Vegas had a power play at 14:26 after Timo Meier was called for tripping William Karlsson. Las Vegas had no shots on that power play.

The Sharks had one shot on their second period power play, the result of a penalty to Marchessault for slashing Logan Couture.

In the scoreless third period, the Golden Knights had the only power play, due to a goaltender interference penalty to Melker Karlsson. They had one shot on that power play.

Labanc and Thornton had a good chance near the middle of the first OT period, and Labanc’s shot may have gone under Fleury and back out just on the outside of the net.

With about three minutes to go, the teams exchanged wild scrambles at the net, with defensemen piled up, at Fleury’s end, he had two of his own defensemen spreadeagled on top of of each other in the blue paint after a puck got by Fleury. It was so close to the line that the NHL reviewed the video.

By the 10-minute mark of the first OT, the teams were tied with two shots each. Then the NHL changed that to a 3-1 lead for the Golden Knights. Eventually, it evened out to 7-6 for the Golden Knights in the first OT.

Approaching the midpoint of the second OT, the Golden Knights had seven shots and the Sharks had none on the books. And then Hertl scored.

The Sharks played more than two periods with only five defensemen. Joakim Ryan did not skate after the second period.

Sharks Avoid Elimination, Beat Knights 5-2 to Force Game 6

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks staved off elimination Thursday night, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 in Game 5 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to put the series at a 3-2 advantage for Vegas. Martin Jones had arguably his best game of the series after being pulled in two of the previous contests and Tomas Hertl scored a pair of goals. Vegas netted a pair of power play goals on both of their man-advantage attempts.

San Jose looked to keep Vegas off the board in the opening minutes after allowing a goal in the opening seconds in every period of Game 4. They were up to the test, locking Vegas down and even scoring 1:16 into the game. Tomas Hertl beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his third goal of the playoffs, with Erik Karlsson picking up an assist.

The Sharks built on the rare lead in the series after trailing in every game except game one, scoring on Logan Couture’s third goal of the series after tucking in a loose puck when Timo Meier’s original shot sat between Fleury’s pads 11:06 into play.

Vegas picked up a goal after Evander Kane was given the gate for a high-sticking penalty with 1:43 left in the first period. On the ensuing power play the puck bounced off Reilly Smith’s skate with 30 seconds left in the frame to cut the Sharks lead to 2-1.

Barclay Goodrow tipped a Justin Braun shot past Fleury 12:22 into the second period for his first goal of the series, but that’d be it for scoring in the middle stanza. Vegas would score again 11:36 into the third period on Jonathan Marchessault’s second of the series after Erik Karlsson was given a questionable tripping penalty.

First, Jones made an unbelievable cross-crease save to keep out the tying goal, then Hertl allowed the Sharks to breath a little easier when he fired a rebound just outside the crease past Fleury for a 4-2 lead on the power play at the 14:45 mark. Logan Couture drew the penalty after being high-sticked. The centerman lost a couple teeth in the process, but at first glance, seemed to show the referees not calling a penalty while Couture lay on the ice. A conference of the officials ultimately yielded a power play for the Sharks.

Joe Pavelski added the empty-netter with 1:46 to ice the game. Jones made 30 saves to silence any doubters for one night.

Game 6 will be played Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, with the time to be determined. If a Game 7 is necessary, the series will shift back to San Jose Tuesday night.

Headline Sports with London Marq: Can the A’s work things out with the port to get new stadium underway?; Was Game 2 win by Clippers just a fluke? plus more

sfchronicle.com photo file: The Oakland Maritime Industry says that a new Oakland A’s stadium at the port would impact shipping, cause safety concerns, and will be a economic hit to the region’s import and exports.

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 Oakland’s Maritime Industry is saying that building a new stadium for the Oakland A’s at Jack London Square’s Howard Terminal would be a economic hazard for the port. It would disrupt ships that provide import and export that impact Oakland’s economics and would be a safety risk for ships trying to port. Does this sound like a legitimate argument from the Maritime to stop any construction of a new park for the A’s?

#2 This is obviously number one on A’s team president David Kaval’s bucket list of things to get moving. How much opposition will the A’s face in their attempts to build at Howard Terminal and can they work things out with the port?

#3 Is the 31-point comeback by the Los Angeles Clippers to win by four in Game 2 on Monday night a fluke or is it this Clippers team up for the challenge of making this a series against Golden State?

#4 How much of a factor has the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley been in this series trying to intimidate or at least get under the skin of the Warriors’ Kevin Durant? It might be working Durant was fouled out in Game 2 and thrown out in Game 1.

#5 The San Jose Sharks are in a hole after getting shutout in Las Vegas on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Center in Vegas in Game 4. The 5-0 loss puts the Sharks down 3-1 in the series with an elimination game on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose.

London Marq joins Sportstalk each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2019: Joe Thornton Suspended for Game 4

Photo credit: @Deadspin

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks will be down one more player for Game Four of their first round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Joe Thornton has been suspended by the NHL for one game after an illegal check to the head of Tomas Nosek in Game Three.

As Nosek came out of the corner after retrieving the puck in the defensive zone, he was pitched forward and his head was still down after defending the puck from Brenden Dillon. Thornton was coming out from behind the net and moving as if to help get the puck from Nosek. The collision occurred after Nosek got rid of the puck and while the play was starting to move the other way. Thornton’s shoulder made contact with Nosek’s head as they passed.

A minor penalty was called at 16:45 of the second period. Nosek did not skate again in the second period but did return for the third.

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forward Micheal Haley are both listed as day-to-day. Vlasic was injured blocking a shot in Game Two, so missed the rest of that game and Game Three. Haley was also injured blocking a shot early in the second period of Game Three and missed the rest of Sunday’s game.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2019: Golden Knights Take 2-1 Series Lead with 6-3 Win Over Sharks

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-3, scoring a first-minute goal in all three periods. Three Vegas goals came from Mark Stone, two from Paul Stastny and one from Max Pacioretty. For the Sharks, goals came from Kevin Labanc, Logan Couture and Timo Meier. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves for the Vegas win, while Martin Jones made 34 saves in the Sharks loss.

After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer talked about the high-scoring line of Stastny, Stone and Pacioretty:

They’ve eaten us up here this series so far, so, we haven’t had an answer for them. What do they do well? I mean you’ve got three very good players that are playing at a really high level right now. So, you know, that is part of the issue. We’ve got to find an answer to slow those guys down.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski talked about the impact of early goals against, summarizing it as: “It’s tough to keep it going or get it back when you do that at the start.” Forward Logan Couture also talked those period starts, saying “they made some nice plays but we’ve got to be ready to start periods.”

On his goaltender’s performance, Couture said: “I think he made a lot of saves. I mean, you look at that game, their power play chances, their chances in the slot, he made a lot of big saves. They could have had eight tonight. Some of their goals, you can’t give up breakaways, two on ones, and let a guy walk past the half way mark in the crease. You’re just asking for trouble.”

Yet again, Vegas scored early the game, putting the Sharks down by one just 18 seconds in. Right off of the opening face-off, Erik Karlsson’s pass missed its mark and ended up on Mark Stone’s stick. Stone charged into the zone, pursued by Sharks, and scored with a back hand. Assists went to Nate Schmidt and Deryk Engellund.

Max Pacioretty gave Vegas a 2-0 lead at 12:16 with a power play goal. Evander Kane was in the box for a four-minute high-sticking penalty. Pacioretty’s shot was the first of the power play and only took five seconds. The face-off was still dispersing when Pacioretty shot from near the point. His shot went through some traffic and between Justin Braun’s legs. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Paul Stastny.

The Sharks got one back late in the period at 15:16. Joe Thornton got to the puck behind the net and made a quick back hand pass up to Kevin Labanc as Labanc skated to the net. Labanc took the shot some feet from the blue paint, then collided with Colin Miller in front of Marc-Andre Fleury. The Golden Knights challenged the goal for goaltender interference but the goal was upheld. Assists went to Thornton and Marcus Sorensen.

The Golden Knights outshot the Sharks 20-12 in the first period, and won 59% of the face-offs.

Paul Stastny restored the Golden Knights’ two-goal lead 21 seconds into the second period. Pacioretty took a shot from the slot and the rebound went to Stastny out beyond the traffic around the net. He took a shot from above the face-off dot and it went by two Sharks defenders and under their goaltender. Assists went to Pacioretty and Stone.

The Sharks got their first power play at 10:02 of the second period. The Golden Knights had already had three.

Stastny added another goal at 16:04, on the sixth Vegas power play. This time, it was Kevin Labanc in the box for interference against Ryan Reaves. The Sharks had killed off most of the penalty when Mark Stone made an impressive pass across the slot, evading skates and sticks, right to Stastny for the shot. Jones was still trying to get across when the puck went in. Assists went to Stone and Theodore.

Las Vegas outshot San Jose 10-7 in the second period, but only won 40% of the face-offs.

The Sharks made some line changes for the third. Gus Nyquist moved to Logan Couture’s line with Timo Meier. Joe Pavelski moved to Tomas Hertl’s line with Evander Kane.

The Golden Knights scored a third first-minute goal in the third, this time 36 seconds in. Mark Stone’s pass to Jonathan Marchessault became a rebound that Stone was in a perfect spot to tap in. Assists went to Marchessault and Stastny.

At 4:57, the Sharks scored on their third power play. William Karlsson was in the box for slashing Tomas Hertl. Early in the power play, Marc-Andre Fleury lost his glove while on his back after a shot almost went in. The whistle went and the delay allowed conflict to erupt, resulting in matching roughing penalties for Brent Burns and Tomas Nosek.

Erik Karlsson’s neutral zone pass found Logan Couture just above the blue line. Couture carried it down the side past the face-off dot and sent the puck to the net where Pavelski was arriving for a deflection. The puck never reached Pavelski as Brayden McNabb’s stick got in the way and directed the puck past his own goaltender. The goal went to Couture with assists to Karlsson and Martin Jones.

Timo Meier scored a third goal for the Sharks at 5:51. Gus Nyquist took a shot from in close created a rebound that went right to Meier in the slot. Meier’s shot was just too quick for Fleury to catch. Nyquist got the assist.

Those two quick goals were followed by a lull in scoring, until Mark Stone got his third of the game at 13:57, restoring the three-goal lead for Vegas. A neutral zone interception sent Stone and Stastny into the Sharks zone. Stastny sent the puck off the boards to Stone, who skated to the net, faked to the right and shot to left with a backhand. Assists went to Stastny and Theodore.

Vegas outshot the Sharks 40-28 in the game and won 53% of the face-offs.

Sharks forward Micheal Haley was injured blocking a shot in the second period and did not return. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, injured the same way in Friday’s game, was not in the lineup Sunday and was replaced by Tim Heed.

Game four will be on Tuesday in Las Vegas at 7:30 PM PT.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs-San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: With series tied, who has best advantage: Knights on home ice? or Sharks fired up to win game three?

westport-news.com photo: Vegas Golden Knights’ Colin Miller, left, celebrates his goal with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the first period against the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series at SAP Center on Friday night. The series moves to the T-Mobile Center in Vegas on Sunday night for game 3.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs-San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 After coming back from being down 3-0, the San Jose Sharks ended up losing by two 5-3 and the Vegas Golden Knights tied in game two Friday night. The series tied up 1-1. How did San Jose let this one slip away?

#2 It’s a game that they’ll be talking about for awhile as Vegas exhibited their talents scoring three goals in 5:13 to start things off in the first period.

#3 Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said the team will regroup. There’s not much time when you have a series that’s tied at 1-1.

#4 Is there a concern after losing a game like that, when you caught up to your opponent and then let the lead slip away and now you’re playing at the T-Mobile Center for game three?

#5 Len sets up game three as the puck drops at 7 pm local in Vegas.

Len does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com