Sharks Lose to Jets 4-1; Third loss in four games

Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt (88) scores the go ahead goal in the second period as Josh Morrissey (44) celebrates with Schmidt against the San Jose Sharks in Winnipeg on Thu Nov 11, 2021 (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Jets at Winnipeg Thursday. Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt, Jansen Harkins and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the win. Andrew Cogliano scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 30 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Assistant Coach John MacLean was not willing to attribute the loss to fatigue: “I don’t know if [we] ran out of gas… I thought we had a couple of opportunities, we just weren’t able to bury it. And, you know, it was a close game there for a bit.” He also mentioned the lopsided penalty calls: “They get some power plays, we never really got any special… we never got any power plays. It was just one of those things, guys tried and it just didn’t come our way.”

The roster and the bench will likely look different for the next game, as players and staff will be returning from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. McLean assessed the performance of the team in the absence of those players:

“After a loss you’re not really pleased, I mean you wish, there’s a couple of opportunities there missed as well in that. So, I will say that I’m pleased with the total effort that these guys showed throughout this, you know, the guys who got called up and the guys who were here. I mean I think overall they all buckled down and gave us an opportunity each night to win.”

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, at 6:28 of the first period. Brent Burns picked up the puck near the boards and carried it across into the slot, then made a quick pass to Andrew Cogliano who was on the far side of the net. Cogliano lifted it into the short side for his second of the season.

Kyle Connor tied the game at 11:38. As the Jets entered the zone, Evgeny Svechnikov passed the puck from the right wide to Dubois in the middle of the ice. Dubois tok a shot that went off of Reimer’s pads for a short rebound. Connor was right there to shoot it back in behind Reimer.

The Sharks penalty kill gave up one shot on a single penalty for the period. The teams were dead even at ten shots each. It was the Sharks’ best face-off period, at 69%.

The second period started with an early fight, between the Sharks’ Jonah Gadjovich and the Jets’ Adam Lowry. The Sharks took a delay of game penalty at 7:24, and then matching roughing penalties at 10:02 went to Dominic Toninato and Ryan Merkley. Again, the Sharks penalty kill gave up just one shot.

The Jets took the lead at 14:11, with a shot from the blue line by Nate Schmidt. Assists went to Josh Morrissey and Blake Wheeler.

Jansen Harkins made it 3-1 at 19:16 of the second. Harkins and Adam Lowry got behind the Sharks for a two-on-one. From low in the slot, Lowry made a pass to Harkins for a deflection.

The Jets out-shot the Sharks 13-8 in the second, but the Sharks continued to dominate in the face-off circle at 60%. The third period saw the Sharks slip in that area, winning only 44% of the draws. The Sharks penalty kill allowed two shots during the single third-period Jets power play.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his eighth of the season into an empty net at 19:27 of the third. Assists went to Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Sharks’ next game will be in Colorado against the Avalanche, on Saturday at 6:00 PM PT.

COVID-19 Protocols Purge Roster, Sharks Beat Jets Anyway 2-1

San Jose Sharks left wing Alexander Barabanov (94) and Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) make contact while chasing the puck in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Oct 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in overtime Saturday. Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 34 saves for the win. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves in the loss. That could be the result of a Sharks game on most nights, but Saturday was distinctly different from regular regular season Sharks games.

Late Saturday afternoon, the Sharks roster looked a lot like a preseason game. A slew of players, eight in total, were pulled from the lineup at the last minute and seven were replaced by call-ups from the AHL Barracuda. Andrew Cogliano, Jonathan Dahlen, Erik Karlsson, Jacob Middleton, Matt Nieto, Radim Simek, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Head Coach Bob Boughner were all held out of the game due to NHL COVID-19 protocol. Logan Couture was alsoout due to illness but not in COVID-19 protocol.

Seven players had just hours notice that they would be playing Saturday. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka made his NHL debut, with Ryan Merkley, Nicolas Meloche, and Jaycob Megna making their season debut on the blueline. The forwards making their season debuts were RW Nick Merkley, LW Jonah Gadjovich and LW John Leonard. Mike Ricci stepped in behind the bench to fill out the coaching roster.

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said that a crazy day like Saturday can be good for a player who is making a debut with an NHL team: “Sometimes that’s the best thing. So those guys got to play their first game with not a lot of time to think about it and they get a good result in it and I think that can just really help all those guys.”

After the game, Sharks assistant coach John Maclean talked about the team’s response to these strange circumstances:

“They had great energy and they all knew that they had to play. Everybody got ice. It was like, the bench was lively, they were pretty much coaching themselves. They were excited to get out there and play. So that’s always fun to see.”

The first period shot count was very close, 14-13 San Jose. The Sharks power play got two shots on net. In the face-off circle the Sharks struggled. Nick Bonino won 60% of his draws and Jasper Weatherby won 50%, but Tomas Hertl was around 20%. As a result, the Sharks won just 25% of their draws in the first.

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, 54 seconds into the second period. Barabanov carried the puck down the wall to the goal line, where he spun and threw it at the net. The puck went off of Timo Meier’s stick and across the goal mouth to Tomas Hertl, who was able to put it away. Meier and Barabanov got the assists.

The Sharks out-shot the Jets 13-7 in the second period. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle to 54%, but Hertl still seemed outmatched, especially against Pierre-Luc DuBois, who he drew against 7 times in the first two periods, and won only once.

Sharks Defenseman Santeri Hatakka did something about that at 3:43 of the third period, drawing a high-stick from DuBois. DuBois earned a double-minor and Hatakka went to the box for cross-checking. Still, the Sharks did not get credit for a single shot during that power play, and their face-off numbers did not improve.

The Jets tied the game at 16:48 of the third. DuBois drew the Sharks defense to himself as he drove the net. His shot bounced into the slot, where Nikolaj Ehlers picked it up for another try. Reimer stopped that too but Kyle Connor found the puck and put it in the net before Reimer could get across. Assists went to Ehlers and DuBois.

By the end of regulation, the only Shark with a better than even win percentage was Jasper Weatherby, who only took nine draws. He won six (67%) of those. Bonino had dropped from a high of 60% to 41% and Hertl went from 20% to 21%. All around, it was not a good night for the Sharks in the face-off circle. In shots, the Jets out-shot the Sharks 15-6 in the third.

Thirty seconds into overtime, Nikolaj Ehlers was called for interference on Brent Burns and Timo Meier scored the game winner 1:07. Burns sent the puck to Labanc near a face-off dot. Labanc skated with it to the top of the slot and then made a subtle touch-pass to Meier for the winning shot.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday, in San Jose against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks try to end their 3 game loss streak and end Jets 4 game win streak Saturday in San Jose

The San Jose Sharks center Andrew Cogliano (11) puts the brakes on in front of the Montreal Canadiens net and goalie Jake Allen (34) at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Oct 28, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len after winning four straight games the San Jose Sharks 4-3-0) have now lost three straight games and their last loss 4-0 to the Montreal Canadiens (2-6-0) could be cause for concern but first what are the Sharks doing differently than their first four straight wins?

#2 The Canadiens had struggled in their own right dropping six of their first seven games and Habs goaltender Jake Allen had struggled through those games what was the difference for him in net against the Sharks 45 shots.

#3 Goals for the Canadiens Mike Hoffman scored in the first period at 12:09, two goals for the Habs in the second period Alexander Ramonov at 8:53, Brendon Gallagher at 12:54, and in the third period Josh Anderson at 17:52.

#4 Hoffman has now scored a goal in three straight games so he was on a roll and established the shot midway into the first period to help the Canadiens draw first blood.

#5 Len, talk about Adin Hill the Sharks goaltender between the pipes a tough evening facing 31 shots and allowing three goals was this a game where he just didn’t get protection up front or he just got beat by the shot?

#6 Next up for the Sharks the Winnipeg Jets (4-2-1) this Sat night Oct 30th in San Jose. The last time the Sharks faced them was Sat Oct 16th at SAP Center as the Sharks won it 4-3. The Jets are on their own roll they have won four straight games and are getting great offense from Kyle Conner 13 points and six goals, in their last game the Jets got help in goal from Eric Comrie who stopped 30 out of 32 in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

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

Sharks Start Season With 4-3 Win Over Jets

Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) takes the puck past the San Jose Sharks center Andrew Caliano (11) during the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Oct 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 4-3 in their season opener against the Winnipeg Jets. Sharks rookie forward, Jasper Weatherby, scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game. Tomas Hertl, Rudolfs Balcers and Andrew Cogliano also scored for the Sharks. Adin Hill made 20 saves for the win. Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Copp and Jansen Harkins scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “The bench was very cohesive tonight, together, very positive, helping the young guys out, you know, and being able to spread some ice time out and roll four lines was a treat for me.”

Those young guys made a good showing. Jasper Weatherby had a shot, a goal and and assist in 10:25 of ice time. William Eklund had a shot, an assist and a hit in 14:01. Jonathan Dahlen had a shot and a hit in 14:45. Lane Pedersen had four hits in 10:27 of ice time.

Tomas Hertl, explaining his exuberance celebrating the Sharks’ fourth goal, scored by Balcers, said: “It was a lot of fun again, I missed that, you know, just win at home, full crowd, it was amazing.” It has been a long time since the Sharks played for a crowd of 16,000+.

The Jets the only first period goal 4:20 in. Adin Hill had just made an impressive diving stop seconds earlier, when a puck went off of a linesman and surprised everyone by bouncing right to the net. But he was sliding in the wrong direction when Brenden Dillon’s shot was knocked down in front of the net by Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois gathered it up and put it away. Assists went to Dillon and Neal Pionk.

The Jets outshot the Sharks 10-6 in the first. The Sharks held a slight edge in the face-off circle, winning 57% of the draws. Each team took a penalty in the final two minutes. The Jets power play got one shot in before taking their own penalty. The teams started the second period 4-on-4 for 29 seconds before the Sharks went on the power play.

Copp scored almost 30 seconds into the Sharks power play, Copp scored short-handed to make it 2-0 Jets. Hill was trying to move the puck away from the net and instead put it into Erik Karlsson’s skates as the defenseman went around behind the net. The puck trickled around the back of the net and Adam Lowry got to it first, then put it in front of the net for Copp to shoot it in.

The Sharks got no shots on goal during that power play. Soon after, the Sharks were back on the penalty kill.

Andrew Cogliano changed things up for the Sharks by scoring short-handed about 25 seconds into the Jets power play. Assists went to Logan Couture and Brent Burns.

Adam Lowry knocked Rudolfs Balcers down with an elbow from behind at 6:44. That led to a fight between Logan Stanley and Jacob Middleton. Middleton acquitted himself well before going to the box to watch his team’s power play. The Sharks power play got one shot on goal.

They had another chance at 11:59. Jasper Weatherby caught a pass from Erik Karlsson at the top of the face-off circle. Weatherby took the a quick shot and beat Hellebuyck on the glove side. Assists went to Karlsson and Kevin Labanc.

The Sharks led the Jets in shots 11-6 for the second. In the face-off circle, they won 53% of the draws.

The Sharks took the lead with a powerplay goal at 3:25 of the third. William Eklund’s shot created a rebound that went right to Tomas Hertl who had an almost open net to shoot at. Assists went to Eklund and Karlsson.

Soon after, Rudolfs Balcers scored another goal for the Sharks while falling into Hellebuyck, who was next to the net instead of in the blue paint. The Jets took issue with that and several scrums broke out by the Winnipeg net. Assists on the goal went to Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl.

The Jets got one back at 13:28. The Sharks had just killed off a Jets power play and scored an empty net goal that didn’t count due to a player being off side. Jansen Harkins knocked a rebound in after Stanley’s slapshot created a big rebound. Assists went to Stanley and Josh Morrissey.

The Sharks won 69% of the third period draws, bumping their game total up to 59%. They led in shots 31-23 for the game.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens at 4:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Fan favorite Drew Remenda will do color on Sharks radio this season; plus more Sharks news

San Jose Sharks radio analyst Drew Remenda joins play by play announcer Dan Rusanowsky for the Sharks 2021-22 season. Remenda is best remembered for doing TV work with Sharks play by play announcer Randy Hahn (file photo from Bay Area 4 Bar Stool)

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Former San Jose Sharks fan favorite Drew Remenda returns to the Sharks broadcasts this time as color announcer on radio. Remenda who worked with the Sharks last season doing a few Sharks games but will be doing all Sharks games on radio with Dan Rusanowsky this season.

#2 Remenda left the Sharks in 2015 to do Edmonton Oilers games on TV as color analyst. Remenda will also be joined on the radio side by Scott Hannan, Bret Hedican, Mark Smith.

#3 The Sharks have left Evander Kane off their opening night roster for this Saturday night’s game against the Jets. The Sharks are waiting for the NHL’s investigation results regarding Kane’s wife’s accusation that he assaulted her.

#4 Kane’s $7 million contract for this season will not impact the Sharks cap and gives San Jose some $8.8 million in cap room going into opening night.

#5 The NHL nor league Commissioner Gary Bettman has not suspended Kane under the code of conduct rules. The Commissioner can also cancel Kane’s contract but most likely the league is waiting on the results of the assault accusation.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup podcast with Len Shapiro: Canadiens await next opponent after sweeping Jets; Trotz calms down Isles to 3-2 series lead; plus more

Montreal Canadiens right winger Tyler Toffoli is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the clinching goal in the overtime stanza to defeat and sweep the Winnipeg Jets in four games at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Mon Jun 7, 2021 in game 4 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Montreal Canadiens swept the Winnipeg Jets in four games on Monday night with a 3-2 win. Tyler Toffoli who scored at 1:39 in over time sent the Canadiens to the next round. The Habs have won seven straight games since being down 3-1 to Toronto.

#2 New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz is a genius of sorts the Isles who had a three goal lead were starting to lose control but Trotz calling a time out and calmed everyone down and the Islanders skated out and played their game getting a one goal 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins taking a 3-2 lead.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lightning are headed to the next round of the playoffs after getting a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Carolina taking the series 4-1. The key to the game 5 win comes from the help of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy who stopped all 29 shots for the shutout.

#4 Offensively the Lightning got scoring help from Ross Colton and Brayden Point who scored a goal each and it was enough to win game 5 to advance. Len, talk about Colton and Brayden’s scoring on Tuesday night for the win.

#5 The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone got a crucial goal early in overtime on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche for a 3-2 win breaking a 2-2 deadlock. Both goaltenders Marc Andre Fleury for the Knights and Phillipp Brubauer for the Aves were playing standing on their heads in this nail biter.

Join Len for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Canadiens jump to 2-0 lead; Knights avoid going 0-3; plus much more

Montreal Canadiens’ Artturi Lehkonen (62) and Shea Weber (6) celebrate Tyler Toffoli’s (73) goal against the Edmonton Oilers in the second period of game 2 of round two of the playoffs on Fri Jun 4, 2021 in Edmonton (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup podcast with Matt:

#1 The Montreal Canadiens (2-0) wasted no time jumping to a 2-0 series lead over the Winnipeg Jets (0-2). The Canadiens who had a successful previous series against the Toronto Maple Leafs that they won in seven games have really come into this series with a head of steam.

#2 The Canadiens took game 1 rather handedly 5-3 on Wednesday and on Friday night got an amazing shutout in a well played defensive game 1-0. Habs goalie Carey Price stopped all 30 shots for the shutout and they got their only goal in the second period by Tyler Toffoli which stood up for the win.

#3 The Vegas Golden Knights (1-2) avoided going 0-3 with a one goal win over the Colorado Avalanche (2-1) 3-2 on home ice at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas. The Knights got scoring from William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Max Pacioretty.

#4 Matt, talk about tonight’s games we’ll start with game 4 between the Boston Bruins who lead the series over the New York Islanders 2-1 the Islanders have home ice at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.

#4 The Carolina Hurricanes are down 1-3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning (3-1) as they faced off today in Tampa Bay for game 4. The Bolts come away with a 6-4 win over the Canes with game 5 Tuesday night at Carolina.

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

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Bolts first period 3 goal rally seals win over Preds 5-2; Bruins score four times in 3rd period for win; plus more;

The Nashville Predators left winger Filip Forsberg (9) take a shot at net but the Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) gets a quick glove save in the third period of Mon Feb 1, 2021’s game in Tampa Bay (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning (5-1-1) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard to defeat the Nashville Predators (4-5-0) on Monday night 5-2. The Lightning scored three times in the first period and Nashville goalie Juuse Saros took the loss facing 25 shots and saving 21.

#2 The Boston Bruins (6-1-2) down 3-1 to the Washington Capitals (6-1-3) in the third period erased the Caps lead scoring four goals to surpass Washington to get a 5-3 win at Capital One Center in DC.

#3 The Montreal Canadiens (6-1-2) are a machine after taking their first regulation loss of the season on Saturday to the Calgary Flames. The Habs got a big victory over the Vancouver Canucks (6-6-0) 6-2 at the Bell Center in Montreal. The Canadiens scored three times in each of the first and second periods.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins (5-4-1) and New York Rangers (3-4-2) tied in a 1-1 deadlock the Rangers were able to get two key goals in the third period and come up with a two goal win over the Penguins. Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin scored a goal each for the Rangers in the third period for the 3-1 win.

#5 The Calgary Flames down 2-1 against the Winnipeg Jets going into the third period scored twice with Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane scoring a goal each to force an overtime shootout. In the shootout the Flames got two goals and the Jets one for the Flames 4-3 win.

Join Mary Lisa for the NHL podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh Tue Feb 2, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

 

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: New Jersey shocks Blues ends 8 game win streak; Jets shutout Vegas 4-0; plus more

photo from stlouisdispatch.com: New Jersey Devils’ P.K. Subban, right, handles the puck as he is defended by St. Louis Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist, of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, in St. Louis.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 Good things come to end at some point and the St Louis Blues eight game winning streak ended at eight games and who would have thought the New Jersey Devils would have been the team to beat them 4-2 on Friday night. The Devils scored with help from Dakota Mermis his first NHL goal and defenseman Connor Carrick his first of the season.

#2 The Winnipeg Jets shutout the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 as Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves to do it. Hellebuyck leads the NHL in shutouts this season with six.

#3 The Calgary Flames edged the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 the Flames got scoring help from Johnny Gaudreau, TJ Brodie, and Mikael Backlund. The Flames Matthew Tkachuk got an assist on each of the goals.

#4 The Anaheim Ducks just got by the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1, Carter Rowneyu and Adam Hendrique both scored and goaltenders John Gibson and Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots for the Ducks.

#5 Vancouver Canucks got a three goal win over the Colorado Avalanche 6-3. Zack MacEwen scored two goals and Adam Gaudette picked up two assists at Rogers Centre on Friday night

Join Matt on the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Joe Lami: Sens Ryan gets ovation scores hat trick; Jet’s Hellebuyck gets fifth shutout; plus more

photo from NJ.com: Ottawa Senators right wing Bobby Ryan (9) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with defenseman Ron Hainsey (81) during third-period NHL hockey game action in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

On the NHL podcast with Joe:

#1 Bobby Ryan of the Ottawa Senators coming off a NHL/NHLPA alcohol assistance program since November 20th stepped on the ice and scored a hat trick for the Senators 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

#2  The Winnipeg Jets Connor Hellebuyck picked up his fifth shutout of the season with a 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals. Hellebuyck had his moments standing on his head stopping a Alex Ovechkin twice and a great glove save from the Caps Ilya Kovachuk’s shot in the second period on a power play.

#3 The San Jose Sharks picked up an overtime win against the New Jersey Devils 3-2 when the Sharks team captain Logan Couture scored an overtime goal his first since his return from his injury

#4 The Nashville Predators Mikael Granlund got a game winning goal with just 0.1 of a second left in the game to force overtime against the Calgary Flames. Granlund then scored in the overtime stanza at 1:20 for the game winner.

#5 The Chicago Blackhawks Dominik Kubalik scored a hat trick in the third period during the Hawks five goal rally to come back to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The Blackhawks Corey Crawford stopped 37 shots. It was the Bolts fourth loss in a row.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com