Sharks Beat Hurricanes 2-1 in OT; Barabanov gets gamer in late stanza

San Jose Sharks left wing Alexander Barabanov (94) puts in the game winner against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) and and right wing Sebastian Aho (20) during overtime at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Nov 22, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime Monday. Kevin Labanc and Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose and James Reimer made 22 saves for the win. Tony DeAngelo scored for Carolina and Antti Raanta made 25 saves in the loss.

The game looked like it might be the third this season in which the Sharks did not get a single power play. At the end of the second period, defenseman Erik Karlsson spoke to officials. That did not seem to make a difference, though the Sharks did finally get a call at the end of the third period.

On the lack of calls, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“We haven’t got a lot of power plays lately but we certainly deserved a few more tonight than zero. So, it’s frustrating, and I try to tell the players to let me do the talking to the refs and you guys just concentrate on the game.”

After the game, Sharks forward Kevin Labanc said: “It was a pretty tight game for the full 60. You know, they weren’t really giving us much we were creating chances and those are the games that you gotta find a way.”

Labanc was did not play Saturday, as he was serving a one-game suspension for a slew foot in last Thursday’s game. Monday, however, he was all business. Asked to talk about his performance and that of his team, he said: “We did our job tonight and it’s a good two points.”

In a scoreless and penalty-free first period, Carolina out-shot the Sharks 8-7, but the Sharks won 69% of the face-offs. Alexander Barabanov took a hard hit midway through the period but he did return for the second.

Tony DeAngelo scored for Carolina at 1:16 of the second period. His shot flew down the slot through some traffic and past Reimer on the stick side. Assists went to Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis.

The Hurricanes out-shot the Sharks again in the second 10-8, and the face-offs were even at 50%. The Hurricanes had one power play and the Sharks penalty kill allowed two shots.

Kevin Labanc tied the game at 3:54 of the third. Jasper Weatherby corralled the puck as it came out of a board battle and pushed it up to Labanc. Labanc carried it a little deeper before taking the shot and beating Raanta on the far side.

The Sharks out-shot the Hurricanes 8-5 in the third, and won 57% of the face-offs. The Sharks penalty kill allowed no shots to the Carolina power play in the third. Their own power play did not begin until 19:38 and bled into overtime.

Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose 1:42 into overtime, just after the Sharks power play ended. Tomas Hertl took two quick shots at the net from in close, before sneaking the puck under the goaltender, across the crease to Barabanov. Barabanov had a clear shot and he took it. Assists went to Hertl and Mario Ferraro.

The Sharks had three shorts in the extra frame, and won both of the face-offs. The Hurricanes managed one short-handed shot in overtime.

Scott Reedy made his NHL debut in the absence of Jonathan Dahlen, who was injured in Saturday’s game. Reedy had two blocked shots in 10:56 time on ice.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday, against the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 5-3 to Coyotes Despite 3 Point Game for Meier

The San Jose Sharks Timo Meier (28) stick handling the puck, the Arizona Coyotes Christian Fischer (28), and the Sharks Logan Couture (39) in pursuit at Glendale Arena on Sat Jan 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-3 to the Coyotes in Arizona Saturday afternoon. Arizona goals came from Phil Kessel (2), Barrett Hayton, Jakob Chychrun and Clayton Keller scored for Arizona. Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Ryan Donato scored for San Jose. Antti Raanta made 31 saves for the win Martin Jones made 19 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

We spent a lot more time in their end in the O-zone, we played a little faster I thought. You know, they got a little bit of puck luck tonight. They were the better team in the first game. I thought we played a lot harder and a lot more structured in this game.

The Sharks led the game in many respects but not on the scoresheet. They outshot the Coyotes 34-26, they had four power plays to Arizona’s 3. San Jose scored in two of four power plays and killed two of three penalties. The glaring bad stat was in the faceoff circle. They won just 40% of them. The only Sharks skater to win more than half of his draws was Patrick Marleau, who took five draws and won four. Tomas Hertl won 7 of 18, and Logan Couture won 5 of 11. No one else took more than three or won more than one.

On the subject of faceoffs, Boughner said:

It’s something we gotta get way better at. I think that we struggled in the faceoff circle even in the first game. You know, it’s an important part of the game and I thought our puck movement was better off of won faceoffs. But we lost too many, and you’re chasing the puck all night.

The Sharks scored first at 3:34, with a power play goal from Ryan Donato. Conor Garland was in the box for tripping Marc-Edouard Vlasic. High in the slot, Timo Meier bobbled a shot but got it right back and sent it through traffic and off of Ryan Donato. Assists went to Meier and Mario Ferraro.

Arizona responded with their own power play goal at 12:31. Evander Kane was in the box for tripping Tyler Pitlick. Phil Kessel tried to send the puck in and it went off of Nikolai Knyzhov. It came right back to Kessel and he moved around the Sharks defense to make a backhand shot that went through before slipping past Martin Jones. An assist went to Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Barrett Hayton gave the Coyotes a lead at 14:41. After a lot of play behind the net, Conor Garland made a quick pass to the Hayton in the slot. Assists went to Garland and Nick Schmaltz.

Timo Meier tied it back up less than a minute later. Meier was moving down the wall with the puck, while Kevin Labanc skated down the slot with Jakob Chychrun defending. Meier made the pass and it hit Chychrun and bounced into the net.

Arizona scored twice in the second period, the first a shot from the blue line from Ekman-Larsson. His shot went right through four skaters before hitting Phil Kessel on its way into the net. It was Kessel’s second of the game, with assists to Ekman-Larsson and Christian Dvorak.

Jakob Chychrun scored at 8:56. A clean face-off win in the offensive zone gave Chychrun a shot with lots of traffic as the face-off broke up. Derick Brassard got the assist.

Clayton Keller added to the Coyotes lead just 2:39 into the third period. After Brassard won another offensive zone faceoff, Ekman-Larsson held the puck at the blue line before trying for a tip from Keller in the slot. Martin Jones stopped that but Keller came right down for the rebound and put that one in. Assists went to Ekman-Larsson and Brassard.

Midway through the third, Boughner pulled Martin Jones and put Devan Dubnyk in. After the game, the coach explained that that was only to give Dubnyk sme ice tine before their next game. Since it did not come right after the fifth goal, it did not look like a reaction to Jones’ play in particular.

The Sharks had a power play start in the final minute of play, and scored their own goal right off of an O-zone faceoff. Just eight seconds into the power play, Tomas Hertl tipped Timo Meier’s shot from the top of the circle. Assists went to Meier and Erik Karlsson.

Roster changes: Jacob Middleton was in for Nick Meloche on the blue line.

The Sharks now travel to St. Louis for their next game at 5:00 PM PT on Monday, against the Blues.