San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: NHL draft is days away who will guide the ship for SJ?

San Jose Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic might have his contract bought out as the team feels his talents have declined . Vlasic feels he can help another team with more playing time. (file photo from USA Today)

On the Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len, with former San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner, and assistants John McLean and John Madden all departed the Sharks have another task and that’s trying to fill their jobs with the NHL draft coming around the corner on July 7th.

#2 The Sharks had a number of games where they were struggling but not enough where the Sharks could have worked some off season deals that could have kept Boughner and his staff on board. Do you think the Sharks could have given Boughner another season to see if things would work out?

#3 Scott Mellanby was a finalist for the general manager’s job but dropped out and that leaves two top candidates Ray Whitney and Mike Grier two former NHL players and two former Sharks. Grier and Whitney looks like the finalists for the job which direction do you see the Sharks going and what are the strengths of Whitney and Grier if they step into the general manager’s role.

#4 There’s talk that the Sharks might buy out defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract saying that his talents have faded, that his value has declined and in a post game interview after the last game of the season Vlasic said “imagine if I could play more” does he have enough talent to stay in the NHL at this point.

#5 With the Sharks possibly about to make a general manager announcement they need to get a head coach in place with just a few days left before the draft that’s a short window to get that decided and see what is in front of them for the NHL draft.

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

Sharks Part Ways With Boughner, Coaching Staff

San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner (right) and assistant coach John Madden (left) talks to the team on Sun Nov 28, 2021 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago. The Sharks fired Boughner and his assistant coaches on Fri Jul 1, 2022 no replacements have been disclosed yet. (AP News file photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks have parted ways with Head Coach Bob Boughner and most of the coaching staff. The announcement came on Thursday, a week before the NHL draft begins. The Sharks announcement read, in part:

“Interim General Manager Joe Will announced today that team has relieved Head Coach Bob Boughner, Assistant Coaches John Madden and John MacLean, and Assistant video Coach, Dan Darrow of their responsibilities.”

No replacements have been named at this time, just as no replacement for Doug Wilson has been named yet. The Sharks announcement continued, saying:

“it has become apparent that the organization is in the process of an evolution,” said Will. “The bottom line is we have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons, which isn’t acceptable to our owner, our organization, or to our fans. As part of this evolution and evaluation, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to allow the next Sharks general manager to have full autonomy related to the make-up of the on-ice coaching staff moving ahead.”

It would be difficult to argue with this logic, but it is also difficult to ignore the timing. With no coaching staff and only an acting General Manager, the team appears deep in limbo with the 2022 draft fast approaching.

The Sharks concluded their announcement by thanking the coaching staff and recognizing that they worked hard despite unusual challenges that they faced with the team. They concluded by saying: “This change is not an indictment of their performance as much as it is a recognition of the complete organizational reset that we feel is in the best interest of the team at this point.”

The draft will start on July 7.

Sharks Lose 5-4 in OT to Wild, Bordeleau Has Assist in NHL Debut

San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Merkley (6) skates past Minnesota Wild’s Kevin Fiala, center, and Jared Spurgeon (46) after Spurgeon scored the game winning goal in overtime at Xcel Energy Arena in St Paul on Sun Apr 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished their road trip with an overtime loss, 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild. Dmitry Kulikov, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Boldy, and Kevin Fiala scored for the Wild, with two goals from Spurgeon. Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for the win. Rudolfs Balcers, Matt Nieto, Noah Gregor and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 23 saves in the loss. With this win, the Wild clinched their playoff berth.

In this ten game losing streak, the Sharks lost six games by one goal. Two of their losses by two goals included empty net goals. That is a lot of close games. After this game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It’s crazy how close we are on a lot of nights. You know, I’ve never been through anything like this as a coach or as a player, you know, losing this many games. And I’m not sure some of those guys in the room have either, the veterans, and certainly my staff. So it’s our job to try and draw on the positives, especially with nine rookies in the lineup tonight, is trying to you know, provide a lot of teaching at this point of the season. There’s a lot of good going on and you’ll never see it in the wins a losses column right now.”

Sharks added a couple more rookies to the mix on Sunday, for a total of seven in the lineup. Forward Thomas Bordeleau had an assist, a shot and was 40% in face-offs. He had 13:14 TOI, skating at center with Noah Gregor and Rudolfs Balcers. Defenseman Santeri Hatakka had a shot, a hit and two blocked shots in 11:44 TOI, skating with Nicolas Meloche.

Of Bordeleau’s first game, Boughner said: “I thought he did a lot of good things. You know, I talked to him after the first. Of course, he was nervous and, you know, he said to me: ‘I’ll be better in the second period,’ but I thought he actually had a pretty good first period.” He went on with the analysis to say “I liked his game, I thought pretty responsible, and for a first game I thought he handled himself very well.”

Dmitry Kulikov scored the first goal of the game at 6:04 of the first period. Kevin Fiala dropped the puck to Kulikov high in the slot. Kulikov’s shot went through some traffic and past Reimer’s glove. Assists went to Fiala and Matt Boldy.

Jared Spurgeon made it 2-0 at 7:29 with a shot from the point that went through traffic and in. It seemed to change direction off of Brent Burns’ stick. Marcus Foligno got the assist.

Rudolfs Balcers got the Sharks on the board at 9:38. Thomas Bordeleau knocked the puck lose below the goal line and Balcers gathered it up and moved up high for a shot from just below the blue line. The puck went under Fleury and in. Assists went to Bordeleau and Noah Gregor.

Matt Nieto tied the game at 1:19 of the second period. Nick Bonino caught the puck after Burns knocked it away from the Wild in the Sharks’ zone. Bonino passed it across the neutral zone to a speeding Nieto who carried it the other way. He got as far as the face-off circle before taking the shot for his sixth of the season.

Matt Boldy got the lead back for the Wild at 6:37, cleaning up a rebound. Assists went to Kevin Fiala and Frederick Gaudreau.

Noah Gregor tied it back up at 11:11. Bordeleau helped out again, this time picking off a pass and getting the puck to Balcers to start the play. Burns took the shot from the point and Gregor knocked in the rebound. Burns and Balcers got the assists.

Nick Bonino scored a short-handed goal at 1:37 of the third to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead. Tomas Herlt broke the puck out and then turned to skate backwards just over the Wild blue line. Bonino went down the boards and Hertl made a pass across the ice to him. Bonino took the shot from bad angle and beat Fleury. Assists went to Hertl and Nicolas Meloche.

Keivn Fiala tied it for the Wild, redirecting a Jordie Benn shot from the point. There was some discussion of goaltender interference, as a Wild player did bump Reimer’s glove. After the game, Boughner explained that the Sharks considered challenging it but, with Reimer outside the blue paint, the call might go against them. Assists went to Benn and Gaudreau.

Jared Spurgeon scored the game winner at 1:05 of overtime with a wrist shot from just above the circle. Assists went to Fiala and Gaudreau.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 1-0 to Predators in OT

Nashville Predators’ Mattias Ekholm (14) celebrates with Ryan Johansen (92) after Johansen scored the winning goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (34) in overtime at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tue Apr 12, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their seventh in a row 1-0 in overtime to the Nashville Predators Tuesday. Ryan Johansen scored the lone goal of the game. Juuse Saros made 25 saves for the win. The Predators moved into the first wild card spot with the win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 40 saves for San Jose in the loss.

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen described what he saw from his team: “Good road game. We battled hard and we didn’t step back and did a lot of good things. We were in the game all game, just a tough result again. But I think a lot of good things for being on the road and playing a good team.”

Despite their current losing streak, the Sharks have been very close in many of their recent games, including this one. Sharks forward Rudolfs Balcers described the mood in the room after the game: “Frustrating, you know, trying to get that win here, it’s been too many losses. I mean, it’s just tough, you don’t score goals you don’t win a game. So, the guys are a little down.”

The Sharks put up a good fight, including fights in the first period and the third from Jeffrey Viel and Nicolas Meloche. In general, the team played well and certainly improved on their prior meeting with Nashville, when they lost 8-0. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“I think that we did a decent job of sort of establishing our game. I think I looked up at the clock at one point in time it was 11 or 12 minutes to play in the first period and the shots were 2-1. So, those were things that we wanted to come out and establish. You know, we stood up to them physically and [Couture] came out hitting, [Viel], Meloche, guys like that. We took the hit to make the play we gave hits, it was a physical grind and I thought we answered the bell.”

There were two goals from the Predators in the game, but the first one was called back when the Sharks challenged the play for offside. Ryan Johansen’s overtime goal came 3:18 into the the extra frame. Johansen took the shot from a bad angle and it seemed to deflect of off a Shark before slipping under Kahkonen and into the net. Assists went to Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg.

The Sharks were outshot by the Predators 25-41 through the game. In the face-off circle, they did well in the first period but by the end of the game were down to 43%. The Sharks killed two penalties, allowing just three shots. Their power play had one opportunity and got one shot on goal. Matt Nieto led the team in shots with four.

The Sharks play again on Thursday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 5:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Canucks, Canucks Sweep Season Series

Vancouver Canucks’ Alex Chiasson and fans celebrate his goal during third period action at Rogers Place in Vancouver on Sat Apr 9, 2022 (The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks’ Alex Chiasson and fans celebrate after Chiasson scores in the third period against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place in Vancouver on Sat Apr 10, 2022 (The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

VANCOUVER- The San Jose Sharks dropped their sixth in a row, a 4-2 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. The loss concluded the season series between the teams, with the Canucks winning all three games. The win put the Canucks within four points of a playoff spot. Jason Dicksinson, Conor Garland, Alex Chiasson and Luke Schenn scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko made 35 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl and Nick Bonino scored for the Sharks and Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves in the loss.

Like many of the Sharks recent losses, the game was close in many respects. Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner listed some of the missed opportunities that the Sharks had on Saturday:

“Had our scoring chances, again, I mean, I sound like a broken record but we had breakaways, we had three posts, you know, we had looks at the end in our six on five, six on four situation. You know, we had plenty of opportunities to score, we didn’t get it done.”

Sharks defenseman Ryan Merkley took a hit early in the first period after missing the mark with a drop pass in the Canucks zone. While he was getting to the bench, the Canucks went the other way and scored. He left the game until late in the period. Boughner discussed the hit and the play:

“I thought [the hit] looked a little high. Concerned about that, also concerned about the play. In the back of our net, that’s how we start the game. Things that we’re trying to get out of his game, out of our game. He’s a young guy. But I think that he got hit high, I looked at it a few times. He went through protocol, got checked out, it was good to see him come back healthy and ready to help us. But those are learning plays.”

Jason Dickinson gave the Canucks the lead just 2:05 into the first period. He intercepted a pass in the Sharks zone and went the other way two-on-one. He tucked the puck into the net at the last minute after Kahkonen had come too far out of the net.

Tomas Hertl tied it at 7:33 with a power play goal. Erik Karlsson set up Timo Meier for a shot from the circle. Demko stopped Meier’s shot but the rebound went right to Hertl on the other side. Assists went to Meier and Karlsson.

Conor Garland made it 2-1 at 4:49 of the second period. Garland picked up the puck at the Sharks blue line and went the other way with speed. He took the shot from the circle and to score his 15^th of the season. Alex Chiasson got the assist.

Nick Bonino, playing his 750^th NHL game, deflected a Brent Burns shot from the point to tie it at 18:37. Assists went to Burns and Noah Gregor.

Alex Chiasson made it 3-2 at 2:07 of the third period. He caught the puck low in the circle and put the shot through the short side. Assists went to Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers.

Luke Schenn scored a short-handed goal into and empty net with a second left in the game to make it 4-2.

The Sharks killed seven penalties in the game, allowing 12 shots to the Canucks power play. The Sharks power play had five opportunities and got one goal and five shots. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 55% of the draws.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:00 PM PT.

Doug Wilson Steps Down, Search For New Sharks GM Begins

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson at a news conference Sep 18, 2018 stepped down on Thu Apr 7, 2022 after 19 seasons as GM. Interim GM Joe Will is running the club until a new general manager is found (AP News file photo)

By Mary Lisa Walsh

SAN JOSE- Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson has been quietly but conspicuously absent for most of this season. Last Fall, shortly after being inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, Wilson began a leave of absence for health reasons. Assistant GM Joe Will stepped in. On Thursday, the Sharks announced that their GM of 19 years had stepped down. In a press release, Wilson said of his decision:

“Finally, I want to thank everyone who has reached out during my leave of absence. While I have made great progress over the last several months, I feel it is in the best interest of the organization and myself to step down from my current duties and focus on my health and full recovery. I look forward to continuing my career in the NHL in the future.”

Thursday morning, the Sharks released a statement from owner Hasso Plattner:

“I want to personally thank Doug for his 19 seasons as general manager of the San Jose Sharks. Doug and his staff produced remarkable results over a span that very few NHL teams can match, highlighted by our 2016 Stanley Cup run. Doug has been an integral part of this franchise since the team’s inception in 1991, and his impact – on and off the ice – will continue to be felt long into the future. Doug, and his wife Kathy, will always have a place as members of the Sharks family.”

The team in charge of the search is made up of Sharks President Jonathan Becher, Interim General Manager Joe Will and Hasso Plattner. It does not seem that anyone expected Wilson to make this decision at this time. Of their plans so far, Becher said:

“Quite honestly, this is a late-breaking thing, so to say we have a hard list of criteria written down and I can cite them all would be exaggerating. Joe and I are going to meet this afternoon, put together the outline of the kind of person we’re looking for, probably bat around even some original ideas.”

Accordingly, the Sharks have no set timeline for finding a new GM. While they do not expect to fill the position before the draft, they anticipate finding someone before the next season starts. While the search is described as an external one, they have not absolutely ruled out choosing someone from within the organization.

Becher was asked whether they anticipate any changes to the team culture or style of play. He said:

“The culture of San Jose as a destination, as a family environment, that is highly unlikely to change as part of that. The culture of winning first, winning in the right way, that is unlikely to change. As I said in my opening remarks, Doug’s fingerprints are all over this thing and they’re unlikely to disappear. But as candidates come through they’re likely to have ideas that we haven’t thought of before and that’s what we want to be open to.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner heard the news Thursday morning. He called the news “stunning,” and said: ” Doug means a lot to me personally, I know what he’s done with this organization and, you know, his legacy is tough to compare. I think that a lot of people in that dressing room, including myself, have a lot to be thankful to Doug for. It’s, I guess, a changing of the guard and we’re trying to get our head around that.”

Several Sharks players spoke with the media Thursday afternoon, expressing their surprise at the news and also gratitude for the support that Wilson gave to them through their careers in San Jose. Sharks captain Logan Couture said: “Definitely going to miss him. Hopefully see him down the road here and talk to him and all that. But, happy that he’s taking steps to, you know, get to where he needs to be and doing what’s best for himself and his family.”

Sharks Blank Kings 5-0, Hill Back in Net

San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton (21), goaltender Adin Hill (33), left wing Jeffrey Viel (63) and defenseman Brent Burns (88) celebrate a shutout victory over the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 12, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks shutout the Los Angeles Kings 5-0 Saturday night in San Jose. Five goals again? The Kings must be having nightmares about the Sharks and five-goal games. This time, those five were not all scored by Timo Meier. Meier did score one, as did Matt Nieto and Jonathan Dahlen. Tomas Hertl scored two. Adin Hill made 29 saves for the shutout win, his first start in six weeks. Cal Petersen made 22 saves for the Kings.

After the game, Sharks goaltender Adin Hill said: “It felt pretty good. I mean, the guys did a hell of a job in front of me tonight and kept chances to a minimum and boxed guys out and made my job simple.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the difference it makes to have “full time” players back in the lineup:

“It’s nice, we’re just rolling our bench, we get contributions from every line, and, you know, can spread ice time out. And we’re staying out of the penalty box, that’s a big difference. Tommy Hertl and [Couture] and those guys aren’t playing those heavy heavy minutes and that makes a big difference for their offense.”

Timo Meier scored at 9:19, on the power play. Brent Burns made a pass from below the goal line, through the traffic in front of the net, to Meier up in the slot. Assists went to Burns and Nick Bonino.

Matt Nieto made it 2-0 at 11:55. Bonino got to the puck behind the net, then made a reverse pass off the back of the net to Nieto by the post. Petersen was caught off guard by the change of direction and Nieto was able to put the puck over his pad for his fifth of the season.

Jonathan Dahlen scored at 19:11. Timo Meier stole the puck along the boards and centered it quickly for Dahlen in the slot.

Each team had a power play in the first period. The Sharks scored with their first shot on the power play. Their penalty kill allowed three shots to the Kings. The shot count for the period was 15-11 Kings.

Hertl scored his first goal of the night on the power play at 8:05 of the second. Timo Meier took a shot from above the circle, it went off the post, then bounced off of Logan Couture and back across the blue paint to the other side of the net. Hertl was there to put it away. Assists went to Couture and Meier.

The Sharks had a goal waved off for goaltender interference at 14:38. The initial shot came from Scott Reedy but it wasn’t clear who last touched the puck as it bounced around in a pile of bodies at the crease.

The Sharks had the only power play in the second period, and again scored on their first shot. The shot count for the period was 12-8.

Hertl scored his second at 15:04 of the third period. Alexander Barabanov played the puck off the skate of Rudolfs Balcers so that it went through the blue paint to where Hertl was on hand to put it over the line. Assists went to Balcers and Barabanov.

In the third period there were three penalties called, two that resulted in four-on-four play and one that came with just three seconds left. The shot count for the period was 6-4 Kings. In the face-off circle, the Sharks dominated the first period with 63% of the wins, but they dropped down to 31% and 33% in the second and third periods for a game total of 45%.

The Sharks will host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 5-4 in OT to Canucks, 5th Loss in a Row

Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser (6), Matthew Highmore (15), center J.T. Miller (9) and Conor Garland (8) celebrate Miller’s goal in overtime at the SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost 5-4 in OT to the Vancouver Canucks Thursday. Juho Lammikko, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, Connor Garland, and J.T. Miller scored for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for the win. Logan Couture, Timo Meier ad Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose, with two goals from Meier. James Reimer, making his sixth start in a row, made 22 saves in the loss.

In the first period, the Sharks were badly outshot, 15-4. In the second, the Sharks pushed back and had 15 shots to the Canucks’ 5, and in the third the Sharks had 9 shots to the Canucks’ 5. The Sharks had no shots in overtime. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“I think the shots were something like 24,25-10 in the last two periods. I thought we had a lot of good looks. So, yeah, that’s our identity, that’s how we gotta play. I think if we could play the way we played in the last two periods, we’re going to get our fair share of points down the stretch but we’ve got to start on time.”

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl summed it up as: “We need effort for 60 minutes otherwise we will not win games here.”

Brock Boeser scored the first goal for Vancouver at 14:54 of the first. Skating to the net, with traffic in front of Reimer, Boeser shifted around the traffic and found an opening. He put the puck in the to top corner on Reimer’s glove side. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Quinn Hughes scored at 17:40 to make it 2-0. Hughes took a shot from the point that bounced under Michael Highmore, back into the air and past Reimer.

Logan Couture got the Sharks on the board 3:35 into the second period. Couture seemed to be making a pass to Gregor but the puck hit the stick of Tyler Meyers and went into the Vancouver net. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Noah Gregor.

Juho Lammikko restored the Canucks’ two-goal lead at 10:49. Kyle Burroughs took a shot from high in the slot and the puck went off of Lammikko and into the net. An assist went to Burroughs.

Timo Meier scored on the power play to cut the lead back down to one at 14:03. Tomas Hertl passed it to him from below the goal line. Meier found a small gap to put the puck between Demko and the post. Assists went to Hertl and Alexander Barabanov.

Meier scored a second power play goal to tie it just 45 seconds into the third. This time he took the shot from above the right face-off circle. Demko had lost track of the puck and Meier had an open net to shoot at. Assists again went to Hertl and Barabanov.

Vancouver grabbed the lead back at 14:23 with a goal from Connor Garland. During a scramble in front of the net, Garland found the puck and put it in.

In the final second of the third, with the Sharks net empty, Alexander Barabanov tied the game with a shot from just above the goal line. Assists went to Meier and Brent Burns.

J.T. Miller scored the game winner during a delayed penalty with a shot into the top corner over Reimer’s stick. Assists went to Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.

The Sharks were dominant in the face-off circle through all three periods, winning 33 of 55 draws. The Sharks power play had seven shots, and their penalty kill gave up 3.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT against the Vegas Golden Knights in San Jose.

Sharks Lose 2-1 to Hurricanes; Sharks drop fourth game out of last five

Carolina Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis (24) attempts to poke the puck past San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) with Sharks’ Jaycob Megna (24) and Brent Burns (88) at PNC in Carolina on Sun Jan 30, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 2-1 in a nailbiter against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Vincent Trocheck and Andrei Svechnikov scored for Carolina. Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for the win. Rudolfs Balcers scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 27 saves in the loss.

Both teams were playing back-to-back games, though the Sharks had to travel as well. The Sharks were also asking their goaltender to play back-to-back games, as Adin Hill is out with an injury. This put added pressure on the Sharks defense. Of their performance, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said: “I thought all our D had a decent game back there. I think, you know, we were more physical tonight. We could’ve had better puck movement back there but they’re a pinching team hard all over the ice and that doesn’t give you a lot of options coming around that net.”

Of playing back-to-back games, Sharks goaltender James Reimer said: “Obviously, playing back-to-back is tough with travel and a short schedule. But that’s why you train all summer, so you can be ready for this and the training staff did a great job doing what they could to put humpty dumpty back together again and get ready to play tonight.”

The Sharks will face the Tampa Bay Lightning next, the team that beat them 7-1 in the game before this road trip started. It will be the Sharks’ last game before the All-Star break. Of the upcoming match, Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano said:

“I think we owe it to ourselves to finish this road trip the right way. We played hard, [Reimer] played back to back games, you don’t see that often. We got two of our best defensemen out, guys that played very hard back there and come in, you know, special teams has been good. I think we’re just at a point where you got to lay it on the line in terms of playing our best game against a really good team and then the break will be good for our team I think.”

The game against the Hurricanes was the opposite of Saturday’s high-scoring meet in Florida. The goals came few and far between Sunday.

Vincent Trocheck gave Carolina the early lead with a goal at 4:36 of the first period. Skating into the zone 1-on-3, Trocheck took the shot from just inside the blue line and beat Reimer on the glove side. Assists went to Ian Cole and Ethan Bear.

The Sharks held a slight lead in shots during the first period, 11-9. In the second, however, Carolina outshot San Jose badly, 11-4. The Sharks power play had one shot on goal, and their penalty kill gave up one shot and had two short-handed shots. In the face-off circle, Carolina prevailed through the first two periods, winning 52% in the first and 74% in the second.

Rudolfs Balcers tied the game at 3:36 of the third period. Balcers was skating across in front of the net when Nicolas Meloche took a shot from the point. The puck went off of Jonathan Dahlen and right to Balcers for the shot. Assists went to Dahlen and Meloche.

Andrei Svechnikov scored the game winner at 16:16 of the third. Brett Pesce took a shot from the blue line that went into a snarl of traffic right in front of the net. When the puck bounced back out, Svechnikov was the only one who could get to it. Assists went to Pesce and Sebastian Aho.

The Sharks made a good push in the third, out-shooting Carolina 13-9 and improving in the face-off circle to 52%.

Mario Ferraro missed Sunday’s game due to a mouth injury sustained in Saturday’s tilt against the Panthers.

The Sharks will play in Tampa Bay against the Lightning on Tuesday at 4:00 PM PT.

Meier Scores 5, Sharks Beat Kings 6-2; It’s Timo Time all the time

San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) raises the puck high, Meier scored five goals against the Los Angeles Kings on Martin Luther King Day at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Jan 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Timo Meier scored five goals in the San Jose Sharks (21-17-2) 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings (20-14-5) Monday afternoon. It was the first time in Sharks history that a Shark scored that many in one game. Rudolfs Balcers also scored, for the second game in a row. James Reimer made 39 saves for the win. Anze Kopitar and Mikey Anderson scored for the Kings and Jonathan Quick made 11 saves in the loss.

Apart from Meier’s stunning play Monday, the game also saw the Sharks’ struggling power play score twice, Tomas Hertl earn four assists and Erik Karlsson get three, including his 500th.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach talked about the game:

“I’m very happy and proud for Timo, I think he’s put a lot of hard work in. For our team, a team that hasn’t scored a lot and has played well of late and hasn’t gotten quite the results that I think we deserve, it was nice to see, as a team, one of our big guys go off like that.”

Timo Meier scored his first of the afternoon at 3:02 on the power play. From just inside the left face-off dot, Meier caught a cross-ice pass from Brent Burns and whipped into the net on the short side. Assists went to Burns and Erik Karlsson.

Rudolfs Balcers made it 2-0 at 15:56 of the first. Balcers sent the puck out of his zone to Hertl in the neutral zone. Hertl carried the puck along the blue line before shooting it right down the slot. Balcers caught it with the back of his stick and then shot it past Quick on the glove side.

Meier scored his second at 18:48, unassisted. While he skated across in front of the blue paint, the puck went off of his skate. He spun and gathered it up for a quick roofer.

He completed the hat trick 21 seconds later. Hertl dug the puck out of the corner and got it to Meier in a nice shooting spot. Meier’s shot did not go in but he moved to the other side of the net and cleaned up a rebound. Hertl got the assist.

The busy final minute was not over, as Anze Kopitar scored for Los Angeles with just 16 seconds left in the period. Kopitar took advantage of a turnover at the blue line and then charged into the zone for a shot from outside the face-off dot.

Meier started working a second hatty to start the second period, with another power play goal at 1:24. He caught a cross-ice pass from Erik Karlsson just outside the face-off dot and scored with a quick wrist shot. Assists went to Karlsson and Hertl.

Meier scored his fifth goal at 19:32 of the second. He caught a cross-ice pass from Hertl, brought the puck around a defender with a toe drag. He shot it past Quick’s glove, off the post and in. Assists went to Hertl and Karlsson.

Mikey Anderson scored the only third period goal to make it 6-2. Drew Doughty centered the puck from low in the zone and Anderson tipped it in. Assists went to Doughty and Viktor Arvidsson.

The Kings out-shot the Sharks 41-17 in the game. The Sharks had three power plays, scored on two of them with two shots. The Sharks’ penalty kill allowed four shots through three penalties. In the face-off circle, the Kings prevailed with 53% of the draws.

The Sharks next play in Seattle against the Kraken on Thursday at 7:00 PM PT.