Sharks Fall 4-3 to Avalanche, Kane scores 500th Point

The San Jose get swept in the two game set with the Colorado Avalanche losing on Thursday 3-0 and on Sat May 1, 2021, 4-3 in Denver (@Avalanche photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their final road game of the season to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4-3. Nathan MacKinnon, Andre Burakovsky, Patrik Nemeth and Mikko Rantanen scored for Colorado. Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves for the win. Alexander Brabanov, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose. Josef Korenar made 39 saves in the loss. Evander Kane scored his 500th NHL point in the third period with an assist on Logan Couture’s short-handed goal.

Josef Korenar made 39 saves on 43 shots Saturday. After the game, Sharks captain Logan Couture talked about the goaltender:

“I thought he kept us in the game. He was probably our best player for the majority of the night. I thought it could have been a lot more than the four that they got. So, he battled for us. We made it a game at the end there but wish we’d helped him out a little bit more throughout the game.”

The first period ended scoreless, with Colorado leading in shots 15-10. There was just one penalty, taken by the Sharks. The Avalanche power play got one shot on goal.

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, on a power play at 4:25 of the second period. It was their first power play goal in 28 power plays. Barabanov caught a rebound out in the face-off circle and shot it by Dubnyk on the blocker side. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson.

Nathan MacKinnon tied the game at 13:08 of the second. The teams were playing four-on-four with Brent Burns and Dan Renouf in the box for penalties taken less than 20 seconds apart. Conor Timmins made a pass across the ice to MacKinnon who was closing fast on the net without anyone in his way. Assists went to Timmins and Mikko Rantanen.

Andre Burakovsky gave the Avalanche the leads at 16:06. Burakovsky caught the puck out of an offensive zone face-off, skated toward the slot and took the shot through some traffic to score. An assist went to JT Compher.

The Sharks killed one penalty in the second period, but were out-shot 12-4 in the period. The Colorado power play had four shots in the second. The Sharks power play had the one shot.

Patrik Nemeth made it 3-1 for Colorado at 9:05 of the third period. His slap shot from the blue line zipped through traffic and into the net. Assists went to Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon.

Logan Couture cut the lead by one with a short-handed goal at 9:55. Evander Kane snatched up a fumbled puck at the blue line and skated away from Makar to get a shot on goal. Logan Couture followed in a hurry and put the rebound away.

The Avalanche challenged the goal for goaltender interference. Kane did make contact with Dubnyk without actually entering the blue paint. The NHL did not consider it enough to call back the goal.

Colorado took back their two-goal lead with 4:26 left in the period. Mikko Rantanen’s shot from the blue line went through a lot of traffic and in. Assists went to Devon Toews and Conor Timmins.

With the Sharks net empty, Brent Burns took a quick shot from the blue line at 17:47. The puck went off of Tomas Hertl for his 16th of the season. Assists went to Burns and Barabanov.

The Sharks made a good final push at the end but it was not enough. The Sharks finally won the shot battle for the period, 11-8. The Sharks had one power play and a bit in the third, which added two shots to their tally. Colorado had just one shot on their power play before Couture scored and the unsuccessful challenge ended the power play. The Sharks won just 41% of the face-offs in the game.

The Sharks next play on Monday, in San Jose. They will face the Avalanche again at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Shut Out 4-0 by Coyotes

Arizona Coyotes right winger Phil Kessel scored a hat trick in the third period and goes for the victory skate in front of the Arizona bench on Sat Mar 27, 2021 at Gila River Arena in Glendale (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 4-0 Saturday, thanks to a hat trick from Phil Kessel, a goal from Clayton Keller and a 34 save shut-out from Adin Hill. Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves for San Jose. The game was Patrick Marleau’s 1,756th, tying him with Mark Messier for second all-time in NHL games played.

Curtis Gabriel took a five minute major at 7:02 of the third period, with an open ice hit that was called for interference. He was also given a game misconduct. That was his third penalty of the game, and the Sharks’ second penalty of the period. In addition to those, the Sharks started the period killing most of a late second-period penalty . They killed off all of those and two more penalties in the third.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that the game really hinged on those third period penalties:

“We held them to 13 shots after two periods, albeit we were down 2-0. I think that, you know, defensively we had a couple breakdowns and they had a bunch as well. We couldn’t capitalize on ours. But then, you spend the whole third period killing, it’s very tough obviously to catch up.”

The first period was scoreless. The Sharks had one power play and managed 6 shots with the man advantage. Overall, the Sharks outshot the Coyotes 17-9.

The Sharks out-shot the Coyotes in the second period as well, 9-5, but gave up two goals. The first came at 5:49 after Clayton Keller jumped on a neutral zone turnover. He skated to the other end and had a clear lane to shoot at Dubnyk.

Phil Kessell scored his first of the game on the power play at 14:16. He caught Oliver Ekman-Larssen’s pass at the point and then skated in, taking a shot from just above the face-off circle. Christian Fischer was right in front of Dubnyk creating an excellent screen. Assists went to Ekman-Larssen and Keller.

The Coyotes had two power plays in the second period, but got credit for just one shot in those power plays.

Phil Kessel’s second goal of the game came just as the third Sharks penalty expired. Kessel caught a rebound and then pushed it past Dubnyk’s leg. Assists went to Christian Dvorak and Alex Goligoski.

The Sharks used a coach’s challenge on the goal, arguing that Kessel pushed Dubnyk’s leg out of the way with his stick before pushing the puck in. The NHL did not see it that way and allowed the goal. That unsuccessful challenge triggered the Sharks’ fourth penalty of the period.

After the game, Dubnyk talked about that call:

“I was told that that was Phil Kessel’s follow-through, continued motion of a follow through. Which, you guys watched the play, I watched the play a bunch on the jumbotron. If you’re going to sit here and honestly tell me that’s the guy’s follow-through, that’s tough. And if he would have shoved my pad into the net with the puck underneath it, would it have counted? If the answer is no then the answer is that shouldn’t have counted either.”

Kessell’s third goal came at 17:28 into an empty net. He got that puck after a failed neutral zone pass from Erik Karlsson. Assists went to Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.

The Coyotes out-shot the Sharks in the third, 13-8. The Sharks won 53% of the face-offs in the game, and took a total of 29 penalty minutes to the Coyotes’ 6.

The Sharks next play Monday against the Minnesota Wild in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 5-2 to the Blues

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-2 Saturday, at the SAP Center in San Jose. Blues goals came from Jordan Kyrou (2), Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron and Vince Dunn. Ville Husso made 29 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl and Dylan Gambrell scored for San Jose, and Devan Dubnyk made 16 saves in the loss.

The Sharks were penalized for a face-off violation in the third period, when the game was still tied 2-2. Patrick Marleau was taking the draw and the linesman took issue with the way he did it. Of the call, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. I think everybody in the rink, including their team, our team, I think, the other linesman, the refs, I think everybody was shocked. It was a brutal, brutal call. It really in my mind, cost, it turned the whole game around.”

Patrick Marleau, who could not recall being penalized under this rule before, said: “Obviously he thought I cheated or turned too quickly on the draw. So I guess that was the reasoning behind the penalty.”

Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk was also asked about that penalty. He said:

“It’s 2-2 in the middle of the third period and you get a penalty called that I don’t think I’ve ever seen called except for maybe the first year, [in] exhibition season, when they first made the rule. And it’s embarrassing, it’s Mickey Mouse.”

Dylan Gambrell scored for San Jose at 2:33 of the first. The puck came to him high in the slot after Sorensen and Brent Burns chased it down behind the net.

St. Louis tied it up at 3:32 when Vince Dunn scored his fourth of the season. Dunn’s shot from the blue line looked likely to go wide but instead it hit Erik Karlsson’s shin pad and deflected in. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Ryan O’Reilly.

Kyrou gave the Blues the lead at 6:45. O’Reilly got control of the puck below the goal line and passed it up to Kyrou. Kyrou put the puck under Dubnyk in in the net. Assists went to O’Reilly and David Perron.

Mike Hoffman put the puck in the net near the 12 minute mark. The goal was called back after the Sharks challenged the play as offside.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks led on the shot clock 11-5. There was just one penalty in the first, to St. Louis. The Sharks had two shots on that power play.

Tomas Hertl tied the game 8:10 in to the second period. Nikolai Knyzhov’s pass from the defensive zone found Timo Meier on the other side of the neutral zone. Meier’s pass found Hertl speeding into the Blue’s zone. There was no one in the way to stop him as he took the shot.

The Sharks took two penalties in the second period and their penalty kill allowed just one shot to the Blues. The Sharks led in shots again, 10-8.

O’Reilly scored just 12 seconds into the power play that resulted from the face-off violation penalty. His shot from the face-off dot found its way through traffic and in. Assists went to Dunn and Perron.

Kyrou scored his second of the game at 15:51. Dubnyk followed the puck across to the right and Torey Krug passed it across the ice. Kyrou, who had just evaded Ryan Donato, tapped the puck in. Assists went to Krug and Perron.

David Perron scored into an empty net at 18:01 to make it 5-2.

The Final shot count was 31-21 Sharks. In the face-off circle, the Sharks showed improvement over recent games, winning 59%. Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl both won 67% of their draws.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 5-4 to Golden Knights

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-4 to the Golden Knights at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Wednesday. Vegas goals came from Shea Theodore, Cody Glass, Nicolas Hague, Ryan Reaves and Alec Martinez. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the win. Matt Nieto, Mario Ferraro, Kevin Labanc and Evander Kane scored for the Sharks. Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves in the loss.

The Sharks went into the third period with a 3-1 lead, but gave up four goals in the final frame. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how the game came undone:

“I think we pissed away a couple points. You know, the game got emotional and intense and physical, and I didn’t mind that at all. I think we did a good job sticking up for each other, those are things we want to keep doing. A little tough there when we lost [Couture], Hertl and Timo got called off the bench for concussion protocol after that hit all at the same time so we started juggling lines.”

Boughner did not consider that the real turning point. Rather, it came before that: “They didn’t have much going on the first six, seven minutes of that period and we had a horrible, horrible too many men call.”

Sharks Captain Logan Couture explained how it felt to let the game get away from them in the third:

“We played better. Should have won tonight, gave away points, so I mean it sucks to take away the moral victory in a game like this when you need to win and should have won. We’re in a position to win in the third period so, shitty feeling right now.”

Shea Theodore started the scoring at 3:45. Max Pacioretty gathered up an offensive zone turnover and passed it to Theodore at the point. Theodore’s slapshot sailed by Dubnyk, who may have been screened by some traffic.

San Jose took three penalties in the first period and their penalty kill allowed four shots. On the power play, they had three shots. For the period, the Sharks led in shots 11-10.

Matt Nieto got the Sharks on the board at 6:21. Timo Meier sent a pass from the goal line right onto Nieto’s stick by the blue paint. Assists went to Meier and Tomas Hertl.

The Sharks took a lead at with a goal from Mario Ferraro at 7:57. John Leonard’s shot went off of the post before Ferraro coraaled it behind the net and wrapped it around behind Fleury. Assists went to Leonard and Evander Kane.

Ryan Reaves put the puck in the net for Vegas at 11:00, but William Carrier was on top of Dubnyk when the puck went in. The Sharks challenged the goal and, after a review, it was called back for goaltender interference.

Kevin Labanc scored the Sharks’ third of the night at 15:07. Evander Kane attempted to deflect a shot from Ferraro on the blue line. When that didn’t go, he found it again and swept it in front of the net for Labanc to put away. Assists went to Kane and Ferraro.

The Sharks achieved their second period goal of avoiding penalties and the only one went to the Golden Knights. They outshot the Golden Knights 16-11 in the period, but did not get any shots on their power play.

Cody Glass scored for Vegas on the power play at 6:43 of the third period. John Leonard was in the box because his team was caught with too many men on the ice. The puck actually went off of Mario Ferraro’s skate. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Mark Stone.

Tomas Hertl and Mark Stone came to blows in front of the Sharks net moments later. Stone had delivered a hit on Timo Meier in the neutral zone. Meier was called away form the game for concussion protocol. That was Hertl’s first NHL fight.

Nicolas Hague tied the game at 10:03 with a shot right down the slot from the blue line. The assists went to Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.

Logan Couture and Jonathan Marchessault fought shortly after that goal. That left the Sharks without Meier, Hertl of Couture for several minutes.

Ryan Reaves gave Vegas the lead at 12:27 with a deflection that bounced past Dubnyk. Assists went to Tomas Nosek and Zach Whitecloud.

Alec Martinez scored what would be the game winner at 14:46, on another power play. Labanc was in the box for tripping. the Sharks were just eight seconds away from killing the penalty when Tomas Nosek made a pass across the ice to Martinez. Assists went to Nosek and Theodore.

Evander Kane brought the Sharks back within on goal at 15:54 with a power play goal. Erik Karlsson took a shot from the point. Kane was there to battle for the rebound and tuck it in.

Vegas outshot San Jose 16-6 in the third period. The Sharks got two shots in on their one power play and the Golden Knights got seven shots in two power plays.

The Sharks won just 45% of the face-offs in the game. Of skaters to take more than five draws, only Logan Couture won more than 50%.

The Sharks next play on Friday against the St. Louis Blues at 6:00 PM PT, back in San Jose.

Sharks Lose 2-1 to Golden Knights; Dubnyk stands on head despite loss

The San Jose Sharks goaltender Devon Dubnyk stops a shot by the Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch while on his back at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Mon Mar 15, 2021 (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell to the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 2-1 Monday. Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for the win. Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how an otherwise good game from the Sharks was thwarted by Marc-Andre Fleury’s brilliant play:

“I thought there was a lot of good things to our game. Obviously, in the second period we took on a little water. I thought that Duby was good. I thought that we had lots of chances early on in the game. I thought Fleury was a difference-maker. You know, we had a few break-aways, we hit a few posts. Could have been a little bit of a different game, but he kept them going, he gave them some momentum.”

Boughner went on to say: “I’m proud of the guys, I thought we fought hard, I thought we did a lot of good things so we just gotta get back to work here tomorrow and try and find a way to score some more goals against these guys.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture talked about how the team seems to be getting better goaltending lately:

“The last little while, I think that, you know, we started to pick each other up. We started to play better for each other, play to our system, play better defensively. When a team plays better, tighter defensively, the goaltender’s always going to look better and make more saves. So, yeah, I think we’re starting to do that.”

Max Pacioretty scored the only first period goal, on the power play at 8:35. Evander Kane was in the box for tripping Jonathan Marchessault. It took the Golden Knights just 12 seconds to score. They won the face-off and moved the puck aroud the outside once before Pacioretty scored, from just beyond the face-off dot. Assists went to Mak Stone and Shea Theodore.

The first period shot count was 11-8 Sharks. In the face-of circle, Vegas won 58%.

There were no goals and no penalties in the second period. There was, however, a surprising shot discrepancy, with the Sharks getting credit for just 4 and Vegas notching 16 shots. Oddly, the face-offs went the other way, with the Sharks winning 60% of them.

Mark Stone added a goal for Vegas just 1:02 into the third period. Nikolay Knyzhov did a good job stcking with Pacioretty as he carried the puck down the wall, but he couldn’t stop him from making a pass to Mark Stone who was trailing. No one was in Stone’s way to prevent the shot. Assists went to Pacioretty and Nicolas Hague.

The Golden Knights had a power play when Tomas Hertl was called for sendig the puck over the glass. The Sharks penalty kill allowed just one shot.

Around the 12-minute mark, Evander Kane had a breakaway chance but Marc-Andre Fleury came way out of his net for the poke check. Fleury’s gamble paid off and Kane couldn’t get a shot off.

Not long after that, Kane was sent to the penalty box for interference on Marchessault. Vegas had 3 shots on that power play.

Timo Meier got the Sharks on the board at 14:29. Meier held the puck in the slot as if he would shoot on the forehand, luring Fleury out of the net. Once the goalie was out of the blue paint, Meier switched to the backhand and dragged the puck around Fleury’s outstretched leg to tuck it in the net. Brent Burns got the assist.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender with just under two minutes left. The Sharks had a 25 second power play at the end when Max Pacioretty was called for interference on Timo Meier. That was the only penalty called on Vegas. The Sharks had a few fair chances in those 25 seconds but could not tie it up.

Logan Couture commented on the difficulty of using the extra skater in the last minutes of the game:

“Just at the end there, the puck was bouncing too much to create anything on that 6 on 5 and power play. Which is unfortunate ‘cuz I think we would have had some looks. Just couldn’t get anything tape-to-tape and the puck seemed to be spinning, bouncing, so, tough one to swallow right now for sure.”

The shot count for the period was 12-9 Vegas. The Sharks led in face-off wins at 52% for the third period and in the game.

The Sharks will play the Golden Knights again on Wednesday in Las Vegas, at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Shut-Out Ducks 6-0

The San Jose Sharks celebrate one of their six goals against the Anaheim Ducks on Fri Mar 12, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim (photo by AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks shut out the Anaheim Ducks 6-0 in Anaheim Friday. Sharks goals came from Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc and Fredrik Handemark. Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves for the shut-out win. Friday was Devan Dubnyk’s third start in a row for the Sharks. Ducks goaltender John Gibson made 19 saves on 24 shots before being relieved by Ryan Miller, who made 2 saves on 3 shots.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It was good to see the guys at the end of the game, still with the lead, playing hard and blocking shots and doing the things that we talk about. It was a great team win and Duby was our best player when we needed him.”

The Sharks scored the only goal in the first period. Just back from a COVID-19 protocol absence, Tomas Hertl scored on the power play at 7:57. Brent Burns faked a shot just below the blue line, then passed to Hertl at the side of the net. Hertl’s shot went off of a defender and in. Assists went to Brent Burns and Timo Meier, also just back from injury. Cam Fowler limped off the ice mid-penalty kill after blocking an Evander Kane shot with his skate. He did return to play.

The Sharks had just 5 shots in the period, to the Ducks’ 11. Each team had one power play in the period and just one power play shot each. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 53% of the time. Just past the mid-point of the period, Kurtis Gabriel and Nicolas Deslauriers fought, evidently as a response to Gabriel’s hit on Jacob Larsson.

The second Sharks goal came early in the second period, from Evander Kane 37 seconds in. Brent Burns carried the puck through the neutral zone and down almost to the goal line before making a pass across to Kane as the forward skated to the net. Assists went to Burns and Kevin Labanc.

The Ducks out-shot the Sharks in the second period as well, 16-11. There was only one penalty called in the second, against Anaheim. The Sharks had no shots during that power play. In the face-off circle, the Ducks won 65% of them.

The third period was busier than the previous two with the Sharks scoring three more times. The first of those came on the power play at 5:58, from Erik Karlsson. His shot came right down the slot from the blue line about half-way into the power play. Assists went to Labanc and Logan Couture.

Timo Meier scored at 8:03. About half way up the boards, Meier dragged the puck around the Ducks defender and let the shot fly before Gibson could adjust. Assists went to Kane and Mario Ferraro.

Kevin Labanc scored his sixth of the season just over a minute later. The play looked a lot like Kane’s goal earlier, but this time with Kane carrying the puck deep into the zone and finding Labanc on the other side of the net. Assists went to Kane and Ferraro.

The Ducks pulled Gibson after that goal and put Ryan Miller in net to finish the game.

Fredrik Handemark scored his first NHL goal in his second NHL game at 14:59. No assists were awarded on the goal but Patrick Marleau skated in with Handemark, helping out by pressuring the nearest Ducks defender, Sam Steel.

The Sharks bounced back in the face-off circle for the third period, winning 53% again. They also out-shot the Ducks in the third, 11-7. They had just the one shot on their power play, the only one of the period.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, again in Anaheim against the Ducks at 7:00 PM PT.

Golden Knights Shut-Out Sharks 4-0

The Vegas Knights Marc Andre-Fleury (left) stops the puck with Nick Holden (22) and the San Jose Sharks Kevin LeBanc (62) behind Fleury in first period at SAP Center on Sat Mar 6, 2021 (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday. Goals came from Mark Stone, Alex Tuch (2) and Reilly Smith. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the shut-out win. Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves in the loss for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that the team lost some energy after the first period: “We were a little bit one-and-done. The Sharks are a team that played five games in the last eight days and you could see that as the game wore on.”

Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk said: “I thought offensively we generated a lot. Flower [Vegas goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury] played phenomenal and he’s been pretty good all season.”

Vegas scored their first goal fairly late in the first period, at 15:02. Mark Stone scored it, off of a two on one. Assists went to Chandler Stephenson and Max Pacioretty.

Vegas outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period and won 64% of the face-offs.

Alex Tuch scored both second period goals. First, Tuch caught a turnover at speed in the neutral zone and raced away for a shot before anyone could get in his way. It was his 11th of the season.

He scored the second at 16:38. Devan Dubnyk had just knocked the puck away but into some traffic. It bounced clear just as Tuch skated to the net and he knocked it in with a backhand.

The Sharks took one penalty in the first period but gave up no shots to the Vegas power play. Vegas won the face-off battle again at 53%, and had 14 shots to the Sharks’ 9.

The final goal of the game came in middle of the third period. Alex Pietrangelo won a board battle below the goal line, allowing Jonathan Marchessault to send the puck to a waiting Reilly Smith up in the slot. The puck went over Dubnyk’s glove and in the net.

The Sharks led in third period shots 7-4 and won 57% of the face-offs. Each team had a power play in the second period. The Sharks had one shot on their power play and Vegas had none.

The Sharks’ forward roster was reduced by one more for Saturday’s game. Timo Meier was out with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day. The Golden Knights’ Mark Stone left during the second period with an injury and did not return. Ryan Reaves, who had to be helped off the ice during Friday’s game with a lower body injury, was back in the lineup Saturday.

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

Sharks Fall 5-4 in OT to Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights right winger Mark Stone (61), defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) celebrate left wing Max Pacioretty (67) overtime goal against the San Jose Sharks on Fri Mar 5, 2021 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-4 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights Friday in San Jose. Vegas goals came from Max Pacioretty (2), Reilly Smith, Chandler Stephenson and Alex Tuch. Oscar Dansk made 25 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Brent Burns, Matt Nieto, Logan Couture and Matt Nieto. Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves for the Sharks, after taking over for Martin Jones. Jones made five saves on eight shots in the first 22 minutes.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how his team reacted to an altercation between Ryan Reeves and Kurtis Gabriel:

“I thought that worked in our favor. I know they scored right after but we had a sense of togetherness on the bench and we never stopped attacking. It didn’t matter that they got that fourth goal. We had nine minutes or whatever that was at that point that we were determined to find a way to tie the game up and to get a point and to try to get two in overtime.”

Vegas scored first at 5:48. William Karlsson carried the puck around behind the net as if to do a wrap around, drawing Martin Jones to the left side of the net. Karlsson then passed the puck through the blue paint to Reilly Smith for a shot into a wide-open net. Assists went to Karlsson and Jonanthan Marchessault.

Vegas doubled their lead at 7:03. Abouncing puck elluded the Sharks defenders and landed just right for Chandler Stephenson to shoot it between Logan Couture’s skates and into the net. Assists went to Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty.

The Sharks outshot the Golden Knights in the first, 9-6. The teams traded power plays, with two apiece. The Golden Knights had two shots on the power play and the Sharks had just one. Vegas won 63% of the face-offs.

Vegas added to their lead just 2:57 in to the second period. Max Pacioretty’s shot from just below the blue line went right under Martin Jones and in. Assists went to Alec Martinex and Ryan Reaves.

The Sharks pulled Jones out and put Devan Dubnyk in net. Dubnyk warmed up in game with a quick glove stop on Pacioretty.

Brent Burns got the Sharks on the board at 6:01 with a power play goal. His shot went in and out so quickly that play continued until the Situation Room interrupted with a goal horn. It had hit camera just under the crossbar. Assists went to Ryan Donato and Timo Meier.

Matt Nieto brought the Sharks within one at 12:43. After knocking down an arial pass from Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone, Nieto carried the puck in two on one with Joel Kellman. Nieto took the shot instead of passing.

The shots were very closein the second, at 12-11 for Vegas. The teams again had two power plays apiece. The Sharks just had one shot in their power plays and that was Burns’ goal. Vegas had four shots through their second period power plays. The Sharks improved in the face-off circle, winning 52% of their draws.

Alex Tuch added a fourth goal to the Vegas tally, 26 seconds into the third period. A defensive attempt to knock the puck off of William Carrier’s stick merely swept it across to Tuch for a quick shot over Dubnyk’s shoulder. Assists went to Carrier and Keegan Kolesar.

Logan Couture trimmed that Vegas lead back down at 6:23. Moments before the goal, Couture intercepted a pass in the Sharks zone and then carried the puck the other way. A few tidy passes later, Couture took a shot right up the slot and past Oscar Dansk. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Kevin Labanc.

With 7:56 left in the game, Ryan Reeves sustained a skate cut as he took Kurtis Gabriel into the boards. He had to be helped off the ice.

The Sharks had a late power play in the third period, and got two shots in there but did not tie the game until Kevin Labanc scored at 18:53. A long pass to the neutral zone from Brent Burns made its way all the way down before the Dansk tried to swat it away. Nieto was there to knock it in.

Overtime lasted 1:25 and ended with a goal from Max Pacioretty. A backhand pass from Alex Pietrangelo went through the slot to Pacioretty for a quick shot. Dubnyk could not get across in time to stop that one. Assists went to Pietrangelo and Mark Stone.

The teams were tied in shots in both the third and overtime periods, with eight each in the third and one each in overtime. The face-offs overall went to the Golden Knights at 57%.

The Sharks play the Golden Knights again on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose.

Blues Beat Sharks 7-6 in 13 Goal Barn-Burner

Photo credit: @StLouisBlues

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-6 to the St. Louis Blues Saturday. Blues goals came from Marco Scandella (2), Sammy Blais, Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern and Ryan O’Reilly. Jordan Binnington made 15 saves in 30:34 of ice time, and Ville Husso made 19 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier (2), Evander Kane (2), Logan Couture, and Kevin Labanc. Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Evander Kane said:

“Any time you score six goals you usually feel you should win the hockey game. I think we gave them a lot, I’d say probably four of those seven goals, we literally gave them the puck. So that was disappointing. And when you make that many mistakes through the course of a game, you know, sometimes scoring six isn’t going to get the job done.”

Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the four leads the Sharks earned and lost again in the game: “We couldn’t get any momentum going, after we got up, after we got those leads. So.. I mean it’s tough to build momentum when the next shots goes in the net every time.”

Timo Meier scored with the first shot of the game seven seconds in. Meier caught a puck just as it came of the boards and took the shot without hesitation. It deflected off of a defenseman and bounced past Jordan Binnington for Meier’s third of the year. Assists went to Rudolfs Balcers and Dylan Gambrell.

Marco Scandella tied the game at 6:08 with a shot from the middle of the blue line. The puck went past three skaters and into the net on Devan Dubnyk’s glove side.

Evander Kane took the lead back for the Sharks with a power play goal at 10:11. Logan Couture tried to get a shot off from close in but the puck rolled away. Binnington could not corral it and it ended up on Kane’s stick for a tight angle shot. Assists went to Couture and Brent Burns.

At the end of the second, the shots were 12-6 Sharks, with three of those Sharks shots coming on the power play. The face-offs heavily favored the Blues at 63%.

Sammy Blais tied it again 3:34 into the second period. A failed clear by Kevin Labanc ended up on Vince Dunn’s stick for a quick shot from the blue line. Blais collected the puck before it got to the goaltender and swept it around and in with a backhand. Assists went to Dunn and Ryan O’Reilly.

Meier scored again to give the Sharks their third lead of the game at 6:43. With the Sharks on the power play, Meier kept the puck in at the line, carried it down the boards as far as the face-off circle, and shot the puck into the top corner. Kevin Labanc got the assist.

The Blues came right back with another tying goal at 7:28. David Perron had the puck up high in the slot. With a number of skaters to choose from, he found Brayden Schenn coming in late and wide open. Schenn’s shot beat Dubnyk on the glove side.

Kane scored his second of the game at 10:34. Kane got control of the puck in the neutral zone and carried it in with one defenseman to contend with. He took a shot from the top of the face-off circle. the Blues made a goaltending change and put Ville Husso in the game. Binnington made a stop at the Sharks bench and then another to give Dubnyk a shove on his way off the ice.

Zach Sanford tied it up again with 1:44 left in the period. Sanford came up with the puck below the goal line, skated to the net and poked it past Dubnyk. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Torey Krug.

The Sharks led in shots again in the second, 20-16, with six shots coming on the power play. They had three power plays in the period and one penalty kill. The Sharks lost ground on already bad numbers in the face-off circle, winning only 21% of them.

The third period saw three goals in the first 3:20. Mackenzie MacEachern gave the Blues their first lead of the game 1:17 into the third period. The Sharks were on the power play when MacEachern and Zach Sanford broke away in a two-on-one for a short handed goal.

Kevin Labanc tied it back up at 2:13. John Leonard made a nice back-hand pass from almost behind the net to set up Labanc for the shot. Assists went to Leonard and Meier.

Ryan O’Reilly scored the eleventh goal of the game at 3:20. Justin Faulk’s hard shot from the top of the circle created a rebound through traffic for O’Reilly to nudge in, reaching through a thicket of bodies.

Logan Couture tied it up again at 6:31. Brent Burns took a shot from the blue line and it deflected off of Couture half way down the slot. It bounced and spun over Husso. Assists went to Burns and Mario Ferraro.

Oskar Sundqvist gathered the puck up behind the net and sent it past two Sharks to Marco Scandella coming in on the other side of the blue paint. Scandella directed it in by the post for the seventh Blues goal at 7:14.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender at the end but could not tie it up again. The Sharks improved somewhat in the face-off circle during the third period, winning 47% which still put the Blues ahead. The Blues had two shots through two power plays and led in shots for the period 9-8.

The Sharks next play on Monday in San Jose, against the Colorado Avalanche at 7:30 PM PT.

Tomas Hertl was out for COVID-19 quarantine, which triggered the rescheduling of Thursday’s game. Erik Karlsson and Radim Simek both returned from injury for Saturday’s game. Karlsson had six shots on goal and Simek had one. The team wore throwback jerseys from the 90s, with the wide grey stripe.

Sharks Beat Blues 5-4

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks beat the Blues 5-4 in St.Louis on Saturday. Sharks goals came from Evander Kane, Logan Couture (2), Rudolfs Balcers, and Patrick Marleau. Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for the win. The Blues goals were scored by Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Ryan O’Reilly and Jordan Kyrou. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in the loss.

Despite allowing another four-goal second period to the Blues, the Sharks persisted for the win. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about coping with penalties and questionable calls: “We stuck with it and we had some great kills, character kills, and we found a way to get three points out of these two games. It could have easily been four.”

Evander Kane ended a four-game goal drought at 7:24 of the first, giving the Sharks the first lead of the game. Logan Couture tried to move the puck from the boards to Kane but it went to Zach Sanford instead. Sanford turned it right over to Kane, with some help from Kevin Labanc. Kane was ready to spin, settle the puck and shoot before Binnington could get set.

Couture doubled the lead at 10:10. Kane chased the puck down behind the net and sent it up ice to Kevin Labanc, who found Couture in front of the net with a quick pass. Couture tapped it right in.

The first period ended with the Sharks leading in shots 10-9, and in the face-off circle at 54%. The Sharks took one penalty in the first, and the Blues had one shot on that power-play.

The second period was much busier than the first. The Sharks added to their tally at 3:48. Rudolfs Balcers scored his first as a Shark by stopping above the blue paint and waiting for a pass from Tomas Hertl, who was below the goal line. Despite the Blues defense around him, Hertl got the pass cleanly to Balcers for a one-timer past Binnington.

The Blues scored at 4:45. Jordan Kyrou, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocking his path, bounced the puck off of the post from below the goal line. It went right to Brayden Schenn for a shot past Devan Dubnyk on the blocker side. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Mike Hoffman.

Patrick Marleau gave the Sharks a three-goal lead at 8:18. Evander Kane sent the puck under a leaping Matt Nieto to Marleau on the far side of the net. Marleau tapped it in behind Binnington.

The Blues came right back with their second goal at 8:37. Torey Krug took a shot from the Blue line that went off of Zach Sanford. The goal was reviewed for a high stick but was allowed. Assists went to Krug and Schenn.

Ryan O’Reilly’s one-timer from just above the goal line cut the Sharks lead to one at 15:30. The Sharks were short-handed as Mario Ferraro left the ice abruptly after losing his helmet. Assists went to Hoffman and Kyrou.

Kyrou tied it up ith just 1:19 left in the second. Kyrou skated in, two-on-one with David Perron. Perron drew the defensive attention so Kyrou took the shot and beat Dubnyk on the glove side. Assists went to Perron and O’Reilly.

The Blues led on the second-period shot clock, 15-10, and in the face-off circle, at 54%. As in the first, the Sharks took one penalty but the Blues didn’t get any shots out of it.

Couture, just on the ice after a line change, gave the Sharks a new lead at 11:51 of the third. His shot from the face-off circle slipped through traffic at the net before Binnington could find it.

The Blues pulled their goaltender with just over a minute left but the Sharks held on. The Blues took their first penalty in the third period, but it was offset by a penalty to the Sharks as well, for some four-on-four play. The Sharks took a second penalty in the third, but their penalty kill did not allow any shots. The final shot count was 32-27 Blues, and the face-offs went to the Blues 52% of the time.

The Sharks next play on Monday, back in San Jose, against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 PM PT.