Sharks Defeat Maple Leafs 5-3; Sharks undefeated at 4-0

The San Jose Sharks Logan Couture goes for the victory skate in front of the Sharks bench after scoring a second period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Fri Oct 22, 2021 (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their fourth in a row, beating the Maple Leafs 5-3 in Toronto. Sharks goals came from Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson and Jonathan Dahlen and two from Logan Couture. Adin Hill made 30 saves for the win. Jason Spezza, Ondrej Kase, and John Tavares scored for Toronto. Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves in the loss.

In a scoreless first period, the teams were tied in shots at 11 each. They each had one single-shot power play.

Logan Couture got the scoring started at 2:31 of the second period. He was the beneficiary of a dogged play by Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Off the face-off, Vlasic skated down and took a shot. The shot rebounded but he was already there to collect it, carry it behind the net to try for a wrap-around. That needed a little help and Couture was there to finish it off.

Jason Spezza tied it up with a quick shot from the slot at 3:27. The Sharks stopped several shots and attempts before Spezza’s got through. Wayne Simmonds got the assist.

Timo Meier gave the Sharks another lead less than 20 seconds later. His shot from the wall zipped through before Hutchinson could even see it.

Those three goals were scored in the space of just one minute and 13 seconds.

Ondrej Kase tied the game again at 10:44. After a flurry of activity in the Maple Leafs’ zone, Kase broke away for a clear shot at Hill. A little fake before a backhand shot tricked Hill and the puck went past the prone goaltender. The Sharks looked outmatched in the face-off circle, winning just 35% of the draws.

Erik Karlsson scored a little over a minute later to give the Sharks their lead back. Karlsson took the shot from the blue line and it went by a few bodies before sneaking into the short side top corner. An assist went to Middleton, who kept the puck in after Karlsson’s first shot and then got the puck back to Karlsson for the scoring shot.

The teams were tied in shots again in the second period, this time 12-12. In face-offs, the Sharks improved a bit, to a win percentage of 47. There were no penalties in the period.

25 seconds into the third period, Logan Couture passed the puck back from the goal line to the front of the net for Jonathan Dahlen. Dahlen put the puck in the net for San Jose’s fourth of the night. Assists went to Couture and Meier.

John Tavares got one back for Toronto at 13:39. William Nylander’s shot hit Adin Hill up high and spun into the air. It landed and hit Tavares’ skate before bouncing off of Middleton and into the net. Assists went to Nylander and Jake Muzzin.

Logan Couture scored into the empty net with 40 seconds left in the period. Andrew Cogliano got the assist.

The third period was by far the Sharks’ best in the face-off circle. They won 61% of those draws for a game total of 48%. Their power play got three shots on goal and their penalty kill gave up three shots. The final shot count for the game was 33-31 Toronto.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Boston against the Bruins at 10:00 AM PT.

Stars Hand Sharks Third Straight Loss

By Mary Walsh

AP photo: The Dallas Stars Mattias (13) Janmark was on the mark finding the back of the net twice Saturday against the San Jose Sharks here he goes for a victory lap with teammates after his second period goal

SAN JOSE- The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks by a score of 4-2 on Saturday afternoon. It was the Sharks’ third straight loss, all on home ice. It also leaves them still waiting to clinch a spot in the playoffs. It was a disappointing follow up to Thursday’s defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, but Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer saw some positives in Saturday’s game:

I think we played a pretty good game tonight. Obviously we didn’t win. It was one of those nights where every mistake we made ended up in our net and we couldn’t buy one at the other end for a couple periods. You gotta be careful and make sure you keep the proper perspective. Obviously we want to be winning every game his time of year but we’ve won a lot of games over the season where we played like that. So we just gotta build on the positive.

Sharks goals came from Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 13 saves on 16 shots. Two Dallas goals came from Mattias Janmark, and one each from Patrick Sharp and Jamie Benn. Antti Niemi made 34 saves on 36 Sharks shots. The shot discrepancy is not unfamiliar to the Sharks. After the game, Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said: “The last couple games I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job. That’s one of the top scoring teams in the league and we limited them to 17 shots against so obviously we can’t be satisfied when we still lose the game and get no points.”

The Stars’ Antoine Roussel was a conspicuous participant in the first six penalties of the game, including a fight with Tommy Wingels. His antics did slow the game down. After the game, Wingels said:

I don’t get it. It’s embarrassing, I don’t think that stuff belongs in the game. Every shift after that you’re going to try to fight again. The rest don’t want that, the players don’t want their teammates… the fans don’t want to see after every whistle you have to be broken up.

Those Roussel penalties were not the only ones in the game. In all, the Sharks had six chances on the man advantage, but did not score. Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said, of their power play:

You give our PP unit that much time, we’ve got to get one, you know. We’ve got to really find a way to produce, not just chances but goals. And we didn’t do a good enough job there. There were a few looks we had, we still need to be a little cleaner I think but this time of the year PKs are hard, they’re aggressive. You got to make those entries count, you got to make the faceoffs count, I didn’t win enough of those draws. They’re all parts where they really add to that momentum throughout the PP. Could do a better job, sure.

Missing from the Sharks lineup was Joonas Donskoi. He did skate in the warmups, which may indicate that his absence will not be a long one. Matt Nieto and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both missed their fifth games since injury on March 17. Dainius Zubrus moved up to the Couture line, and Micheal Haley played on the the fourth.

The Dallas Stars have sustained several significant injuries this season. They are presently without perpetual scoring threat Tyler Seguin and regular blue-liner Jason Demers. John Klingberg, talented young defenseman, recently returned from injury, giving his team a needed boost.

The first period was going by scoreless, with a penalty per team and a couple of scuffles. Brenden Dillon took a roughing minor against Antoine Roussel. Roussel then took a slashing minor against Micheal Haley. Roussel and Tommy Wingels finished with fighting majors around the 14 minute mark. At 15:28, the shot count was 12 to 3 Sharks. On the Stars’ fourth shot, the puck went over Martin Jones’ pad for Mattias Janmark’s 14th goal of the season. His shot from the blue line got a little help from passing traffic. Assists went to Jordie Benn and Ales Hemsky.

The Stars added to their lead 4:22 into the second. A miscalculation from Jones left him too far from the crease and the net open for Janmark. Tomas Hertl made an attempt to stop the goal, but he lacks experience as a goaltender. Assists went to Jason Spezza and Stephen Johns.

The first penalty of the game that did not involve Antoine Roussel came 6:40 into the second. The Sharks did not score. Joe Pavelski went to the box at 13:41 for boarding against Johnny Oduya. During the ensuing power play, Jason Spezza made a pass from below the faceoff circle across the ice and back. Patrick Sharp took the shot quickly and cleanly. Assists went to Spezza and Klingberg.

The Sharks had a late power play, at 15:35. Stephen Johns went to the box for elbowing Roman Polak. With four seconds left in the period, Klingberg was called for roughing, and Thornton received the same.

Seventeen seconds into the third, Stars captain Jamie Benn was called for hooking Joe Pavelski. As a result, the teams payed four on three for 1:40. The Stars went right to the man advantage when Dylan DeMelo was called for slashing, just as the Sharks power play expired.

Before the DeMelo penalty expired, Joel Ward put the Sharks on the board with a short-handed goal. Antti Niemi handled the puck behind the net and he made a pass up the wall. After the pass, Joel Ward skated in behind him and seemed to nudge him from behind. Niemi went down and was thus unable to get back to his crease before Ward could put the puck in an open net.

The Sharks closed the gap further at 5:48 with a goal from Tomas Hertl. Taking advantage of busy traffic in the slot, Brent Burns made a pass to Pavelski, who carried it a bit and tried a backhand shot. Hertl skated in behind him and caught the rebound for his 19th goal of the season. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

Alex Goligoski was caught hooking at 10:09, putting the Sharks back on their thus-far ineffective power play. It was not effective.

The Stars took another penalty at 13:24, this time to Mattias Lanmark for tripping DeMelo. Still no power play goal.

The Sharks took their time out with 1:35 left in the game, and set up for an offensive zone faceoff with their net empty. Dallas wont the faceoff and iced the puck. The Sharks made better use of the next faceoff and moved the puck around in the Dallas zone, but with 1:08 left in the game, the Stars’ Patrick Sharp took control of the puck, passed it to Jamie Benn and Benn put it in the empty net.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the visiting Los Angeles Kings at 7:00 PT.