NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sharks Karlsson open to trade to a contender; Canucks coach Boudreau could be gone at anytime; plus more NHL news

San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) works for the puck against Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson says while he likes playing in San Jose he would consider a trade to a team that is going to go deep in the post season. Karlsson came to San Jose from Ottawa back on Sep 13, 2018 and hasn’t played more than 56 games since he was acquired. That said this season Karlsson leads NHL defencemen with 15 goals, 47 assists and 62 points.

#2 Things have not gone so well for the Vancouver Canucks (18-23-3) the Canucks have lost four of their last ten games are sixth place in the Pacific Division. Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau knows all too well that the Canucks have had a rough season and that his time at head coach could be ending soon as saying he doesn’t know what is going on and also saying how great the game is.

#3 Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov who said he could not wear the Pride themed sweater designed for the pre game skate on Tuesday night. Provorov said that he couldn’t wear it for religious reason being a Russian Orthodox. Provorov’s number 9 sweater became the hot seller after the story went viral. Critics of Provorov’s decision not to wear pride sweater said he had no problem wearing a military sweater he wore 2021.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made his return as netminder on Friday night after missing seven games and stopping 46 shots in the Penguins win over the Ottawa Senators 4-1. Jarry suffered a lower body injury. The Pens have been struggling a bit lately especially after losing defensemen Jeff Petry and Kris Letang who are on the injured list as well.

#5 Max Pacioretty of the Carolina Hurricanes who tore his Achilles tendon last Thursday night had to helped off the ice when he was skating near Minnesota Wild’s end of the ice almost behind the net when he tore the tendon for the second time since he had surgery for it back on Aug 9th. Pacioretty will have a second surgery for it. Pacioretty teammate Brady Skjei said “It definitely put a damper on the win a little bit,”

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Beat the Canadiens 3-1 in Montreal

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished the road trip with a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Sunday. It was the Sharks’ first road win since October 28. Sharks’ goals came from Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski. Jeff Petry scored the Canadiens’ lone goal. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 39 saves for the win, while Canadiens goalie Carey Price made 26 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

We had a little bit of desperation to our game. We got the first goal, I think, which relieved some pressure. I thought we had a pretty good start in Ottawa and couldn’t find a goal early and got behind. We’ve been chasing the game a lot on this trip. So, you know, we were in front. And I thought the only thing I would have liked to have done better was extend it in the second. We had three or four chances to maybe extend that lead by one and make the third maybe a little bit easier on ourselves. But, a lot of good stuff.

Justin Braun opened the scoring at 2:55 of the first, giving the Sharks that early lead. He intercepted a pass to Michael Chaput near the Montreal blue line, took a couple of strides into the zone and let fly a long shot at the net. It beat Price for an unassisted goal, Braun’s first of the season.

The second goal came from Brent Burns, a power-play goal at 10:29. The Sharks were playing with a two-man advantage after Mike Reilly cross-checked Barclay Goodrow, and then Michael Chaput caught Logan Couture with a high stick just under a minute later. Erik Karlsson sent the puck to Joe Pavelski who was down by the goal line. Pavelski sent the puck quickly back to Burns in the slot. Burns took a moment to line his shot up and sent a missle into the top corner. It was Burns’ fourth goal of the season, with assists to Karlsson and Pavelski.

Over the course of the first period, the shot count was nearly even, with the Sharks leading 11-9.

Jeff Petry got one back for Montreal 12:15 into the second period. The Canadiens entered the zone three-on-two but the Sharks’ defense pushed them back to the outside. The Canadiens regrouped. On a broken play with a failed pass, Petry found the puck in front of the net and put it by Jones’ glove. Assists went to Jonathan Drouin and Andrew Shaw. Logan Couture got the puck below the goal line and sent it up the boards to Brent Burns, who found Joe Pavelski in the slot for a quick shot through on short side. It was Pavelski’s 17th of the season with assists to Burns and Couture.

During the second period, the shots were again very close, with the Sharks leading 11-10. During the third period, the Canadiens outshot the Sharks 22-7, but Martin Jones was up to the task.

After the game, Jones said: “I thought we played a way better game, despite the shots, it’s the two-on-ones and the odd man rushes that have been hurting us. So I thought we did a great job tonight.”

The Sharks next play on Wednesday in San Jose against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:30 PM PT.