Sharks Lose to Wild 3-2 in OT Again

nhl/wild.com photo: The Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon (46) nets the overtime game winner past San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) at Excel Energy Center in Minnesota

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished a four-game road trip Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. The last time these teams played, in San Jose, the Sharks came back to tie the game and lost 4-3 in overtime. This time, the Wild made the comeback but the general result was the same. The Sharks initially took a 2-0 lead with goals from Joakim Ryan and Chris Tierney. The Wild answered with goals from Matt Cullen, Eric Staal and Jared Spurgeon. Wild goaltender Devin Dubnyk made 26 saves for the win, while Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 38 saves in a losing effort.

“Their game got better as the night went on, ours kind of went the other way a little bit,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made a number of critical saves during the game, keeping it closer than it looked like it should be. After the game, the Jones said: “They forechecked us hard, we had a tough time getting out of our zone with any kind of possession. So you just end up kind of dumping it out and defending a lot.”

“We took some penalties, I didn’t think we broke out well. I thought lines got caught on long shifts. Had opportunities to change, and guys stayed out there longer than they should have. That usually leads to tired legs,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture.

Joakim Ryan scored at 14:00 of the first period. Barclay Goodrow carried the puck into the zone and quickly made a drop pass to Jannik Hansen. Hansen found Ryan through the skates of a Minnesota defender and Ryan didn’t waste time getting the shot away. It was Ryan’s third of the season.

Chris Tierney’s goal came from a two on one 2:28 into the second period. Kevin Labanc carried the puck in along the boards and found Tierney in the slot for a perfect shot to Dubnyk’s right. It was Tierney’s 15th goal of the season and his 10th on the road.

The Sharks held that two-goal lead until the final minute of the second period, when Jared Spurgeon carried the puck in from the red line and got a shot off just above the faceoff dot. Matt Cullen was coming in fast and was able to tip it perfectly over Jones’ shoulder. Assists went to Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno.

The Sharks maintained the one goal lead for most of the third period, but they were on their heels. They took two penalties to the Wild’s one and they were outshot 10-6. With just over five minutes left in regulation, Eric Staal scored with a quick wraparound shot. Assists went to Ryan Suter and Jason Zucker.

Jared Spurgeon’s overtime winner came after Brent Burns had trouble clearing the puck out of the zone. Spurgeon was right there to pick up the puck and pass it across the slot to Zucker. Martin Jones had to move across to cover Zucker but could not get back when Zucker passed the puck back to Spurgeon.

With about five minutes left in the third period, Chris Tierney left the game briefly, but he returned for overtime. Justin Braun was out with the flu and Tim Heed played with Brenden Dillon while Dylan DeMelo slotted in next to Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Sharks next play in San Jose against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Sharks give up lead to Oilers, but storm back to win 6-4

Photo credit: nhl.com/sharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks took a three-goal lead, gave it up and fell behind and then came back to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-4 at the SAP Center on Saturday night.

In a topsy-turvy contest, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski earned four points, while defenseman Joakim Ryan scored his first two NHL goals, including the game-winner late in the third period. Tomas Hertl and Barclay Goodrow rounded out the Sharks goal-scoring and goalie Aaron Dell made 27 saves for the win.

Zack Kassian scored two goals for the Oilers. The other two coming from Leon Draisaitl and Brandon Davidson. Goalie Al Montoya made 24 saves.

Ryan had waited some time for those goals.

“It took me about 45 games to get a goal so definitely nice to get that first one and then getting that second one is even better,” Ryan said after the game.

Of Ryan, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

I was really happy for him. He shows up every day, doesn’t say much, just works hard. You know, we’ve been asking our defensemen all year all of them to get up in the play and help us create offense. You know, playing with Burnzie it’s easy to kind of sit there and just watch him go. It was nice to see Jok take advantage of that. I mean Todd and that staff know Burnzie, you know they really key on him when we play them and tonight Jok recognized that and jumped into a few holes at the right moment and showed a lot of maturity.

The Sharks had an impressive first period. They outshot the Oilers 14-9. Despite taking one penalty, they outdid their opponent in every respect from hits to takeaways.

Joakim Ryan opened the scoring with his first NHL goal just 1:15 in. Joonas Donskoi, deep in the offensive zone, turned quickly and made a pass back to Ryan on the blue line. Ryan’s quick wrist shot was partially screened by Oilers defenders moving in front of their goalie. Assists went to Donskoi and Pavelski.

Pavelski added another at 7:21. Pavelski’s goal was listed as unassisted, but it did get a little help from an official. E88’s pass to E25 seemed to deflect off the official’s skate, making 25 reach to catch it. Then when 25 tried to pass it back to 88, the puck again changed direction in the vicinity of the official’s skate, causing it to go into the side of the net, where Pavelski picked it up and put it in the net.

The Sharks also started the second period well. Jannik Hansen forced a turnover near the Sharks blue line, which allowed Barclay Goodrow to pick up the puck in the neutral zone. He skated into the Oilers’ zone and took his shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 2:30 of the second. It was Goodrow’s fifth goal of the season. Hansen got the lone assist.

At 11:11 of the second period, Chris Tierney and Mikkel Boedker flubbed a two-on-one in the Edmonton zone. The puck ended up in neutral ice and was picked up by Zack Kassian for a breakaway. His goal was unassisted.

After the game, Boedker said: “I tried to make aplay up towards our bench for the guys jumping on. And I missed and unfortunately it ended up in our net. The same with Tierns, he was trying to make a play. Those things happen but we’ve got to limit those mistakes.”

The Sharks got their only power play of the game at 9:46. The Edmonton penalty kill was effective, just like it has always been on the road so far this season.

Aaron Dell faced a Connor McDavid breakaway a couple of minutes after that penalty expired, as he escaped the Sharks in the neutral zone and was almost at the Sharks’ net before anyone caught up to him. Dell was able to get in front of the shot and the rebound was picked up by his defenseman.

The Sharks goaltender was less successful when faced with another breakaway at 14:20. Kassian broke away during a poorly executed change on defense and scored a second goal. Assists went to Yohann Auvitu and Kris Russell.

By 18:02 of the period, the Sharks’ game seemed to be coming entirely unraveled. They had only taken four shots by the time Leon Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s third goal. An assist went to Oscar Klefbom.

The Sharks ended up getting credit for five shots in the second period, while the Oilers had nine, just like they did in the first period.

Just 1:21 into the third period, a Draisaitl pass across the goal mouth found defenseman Brandon Davidson and his shot gave the Oilers their first lead of the game. Assists went to Draisaitl and Michael Cammalleri.

Tomas Hertl responded at 3:41. He scored his 15th of the season with a backhand shot that tied the game. Assists went to Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc.

The Oilers had another chance on the power play at x, when Couture was called for goaltender interference. They had almost killed that off when Brent Burns lost part of his stick and did not seem to realize it. He was called for playing with a broken stick, giving the Oilers a seven second five-on-three.

By the time the Sharks killed those penalties off, there was just under four minutes left in regulation.

With under three minutes left, Ryan scored again. He skated down the slot and took a shot. That one did not go in, but it generated a perfect rebound for his to put home. Assists went to Pavelski and Timo Meier.

At 18:48, Pavelski put the puck in the empty net to give the Sharks a 6-4 lead. Assists went to Tierney and Melker Karlsson.

Jannik Hansen, after sitting out for seven games, drew into the lineup after Joel Ward was sidelined in Thursday’s game against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Ward’s injury is described as day-to-day and, from the look of the hit, is in the shoulder region.

Up Next: The Sharks next play on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 5:00 pm PT.

Sharks Preseason 2017: Sharks Host Knights, Win 5-2

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By M. Walsh

SAN JOSE- The  San Jose Sharks hosted the NHLs newest team on Thursday, defeating the Las Vegas Golden Knights 5-2. Sharks goals came from Kevin Labanc, Joe Pavelksi, Melker Karlsson, Jannik Hansen and Tomas Hertl. Knights goals came from David Perron and Teemu Pulkinen.

San Jose veterans seen in Thursday’s preseason match included Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, Martin Jones, Chris Tierney and Melker Karlsson. Noteable rookies seen included Timo Meir, Joakim Ryan and Kevin Labanc. The game winner was scored by Joe Pavelski, but the first Sharks goal was Labanc’s. Vegas did not have their presumed starting goaltender in net, Marc-Andre Fleury. Instead, they had Calvin Pickard, backed up by Maxime Lagace. Aaron Dell backed up Martin Jones for San Jose.

The Sharks held the Knights to a single shot for the first ten minutes of play, putting four of their own on net. Near the end of the first, Julius Bergman went to the box for tripping, giving the Sharks their second penalty in the period. By then, San Jose had six shots on goal, and Vegas took their second of the period during the power play.

A couple of minutes later, veteran Melker Karlsson went to the box for hooking. Joakin Ryan handled himself pretty well on the penalty kill, keeping the puck safely below the goal line while reinforcements arrived. The Sharks managed a couple of short-handed chances, including a breakaway for Tomas Hertl, but Vegas goalie Calvin Pickard kept it scoreless.

By the end of the period, the shots were 9-2 Sharks.

The Knights took their first penalty a few minutes into the second period. At first, the Sharks power play did not seem any more effective than the Vegas one. The Knights had their own breakaway, but Jones stopped that and when play went the other way, Kevin LaBanc found himself alone with the puck in the slot. His wrist shot found its way in for the first goal of the game at 4:13. Assists went to Timo Meier and Chris Tierney.

At 8:58 of the second, during a 5 on 3 power play, Joe Pavelski scored San Jose’s second. The first assist went to Burns for his feed from below the goal line. A second assist went to Dylan DeMelo. Curiously, Pavelksi had put one in the net moments earlier from a bounce off the safety netting. The whistle had already gone and no one really believed it was a goal.

Before the second penalty expired, Jannik Hansen picked up a rebound and put it behind Pickard for the Sharks’ third goal. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Joakim Ryan.

The fourth Sharks goal came from Brenden Dillon all the way up at the blue line. Chris Tierney opted to pass it back to him instead of taking a shot from the faceoff circle. That was the team’s first even-strength goal of the game.

The second period ended 4-0 Sharks, with the shot count at 19-8.

The Sharks had an early power play in the third period, but it was negated by a goaltender interference call against Joe Pavelksi. With 37 seconds left in the Pavelski penalty, Timo Meier went to the box for slashing. The Knights started the five on three in the offensive zone. After three tries at cycling the puck around the boards and back to David Perron on the goal line, the Knights broke the shutout. The Knights scored again before the power play expired, a simple-looking play off the faceoff that left Teemu Pulkinen unguarded and free to shoot from the slot.

Tomas Hertl got one back in a nice play with Timo Meier. The two of them skated in and, as Meier took a shot, they switched sides and Hertl picked up the rebound to make it 5-2. A second assist went to Joakim Ryan.

During the final 34 seconds of the game, Brandon Mashinter and Stefan Matteau engaged in some fisticuffs.

Final score, 5-2 San Jose. The Sharks will play their next preseason game on Saturday in Arizona.

Barracuda drop 4-3 overtime decision to Roadrunners in final regular season home game

Photo credit: San Jose Barracuda Twitter (@sjbarracuda)

San Jose — The San Jose Barracuda lost to the Tuscon Roadrunners 4-3 in overtime at SAP Center on Thursday night.

The Barracuda and Roadrunners competed against each other for the final time in the 2016-17 AHL regular season. The Barracuda players sported their alternate orange jerseys in the final regular season home game. The game included fan pack giveaways, season ticket holder tribute videos and a huge “thank you” to the fans who have supported the Barracuda throughout the season.

The Roadrunners took a 1-0 lead at 11:08 of the first period. Tyler Gaudet picked up a pass from Conor Garland and put it into the net, beating Troy Grosenick for his fifth goal of the season.

Jeremy Morin was called for cross-checking at 10:24. John McCarthy then tipped in a Joakim Ryan shot to notch his 19th goal of the season, a power-play goal, tying the game 1-1 just 20 seconds later.

Both teams skated to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes. The Barracuda outshot the Roadrunners 12-5.

The Barracuda went ahead 2-1 just 4:30 into the second period. Buddy Robinson fired a bullet type shot past Adin Hill’s left ear for his 16th goal of the season.

The Barracuda outshot the Roadrunners 20-10 and brought a 2-1 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes.

Things started to get chippy with 9:34 left in the third period. Julius Bergman and Joe Whitney dropped the gloves for an action-packed fight.

The Barracuda made it a 3-1 game with 6:37 left in the period. Dan Kelly tried to take shots at Eric Selleck and Jarred Tinordi. After reviewing the play, the officials told Selleck to sit in the box. Danny O’Regan scored his 23rd goal of the season on the power play.

The Roadrunners pulled within one as Morin scored his 14th goal of the season against his former team. Jamie McBain followed with a game-tying goal, his eighth of the season, with 40 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

Things got even more heated in the extra period. Chris Mueller wristed a shot into the net, but Grosenick collided in the crease and the puck seemed to have crossed the goal line. Despite the alleged violation, the officials ruled it as a good goal. Mueller’s game-winner, his 19th of the season, lifted the Roadrunners (28-31-8-0) to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Barracuda (43-16-3-5). Hill finished with 24 saves for Tuscon.

Grosenick made 21 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.

“We live and learn,” Grosenick said. “So I did and we’ll move on and I’m not too worried about it.”

“We got to learn how to close these games,” McCarthy said. “It’s disappointing.”

“Yeah,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about the “weird” ending. “Not the one we wanted, that’s for sure…The whole thing was about details and we forgot about them…We got caught deep on the tying goal and had a turnover on the second goal…We were going pretty good, but you lose a game, and you learn a lesson, hopefully.”

In preparation for the playoffs, Sommer shared a couple of thoughts on the Barracuda.

Sommer said: “We’re a skating team so we can’t get mixed up in there. They’ve got seven or eight guys and we got a couple of them…The other night, we outshot them 52-25 or something so I think once the playoffs come around, we’ll be better.”

Notes 
Sommer was voted the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach for the 2016-17 season.

Sommer thanked the media members after they congratulated him on winning the award.

Grosenick was voted the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for 2016-17.

Barracuda forward Danny O’Regan was voted the winner of the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as an outstanding rookie for 2016-17.

“It was definitely a great honor to win the award,” O’Regan said. “I think it was a really cool award…It’s a good test to me and my team and what we did this year as a team.”

Despite receiving the award, O’Regan told the media that he’s not sure if he’ll have a better chance in getting called up by the Sharks again and staying with the team.

“It’s always tough getting in the zone with that team,” O’Regan said when asked about the Barracuda’s power play. “We just need to work hard to get some pucks back in the other unit.”

Up Next
The Barracuda conclude the regular season against the Bakersfield Condors (32-28-5-1) at Rabobank Arena on Saturday night. The action starts at 6:00 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.

San Jose Barracuda Wednesday game wrap: Meier scores twice as Barracuda crush Ontario 5-1

sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward Timo Meier (28) finds the back end of the net as he scores on the Ontario Reign’s defenceman Matt Roy (3) at SAP Center on Wednesday night in AHL action

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda dethroned the Ontario Reign with a 5-1 victory at SAP Center Wednesday.

The defense was strong in the opening period. It was a goaltending duel as Barracuda goalie Troy Grosenick and Reign backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff made the necessary saves to keep the game scoreless.

Things got chippy late in the period when Zack Stortini dropped the gloves with Paul Bissonnette for an action-packed fight. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting and two-minute minors for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Barracuda and Reign skated to a scoreless tie after 20 minutes. Shots were 16-9 in favor of San Jose.

Timo Meier broke a scoreless deadlock halfway through the second period. Meier collected a pass from Barclay Goodrow and fired the puck into the net, beating Zatkoff short-side for his 13th goal of the season.

The Barracuda took a 2-0 lead when Danny O’Regan sent a pass to Meier, who tipped it into the net to beat Zatkoff for his second goal of the game and 14th of the season.

The Barracuda outshot the Reign 28-16 and led 2-0 after 40 minutes.

The Reign cut the Barracuda’s lead in half when T.J. Hensick scored a power-play goal — his 14th overall — after Colin Blackwell went to the box for hooking at 13:48 of the third period.

However, the Barracuda extended its lead to 3-1 with 7:29 left in the period. Tim Heed fired a shot from the right point past Zatkoff for his 14th goal of the season.

Joakim Ryan’s shot missed the net, but Buddy Robinson tipped it in for his 15th goal of the season, extending the Barracuda’s lead to 4-1 with 4:03 left in the period.

48 seconds later, Adam Helewka collected a pass from Joakim Ryan and put it into the net for his 13th goal of the season, expanding the Barracuda’s lead to 5-1.

The Barracuda (42-14-2-5) beat the Reign (33-20-10-0) by a score of 5-1. Grosenick finished with 23 saves in a San Jose victory.

Zatkoff made 33 saves in a losing effort for Ontario.

“They (Barracuda) don’t always go in for you,” head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about his thoughts on tonight’s power play opportunities. “But they get a lot of good looks. I think we’re leading the whole American Hockey League in power-play percentage…As long as you’re getting the looks and you’re getting some quality chances on it…The PP (Power Play) and PK (penalty kill) ebbs and flows are normal…I don’t think there’s a lot of stuff to worry about. We only had three of them tonight.”

Notes
O’Regan was named to the 2016-17 AHL All-Star Team.

Sommer celebrated his 60th birthday. He was born on April 5, 1967 in Oakland, Calif.

Sharks reassigned Meier to the Barracuda.

Up Next
The Barracuda head to Stockton Arena to face the Stockton Heat (32-25-4-2) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.