Sharks Fall 5-4 to Stars; SJ’s fourth loss in last five games

After being down 4-1 the San Jose Sharks closed the gap on the Dallas Stars but in the third period a goal by the Stars Joe Pavelski (center) at 7:44 proved to be the game winner celebrates with center, celebrates with Miro Heiskanen (4) and Jason Robertson (21) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Apr 2, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell 5-4 to the Dallas Stars Saturday after nearly erasing a three-goal first period deficit. Jason Roberston, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jani Hakanpaa, Roope Hintz, Jason Roberston, and Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves for the win. Nick Bonino, Brent Burns, John Leonard and Logan Couture scored for San Jose. Kaapo Kahkonen made 10 saves in the first period and James Reimer made 14 saves in the loss.

Nick Bonino gave the Sharks an early lead, scoring off a rebound from a Noah Gregor shot. The goal was scored just 1:25 into the first period. Assists went to Gregor and Erik Karlsson.

Vladislav Namestnikov tied it up just 25 seconds later. Tyler Seguin intercepted a pass behind the Sharks net and centered it for Namestnikov, right on the doorstep.

Jani Hakanpaa gave the Stars the lead at 8:11. Tyler Seguin tried for a shot from up above the circle, but the puck went off the heel of his stick and wound up on the other side of the ice, on Hakanpaa’’s stick. Assists went to Seguin and Namestnikov.

Roope Hintz made it 3-1 a couple of minutes late. John Klingberg flung the puck at the net as Hintz and Pavelski skated to the net. The puck went off of Hintz’s leg and in for his 30^th goal of the season. Assists went to Klingberg and Joe Pavelski.

Jason Roberston made it 4-1 in the final second of the period. The Stars pulled their goaltender after an icing call against the Sharks. Robertson scored by banking the puck off of the goaltender. Assists went to Denis Gurianov and Tyler Seguin.

The Sharks replaced Kahkonen with Reimer after the first period.

Brent Burns scored for San Jose at 7:53 of the second period, going to the net and trying to make a pass across the slot to Chmelevski. The puck went off of a defender’s skate instead and bounced into the net. Assists went to Chmelevski and Jaycob Megna.

Joe Pavelski scored what would be the game-winner, 7:44 into the third period. Pavelski and Hintz skated into the Sharks zone with the Sharks hot on the heels of the puck carrier Hintz. Hintz got a pass away to Pavelski in the slot and Pavelski lifted the puck past Reimer on the blocker side. Assists went to Hintz and Robertson.

John Leonard narrowed the lead at 15:21 with his first goal of the season. After Erik Karlsson threw the puck into traffic at the net, Leonard found the puck on a rebound and shot it past Wedgewood. Assists went to Karlsson and Mario Ferraro.

Logan Couture brought the Sharks within one at 18:32. He pushed the puck over the line after Sasha Chmelevski doggedly pushed the puck past the goaltender’s skate at the corner of the net. Assists went to Chmelevski and Gregor.

The Sharks power play had one opportunity but got no shots on goal. Their penalty kill successfully killed three penalties, giving up just three shots. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 47% of the draw.

Mario Ferraro and Jonathan Dahlen were both back in the lineup, recovered from injury.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at home, against the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 PM PT.

Barracuda Fall 6-5 to Heat in Shootout

Tough close loss for the San Jose Barracuda against the Stockton Heat at SAP Arena in San Jose on Fri Mar 11, 2022 (image from the San Jose Barracuda)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Barracuda (18-28-2) lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Stockton Heat (32-9-4) on Friday. It was the eighth straight home loss against the Heat for the Barracuda. Emilio Pettersen, Jakob Pelletier, Mark Simpson, Walker Duehr and Matthew Phillips scored for Stockton. Adam Werner made 20 saves for the win. The Barracuda got goals from Joachim Blichfield, Eban Weinger, Artemi Kniazev, John Leonard. Zachary Emond made 34 saves in the loss. It was Artemi Kniazev’s first pro multi-goal game.

The first period was scoreless with the Barracuda outshooting the Heat 14-8. The penalty box saw some traffic with the Heat taking three penalties to the Barracuda’s two. The last of those penalties were matching roughing penalties to Connor Mackey and Jasper Weatherby.

The second period saw a flurry of scoring, starting with Joachim Blichfield’s goal at 2:07. Kyle Topping set Blichfield up for the one-timer with a circle to circle pass. Assists went to Topping and Santeri Hatakka.

Stockton’s Emilio Pettersen tied it up less than 30 seconds later, redirecting a shot from Mark Simpson.

Eban Weinger scored to give San Jose the lead back at 4:53, muscling his was past Kevin Gravel to get to the net. Assists went to Sasha Chmelevski and Jake McGrew.

Jakob Pelletier tied it again at 6:05. Matthew Phillips slipped by Ryan Merkley and then chased the puck down to make a diving pass across to Pelletier for the shot.

San Jose took their third lead of the game at 16:51 on their third shot of the period. Stockton’s Nick DeSimone lost his footing as he carried the puck behind his net and went down. John Leonard was right behind him to pick up the loose puck and carry it up the boards. Leonard passed it to Artemi Kniazev, who had just entered the zone. Kniazev took the shot and beat Werner on the stick side. Assists went to Leonard and Hatakka.

The shot count was 13-3 Stockton. The only penalty of the period went to Kyle topping for slashing, at 19:29. That put the Barracuda on the penalty kill to start the third period.

The Barracuda killed that off and then added to their lead with another goal from Kniazev. John Leonard made a short pass up the ice to where Kniazev was moving to the net. Kniazev took the shot from low in the circle and beat Werner through the five hole.

Mark Simpson cut San Jose’s lead back to one at 5:24. Justin Kirkland took a shot from the blue line and Simpson cleaned up the rebound.

John Leonard scored on the power play to make it 5-3 San Jose with a backhand at 6:11. That was the first power play goal against Stockton in 17 tries. Chmelevski and Kniazev got the assists.

Walker Duehr scored for Stockton at 9:53. His spin shot went off of the post. Kevin Gravel got the assist.

Matthew Phillips made it a tie game at 18:21 on a power play with the Stockton net empty. Phillips got his stick on the the puck as it slid out of a scrum at the net. Assists went to Jakob Pelletier and Juuso Valimaki.

The Barracuda were outshot again in the third period, 17-5. The overtime period was lively with a lot of chances for both teams but no goals. The Sharks had three shots and Stockton got none on net.

The first six shooters in the shootout scored, but the goaltenders found their groove in the next two rounds and stopped four shooters. In the sixth round, Johannes Kinnvall scored and Werner made a save on Jake McGrew to win it.

The Barracuda will play again on Saturday, in Stockton against the Heat at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Coyotes, Kessel Scores 900th Point

The Arizona Coyotes Phil Kessel (81) tries to quickly handle the puck against the San Jose Sharks Marc Edouard Vlasic (44) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Fri May 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks gave up a 2-0 lead to lose 5-2 to the Arizona Coyotes Friday. Phil Kessel scored his 900th NHL point in the game with a break-away goal in the third. Other Coyotes goals came from Victor Soderstrom, Conor Garland, Michael Bunting and Jan Jenik. Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for the win. Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier scored for San Jose and Josef Korenar made 29 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked a little about what he had seen from the younger players during the last several games: “They’re a little bit in and out, and then they’re still learning the ropes and how to come every night and prepare and be consistent at the NHL level.” Boughner mentioned Noah Gregor, Rudolfs Balcers and Alexander Chmelevski as players in this category.

Erik Karlsson scored the only first period goal at 3:47. With some traffic in front of Kuemper, Karlsson took a shot from high in the slot. Tomas Hertl got an assist.

At the end of the first period, John Leonard fell, face-first, into the boards by the benches. After some attention from the trainer he was helped from the ice and into the dressing room. He did not return to the game. There were no specific updates about his condition after the game. Boughner did say that “he looked like he was in pretty rough shape,” during the first intermission.

The Sharks out-shot the Coyotes 9-6 in the first, with two of those coming on the power play.

The Sharks’ second goal came from Timo Meier off the rush with linemates Alexander True and Ivan Chekhovich. Meier took the shot from above the face-off dot for his 11th of the season at 3:30 of the second. Chekhovich earned his first NHL point, an assist in his second NHL game.

Victor Soderstrom cut into the Sharks’ lead, scoring for the Coyotes at 4:59. He took a shot into the far side of the net through traffic around the net. Assists went to olive Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland. It was Soderstrom’s first NHL goal.

Conor Garland tied the game at 4:59, during a 5-on-3 power play. Garland and Jakob Chychrun played catch across the ice before Garland slapped the puck past Korenar. Chychrun got the assist.

The Coyotes out-shot the Sharks 13-9 in the second period, with three of those coming on the power play. The Sharks had one power play that generated two shots.

Phil Kessel broke the tie 4:53 into the third period. Kessel was already behind the Sharks defense when Dvorak’s pass found him. He broke away and beat Korenar on the glove side. Assists went to Christian Dvorak and Alex Goligoski.

The Sharks seemed to have tied the game at 7:46 with another goal from Erik Karlsson but it was called back as an off-side play.

Michael Bunting gave Arizona a two-goal lead at 9:57. Evander Kane broke his stick on a shot and immediately had to hustle back to defend one-on-three. He was unable to give his goaltender much help. Conor Garland got an assist.

Jan Jenik made it 5-2 into an empty net, in the final second of the game. That was his first NHL goal, in his first NHL game.

The Coyotes out-shot the Sharks 15-10 in the third. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 54% of the draws. Evander Kane had 6 shots on goal, and Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson each had five. For Arizona, Jakob Chychrun and Michael Bunting each had five shots.

The Sharks next play on Saturday, again in San Jose, against the Coyotes at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose to Blues 3-2 in OT

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in overtime to the Blues on Thursday in St. Louis. Mike Hoffman, Brayden Schenn and David Perron scored for St. Louis. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for the win. Noah Gregor and John Leonard scored for the Sharks and Martin Jones made 42 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said: “There were definitely parts of that game where we were in control of that game.” The team does seem to have shed it’s second period troubles, and is also playing better five-on-five. On that topic, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“We did some good things five-on-five tonight. And, you know, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Now it’s our penalty kill allowed that first goal in, took some momentum away from us. But we’re doing some better things and we’re working at it every day.”

St. Louis scored the only first period goal, on the power play at 6:12. Oskar Sundqvist tried to jam the puck under Martin Jones but was rejected. The rebound, however, went out to Mike Hoffman who had an open net to shoot into. Assists went to Sundqvist and David Perron.

St. Louis outshot the Sharks 12 to 10 in the first period. In the face-off circle, the Blues also prevailed with a 53% win percentage. The Sharks had one power play and one shot on that power play. The Blues had two power plays and got three shots in, including the goal.

Noah Gregor tied the game at 8:27 of the second period. The Sharks had been in their own zone for too long when Gregor carried the puck out. He maneuvered around the Blues defense and took a shot. That did not go but the Sharks got it back and eventually Nicolas Meloche got another shot in, this time from a bad angle. The shot rebounded to the other side of the net, where Gregor was ready to shoot it back in for his third of the season. Assists went to Meloche and Gambrell.

John Leonard scored his second NHL goal to give the Sharks the lead at 14:31. Ryan Donato fanned on a shot from close in, then and spun around and sent the puck down to Leonard who was by the post. Leonard’s quick shot beat Binnington as the goalie tried to get back in position. Assists went to Donato and Patrick Marleau.

San Jose outshot the Blues 12-8 in the penalty-free second period. The Sharks also improved in the face-off circle, winning 58% of the draws.

The Sharks held onto that lead until 19:20 of the third, when Brayden Schenn tied it up to force overtime. The Blues net was empty for the extra skater. Mikke Hoffman shot the puck at the net from just above the goal line, hitting Jones in the shoulder pad. Schenn was on the spot to catch the rebound and knock it in. Assists went to Hoffman and David Perron.

The Blues dominated the face-off circle in the third, winning 72% of the draws.

David Perron scored the game-winner 4:00 into overtime. Patrick Marleau was called for hooking Ryan O’Reilly, giving the Blues a power play that started with 1:36 left in the period. As the Blues entered the zone, Torey Krug held the puck just below the blue line long enough for Perron to get to the net. The Shrs penalty killers were nowhere near Perron and he took a quick shot from the face-off circle. Assists went to Krug and Jordan Binnington.

The Blues out-shot the Sharks 10-1 in the overtime period.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT, again in St. Louis against the Blues.

Sharks Start Season with 4-3 Shootout Win Over Coyotes

The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl (48) jubilant after scoring against the Arizona Coyotes he is joined by Evander Kane (9), John Leonard (right of Kane), and Nilolai Knyzhov (71) in the first period (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks started the 2021 season with a 4-3 shoot-out win in Arizona against the Coyotes. Tomas Hertl scored twice, John Leonard got two assists in his first NHL game. Evander Kane scored the Sharks’ third goal and Logan Couture scored the game-winner in the shootout. Conor Garland, Clayton Keller and Phil Kessel scored for Arizona. Martin Jones made 34 saves for the win, while Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves in the loss.

After the game, Logan Couture said: “I thought we were sloppy at times but I thought we did a lot of things really well. We had some speed through the neutral zone and that one line, Tommy Hertl’s line, created some nice goals. And Joner made some big-time saves when we had those breakdowns.”

Martin Jones did a lot of work during the long layoff and looked good Thursday. After the game, he said: “I think I took full advantage of the time and I put in a lot of work. So, it was nice to be able to play well in the first game but, you know, it’s one game, we gotta keep working at it here. There’s a lot of things that we can clean up.”

Couture gave a post-game nod to the rookie Sharks, saying: “Some guys played their first NHL game tonight, I thought they were terrific tonight.” Those first-timers were John Leonard and Nicholas Meloche. Leonard had two assists in his 13:14 of ice time. Meloche was a +1 in his 5:43 on the blue line.

Tomas Hertl scored twice in the first period for the Sharks, the first a power play goal at 12:43. Logan Couture took a shot from the boards, which bounced arond in the crease before Hertl put it away. Assists went to Evander Kane and Couture.

The second goal came with just over three minutes left in the period. John Leonard had just thrown the puck to the net, creating a rebound for Hertl to put away. Assists went to Leonard and Kane.

The Coyotes rallied in the second, Conor Garland scored for the Coyotes on a power play at 16:51 of the second period. Joel Kellman was in the box for tripping Derick Brassard. It was the Sharks’ third penalty in a row. The Coyotes were able to move the puck cross-ice several ties before Christian Dvorak’s shot found Garland’s tick for a tip in front of the net. Assists went to Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun.

Going into the third period, Evander Kane had two assists. With an aggressive charge to the net, and a Coyote on one arm, he scored the Sharks’ third goal a little past the midway point of the third period. Assists went to John Leonard and Tomas Hertl.

The 3-1 lead held up well into the third period.

Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes’ with just 3:30 left in the third. Finding himself alone in the high slot, he caught the puck as it came out of a skirmish in front of the net and put it over Jones’ right shoulder before the goalie could get across. Assists went to Garland and Chychrun.

Phil Kessel tied the game up with just four seconds left in regulation. Under a lot of pressure with the Coyotes net empty, Martin Jones made a couple of good saves before it got by him. The Coyotes had three skaters in front of him and they all got a shot before Kessel’s went in. Assists went to Alex Goligoski and Clayton Keller.

The Sharks got a power play at 3:13 of overtime, when Clayton Keller was called for tripping Kevin Labanc. The Sharks OT power play started with Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl. After a shot went over the glass, Kane came onto the ice with Timo Meier and Ryan Donato, with Karlsson staying on. Neither unit scored before time ran out, in the power play and the period.

Each team scored on their first shot in the shootout, first Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz and the San Jose’s Ryan Donato. After that, Martin Jones stopped Clayton Keller and Conor Garland missed. Logan Couture scored to close it out.

The modified season has the Sharks playing against the Coyotes again on Saturday before moving on to St. Louis.