Sharks Lose to Jets 4-1; Third loss in four games

Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt (88) scores the go ahead goal in the second period as Josh Morrissey (44) celebrates with Schmidt against the San Jose Sharks in Winnipeg on Thu Nov 11, 2021 (Canadian Press photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Jets at Winnipeg Thursday. Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt, Jansen Harkins and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the win. Andrew Cogliano scored for the Sharks and James Reimer made 30 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Assistant Coach John MacLean was not willing to attribute the loss to fatigue: “I don’t know if [we] ran out of gas… I thought we had a couple of opportunities, we just weren’t able to bury it. And, you know, it was a close game there for a bit.” He also mentioned the lopsided penalty calls: “They get some power plays, we never really got any special… we never got any power plays. It was just one of those things, guys tried and it just didn’t come our way.”

The roster and the bench will likely look different for the next game, as players and staff will be returning from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. McLean assessed the performance of the team in the absence of those players:

“After a loss you’re not really pleased, I mean you wish, there’s a couple of opportunities there missed as well in that. So, I will say that I’m pleased with the total effort that these guys showed throughout this, you know, the guys who got called up and the guys who were here. I mean I think overall they all buckled down and gave us an opportunity each night to win.”

The Sharks scored the first goal of the game, at 6:28 of the first period. Brent Burns picked up the puck near the boards and carried it across into the slot, then made a quick pass to Andrew Cogliano who was on the far side of the net. Cogliano lifted it into the short side for his second of the season.

Kyle Connor tied the game at 11:38. As the Jets entered the zone, Evgeny Svechnikov passed the puck from the right wide to Dubois in the middle of the ice. Dubois tok a shot that went off of Reimer’s pads for a short rebound. Connor was right there to shoot it back in behind Reimer.

The Sharks penalty kill gave up one shot on a single penalty for the period. The teams were dead even at ten shots each. It was the Sharks’ best face-off period, at 69%.

The second period started with an early fight, between the Sharks’ Jonah Gadjovich and the Jets’ Adam Lowry. The Sharks took a delay of game penalty at 7:24, and then matching roughing penalties at 10:02 went to Dominic Toninato and Ryan Merkley. Again, the Sharks penalty kill gave up just one shot.

The Jets took the lead at 14:11, with a shot from the blue line by Nate Schmidt. Assists went to Josh Morrissey and Blake Wheeler.

Jansen Harkins made it 3-1 at 19:16 of the second. Harkins and Adam Lowry got behind the Sharks for a two-on-one. From low in the slot, Lowry made a pass to Harkins for a deflection.

The Jets out-shot the Sharks 13-8 in the second, but the Sharks continued to dominate in the face-off circle at 60%. The third period saw the Sharks slip in that area, winning only 44% of the draws. The Sharks penalty kill allowed two shots during the single third-period Jets power play.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his eighth of the season into an empty net at 19:27 of the third. Assists went to Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Sharks’ next game will be in Colorado against the Avalanche, on Saturday at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Light Up Flames, Win 4-1

San Jose Sharks’ Nicolas Meloche (right) plows Calgary Flames’ Mikael Backlund (left) into the boards during the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks started this road trip with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames, scoring three times in the third period. Alexander Barabanov, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Jonathan Dahlen scored for San Jose, and Adin Hill made 37 saves for the win. Brent Burns and Adin Hill each earned two assists in the game and Dahlen’s goal tied him for the NHL rookie lead in goals this season. Andrew Mangiapane scored for Calgary and Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Assistant Coach John MacLean talked about what he saw during the third period:

“It’s always fun when you can feel them just kind of, they’re excited to be out there, and going and cheering for one another and blocking shots and cheering for a good change, cheering for getting a puck deep. That’s when you can see them, you know, playing for one another and that when you know you have a shot.”

Sharks Captain Logan Couture talked about goaltender Adin Hill’s performance in the net: “Tremendous, played great. Big saves, a few times there off tips. Always looked composed. I mean, there were a few times when the puck as bouncing around but he was a rock for us tonight.”

In a scoreless first period, the Sharks were out-shot 8-4, despite having two power plays. Two of their shots in the period came on the power play. In the face-off circle, they won just 4 out of 11 draws.

Alexander Barabanov scored the first goal of the game 47 seconds into the second period. Brent Burns made a pass from the Sharks red line to Barabanov on the Flames blue line. Barabanov made a beeline for the net and beat Markstrom with a quick wrist shot. Assists went to Burns and Hill.

Andrew Mangiapane tied it up 20 seconds later through a melee at the net. Assists went to Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube.

There was an official review after the on-ice official called no-goal. The video review reversed the call. The Sharks then challenged the goal for goaltender interference, as it appeared that Milan Lucic had pushed Adin Hill ‘s pad into the net. The challenge failed and the team had to kill their first penalty of the game.

The Sharks were out-shot again, 19-8 in the second period. They also had to kill three penalties, allowing six shots to the Flames power play. In the face-off circle they improved, winning 46% of the draws.

Logan Couture scored the game winner at 4:18 of the third period. He carried the puck over the blue line and took a shot from the boards that went off of a Calgary defender and into the net. Assists went to Santeri Hatakka and Nicolas Meloche.

With just over a minute left, Adin Hill collected the puck behind the net, and passed it to Brent Burns in the corner. Before taking a hit, Burns sent the puck all the way up the ice. He missed the net, but Tomas Hertl won the race, and put the puck in the empty net with a spin around the Calgary defender.

With 41 seconds left, Jonathan Dahlen scored another into the empty net from deep in the Sharks zone.

The Sharks finally out-shot Calgary in the third, 14-11. The Sharks also won 54% of the face-offs in the third period. Tomas Hertl led all skaters with seven shots in the game.

The Sharks play next on Thursday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall to Blues 5-3; St Louis scores 3 goals in second period

St Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer stopped 23 shots in his first NHL game against the San Jose Sharks on Thu Nov 4, 2021 at SAP Center (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks lost 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues Thursday. Blues goals came from Brandon Saad (2), Pavel Buchnevich, James Neal and Robert Thomas. Joel Hofer, in his first NHL game, made 23 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Nick Merkley. Adin Hill made 23 saves in the loss.

After the game, Assistant Coach John MacLean was asked whether the Sharks let a win slip away here. He said: “No game’s a given here in the NHL. I mean, yeah we had some opportunities and we let a couple of opportunities slip away.” He summarized the loss as “just one of those games. We can’t forget that St. Louis is a pretty good hockey club and when they got the lead they shut’er down pretty good, they didn’t give us a lot after that.”

The Sharks scored a power play goal at 7:13 of the first. The teams were playing 5 on 3 due to several overlapping penalties. Burns’s one-timer went by three skaters and under Joel Hofer. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov.

Brandon Saad tied it up with a short-handed goal as the Sharks power play was winding down. Tyler Bozak carried the puck into the zone along the boards and made a pass across the ice to Saad on the other side of the ice, avoiding two Sharks defenders. Saad’s quick shot went by Hill on the far side.

Logan Couture got the lead back for the Sharks with his own short-handed goal at 17:16. Couture stole the puck from [x]Faulk in the neutral zone before making a run into the o-zone. His wrist shot snuck under Hofer. Rudolfs Balcers got an assist.

The Sharks out-shot the Blues 12-7 in the first. Their power plays got seven shots on goal and their penalty kill gave up one shot. They also did well in the face-off circle, winning 56% of the draws.

The Blues tied it again at 4:20 of the second. Ivan Barbashev intercepted the puck in the o-zone and found Pavel Buchnevich by the face-off dot with a quick pass. Buchnevich shot it right in and beat Hill over the glove. Assists went to Barbashev and Klim Kostin.

Nick Merkley put the Sharks ahead again less than 30 seconds later. Merkley tipped Mario Ferraro’s shot, sending the puck between Jake Walman’s skates and under Hofer for his first of the season. Assists went to Ferraro and Burns.

Saad tied it again with his second of the night at 8:09. A slick wrist shot from the face-off dot went off the post and in on the far side. Assists went to Robert Thomas and David Perron.

James Neal gave the Blues their first lead of the night at 11:42. Hill stopped Walman’s shot from the point but Neal picked up the rebound and swept it around the Sharks’s goaltender. Assists went to Walman and Tyler Bozak.

The Blues edged the Sharks in the face-off circle in the second period, 10 wins to 9. They also out-shot the Sharks 12-8. Their power play got three shots on goal.

Midway through the third period, Nikko Mikkola sent Logan Couture into the boards. Couture got up slowly and walked into the tunnel but he returned to the bench instead of going to the dressing room. After the game he said he was fine.

Robert Thomas scored an empty-netter with a minute left. Assists went to Colton Parayko and Hofer.

In the final tally, the Sharks won 58% of the face-offs. The Blues outshot the Sharks 28-26. The Sharks had nine shots on the power play and the Blues had four.

Thursday’s game was William Eklund’s ninth game. If he plays another with the Sharks, he cannot be sent down without triggering his entry level contract.

Due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, the Sharks are still without forwards Keving Labanc, Timo Meier, and Matt Nieto, and defensemen Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim Simek and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Head Coach Bob Boughner, Head Trainer Ray Tufts and Equipment Manager Mike Aldrich are also out.

Of the Sharks’ young defensemen, John MacLean said: “One of the hardest positions to break into the National Hockey League is playing defense… the experiences they get, they played out of necessity, and you don’t jump on them because they gave a good solid effort.”

Logan Couture also talked about how the inexperienced players are doing:

“The guys that have stepped in and played their second or third NHL games have played well and they’ve given it all they have. The veterans, we can do a better job protecting those guys, playing out of our end and in their end a little bit more.”

The Sharks next play on Saturday at home, against the New Jersey Devils at 7:30 PM PT.