Sharks Fall to Devils, 3-2 in a Shoot-Out

The San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer in goal and the New Jersey Devils defenseman Damon Severson (28) who scores in the shootout for the game winner at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Nov 6, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in a shoot-out to the New Jersey Devils Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose. Ryan Graves and Janne Kuokkanen scored for the Devils and Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves for the win. Sharks goals came from Rudolfs Balcers and Jonathan Dahlen. James Reimer made 26 saves in the loss.

New Jersey out-shot San Jose 10-9 in a scoreless first period. Each team had a chance on the power play, with the Devils power play getting two shots on goal and the Sharks power play getting three. The teams were also very close in the face-off circle, with the Sharks winning 11 draws and the Devils winning 10.

Rudolfs Balcers scored the first goal of the game early in the second period. The Sharks had just killed off an early penalty, having given up just one to the Devils power play. Mario Ferraro carried the puck all the way across the Devils blue line before making a pass through the blue paint to Balcers, who was able to put the puck in the net. Assists went to Ferraro and Brent Burns.

Devils defenseman Ryan Graves tied the game at 16:45 with his first goal of the season. He trailed the play into the zone and arrived just in time to catch a cross-ice pass from Nico Hischier. Reimer could not get across in time to stop the shot. Assists went to Hischier and Michael McLeod.

The teams continued to be very close in shots, with the second period count at 9-7 Sharks. In the face-off circle, the Devils improved to 61%, or 11-18. The Devils had the only power play in the period, and had just the one shot on goal.

Jonathan Dahlen made it 2-1 with a shot on the power play into the top corner at 4:21 of the third. Assists went to Brent Burns and Ryan Merkley.

Janne Kuokkanen tied tied it back up at 17:04 of the third. His shot was one of many that flew at James Reimer in quick succession. Kuokkanen was able to shoot while Reimer was prone across the goal mouth. Assists went to Jimmy Vesey and Colton White.

Logan Couture shot first and scored with an assertive wrist shot through the Bernier’s five-hole.

New Jersey’s Jesper Bratt shot next. His shot hit Reimer’s pad and seemed to stop but instead slid over the line to count for a goal.

Rudolfs Balcers shot next for San Jose but his shot hit the post.

Alexander Holz shot next for New Jersey and Reimer stopped his shot.

Tomas Hertl shot next, but Bernier deflected the shot away from the net.

Damon Severson shot last for New Jersey and scored. After a shimmy and a shake he lifted the puck over Reimer and up into the corner.

The final shot count was as close as ever, 28-27 Devils. In the face-off circle, New Jersey also prevailed, winning 54% of the draws. The Sharks power play scored on one of three chances, and their penalty kill was perfect against four Devils power plays.

The Sharks will hit the road now and play next in Calgary against the Flames on Tuesday at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 2-0 to Red Wings, First Shut Out of Season

sfgate.com photo: San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28), of Switzerland, looses his footing against Detroit Red Wings defenseman Madison Bowey (74) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, in Detroit.

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 2-0 to the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday, ending 2019 much the way they started this season. In December, they had two wins and 11 losses. The 2-0 loss to the NHL’s last ranked Red Wings had some disappointing firsts in it, for Sharks fans.

It was Detroit’s first shut out of the season and also the Sharks’ first time being shut out. It also ended a nearly three year stretch during which the Sharks got points in games where they allowed two or fewer goals. The goals were scored by Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek. Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves in the win while Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 21 saves for the Sharks.

If there is anything good to take away from this game, it might be that the team only gave up two goals. That is an improvement over some of San Jose’s more spectacular losses this season. They also did fairly well in the face-off circle, winning 52% of them.

Those facts are not very encouraging, though, considering the opponent in Tuesday’s match. The Red Wings are not the worst face-off team in the NHL, just the ninth worst. They are the worst in the goal scoring department.

Sharks captain Logan Couture was asked to find some positives in the game: “Well, Joner was great, that’s a positive. Um, I’m trying to think of other things we can take from this one. But Joner played well, PK had some stops, power play needs to be better, offensively we need to be better. I thought for the most part, five on five we didn’t give them too much.”

Sharks interim head coach Bob Boughner also identified the goaltender as one of the only good parts of the game:

There were some bright spots to our game. I think the maybe power play generating a goal would have been nice. I think that Jonesy played well. It’s one of those games, we didn’t give up much on the road. Defensively we’ve been tightening it up in that area. You know, we just didn’t get our bounce early and the longer the game went I thought Bernier looked more comfortable. I thought we could’ve got more bodies in front of him. But, you know, we just didn’t capitalize, didn’t execute offensively.

The first goal came at 3:15 of the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi deflected Madison Bowey’s shot from the point, after bringing the puck into the zone, then rushing into position in front of the Sharks net. A second assist went to Dylan Larkin. It was Bertuzzi’s 15th of the season.

The second goal went into an empty net at 19:11 of the third period. Brent Burns’ shot was blocked and then went to Filip Hronek, who shot it all the way down the ice into the net. An assist went to Luke Glendening.

The Sharks had three power play chances to the Red Wings’ two. No power play goals were scored. The Sharks out-shot the Red Wings in the game and 14-4 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins at 4:00 PM PT.

Pavelski’s Hat Trick Leads Sharks to 5-3 Win Over Red Wings

Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 at Little Caesars Arena Sunday. Joe Pavelski scored three unanswered goals, after goals from Tim Heed and Brent Burns. The Red Wings got goals from Darren Helm, Gustav Nyquist and Mike Green. The Sharks’ Aaron Dell made 20 saves for the win while Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves in the loss.

The Sharks passed some milestones in Sunday’s game. Joe Pavelski earned his 350th (and 351st) NHL points, Marc-Edouard Vlasic earned his 300th and Brent Burns passed the 70 point mark in 65 games for the season. Burns became the first defenseman to do that since 1994 when Ray Bourque did it.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Tim Heed described the team’s approach to a fast Detroit team: “Like you said they have a really speedy team and a lot of skills. In the first period they were all over us, then in the second and third I thought we took away their time and space and that’s… after that I think we took over the game.”

Tim Heed gave the Sharks an early lead with a goal at 3:46. Initially it looked like Joe Thornton had tipped Heed’s blue line shot but the puck actually went off of a defenseman’s skate. Assists went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Kevin Labanc.

The Red Wings responded with goals at 14:39 and 19:23. Darren Helm tied the game with a shot off of a breakaway, narrowly avoiding Brent Burns’s stick. Assists went to Justin Abdelkader and Mike Green.

Gustav Nyquist gave the Red Wings a lead in the final minute of the period. A backhand pass from Tyler Bertuzzi near the blue line found Dylan Larkin on the goal line. Larkin quickly moved it to the net where several Sharks and Red Wings descended upon it. Aaron Dell wound up down on the left side of the blue paint with Burns on the ice behind him. Burns stopped a couple of shots but Nyquist finally found the puck in the open and put it away. Assists went to Larkin and Bertuzzi.

At the end of the first, the Sharks had just five shots on goal to Detroit’s 15. The Sharks had some zone time but the Red Wings did a good job of limiting shot opportunities and blocking the ones the Sharks attempted.

One minute into the period, the Sharks were on the penalty kill after Brenden Dillon was called for high sticking Dylan Larkin. The Detroit power play lasted just 14 seconds before Dylan Larkin was called for hooking Tomas Hertl.

The Sharks made some adjustments for the second period, including some extra time on the ice for Evander Kane. In the first five minutes, the Sharks had five shots to the Red Wings one. Nevertheless, the Red Wings scored again at the 8 minute mark.

Mike Green found himself very much in the open with all the attention on the other side of the ice, where Justin Abdelkader had the puck in the corner. Abdelkader made a pass through traffic and across the goal mouth to Green. Dell tried to get across but could not get there in time. Assists went to Abdelkader and Anthony Mantha. That was Detroit’s third shot of the period and their last.

The Red Wings held the two goal lead until 13:50 of the second. Logan Couture won an offensive zone faceoff and Timo Meier helped the puck get to Brent Burns at the point. Burns’s shot went right through for his 13th of the season. Assists went to Meier and Couture.

Joe Pavelski tied the game at 15:50 on the power play. The Sharks spent a lot of time moving around the offensive zone before Joe Thornton finally took a shot. Bernier stopped it but the rebound didn’t travel far. Joe Pavelski was right in front of the goaltender and, while falling to his knees, he pushed the puck around the goalie and in. Thornton and Burns got the assists.

Pavelski gave the Sharks the lead at 16:45, deflecting a Vlasic shot while standing eight feet or so outside the slot. Assists went to Vlasic and Hertl.

The Sharks had 16 shots in the second to Detroit’s 3 in the second. In the third, the Red Wings got their first shot near the 14 minute mark, on a power play. The Sharks had 12 by then for the third period.

The only goal of the period came in the final minute, an empty net goal right off the faceoff. Joe Pavelski completed a natural hat trick with an almost casual backhand from the neutral zone. Logan Couture picked up an assist on that goal.

The faceoff was preceded by an off side call on the Red Wings, which followed a strange collision at the bench between players changing and the goalie leaving the ice. Kronwall seemed to get the worst of it, being knocked down. The extra skater in the final minute did little to help.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Boston against the Bruins at 4:00 PM PT.