Max Domi – Sports Radio Service

SAN JOSE– Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue was the star of the show on Saturday, stopping 31 shots from the Sharks for a preseason shutout in San Jose. Derek Stepan, with linemates Clayton Keller and Max Domi impressed with their two goals, and another two came from Brendan Perlini.

That was disappointing for the home crowd, especially since the Sharks had most of their regular lineup in the game. Conversely, this was the first outing for them as a group this preseason. The Sharks lineup included Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, and Melker Karlsson up front. Also playing at forward were Timo Meier, Jannik Hansen, Kevin Labanc, Ryan Carpenter, and Mikkel Boedker. The defense was comprised of Brent Burns, Paul Martin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon and Tim Heed. The loss follows another in Anaheim last Thursday, when a very different Sharks lineup was also shutout.

The Coyotes started well against the Sharks on Saturday, maintaining a close shot count and scoring midway through the first. In the second, the visitors earned a powerplay goal while Kevin Labanc sat in the box for a hook. Both goals were scored by Derek Stepan from Clayton Keller and Max Domi.

The Sharks had a couple of good chances early in the game, but Louis Domingue was very sharp from the get go. San Jose failed to score despite back to back power plays that overlapped by 11 seconds in the first period.

A noteworthy incident followed the second goal, when Joonas Donskoi was called for boarding Nick Cousins. He received a five minute major and a game misconduct. The call was not popular with the home crowd. Cousins looked shaken up but did return to the ice before the end of the period.

The Coyotes extended the lead at 2:58 of the third when Brendan Perlini got by Brenden Dillon and then Tim Heed to make it 3-0. An assist went to Adam Clendening. After that third goal, the Coyotes shifted down into defensive mode and took very few shots. After staying within two on the shot clock, Arizona only took four shots. Unfortunetely for the Sharks, that fourth shot went into an empty net for Perlini. Assists went to Dylan Strome and Lawson Crouse.

Apart from taking 13 shots to the Coyotes 4, the Sharks did not make much progress in the third. Ryan Carpenter drew a tripping penalty at 5:37, sending Alex Goligoski to the box. At 9:13, the Sharks had another try at the power play when Nick Cousins was called for interference/slashing against Brenden Dillon.

The Sharks will play their final preseason game in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 1 at 5:00 PM PT, against the Golden Knights.

Sharks Preseason 2017: Sharks Win 5-4 in Arizona

Published on September 23, 2017October 21, 2017 by M WalshLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By M. Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won their third preseason game on Saturday, against the Coyotes in Arizona. The final score after a shootout was 5-4. Tim Heed got the game winner, with Sharks goaltender Troy Grosenick stopping 24 of 28 shots.

San Jose got off to a slow start in Saturday’s preseason game in Arizona, falling behind by three goals before turning the tables late in the first period and through the second. Mikkel Boedker started the rally with two goals, followed by goals from Barclay Goodrow and Kevin Labanc, with goals in the shootout from Logan Couture and Heed. Coyotes goals came from Nick Cousins (2), Derek Stepan and Luke Schenn. Max Domi added a shootout goal.

For their third preseason contest, the Sharks lineup included forward prospects Timo Meier, Noah Rod, Ryan Carpenter, Kevin Labanc, and Rudolfs Balcers. On defense, Joakim Ryan, Radim Simek, Nick DeSimone and Tim Heed joined Sharks veterans Brendan Dillon and Dylan DeMelo. Recent addition Brandon Bollig played at forward with Sharks regulars Logan Couture, Chris Tierney, Barclay Goodrow, Joonas Donskoi, and Mikkel Boedker. Troy Grosenick started in net with Aaron Dell backing up. Goaltender Antti Raanta played the first two periods for Arizona, and his backup Marek Langhamer played the third.

The Coyotes jumped out to a strong lead with two goals in the first period. The first came just 30 seconds in from Nick Cousins, asisted by Alex Goligoski and Christian Dvorak. The second came from Derek Stepan at 7:26, assisted by Clayton Keller. The Sharks challenged the second goal as offside, but the call held up on review and the Sharks came away witha penalty to kill.

The Coyote power play was shortened by a hooking call to Goligoski at 9:01. Playing 4 on 4, the Sharks gave up another goal, this one to Luke Schenn, with Stepan and Keller picking up the assists.

The Sharks scored on the ensuing power play when Mikkel Boedker beat Coyote goaltender Antti Raanta. Assists went to Ryan and Heed. Boedker cut the lead to one when he took advantage of a broken play to score, assisted by Joonas Donskoi at 18:49.

Nick Cousins started the second period as he had the first, extending the Coyotes lead back to two at 1:38. The lead lasted for several minutes, until Barclay Goodrow and Kevin Labanc both scored in just over a minute. Sorensen and Carpenter took assists on the first, Tierney and Meier assisted on the tying goal.

Brandon Bollig and Michael Latta exchanged blows in the second half of the period. The teams exchanged penalties as the period wound down, but the score remained tied going into the third.

The Sharks had a scare in the middle of the third when Logan Couture caught a puck to the upper body after Simek tried to dump the puck in. Couture went down but got back up and seemed fine.

The game went to overtime and then on to the shootout. Logan Couture was the first San Jose shooter and he scored. He was followed by Mikkel Boedker, Kevin Labanc and Chris Tierney before Tim Heed got the game winner. Clayton Keller, Max Domi, Derek Stepan, Brendan Perlini and Conor Garland shot for Arizona, with the lone goal scored by Domi.

The Sharks next play on Thursday the 28th at Anaheim.