NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Panthers Montour scores game winner in OT; Engvail scores go ahead goal for Isles; plus more news

Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour celebrates his overtime game winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Florida Panthers came back in the third period to tie it up 2-2 and won it in overtime with a goal by the Panthers Brandon Montour at 1:41 as Florida gets by in a one goal win 3-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

#2 The New York Islanders improved their chances in the Eastern Conference in the wild card race with a 2-1 over the Washington Capitals in Washington at the Capital One Center on Wednesday night. The Islanders Pierre Engvail scored for the second straight game. Islanders goaltender IIya Sorokin stopped stopped 25 shots and was key in the Isles win.

#3 The New York Rangers Filip Chytil signed a four year deal with the Rangers worth $17.75 million. The contract at a yearly salary is $4.4375. Chytil scored 22 goals, 20 assists, for 42 points in 66 games. The Rangers like his game and what he has done and wanted to get Chytil signed as he could have been a free agent at the end of the season.

#4 The Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews might not be with the Blackhawks in the closing days of the regular season. Toews is a three time Stanley Cup champion and has been ill with long Covid 19 and has been out of action since Jan 28th and said he will be taking time off on Feb 21. Toews had missed the entire 2021-22 season.

#5 Thomas Chabot of the Ottawa Senators will be out for the rest of the regular season due to an upper body injury Chabot who plays defenseman had to leave on Monday after getting hit the by the Florida Panthers Givani Smith in the third period in a 5-2 win. Chabot did return to the game but after the game head coach DJ Smith said Chabot would not be available Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Islanders hand Sharks sixth straight loss 4-1 on Pride Night

The New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri (21) celebrates a goal with center Brock Nelson (29) as the San Jose Sharks goaltender Kappo Kahkonen (36) and defenseman Derrick Pouliot (55) look on at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 18, 2023 (INDTVUSA photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 18, 2023

While the San Jose Sharks celebrated Pride Night by wearing special warmup jerseys prior to their game on Saturday against the New York Islanders supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, Sharks goaltender James Reimer chose not to participate.

In a statement, Reimer cited religious beliefs, saying, in part, “I have no hate in my heart for anyone, and I always strived to treat everyone that I encounter with respect and kindness. … I strongly believe that every person has value and worth, and the LGBYQIA+ community, like all others, should be welcomed in all aspects of the game of hockey.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture said Reimer had the right to make his own decision, saying, “Every individual has a choice and he made his.”

On the ice, the Sharks scored first, but the Islanders eventually won 4-1 at SAP Center. New York improved to 36-27-8 (80 points), while San Jose lost its sixth straight game and fell to 19-37-14 (52 points).

After Kevin Labanc scored his 12th goal of the season at 7:31 of the first period, it was all Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the equalizer at 16:08 on a shorthanded goal, and Kyle Palmieri’s 12th goal of the season at 2:18 of the second period put New York ahead to stay.

Ryan Pulock scored the third Islanders goal at 5:24 of the second, and Zach Parise netted his 18th goal at 5:19 of the third period to complete the scoring.

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 29 saves on 33 Islanders shots. New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced.

The Sharks hit the road north of the border next week, with stops in Edmonton on Monday, Vancouver on Thursday, and Calgary next Saturday.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Kyrou’s two goals puts Blues past Flames; Zuccarello’s hat trick helps Wild defeat Hawks; plus more NHL news

St. Louis Blues goalie Thomas Greiss, is congratulated by Pavel Buchnevich after defeating the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome in Calgary on Fri Dec 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Jordan Kyrou scored two goals for the St Louis Blues enough to wind up getting a three goal 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night at the Saddledome in Calgary.

#2 Matt, Nats Zuccarello scored a hat trick for the Minnesota Wild to help beat the Chicago Blackhawks. Zuccarello also picked up an assist. Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov scored a goal and two assists for three points to hand the Hawks their fourth straight loss in St Paul.

#3 At the Capital One Center in Washington the Capitals Alex Ovechkin will face off against fellow Russian and Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender Ilya Samsonov tonight who said he’s proud that Ovechkin and wishes him well on his way to tying Gordie Howe’s career goal record at 801 goals which would put Ovechkin in second place on the all time list but Samsonov said but not against the Maple Leafs.

#4 Michael, the NHL is considering increasing the amount of the regular season schedule from 82 to 84 games. The reason would be travel demands of the NHL schedule but mainly it’ll bring more revenue for teams and the league.

#5 The Arizona Coyotes (10-14-4) hung on to beat the New York Islanders (17-13-1) in a see saw game 5-4. The Islanders Mathew Barzal provided a key goal that help defeat the Coyotes as the Islanders improve to 17 season wins. The Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka allowed four goals and stopped 30 shots.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks relieved to get in win column; Snap 5 game skid against Rangers

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) fights for the puck against San Jose Sharks defenseman Markus Nutivaara (65) during the second period at Madison Square Garden in New York on Thu Oct 20, 2022

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 San Jose Sharks (1-5-0) Erik Karlsson’s reaction said it all; arms stretched out in equal parts jubilation and relief. The San Jose Sharks have won their first game of the 2022-23 season at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime.

#2 Len, talk about Sharks goaltender James Riemer stopped 21 out of 23 shots and in the third period he faced only two shots and faced only one shot in overtime.

#3 It certainly was for Sharks general manager Mike Grier and head coach David Quinn a relief to get in the win column for the first time this season.

#4 Len rough schedule when you have to get out of the gate with a four game eastern swing in the second week of the season playing in Belmont, Madison Square Garden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.

#5 New Jersey Devils host the Sharks on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. New Jersey has won their last two games after losing their first two. Len how do you see the Sharks and Devils matching up on Saturday night?

Join Len Shapiro Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com for the San Jose Sharks podcasts

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Isles, on Verge of Matching Worst Start

The New York Islanders had plenty to celebrate on Tue Oct 18, 2022 defeating the San Jose Sharks at UBS Arena in Belmont (@jamesonwhiskey photo)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks are still searching for their first win and points of the season after another thumping, this time at the hands of the New York Islanders 5-2 Tuesday night.

Nicole Sturm and Evgeny Svechnikov both scored their second goals of the season in the loss. The Islanders pepper James Reimer with 45 shots, putting the Sharks one loss away from matching the franchise record.

Sturm beat Semyon Varlamov on a wrist shot 12:50 into the first period, but the lead would be short-lived. Anders Lee and Zach Parise scored in the middle minutes of the second period. 

Svechnikov beat Varlamov on a deflection in the waning minutes of the second period, his second point of the game after assisting on Sturm’s strike. Any hopes of heading into the break tied wasn’t in the cards. Oliver Wahsltrom scored with 56 seconds left in the period for a 3-2 lead.

Wahlstrom would score again 5:24 into the third and Cal Clutterbuck added the empty netter for the Sharks second five-goal loss in as many games.

The Sharks continue on the first true road trip of the season when they face coach David Quinn’s old side, the Rangers Thursday night. 

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Colton scores twice for Bolts in win over Hawks 5-2; Ducks end 11 game loss streak with a shutout

Tampa Bay Lightning center Ross Colton (79) puts one on net against the Chicago Blackhawks center Tyler Johnson (90), and defenseman Calvin de Haan (44) at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Fri Apr 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning’s (43-18-6) Ross Colton found the back of the net twice on Friday night in helping the Bolts defeat the Chicago Blackhawks (24-35-10) 5-2 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. The Lightning’s Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point both scored a goal each.

#2 The Anaheim Ducks (28-30-12) Trevor Zegras helped end the Ducks 11 game loss streak with a sound 5-0 shutout over the Arizona Coyotes (21-42-5) at Gila River Arena in Glendale on Friday night. Zegras scored his 17th goal of the season at 9:42 in the first period. Ducks goalie Anthony Stolarz a shutout saving 22 shots.

#3 The Vegas Golden Knights (38-28-4) Jack Eichel scored twice to help the Knights pick up a three goal win over the Seattle Kraken (21-41-6) 5-2 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

#4 New York Islander (31-27-9) goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots in a 3-0 shutout over the New York Rangers (44-20-9) at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was Varlamov’s second shutout this season and his fourth straight over the Rangers at MSG.

#5 The Buffalo Sabres (25-33-11) Tage Thompson scored two times and was good enough as the Sabers edged the Nashville Predators (39-25-4) at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The Sabers Peyton Krebs and Victor Olofsson scored a goal each in the Sabers 4-3 win.

Join Matt for the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: NHL Trade deadline some big names up for grabs; plus NHL action from Friday

Brandon Hagel was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh from the Chicago Blackhawks on Fri Mar 18, 2022 (photo from nhl.com)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt how important is it that the Tampa Bay Lightning picked up Brandon Hagel in exchange for forwards Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh from the Chicago Blackhawks?

#2 Matt, talk about the key winning goal by the Buffalo Sabers Tage Thompson that helped get the win over the Calgary Flames in overtime at 3:07 for a narrow 1-0 win. Also big hand for the Sabers goaltender Dustin Tokarski who stopped 24 shots for the shutout.

#3 The Ottawa Senators Josh Norris help end the Senators three game losing streak with a go ahead goal in the third period that handed the Senators a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. The Sens Aaron Forsberg stopped 28 out 29 shots.

#4 The injuries are piling up for the Vegas Golden Knights the latest have center Jack Eichel doubtful for against the Los Angeles Kings for Saturday. Eichel blocked a shot with his hand and could sit out. His teammates goaltender Robin Lehner, two defencemen Brayden McNabb and Alec Martinez and three forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and Reilly Smith are all on the injured list. Inspite of that the Knights snapped a five game losing streak with a win over the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Thursday night.

#5 Matt, just to name a few of the players who are trade deadline as of this morning maybe you could update us, the Vancouver Canucks Brock Boeser, New York Islanders Cal Clutterbuck, Andrew Copp Winnipeg Jets, Jake DeBrusk Boston Bruins, and Marc Andre Fleury Chicago Blackhawks. I’ll let you also add more to whose on the trade block for tonight.

Matt does the NHL podcasts each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Sharks look for second win face Boston and Seattle in back to back games

San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, left, looks for the puck as a shot by New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) is blocked by Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Marko:

#1 Seven loses in a row came to an end on Thursday night against the New York Islanders in a shootout how relieved are the San Jose Sharks?

#2  James Reimer made 44 saves for the win in his ninth start in a row.

#3 Logan Couture, Jasper Weatherby and Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks. Brock Nelson, Zach Parise and Adam Pelech scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in the loss.

#4 James Reimer stopped all three shots in the shootout and Logan Couture scored. Ilya Sorokin stopped a shot from Tomas Hertl.

#5 The Sharks now play back to back games this weekend against the Boston Bruins and the Seattle Kraken at SAP Center how do you see the Sharks coming off snapping a seven game loss streak going into these games on back to back nights.

Marko was filling in for Len Shapiro for the Sharks podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Beat Islanders 4-3 in SO, End Losing Streak

New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) tries to get his stick and arms around San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks defeated the New York Islanders 4-3 in a shootout Thursday night. The win ended a seven-game losing streak for the Sharks. James Reimer made 44 saves for the win in his ninth start in a row. Logan Couture, Jasper Weatherby and Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks. Brock Nelson, Zach Parise and Adam Pelech scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about James Reimer’s iron man streak in the Sharks net:

“Yeah, it’s a lot of hockey he’s played. Traditionally, if you look at [Reimer]’s career, he’s been such a good goalie in this league for a long time. But playing, I don’t know how many it is now, let’s call it eight, nine, ten in a row, you know, he’s not necessarily been in that position a lot. And, you know, he’s coming up with timely saves and he’s battling just as hard as everybody else and finding ways.”

Brock Nelson opened the scoring at 14:56 of the first. With almost all of the skaters on the left side of the ice, Scott Mayfield sent the puck all the way around the boards to an undefended Nelson. Nelson’s shot went over Reimer’s shoulder on the far side. Assists went to Mayfield and Kieffer Bellows.

Alexander Barabanov tied it up with a power play goal at 15:55, just six seconds into the man advantage. His shot came from above the face-off circle and went through traffic. Assists went to Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl.

Jasper Weatherby gave the Sharks a lead at 17:32. Holding the puck along the boards as if looking for a pass, he opted to send it to the net where it found its way in. An assist went to Jeffrey Viel.

Zach Parise tied it back up at 12:48 of the second period. Sebastian Aho carried the puck down below the goal line before making the pass to Parise just above the blue paint. Aho and Matthew Barzal got the assists.

Logan Couture made it 3-2 on the power play at 16:31. Couture’s shot went through traffic and past Sorokin on the stick side. Assists went to Ryan Merkley and Tomas Hertl.

Adam Pelech tied it again just 19 seconds later, shooting from the slot through a mass of bodies. Assists went to Barzal and Parise.

Half way through the third period, the shots were 10-0 Islanders. At 13 minutes in, it was 12-0. There were fewer than six minutes left by the time the Sharks got a shot on goal. Overall, the Sharks were outshot after the first period 30-13. The Sharks had one shot in overtime to the Islanders’ four.

James Reimer stopped all three shots in the shootout and Logan Couture scored. Ilya Sorokin stopped a shot from Tomas Hertl.

Thursday, Zdeno Chara surpassed Chris Chelios for the most games played by an NHL defenseman. He marked the occasion by fighting Jeffrey Viel. After the game, Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton said: “What he’s done for so long in this league is just so impressive. Still, at 44 he’s someone, night in and night out, is a presence and plays the right way and the leader he is. Everything he does is impressive.” Of Viel’s fight, he said: “That’s pretty impressive. Chara asked him too, from the sounds of it. So, for Viel to say yes, and go with a guy who’s that big, it just did give us some life on the bench, that’s for sure.”

Nicolas Meloche was injured late in the first period during a board battle with Zach Parise. He left the ice favoring his right side and did not return to the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:00 PM PT at home against the Boston Bruins.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to snap 7 game skid Thursday against Islanders

Anaheim Ducks left wing Rickard Rakell (67) puts the winning goal on net against San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) in the overtime shootout at the Honda Center in Anaheim Tue Feb 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in a shoot-out. It was their seventh loss in a row. Derek Grant and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim, with two goals from Rakell. Anthony Stolarz made 40 saves for the win.

#2 Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored for San Jose, with two goals from Couture. James Reimer made 26 saves in his seventh start in a row.

#3 The Ducks took the lead at 3:38 of the first period. Derek Grant scored on a two-on-0 after the Ducks picked off a neutral zone pass. Assists went to Sam Carrick and Nicolas Deslauriers.

#4 A scoreless overtime period saw the Sharks get seven shots on goal, three of those on a power play. The Ducks had no shots in overtime. In the shootout, Stolarz stopped Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl missed the net. For the Ducks, Trevor Zegras and Rickard Rakell scored, and Reimer stopped Troy Terry.

#5 The Sharks next play on Thursday night at 7:30 PM in San Jose against the New York Islanders (19-20-7). The Isles are coming off a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com