Reimer wins first of preseason 3-1 as Sharks split in Anaheim

San Jose Sharks Jeff Viel (left) and the Anaheim Ducks Sam Carrick (right) scrum with an official trying to get control of the melee in the first period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thu Sep 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ September 30, 2021

~ ANAHEIM– San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer stayed in net the whole game as the Sharks closed out September and the road part of their preseason, 3-1 over the Anaheim Ducks Thursday. 

It was Reimer´s first full game of the preseason as he saved 24 of 25 shots. Combined with Sunday´s game, San Jose went 1-1 versus Anaheim down at the Honda Center. The Sharks scored three goals in each contest, this one resulting in a win. A la both contests, the regulation winning team also won the bonus shootout after, as Lane Pederson went high over the second goalie of the night for the Ducks, Anthony Stolarz. 

San Jose went net neutral with special teams, going 1-of-4 on the power play and giving up a shorthanded goal, as Anaheim went 0-for-3. Sharks´ coach Bob Boughner commented on the power play, ¨…it’s nice to get the third goal on the power play, but I liked our mentality of just simplifying, put some more pucks and bodies at the net. That’s what we’ve been trying to stress here in camp.¨

Ryan Merkley had his first goal and assist of the preseason and seven other San Jose skaters earned points.

10 seconds into the game, there was a fight between the Sharks’ Jeffrey Viel and the Ducks’ Simon Benoit. This would be the first of a combined nine penalties in the first period, three of them occurring concurrently. 

At 6:15, Adam Raska shoved Benoit into the away bench which caused the door to open. Benoit ended up leaving the ice and Sam Carrick retaliated, charged with a roughing penalty. 

With a 2-on-1, Anaheim´s Benoit-Olivier Groulx had no problem with that, scoring his second goal versus San Jose this preseason as he went top shelf. Buddy Robinson and goalie John Gibson earned the primary and secondary assists on the shorthanded netter 32 seconds later. 

It took nine minutes for the Sharks to get their first shot on goal. Gibson was able to corral Radim Simek´s attempt. 

San Jose tied the game up at 12:49.  Alexander ¨Sasha¨ Chmelevski attacked from the left and Merkley and Dylan Gambrell from the right, with Merkley credited with the goal. It was all three skaters’ second points of the preseason. 

At 17:28, both Viel and Carrick were charged with their second penalties of the night, roughing. 

With 25 seconds left in the opening period, Gambrell was cited for hooking, giving the Ducks a one-man advantage. The Sharks ended up outshooting Anaheim 10-8. 

The second period was limited to one goal and one penalty, which both occurred around halfway, at 9:05 and 11:05. Benoit also returned to the ice.

In the middle of the right faceoff circle, Raska bounced the puck off the board and sent the puck straight across to Viel as Viel quickly went around Gibson stickside. This gave San Jose their first lead in Anaheim this preseason.  Artemi Kniazev was also credited with an assist.

The Ducks’ Jacob Perreault was the only one charged with a call, roughing, though afterwards multiple skirmishes broke out.

Both teams finished the closing period with multiple penalties, Anaheim with more and the one that resulted in a goal.

The Sharks’ Kevin Labanc made a clean shot from the left faceoff circle, scoring at 15:40. Merkley and William Eklund got the assists, Eklund´s second of the preseason. 

Up Next: San Jose will face the Ducks one more time this preseason, but first time at home, Monday October 4 at 7pm. 

Sharks lose first exhibition game to Ducks 6-3

The San Jose Sharks forward Tristen Roberts (52) is all happy after scoring a second period goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Sun Sep 26, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim (AP News photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ September 26, 2021

~ ANAHEIM– The mostly back-and-forth game went to the home team as the Anaheim Ducks’ Kodie Curran scored the game-winner with a Gordie Howe hat trick in the Sunday victory.

For the San Jose Sharks, this was the first of a split-squad game, with the other half of the team playing the Golden Knights in Las Vegas later at 7pm.   

New Shark Nick Bonino and Jake Middleton each earned two points with a goal and an assist apiece, Bonino’s goal accomplished during the power play.  

Both teams scored in each period of the first preseason game of the 2021-22 NHL season Sunday. That included the extra exhibition period after the third period buzzer, which the Ducks also won by way of Curran. 

San Jose went 1 of 5 on the power play while the Ducks went 1 of 2. Each team went with two  goalies during the game, for the Sharks, Alexei Melnichuk and Zach Sawchenko saved 8 of 10 and 14 of 16 shots respectively and for Anaheim, Lukas Dostal and Olle Eriksson Ek saved 13 of 14 and 11 of 13 on their end.

The crowd saw some fighting action just over a minute into the game when Middleton took exception to a hit on his teammate and got into it with Sam Carrick. 

The Sharks had trouble getting into their offensive end at first with not one player present until about two minutes in and then multiple skaters around three minutes in. John Leonard had San Jose´s first shot on goal around the five minute mark. 

Hampus Lindholm got the Ducks up on the board first at 5:30 with a slapshot from the point. 

The Sharks got a chance for redemption on the power play with a roughing call to Alexander Volkov six seconds later. Ryan Merkley missed a shot and Kevin Labanc´s two shots were blocked by Curran.

Anaheim went on their first power play at 9:36 when Nicolas Meloche was called for holding.

The fourth penalty of the first period occurred when Marc-Edouard Vlasic´s stick was held by Buddy Robinson. San Jose was able to capitalize on their second power play. Merkley was able to stop the clear to keep it in their end and Bonino made a diagonal shot off the post at 14:53 after a pass from Joachim Blichfeld.  

The second period also saw an early fight but not before an earlier goal. Volkov altered 

Kevin Shattenkirk´s shot to give the Ducks the 2-1 lead at 1:39. Curran received the secondary assist. 16 seconds later, Meloche (second penalty) and Curran were cited for fighting. At the same time, a concurrent penalty was given to Volkov, his second of the night, for interfering with Blichfeld.

Halfway through the second period was when the goalie changes occurred. The Sharks took advantage of the fresh goalie at 10:24 to re-tie the game at two apiece. Tristen Robins scored his first, helped by Dylan Gambrell and Rudolf Balcers. 

At 15:36, Anaheim went back ahead. Vlasic’s pass went behind the net to Sonny Milano instead, who made a straight pass to the incoming Benoit-Olivier Groulx, as Groulx converted. 

In the third, after a barrage (four in the span of 36 seconds) of shots by the Ducks, Balcers shot in between two defenders and went top post for the game´s third tie at 6:35.  Middleton and Bonino earned the assists. 

Starting at 12:03, scored three goals in a span of six minutes and 20 seconds. Troy Terry found a wide open Curran on the left for the first. Robinson got the second assist. Momentum continued in Anaheim´s favor as they went on their second power play. Volkov aimed at the net as the puck went behind Sachenko. Unable to fish it out, Terry was able to poke the puck into the net to make it 5-3. It was Milano´s second assist. With 1:37 left, Greg Pateryn made it three goals in the third period with an empty-netter to conclude the regulation scoring.

In the exhibition shootout, the Ducks went first as it went from Jacob Perreault to Labanc to Volkov to Alexander Barabanov to Milano (the first one who did not score) to Hertl (blocked) to Curran (scored) to Leonard (wide). 

Up Next: In the second split squad game in Las Vegas the Sharks defeated the Knights 4-2 at the T Mobile Center. On Tuesday, the Sharks will host their home preseason opener against the Los Angeles Kings at 7pm. 

Photo Gallery: NHL Awards

Feature: Sharks In Desperate Need of More Power Play Opportunities

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Peter Elliott

CHICAGO–Peter DeBoer’s squad was deprived of something other than a win on Friday night: opportunities on the power play.

The Sharks only had one chance to execute on the man advantage in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It lasted 22 seconds.

San Jose’s only time on the ice with less than five red sweaters was during the third period, when Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy was booked to the penalty box with an interference minor. 22 seconds later, Brent Burns was sent off to the Sharks penalty box on a holding minor, offsetting the Sharks’ 5-on-4 upper hand. If I haven’t stressed it enough, 22 seconds is not enough time to type a tweet, much less let alone score a goal.

The power play had been a strength for the Sharks all season and a reason for their high offensive benchmarks. But lately, not so much.

The team is suffering through a scoreless 0-19 stretch in the power play category, an unusual drought for a team that has been so stellar on the man advantage for the majority of the season. The Sharks still remain among the best in the league in the category, up there with division leaders Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay. But if their recent struggles continue, they surely won’t keep up with that company for very long.

“We need to get a little bit of that confidence back, stepping over the boards and understanding that it can win us some games,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski of his team’s power play scoring skid, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “We need to be better there. Bottom line is we need to execute, make another play, stick one in the net.”

As noted, it’s absence has been sorely missed on the offensive side of the ice recently. Especially on Thursday night during a 7-1 blowout at the hands of Nashville, in which DeBoer’s squad failed to net on a single goal during their five power play opportunities. The Sharks undoubtedly just need both more opportunities and repetitions with the power play. 

Success will come soon.

The power play magic that has helped the Sharks postseason aspirations is currently M.I.A., but luckily for the Sharks, they’ll have time to re-discover it before a Sunday evening game against Minnesota. The Wild boast a pedestrian penalty kill percentage of 80.8%, which makes the playoff contending Wild a ripe target for a power play resurgence.

San Jose has been able to maintain a 6-5 record in the month of February, although that is not ideal for a team in the middle of a tight playoff race. A stronger showing on the man advantage certainly could have alleviated some of those deficits.

The Sharks are set to square off against the Blackhawks again on March 1 in San Jose. Maybe then, the Sharks can get a power play that lasts a whole 30 seconds.

Couture Returns, Sharks Ground Flyers 4-2

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: leadercall.com SJ Sharks Logan Courture

SAN JOSE, Calif. – When the schedule makers at the NBC Sports Network put Wednesday’s San Jose Sharks-Philadelphia Flyers match-up on the channel’s “Rivalry Night” there must have been some clairvoyants in the room. The midweek heavyweight tilt at the SAP Center had the type of snarl usually reserved for the Battle of California or the Keystone State Showdown.

Despite the distant between Silicon Valley and the City of Brotherly Love there was no, well, love lost between the two teams on the ice. San Jose (18-16-2) skated away with a 4-2 win in a heavy contest loaded with 53 hits, 46 penalty minutes and a few goals as well. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns lit the lamp for the Sharks, while Joe Pavelski scored a pair. In total, San Jose scored 3 power play tallies. Logan Couture had a pair of assists in his return to the Sharks lineup.

Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier tallied Philadelphia’s markers. Martin Jones made 17 saves on 19 shots to give the Sharks their 16th win in the last 19 games against Philly since 2002.

“Our special teams was the difference,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “That was a desperate team that came in here. They tried to be physical to the point of taking some bad penalties and we made them pay for that.”

Ever the cagey veteran, Joe Thornton inserted himself into the fray almost immediately Wednesday. The 36-year-old center was engaged from the drop of the puck, levying a pair of hits and nearly dropping the gloves with Radko Gudas after a heated discussion in the first period.

It was only a matter of time before no. 19 found his way onto the scoresheet, be it by roughing minor, fighting major, his usual assist or a goal. Luckily for Jumbo, it proved to be the latter at the 9:53 mark of the second period after the alternate captain flipped the puck over Mason’s shoulder on a San Jose power play.

“I was just enjoying the game,” said Thornton. “That’s why you play the game, the fun moments.”

Thornton started the play, taking the puck behind the visitors’ net. He swung the puck to Mason’s left, connecting with Patrick Marleau at the faceoff circle. Marleau went back up the wing to Thornton, who had now positioned himself just outside the crease. From there, Thornton slapped the puck up and over Mason’s left shoulder for his 7^th goal of the season.

Logan Couture, returning to the ice after missing 7 games with an arterial bleed in his right leg, also assisted on Thornton’s goal. It was Couture’s 3^rd point of the season (all assists) in just his 6^th game after missing 24 of the first 26 games with a leg injury.

“It’s great,” said Burns when asked how it feels to have Couture back. “It’s tough when you see a guy out for a while. You see how hard he’s working and the bad bounce when he came back. IT’s great to see. IT’s going to be a little while for him to eventually feel comfortable, but it’s good to see him back.

“You could see it in the lineup right away,” added Pavelski. “That’s another big time player. What he brings to the team, the energy he brings and the confidence definitely helps.”

He looked comfortable in his return, playing 15:22 minutes with a -1 rating. He would also assist on Burns’ game-tying strike in the 3^rd.

“It was a great crowd,” said Couture. “We need to build on this, but it feels good to come back and win the game.”

In total, Couture saw 5:43 of power play time.

“On the power play I felt comfortable,” said Couture “I had the puck. It was lucky that we had some many power plays. I was able to establish that game, feel the puck, get some chances, build my confidence up that way.”

“It comes naturally to him,” said DeBoer of Couture’s work on the power play. “Those guys have a special chemistry. We just have to keep that up.”

The Flyers (15-14-7) responded with a Claude Giroux score with 4:11 left in the 2^nd after the centerman won the faceoff from Thornton and flung the puck into Jones’ midsection. While Jones made the initial save, the puck’s momentum carried it down to the ice and between the netminder’s pads for the Flyers captain’s 12th goal of the campaign.

“I’ve had Claude on a couple teams I coached,” said DeBoer. “I had him on the Canadian team. He’s a special guy. He’s the best in the world at different things. The goal surprised me, but not who did it.”

Philadelphia took the 2-1 lead on a defensive lapse by the Sharks early in the 3rd. Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier were sprung on a 2-on-0. Couturier took Simmonds’ feed and put it on his backhand to best Jones for his 6^th of the year 4:19 into the 3^rd.

Though the Sharks haven’t had many power play opportunities at home (their 44 man advantages entering Wednesday ranks dead last in the NHL), they also haven’t taken advantage of the special teams edge either. They have the 8^th worst power play percentage at home this year, a mere 15.9 percent. Despite those figures, San Jose managed to get it down a man up not once, but twice, Wednesday night with Brent Burns finding the equalizer 5:54 into the final period of regulation.

“In the past few games a bounce buried us at times,” said Pavelski. “We got that feeling on the bench tonight where it wasn’t going to get us down. We got a big power play goal from Burns to get us back in there. It felt good.

With RJ Umberger in the sin bin for slashing Brenden Dillon, the Sharks newly potent power play set up in the Flyers’ end. Joe Thornton took the puck from the right faceoff dot and slid it to Couture in the front right crease. Couture’s no-look backhand pass missed Marleau’s stick, but landed on a crashing Burns’ tape in the slot. Burns ripped the shot over Mason’s blocker to knot the contest up 2-2 with just under 14 minutes to play.

“We have certain sets we work on,” said Couture. “Burns’ goal is a set that we’ve had for a while. You have Marleau in the slot and he usually comes down the side which opens the backdoor for Burns.”

The power play nearly was the culprit of the game-winner for San Jose, but a matter of seconds changed the Sharks special teams night. Captain Joe Pavelski netted his 19^th of the year just 3 seconds after Shane Gostisbehere exited the box at the 13:45 mark on a cross-ice one-timer from Justin Braun.

Pavelski, who missed Tuesday’s practice with the flu, earned his power play goal almost 5 ½ minutes later to ice the contest. The forward took a pass from Marleau on the boards and ripped a backhander past Mason for his second of the night after Marc-Eduoard Vlasic held the puck in at the blue line.

“You can see his importance to us,” said DeBoer. “All the big guys were great though, Thornton, Vlasic Braun, (Paul) Martin.”

The Sharks ended the night converting half of their power plays, going 3-for-6 with a Flyer in the box.

“Our power play unit does well when we’re moving and reading off each other,” said Burns.

When asked about how it felt for the NHL’s worst home team to get a win in front of a sold-out, the Sharks captain was frank.

“It’s what we expect,” said Pavelski. “Obviously now that’s the template we have to copy and play with. It was a good win tonight. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”

The Sharks get another stab a wowing the home crowd when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the Shark Tank January. After that, they’ll continue the homestand with contests against Eastern Conference foes the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Notes:

Tommy Wingels dropped the gloves twice, once in the second against Chris VandeVelde and again in the 3rd against Jakub Vorachek. Because only a punch or two was thrown, the 2^nd altercation was ruled a minor for roughing, not a five minute fighting major. DeBoer on Wingels: “I thought Tommy Wingels had one of his best games all year. He was in the middle of it. He jumped in and fought for a teammate.” …Brent Burns leveled VandeVelde with a hit in the offensive zone that injured the Flyers Forward. Said Burns: “Most of the time I turn around and hit with my butt. I felt pretty strongly that I hit him in the midsection strongly. It’s tough to see someone get hurt. I hit him in the midsection, I don’t know if he hits his head on the ice or what but it’s tough to see.”

Early Deficit Undoes Sharks in Homestand Finale with Islanders

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. –True to recent form, a poor start once again took a bite out of the San Jose Sharks chances for a win Tuesday night at SAP Center. The Sharks (7-8-0) allowed two goals to the New York Islanders in the opening five minutes and never managed to dig themselves out of the quick hole they found themselves in, falling 4-2. Joel Ward and Brent Burns tallied the Sharks goals, while Alex Stalock made 20 saves in a relief appearance. Perennial Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares netted a pair of goals to lead the Islanders (8-5-3) to victory.

“We wanted to get a better start and it just didn’t happen,” said Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski after the game. “A bad bounce or bad change, it happens. You’ve got to fight through it.”

San Jose has now lost 7 of 9 games this season when allowing the opponent to score first. The Sharks scored first in their first 5 games of the season, but have yet to score first in consecutive games since. Over the last 10 games, the Sharks netted the first goal only twice. Their record over the last ten games now stands at 3-7-0.

Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones’ night ended after facing just three shots. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer had seen enough from Jones and opted to pull his netminder for Alex Stalock after goals from John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski in the first 3:30 of play.

“We need a momentum change,” said Jones. “Alex stepped in the last couple games and played great. It’s no fun being pulled but I’m not surprised.”

“You’ve always got to be ready,” said Stalock. “That’s the job of a back-up, injury or change of pace.”

The Islanders captain Tavares struck the opening blow on a rebound of a Brock Nelson shot, the first two shots of the game, at the 36 second mark. Three minutes later, Grabovski managed to turn a defensive zone faceoff into a rush up ice and a wrist shot for his third goal of the season.

“You can give up a bad goal in this league and recover,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “You can’t give up two goals and expect to win.”

Joel Ward regained a stake of the team lead in goals in the second period on a piece of strong forechecking against Travis Hamonic. Ward lifted Hamonic’s stick along the boards, picking the Islander’s pocket before power to the net. The veteran beat former Shark Thomas Greiss in the crease for his 8^th goal of the season at the 10:14 mark of the period.

“We got within one, which gives us a chance,” said Pavelski. “But we want to be playing with the lead.”

Despite only cutting the deficit in half, the Sharks second period performance gave plenty of hope to fans and coaches alike. San Jose outshot the Islanders 14-6 in the frame, drawing the 16,558 fans in attendance to a standing ovation following one specific spectacular shift.

All the momentum built up from a strong second was zapped from the building with another quick strike to open the third. Isles defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored his second goal in as many games, rocketing one of his patented slap shots past Stalock clean for a 3-1 lead 45 seconds into the final frame of regulation.

“I thought it was going to hit my pads,” said Stalock. “It’s a bad feeling when you have no sensation of a puck.”

Brent Burns made the game interesting late, taking a Thomas Hertl pass from behind Greiss and slicing it past Greiss pad for his 5^th goal of the season with 5:11 left to play. Despite an offensive surge for the Sharks, Greiss managed to hold on for the win following his 34 save effort. John Tavares added an empty net goal to ice the win for New York.

With the Sharks going 1-3 on a recent homestand, they’ll be looking forward to the road. They’ve fared much better away from SAP (4-3) than at home. They’ll open a six-game road trip with back-to-back contests in Detroit Friday night and a meeting with Jack Eichel’s Buffalo Sabres Saturday afternoon. The six city trip will also make stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Notes: The Sharks had one power play on Tuesday and failed to score, running the streak to 21 straight power plays at home without a goal. They have yet to score on the man advantage at home this season…Melker Karlsson returned to action with the Sharks, playing almost 16 minutes and registering 3 shots on goal while primarily playing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. On having Karlsson return to the line-up DeBoer said: “I thought he was good. First game in a long time. You can see that he’s an NHL player. He can help us”.…The loss puts the Sharks below .500 for the first time all season.

Pavelski Scores a Pair But Sharks Stumble Against Blue Jackets

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks saw Tuesday night’s contest at SAP Center against the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets as an opportunity to take advantage of a team in turmoil. Instead, the Sharks (6-6-0) now find themselves looking answers after losing 5-2 in a match-up against a team with only a pair of wins on the season.

Joe Pavelski scored both goals for the Sharks and goalie Martin Jones struggled through a 17 save, 4 goal performance against a Columbus team that recently fired their coach and was struggling under new coach John Tortorella.

“It was not good enough,” said Jones. “We played a backwards game, let up an early goal and let in a few soft ones in the 2^nd. We need to be better. Everyone needs to be better. We got outworked tonight.”

The Sharks dug an early hole after committing two penalties in the opening five minutes. They managed to kill off a Chris Tierney stick infraction a minute and a half into the game, but weren’t as lucky after defenseman Brenden Dillon skated to the box 4:23 into the game.

With the man advantage, Brandon Dubinsky skated to the left faceoff dot and took a shot on Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Jones stopped the initial attempt, but Brandon Saad was waiting in the goal crease to tuck the loose puck home for a 1-0 lead with 12 seconds left on Dillon’s infraction.

“We got the first kill,” said Pavelski. “We almost got through the second one which would have given us a boost. We were on our heels early. It has to change, we have to break this mold where we’re getting scored on first.”

The Sharks Captain matched the team-best of 7 goals on the season in the waning seconds of the first period. Pavelski crept into Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease, redirecting a point shot from Justin Braun past the Russian netminder with 1:04 left in the period.

The Blue Jackets regained their lead nearly halfway through regulation after Scott Hartnell beat Jones for his 5^th goal of the season at the 8:54 mark. Hartnell started the play behind the Sharks net, skated out towards the faceoff dot to Jones’ right then spun around and ripped a shot rapid-fire that beat Jones over the near post shoulder.

Pavelski again drew the Sharks three minutes later, receiving a backhand feed from Joonas Donskoi before deking out Bobrovsky to move past Joel Ward for the team lead in goals.

Pavelski’s goal was the result of a heads-up forecheck from Donskoi along the offense boards. Donskoi snuck behind Nick Foligno preparing to move the puck out of the Columbus defensive end and sent it back towards the goal line for Pavelski’s tally. The assist on the play was Donskoi’s 2^nd career NHL point and first since returning from injury October 28^th.

“It’s hard to come back after an injury,” said Donskoi. “I think it’s getting better but I’m not happy. We still lost. It’s disappointing.”

The tie was short lived due to miscommunication by Jones and defenseman Brent Burns. Jones went to play a dump-in behind his net and settle the puck for Burns. Burns, however, didn’t react in time to stop an advancing Blue Jacket from springing the puck loose. Columbus forward Boone Jenner snuck in to net his 7^th goal with 1:28 left in the 2^nd.

If the Jenner goal didn’t deflate the Sharks heading into the 2^nd intermission, defenseman Ryan Murray’s strike with 59 seconds left in the period certainly did. Murray slid a point shot through a crowd in front of the net to put Columbus up 4-2 and chase Jones from the contest.

“I think it went off one of our guys’ gloves,” said Jones. “It was a bit of a deflection, a bit of a screen.”

Over his 40 minutes of ice time Jones allowed 4 goals while making 17 saves. His replacement, Alex Stalock, faced only 2 shots over the final period, but Matt Calvert scored an empty netter for the final 5-2 marker.

At the other end of the ice, Bobrovsky stood on his head for most of the contest to earn his third win of the season. The former Vezina trophy winner turned aside 41 of 43 shots he faced, keeping the Sharks power play off the board after four opportunities.

“For our power play we demand a lot out of ourselves,” said Pavelski. “We expect a lot. It’s just unacceptable. It was a big momentum swing for us. We’ve created some momentum off it when we’ve had chances. It doesn’t do anything for the wins.”

“Everybody goes through tough stretches,” said Jones. “We know we have a good group in here. We know we’ll respond. We’ve got the group in here to do it. The main thing is to show up tomorrow, have a good practice and move on.”

The Sharks will have to move on quickly with the Florida panthers coming to town Thursday night followed by a visit from another reeling team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Southern California rivals come to town Saturday night with a lowly 2 wins and six points, tied for the lowest mark in the NHL.

Rinne, Predators Fourth Line Prey on Sharks

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks hoped having a pair of forwards return to the line-up Wednesday night might bring about scoring depth, especially at home where coach Pete DeBoer had final change and a chance at exploiting mismatches. Despite the returns of Joonas Donskoi and Ben Smith, the Sharks (5-4-0) scoring woes continued in a 2-1loss to the visiting Nashville Predators (7-1-1). Pekka Rinne held the Sharks to a lone goal, a goal by center Joe Pavelski, on 21 shots.

“He’s a good goalie,” said Pavelski. “He’s one of the better ones in the league. With all the goalies you have to get traffic. If they see it, they stop it.”

The Finn shut down San Jose to one goal or less for the fourth time in the last six games. In those games, the Sharks are 1-3-0, topping the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in the shootout for the sole victory on October 16th.

Nashville winger Eric Nystrom baffled Jones early, unleashing a dart from the left circle that beat the San Jose netminder to his stick side at the 3:22 mark of the 1^st.

“You need a save there,” said Jones. “Early in the game you need a save there. It’s tough to come back from. That’s a tough defensive team with a good goalie.”

The Sharks held a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal after the period, but goalie Pekka Rinne and the Predators withstood a San Jose power play to get the home team off the stat sheet after 20 minutes.

It took 15 shots, but the Sharks final snuck a puck past Rinne in the 3^rd period, with the Sharks captain tying the game 1:28 into the frame. Pavelski pounced on a rebound in the crease off a Matt Tennyson shot for his fourth of the season. Matt Nieto, taking a turn on the top line after playing the majority of the game on the third forward unit, also picked up an assist.

“It feels good to score,” said Pavelski. “But that’s that moment, then you move on for the next one. They got the next one. It takes away from it.”

Calle Jarnkrok gave Nashville that next one halfway through the period, taking a Gabriel Bourque pass and ripping it over Jones’ glove for his first goal of the season, the game winner Wednesday.

“The difference tonight was that their fourth line had two goals,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “That was the difference in the game. Everyone else cancelled each other out.”

In total, Nashville scored on 2 of 24 shots against Jones.

“They didn’t have much,” said Pavelski of the Predators offensive chances on the night. “We didn’t have much. That’s how it is against those guys. The power play has to start putting one in.”

The Sharks special teams was 0-2 on the night, extending a scoreless streak to six straight opportunities with the man advantage. They also went 2-2 on the penalty kill.

“The special teams battle was even tonight,” said DeBoer. “They didn’t get one either. We need to start scoring there for sure. We had some great looks. Eventually something is going to go in.”

The Sharks will be looking for some treats from their nearly-whole lines and power play unit on Halloween when they visit the Dallas Stars Saturday before continuing the road trip with a pit stop in Colorado. After that, the team returns to SAP for four-straight home contests.

Sharks save game in shootout

Photo credit: AP

By Pearl Allison Lo

With the game down to the final round, San Jose’s Antti Niemi, backed by goal support, held on for a 3-2 win Tuesday over the Colorado Avalanche.

The Sharks now have their third two-game win streak of the season, as they continued their energetic run from last game versus the Anaheim Ducks. They had a season-high 23 shots in the first period and held their opponent scoreless in the first for the tenth time in eleven games.

Colorado had just come off an overtime loss.

Niemi continued to hold strong after San Jose killed off a power play from 3:55 on in overtime. In the shootout, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski were perfect in the offensive role as Niemi stopped Alex Tanguay and Matt Duchene.

The Sharks were only able to score one goal through two periods, thanks mainly to Avalanche goalie Seymon Varlamov who stopped 49 of the 51 shots he faced.

At 9:23 of the first, San Jose’s Brent Burns got his third goal in as many games as he earned his 300th NHL point. Joe Thornton picked up the loose puck behind Varlamov after Burns went down to the ice. Thornton then passed to Mirco Mueller at the blue line and Burns deflected in his shot.

Shortly after, Varlamov was able to make five saves in less than a minute starting at 9:49. The last three came within a span of five seconds, two of them rebounds by Tomas Hertl off the crossbar and a wrister from Thornton, as Varlamov completed a 360 degree turn.

Duchene had a chance with 1.5 seconds left in the first right up front, but Niemi dove to make the save.

Colorado tied up the game shorthanded at 13:24 of the second. Erik Johnson saw Tanguay at the other end of the ice and passed. With just Logan Couture and Niemi in front of him then, Tanguay went around Couture, moved back and shot the puck behind a sprawled out Niemi. Jan Hejda had the second assist.

With 5.6 seconds left, Marleau had a one-on-one, but it was saved.

The Avalanche got their first lead in the third period at 3:04. Hejda bounced the puck off the boards from the goalline to Ryan O’Reilly near the first blue line, who passed it to Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog then angled the puck near the goalline to get Niemi.

Couture re-tied the game at 5:03, starting and ending the play. He broke up a pass at the other end and passed it to Tommy Wingels. Wingels then passed it behind to Justin Braun as two defenders approached. Braun’s shot hit the post and Couture came from behind to finish.

Game notes: Neither team scored on the power play, going a combined 0-for-7. The Sharks will finish up their road trip Thursday against Minnesota at 5p.

Sharks’ shots don’t count in preseason opener Part 1

Photo: The Canadian Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

Although San Jose had a overall 34-19 shot advantage, they weren’t enough as the Canucks’ goalies beat the Sharks’ split squad playing in Vancouver Tuesday, 4-2.

Bo Horvat scored the game winner at 11:33 of the third after winning a faceoff. Horvat was aided by Derek Dorsett and Mike Zalewski.

Starting at 5:35 in the first, San Jose had four shots on goal, including one by Matthew Nieto after he had a takeaway, in under 30 seconds.

The Canucks’ Jordan Subban scored the only goal of the first period.  He was aided by Hunter Shinkaruk and Linden Vey at 7:51.

The Sharks’ Taylor Fedun who led all with six shots on goal, was busy starting at 15:11, with a blocked shot, two shots on goals and a missed shot in just over 20 seconds.

Each team had a power play opportunity in the period, but Vancouver was the more active with seven opportunities during to one.

San Jose got most of their shots during the second period, outshooting the Canucks 18-5.

Vancouver starting goalie Eddie Lack came out around the 12th minute. His team had seven giveaways during the period before that. Lack was replaced by Joel Cannata who was tested early, and able to withstand one power play, before Brent Burns scored during the Sharks’ second power play of the period at 16:07. Burns was helped by Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture.

Shinkaruk scored less than a minute later though to give the Canucks back the lead. He was assisted by Alex Friesen and Vey.

Marleau then came back just over a minute later to score single-handedly at 18 minutes into the period. He scored on his own takeaway.

Vey capped the game with less than 30 seconds left, as he scored on an empty netter. Four San Jose opportunities in the 18th minute preceded the goal. Daniel Sedin and Radim Vrbata aided as Vey earned his third point of the night.

Game notes: Both Burns and Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa led with four blocked shots apiece. They were also the two players on the ice the most, with Bieksa on for 28:25 and Burns on for 26:39. Other leaders were Dane Fox with four hits. Meanwhile, in Stockton, the Sharks’ other split squad ended up with a more dominant score to even San Jose’s preseason opener, beating the Canucks 5-2. The Sharks will come back together when San Jose plays the Phoenix Coyotes Friday at 7:30pm.