NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Rangers closing in on second place; Flames win ties them with Jets for Wild Card spot; plus more

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) stands near the goal as the New York Rangers celebrate a goal by Chris Kreider during the third period at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wed Apr 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The New York Rangers Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte scored a goal each in the Rangers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to notch closer to second place in the Metro Division. The Rangers picked up a 6-3 win at Madison Square Garden and are now just three points behind first place New Jersey Devils.

#2 The Calgary Flames are in a tie with the Winnipeg Jets for a second wild card for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference. The Flames defeated the Jets 3-1 at Canada Life Centre Wednesday night. You wanted to say something Jacob Marston.

#3 The Edmonton Oilers are having a great season and their closing in on first place in the NHL Pacific Division picking up their sixth straight win defeating the Anaheim Ducks 3-1. The Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins reached 100 points and goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 27 shots. The Oilers extended their points streak to 12 games.

#4 The Minnesota Wild Kirill Kaprizov got to practice on Wednesday for the first time since Mar 8th due to a lower back injury. Kaprizov wore a non contact sweater during the practice. Kaprizov will sit out Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However Kaprizov could return on Saturday against the St Louis Blues.

#5 The Washington Capitals will miss their first post season for the first time in eight years It’s the first time the Caps have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2013-14 season. The Capitals played .500 hockey (34-34-9) but was not good enough to make the playoffs. The Caps are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Karlsson Matches Franchise D-man Mark, Sharks Get Swept By Blues in 4-2 Loss

The St Louis Blues center Robert Thomas (18) is jazzed as the Blues defeated the San Jose Sharks at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thu Mar 9, 2023 (@StLouisBlues photo)

By Matthew Harrington

Erik Karlsson matched the San Jose Sharks single-season record for points by a defenseman, but the Sharks still fell to the St. Louis Blues 4-2 Thursday night in the Gateway City, suffering a season sweep at the hands of their Midwest foes. Tomas Hertl scored the Sharks other goal and Alexander Barabanov had a pair of assists in defeat. The Blues (28-31-5) received goals from four different players. The Sharks (19-35-12) had a 26-19 shot edge heading into the third period, but were tied at 2-2 before the Blues cracked the game open late. San Jose had two possible goals called back for not crossing the goal as well.

Karlsson will certainly smash the franchise record, set by Brent Burns in the 2018-19 season. Burns set the mark over 82 games with 16 goals and 67 assists for a Sharks team that picked up 101 points for a second place finish in the regular season standings for the Western Conference. What makes Karlsson’s feat all the more impressive is that this iteration of the Sharks will finish somewhere…. much lower in the standings.

For Karlsson, the team feat matches an individual achievement. The Swedish defenseman’s previous career high in points was 82, coming in a rare full season for the injury-riddle d-man for the 2015-16 Ottawa Senators. He sits one goal off his career high of 21 in 2014-15 and three back of matching his career high in assists of 66 in his previous career-best year. He also now has the second best point total by a defenseman 32 years or older since Ray Bourque had 91 points(1993-94) per Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News. Brent Burns was also 34 when he had his 83 point season.

Karlsson scored his 20th goal of the year much like he scored many of his others 10:23 into the first period , beating Jordan Binnington on a snap shot through traffic that had eyes. He’s mastered the dying art of goal scoring by a defenseman this season even as goals have been hard to come by for San Jose.

The Blues Torey Krug tied the game up at the 12:31 mark of the period after he was sprung on a two-on-one with Robert Thomas carrying the puck. Thomas passed the puck to Krug while Nico Sturm backchecked Alexei Toropchenko into Kaapo Kahkonen in the Shark’s net for a 1-1 tie.

The Blues’ Sammy Blais skated in on the breakway before going fore-hand back-hand on Kahkonen at the 10:06 mark of the second period to score his third of the year, but Tomas Hertl answered back with his 18th of the year with 5:29 left in the period. Alexander Barabanov forced a turnover on the forecheck, passed the puck to Hertl streaking down the center lane and picked up the assist when Hertl beat Binnington clean for a 2-2 tie.

Just 2:53 into the third period the Blues took the 3-2 lead on Jakub Vrana’s first goal with the Blues after a shot went wide on the Sharks net. Pavel Buchnevich tried to bank the rebound off Kahkonen’s back side but didn’t convert. The rebound was there for Vrana to bat home though.

Robert Thomas sealed the game for the Blues on a power play goal with 4:58 left in regulation. The Sharks offense sputtered in the final frame, putting only eight shots on the Blues net while surrendering 12. Despite the late power play strike, the Blues were only 1 for 4 on the power play while the Sharks failed to convert on any of their four opportunities.

San Jose returns home to face the Minnesota Wild Saturday night. It kicks off a four-game home stand with tilts with the Blue Jackets, Kraken and Islanders looming at the SAP Center.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len Shapiro: Binnington lost for rest of second round lower body injury; Lightning lights up the lamp leads Panthers; plus more

Colorado Avalanche left winger JT Compher (37) reaches for the puck against the St Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) during game 3 of the Western Conference second round playoffs at the Enterprise Center in St Louis. This would be Binnington’s last game for this round due to an injury on Sat May 21, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 St Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington will miss the rest of the Western Conference second round with a lower body injury rumored to be left leg against the Colorado Avalanche. Binnington got hurt during game 3 when teammate Calle Rosen and Aves Nazem Kadri knocked Binnington over. How is the loss of Binnington going to impact the Blues the rest of the second round?

#2 Also Colorado’s Samuel Girard is out for the rest of the playoffs with a broken sternum in game 3 in the first period at 1:42 on Saturday he was checked hard by the Blues Ivan Barbashev.

#3  In the battle of Florida The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the driver’s seat with the series lead 3-0 and their getting some great scoring not to mention great goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy in their game 3 win today 5-1.

#4 The Carolina Hurricanes lead the series 2-1 against the New York Rangers and played game 3 today at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers won a crucial game 3-1 how did home ice pay off for the Rangers today?

#5 The Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers are battling it out in Edmonton the Flames had Oilers came back on the Flames in game 1 only to lose the lead 9-6. The Oilers bounced back in game 2 with a 5-2 win and goaltender Mike Smith stopped 37 shots.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL Stanley Cup postseason podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro : Hurricanes up 2-0 with series going back to MSG; Oilers-Flames take game 3 to Calgary; Aves take a 2-1 lead over St Louis

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len:

Carolina Hurricanes’ Brendan Smith, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Sebastian Aho (20) and Teuvo Teravainen (86) in second period action at PNC Arena in Raleigh in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Fri May 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

#1 The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta stopped 21 shots on his way to a 2-0 shutout Friday night his first playoff shutout in game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The win puts the Hurricanes up 2-0 over the New York Rangers.

#2 After watching the first two games of this series how concerned does the proposition of going down in the first two games have to be for Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant and can the Rangers consider going back to MSG for the next two games a chance to get back into this thing?

#3 Last Wednesday the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames battled to a 9-6 Flames win. The Flames had to breath a sigh a relief in that one up 3-1 they gave up four goals in the second period to the Oilers but came back to win game 1.

#4 In game 2 on Friday night the Oilers had an opportune moment when the Oilers Zach Hyman took advantage of a break away in the middle of the third period with the score tied at 3-3. Hyman got a shot over the glove of the Flames goaltender Jakob Markstrom to put the Oilers ahead 4-3 at 10:14.

#5 A thriller in Denver the Colorado Avalanche get a big win taking it to the St Louis Blues with a game 3 win the Blues were up front but the Avalanche came back to overtake the Blues 5-3 and take a 2-1 series lead. The Avalanche got two goals from Artturi Lehkonen.

Len Shapiro filled in Matt Harrington for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts heard each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Reedy showed potential in minors and scores twice with the Sharks

San Jose Sharks center Scott Reedy (54) celebrates with Jasper Weatherby (26) after Reedy’s goal in the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Apr 19, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (30-34-12) defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets (35-36-6) 3-2, ending a ten-game losing streak. It was also their first win with Kaapo Kahkonen in net.

#2 Scott Reedy scored twice for the Sharks and Rudolfs Balcers added the third goal. Reedy had huge success during his time in the Sharks minor league affiliate at the San Jose Barracuda and his promotion is paying off.

#3 Kahkonen made 22 saves for the win and had a shutout going through the first two periods and ended up allowing two goals but good enough to keep the Blue Jackets at bay.

#4 After the game, Sharks Captain Logan Couture talked about finally getting a win for goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen. Couture mentioned the goalie’s work ethic and said that Kahkonen “fits in really well, gets along everyone in the room.

#5 The Sharks next play on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the St. Louis Blues (46-20-11) the Blues have won nine of their last ten games and could be a force in the post season. The Sharks could have their hands full on Thursday night.

Catch Mary Lisa with the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Ovechkin close to winning Hart Trophy; Wild’s Kaprizov out for tonight vs. Washington; plus more

The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin a three time MVP winner is up for the Hart Trophy Award (NHL.com file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin who has won the MVP three times is up for the Hart Trophy so far with 24 goals, 50 points, and has helped the Capitals to get to first place in the Metropolitan Division.

#2 The Boston Bruins Trent Fredric hit the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov hitting him into the boards and Kaprizov’s skates got caught up with his teammate Matt Grzelcyk receiving an upper body injury at 10:09 of the second period in the 3-2 Wild win on Thursday night. Kaprizov will not play against the Washington Capitals tonight.

#3 The St Louis Blues dropped their odds a bit losing right winger Vladimir Tarasenko, defensemen Scott Perunovich, and Jake Walman to Coronavirus protocols. Each will miss two games after testing positive for Coronavirus.

#4 The Vegas Golden Knights know how to spoil a reunion as they defeated the New York Rangers 5-1 in the return of former Knights head coach Gerrard Gallant. Gallant was the Knights first coach in their franchise history before being replace by Peter DeBoer on Jan 15, 2020.

#5 Three games were canceled in Canadian cities due to attendance restrictions New Jersey had two games postponed @ Montreal Jan 15 and at Toronto Jan 17th. The Chicago Blackhawks at Edmonton Oilers were postponed for Jan 18. The Ottawa Senators had three games postponed.

#6 The San Jose Sharks gave Evander Kane his unconditional release today because of a fake Covid 19 card and he will no longer be skating for the Sharks minor league team the San Jose Barracuda. Kane has ability but because of off ice issues is no longer with San Jose.

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

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Froze out outdoor game will set NHL cold record; Ovechkin sets power play goals record; Knights win on Pacioretty’s first game back since surgery

They can see their breath as workers at Target Field in Minneapolis prepare the ice surface and stands for fans and players as the St Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild face off on Sat Jan 1, 2022 for the Winter Classic which is expected to the coldest outdoor game on record (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 It wouldn’t be a show without opening it up about the power play goal king Alexander Ovechkin who mailed home the NHL record most power play goals in history on Friday night with number 275 against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars in Detroit.

#2 Look out Matt for those full of fired up Vegas Golden Knights as they defeat the Anaheim Ducks in Las Vegas 3-1. This was the Knights tenth win in 12 games in a 3-1 win. The Knights Max Pacioretty enjoyed the victory the Pacioretty’s first since coming back from wrist surgery on Thursday.

#3 You knew the New Jersey Devils (12-15-5) Jack Hughes wouldn’t disappoint scoring two goals and an assist for three points on Friday night with a game winning goal at 2:55 in the third period against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers Conner McDavid scored two goals. The Devils edged the Oilers 6-5.

#4 In the coldest outdoor game record low of three degrees the Winter Classic between the visiting St Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild at Target Field in Minnesota was the coldest on record. The NHL has ordered 40,000 hand warmers for fans for today’s outdoor game.

#5 Matt, nine games postponed means 90 games scratched due to Covid 19 protocols. The New York Islanders have games in Seattle on Tue, at Vancouver on Wed, in Edmonton on Jan 8, and at Calgary on Jan 11th all postponed. The games will be made up later.

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

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: NHL action returns on Tuesday; Winter Classic is game on for New Years Day; plus more

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) gets in between Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) and guard Cameron Payne at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Christmas Dec 25, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt, how important was it to delay the Holiday shutdown one more day as NHL action returns on Tuesday night instead of Monday night.

#2 The NHL Discover Winter Classic is on target to be played between St Louis Blues (17-9-5) and Minnesota Wild (9-19-2) at Target Field is still scheduled to be played on Sat Jan 1 barring no further Covid interruptions.

#3 According to former NHL great Wayne Gretzky said that Washington Capitals (18-6-7) Alexander Ovechkin will pass him up for most goals scored. Ovechkin could do it with 143 goals remaining. Ovechkin has 22 goals in 31 games this season. Gretzky said he’s on his way to 40-50 goals this season there is no he will break the record.

#4 It’s really no surprise that the NHL called off it’s players from participating in the Beijing 2020 Winter Olympics due to the surge in positive tests for Covid 19. The Feb 6-22 Olympic schedule now scratched the league will use those dates to make up games that were postponed.

#5 The Boston Bruins (14-10-2) surprisingly are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division three points out of a playoff spot. The Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said that there is a lot of hockey to be played yet and their looking for some consistency to get right back in the hunt again.

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

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Covid outbreaks effects numerous NHL teams; Jets Lowry takes over as interim coach; plus more

Nashville Predators left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) watches as teammate left wing Filip Forsberg scores on Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz (39) Thu Dec 16, 2021 in Nashville (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 Not since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic in March 2020 has the NHL seen so many games postponed. The NHL has postponed two more teams all games for the Colorado Avalanche (17-8-2) and Florida Panthers (18-7-4).

#2 The Calgary Flames (15-7-6) have shutdown their operations extending it from Dec 24-26. The Flames announced that they have had no further positive tests today. The Flames next scheduled game is against the Edmonton Oilers (17-11-0) on Dec 27th.

#3 Winnipeg Jets (13-11-5) head coach Paul Maurice resigned on Friday saying the team needs a new voice. That new voice was found when Jet’s general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff called new interim head coach Dave Lowry to take over on Thursday. Lowry is the father of Jets forward Adam Lowry.

#4 The Vegas Golden Knights (19-11-0) Jonathan Marchessault got the game winner in round three of a shootout against the New York Rangers (19-7-4) at Madison Square Garden for a 3-2 win. The win was the Knights third straight win.

#5 The St Louis Blues (17-8-5) picked up a home and home sweep against the Dallas Stars (13-12-2) 4-1 on Friday night in St Louis. The Blues Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals and goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 shots.

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

Audio clears up at 0:22

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks face off with struggling Blues in St Louis on Thursday night

Minnesota Wild goalie Cam Talbot can’t stop San Jose Sharks’ Mario Ferraro (not pictured) from scoring in the first period on Tue Nov 16, 2021 in Minnesota (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa the San Jose Sharks (8-6-1) Timo Meier has had a strong start getting a goal and an assist against the Minnesota Wild (10-5-0) he had a good outing against the Wild and he’s been coming on strong offensively.

#2 James Reimer was key in goal with 26 saves holding the Wild to just one goal in the 4-1 win how would you evaluate him in goal he’s had the hot hand of late.

#3 Sharks team captain Logan Couture said the effort against the Wild was great and that their now playing their style of hockey.

#4 Mary Lisa talk about the Sharks jumping right out of the gate in that first period opening up the period with two goals which is crucial when your jumping on top of a good team like the Wild who have won of late.

#5 Sharks are in St Louis to face the St Louis Blues (8-5-2) the Blues are on a four game losing streak and just recently lost to a struggling Arizona Coyotes (2-13-1) have the Blues had injuries and might have their hands full when they get to San Jose on Thursday night at SAP.

Join Mary Lisa for exclusive San Jose Sharks podcasts Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com