NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins coach Montgomery leads by being positive; Heads or tails on Canucks new coach Tocchet for now; plus more NHL News

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery talks with his players during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Boston. The Bruins hired Montgomery at the start of the 2022 season as their new coach. (AP News file)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt, talk about Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery this is his second team in the NHL he first coached the Dallas Stars before being fired by them in 2019 and has done a bang up job as head coach leading the club to a 26-6-4. Talk about the job Montgomery has done building up the Bruins?

#2 Under Vancouver Canucks (19-26-3) new head coach Rick Tocchet he’s 2-1 so far and in the first win he handled the Chicago Blackhawks rather handily 5-2 and in the second game in Seattle the Canucks got crushed 6-1, and on Friday the Canucks picked up a three goal win over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. It’s early to tell but the Canucks critics say should have held onto Bruce Boudreau and let him finish out the season.

#3 Matt, are the Toronto Maple Leafs going to miss Austin Matthews something awful, Matthews is out with a knee sprain for three weeks, Matthews is second in goals, and is third in points. Matthews injured himself on Wednesday against the New York Rangers during a 3-2 overtime win.

#4 The Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov will replace Matthews at center at the NHL All Star game in Florida on Sat Feb 4th. Barkov is second on the Panthers with 43 points with 13 goals and 30 assists. He should get a good ovation when he is introduced in Sunrise next Saturday.

#5 Despite winning seven of their last ten games the Chicago Blackhawks (15-28-4) and defeating one of the tougher teams in the NHL the Calgary Flames (23-17-9) 5-1 on Thursday night in Calgary the Blackhawks are looking to deal stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each player is in the final year of their eight year contract.

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

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Forsberg and Sissons lead Nashville to 6-1 win in Anaheim; Canes Raanta shutsout Panthers 4-0; plus more NHL news

Nashville Predators center Juuso Parssinen, center, misses the puck on a rebound with Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, left, and right wing Troy Terry defending during the second period at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Fri Dec 30, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Nashville Predators Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, Colton Sissons scored a goal and an assist as the Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim 6-1.

#2 Matt the Predators also got scoring help from Yokov Trenin, Thomas Novak, Roman Josi, and Nino Niederreiter the win ended Nashville’s two game loss streak.

#3 Jesperi Kokaniemi supplied the offense for the the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-0 defeat over the Florida Panthers. Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta saved 19 shots on goal by the Panthers and picked up his first shoutout for the 2022-23 campaign.

#4 The New Jersey Devils got a two goal win over the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. The Pens Jack Hughes scored two goals and teammate Nico Hischier scored a shorthanded goal as the Devils (13-2-1) are one of the hottest road teams in the NHL.

#5 Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon skated for the first time since his Dec 5 upper body injury. MacKinnon practiced at the morning skate on Friday and might get into Saturday’s line up against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Join Matt Harrington for the NHL podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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: Leafs Marner extends point streak; As Sharks lack offense in Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner (16) turns to look down ice after scoring a third period empty netter at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wed Nov 30, 2022 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs (15-5-5) got scoring help from Pierre Engvall and Mitch Marner scored and extended his point streak tying the Leafs all time record at 18 games. The effort was good enough for a two goal win over the San Jose Sharks (8-14-4) 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena.

#2 The Leafs Austin Matthews scored and goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped 23 shots. The Leafs got some scoring and with Samsonov great defense in net.

#3 The Leafs after Wednesday night’s win are undefeated over their last ten games 8-0-2 and are now 11-1-4 in their last 16 contests.

#4 The Sharks Matt Nieto scored for the only goal and goaltender Aaron Dell stopped 29 out of 32 shots.

#5 Sharks are in Ottawa this Sat Dec 3. The last time they faced the Senators they defeated them by four goals 5-1 at SAP Center on Mon Nov 21st. Can the Sharks handle the Sens again at Canadian Tire Arena this Saturday?

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

Late Error Costs Sharks in 3-1 Loss to Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitchell Marner, left, celebrates with Auston Matthews after scoring an empty-net goal at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wed Nov 30, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Matthew Harrington

A late goal sunk the San Jose Sharks in Toronto Wednesday night with the Sharks falling to the Maple Leafs 3-1 in the second game of a back-to-back.

Matt Nieto scored in a second consecutive contest and Aaron Dell made 29 saves in his first start of the year but Pierre Engvall goal with 2:27 left in regulation eliminated an opportunity for San Jose (8-14-4) to pick up a three-point (or more) trip through Canada’s Original Six squads. Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves in the win.

The Maple Leafs (15-5-5) had won four-straight entering play and took a 1-0 4:19 into the second period after sustained pressure in the offensive zone. On the goal Auston Matthews redirected a shot pass from Mac Hollowell for his 12th goal of the year.

Nieto scored his 6th of the year, matching his total from last year in 70 games, taking a feed from Logan Couture from behind the net for the point blank shot to tie the game 7:26 into the second frame.

The heartbreaker came with 2:27 left in regulation when the Sharks were attempting to rush up the ice. An errant Tomas Hertl pass in the neutral zone was picked off by David Kampf who rushed back into the offensive zone. He fed the puck to Alex Kerfoot, but Dell made the save. The rebound bounced to Engvall who potted it for his third of the season. Mitch Marner added an empty-netter to extend his point streak to 18 games.

The Sharks get a little rest before their next stop in Ottawa. They face the Senators Saturday night. The Sharks will be waiting in Kanata for the Sens who play against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Friday night.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: CBJs-Predators game postponed in Nashville; Leafs extend point streak to seven; plus more

Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16) and Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) go after the puck during the first period at the Excel Energy Center in St Paul on Fri Nov 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

On NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 A very unusual NHL occurrence as today’s game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators has been postponed due to a water main break at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The report says the break had significantly impacted the building and can’t service fans or even the players at the Nashville rink. The Jackets, Predators, or the NHL have not announced a make up date yet.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs have extended their point streak to seven games with a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Excel Energy Center in St Paul. The Leafs Mitchell Marner extended his point streak to 15 games with a goal. The Leafs have now won two straight games and got 25 saves from goaltender Matt Murray.

#3 The Montreal Canadiens Kirby Dach has an eye for the backend of the net during shootouts. Dach scored his second consecutive game winning shootout goal getting the Habs a 3-2 win over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago.

#4 Can’t hold a good team down as the Boston Bruins won their 12th consecutive game which is a NHL record for home victories getting the win over the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The Bruins David Pastrnak scored on a power play goal at 3:19 in the overtime stanza for a one timer after a pass from Brad Marchand.

#5 The Pittsburgh Penguins Ryan Poehling scored scored two goals which help contribute to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Pens Teddy Blueger had three assists, Josh Archibald got a goal and an assist, good enough for their fifth straight win.

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

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks finding winning ways host Tampa Bay Saturday

San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson finds the back end of the net against the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Erik Kallgren at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Oct 27, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 San Jose Sharks Erik Karlsson scored an overtime goal to help the Sharks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. Karlsson also picked up two assists in the Sharks first home victory of 2022-23.

#2 Karlsson was just hoping that Timo Meier delivered the puck in the right place which he did and Karlsson was able to score the game winner thanks to a great pass from Meier.

#3 The Shark Logan Couture scored his 300th career goal on Thursday night and Couture said that he plays the game to win but when those milestone do come he definitely appreciates it.

#4 After losing a tough game to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night Sharks head coach David Quinn said the team came out Thursday against the Leafs intense from the start and that the club deserved the win and deserved the two points.

#5 The Sharks now face one of the toughest customers in the NHL the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-4-0) on Saturday at 1:30pm at SAP Center. The Lightning have won three of their last four and they won their last game on Wednesday in Anaheim against the Anaheim Ducks 4-3.

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

Logan Couture’s 300th goal of career helps propel Sharks over Maple Leafs by final of 4-3 in OT

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

Credit to San Jose Sharks Twitter. The San Jose Sharks celebrate their overtime win against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks took on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night the Sharks picked up an overtime win 4-3 at the SAP Center on Thursday night.

The game couldn’t have started off better for the Sharks as Logan Couture on a breakdown in puck management by the Maple Leafs got a goal just 27 seconds in. The assists went to Matt Nieto and Alexander Barabonov as the Sharks as they’ve done many times this season got on the board first.

Feeling the momentum that first line continued to get chances as Nieto not too long after the goal streaked in and shot one wide.

Erik Kallgren the starting goalie for the Leafs had to be on his toes early in the game as the chances piled on.

Despite the early momentum the Leafs found a way to respond as David Kampf scored off a nice pass by Alexander Kerfoot and helped as well by Mitch Marner. It came at the 14:46 mark of the first and seemed to breathe new life into the Leafs.

Helping to further the Leafs continued pressure the Sharks took a too many men penalty and put a dangerous power play on the ice. The penalty kill would come through for the Sharks though the Leafs had plenty of good looks.

By the end of the first a shot count that originally favored the Sharks now favored the Leafs at 9-5.

The second period for the Sharks got off to a rocky start as Radim Simek got a penalty for tripping. The penalty kill that has been extremely good though for the Sharks continued to be as they killed it off.

Following that up would be the Maple Leafs though as they would take two penalties simultaneously to give the Sharks a five on three. With both T.J. Brodie and Pierre Engvall sitting in the box blood was in the water for the power play unit.

It would not take long for the power play unit to capitalize as Erik Karlsson gave it to Barabonov on a one touch who then feed it to Couture for the goal. Couture’s second goal came with still some time left on the five on three and so the Sharks remained on the power play.

The power play then struck again for the Sharks and at first it appeared to be Couture’s giving him the hat trick. However after further inspection the goal went to Timo Meier though by that time it was too late as many hats had already been thrown.

Meier commented on the delayed correction after the game, “Yea I mean sorry for all the people that threw the hats but you know you’d love to see Logan get a hat trick. But anyways were happy to win the game.”

With a 3-1 lead it seemed like everything was clicking in the second period for team teal. The Leafs actually ended up taking another penalty this time for delay of game but it was killed off this time by penalty kill.

In the dying moments of the second period though the Sharks gave up a four on two and the Leafs converted on the defensive blemish. This time Marner got the goal from Morgan Rielly and Alexander Kerfoot making it a 3-2 game off tic tac toe style play.

With the third period starting and the Sharks having a sour taste in their mouths they did not get off to a great start. As the penalty kill would be busy with a couple quick penalties.

On one of these penalties the power play for the Maple Leafs came through as Auston Matthews one timed an absolute bomb from the top of the slot. The assists going to Rielly and John Tavares on the goal that tied the game at three.

For the rest of the period the teams fought back and forth exchanging chances. The Maple Leafs though ended up with the more threatening looks as Kaapo Kahkonen had to be sharp making 22 saves.

The teams fought to a draw and so overtime would have to be played in front of the home crowd for the Sharks. Those same fans though had something to cheer about pretty quickly into the match.

Off a beautiful defensive play by Timo Meier on a pass he poked it away and spotted Erik Karlsson skating out of the zone. On a perfect pass he fead Karlsson and Erik did the rest as he went backhand forehand top shelf to end the game in OT at 4-3.

“It was nice the way it developed I think I just had to get going and trust Timo that he would get the puck there. I made up my mind fairly early and stuck to it and it went in,” Karlsson said postgame.

For the home crowd at SAP Center it was an exhilarating win and a great way to end the game.

The San Jose Sharks next game will be against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at SAP Center for a 1:30pm faceoff.

Historic night for Kessel as Golden Knights upend Sharks 4-2

The Vegas Golden Knights Phil Kessel scored in the first period in his 990th consecutive game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Oct 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Vegas’ Phil Kessel scored his first goal of the season while establishing an NHL record for durability on Tuesday, as the Golden Knights defeated San Jose 4-2 at SAP Center.

The NHL Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights improved to 6-2, while San Jose is in sixth place in the Pacific with a 2-7 mark.

Kessel – who broke in with the Boston Bruins in 2006 and also played for Toronto, Pittsburgh and Arizona – has played in 990 straight games, breaking the old record held by Keith Yandle. He hasn’t missed a game since 2009, playing 12 consecutive seasons without missing a contest.

Kessel’s goal, the 400th of his career, came at 15:51 of the first period, assisted by Brett Howden.

San Jose came back with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead in the second period. Nico Sturm’s fourth goal of the season at 5:53 was the equalizer, and Matt Nieto scored his first goal of the season at 19:25, assisted by Tomas Hertl.

55 seconds into the third period, Vegas tied the game at 2-2 on a goal by Shea Theodore. William Karlsson’s third goal of the year put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2 at 13:13. Mark Stone tacked on the fourth Vegas goal at 14:15.

Only three penalties were called in the game – one against Sturm for interference at 15:14 of the second period, and two against Vegas in the third period.

James Reimer stopped 27 of 31 shots for San Jose, while the Golden Knights’ netminder Adin Hill faced 31 shots, stopping 29.

The Sharks host Toronto on Thursday, with a 7:30 p.m. opening faceoff.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Red Wings Soderblom scores in first NHL game; Bolts top CBJs 5-3 plus much more news

The Detroit Red Wings Eric Soderblom (85) seen here battling with the Montreal Canadiens in Little Casers Palace in Detroit on Fri Oct 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt the Detroit Red Wings Eric Soderblom scored in his NHL debut as the Red Wings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 in Detroit on Friday night. It was the first win for Red Wing coach Derek LaLonde and goaltender Ville Husso saved 29 shots in the shutout.

#2 Tough loss for the Columbus Blue Jackets Johnny Gaudreau in his home debut as Gaudreau and Gustav Nyquist both scored but the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning were too much with goals scored by Steve Stamkos scoring twice, Corey Perry and Ross Colton scoring a goal each in the Lightning’s 5-3 win.

#3 You know it’s hockey season in Winnipeg when the fans loose their minds on opening night and Winnipeg Jets goaltender Conner Hellebuyck puts a stop on 40 shots at the Jets net to hold off the New York Rangers 4-1 on Friday night. The Jets Mark Scheifele scored twice and Shane Gagner and Kyle Connor each had a goal for the Jets in the win.

#4 Matt, have to ask you what was it like to see the Carolina Hurricanes Brent Burns in different uniform other than the San Jose Sharks Friday night at SAP Center and what kind of an reception did he get before the game and Sharks TV broadcaster was sworn in as a US Citizen after waiting some 40 years?

#5 Some of hockey’s top stars say that the Toronto Maple Leafs Austin Matthews can score 60 goals again this season says the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane and the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin.

Join Matt Harrington for the NHL podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com