Sharks Fall 5-3 to Avalanche in Hard Fought Game

Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) lights the lamp for the game winner in the third period against San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) at SAP Arena in San Jose on Fri Mar 18, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost to the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 on Friday. Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, and Darren Helm scored for the Avalanche. Pavel Francouz made 25 saves for the win. Jeffrey Viel, Rudolfs Balcers and Erik Karlsson scored for the Sharks. Zach Sawchenko made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“It was a fairly even game for the first two periods. We just got to capitalize on our chances. Same thing as last night. We didn’t have any goal support. But defensively, we did some right things until we started opening it up a little bit at the end. Obviously we gave a few breaks but all in all, you know, it was a hard-fought game. I thought the guys battled hard, especially after a back-to-back, against the best team in the League.”

Sharks forward Rudolfs Balcers talked about how the veteran leaders helped the team rally in the third period, despite being down 4-1: “They’re our leaders. They’ve been around for a while, you know. That’s the guys you rely on every night, and, you know, when you see them go out there and battle until the end, you know, I think it just motivates the whole bench.”

One of those leaders, Logan Couture, seemed to score the first goal of the game at 6:07 of the first. Unfortunately, the Avalanche challenged the goal for offside. Upon review, the officials saw that Couture did cross the line a hair before the puck.

The first goal, then, went to the Avalanche on a power play at 10:08. Nazem Kadri tipped Mikko Rantanen’s pass from about eight feet above the blue paint. a second assist went to Cale Makar.

Darren Helm made it 2-0 at 14:14, when he picked up a puck that Erik Karlsson lost control of in the Sharks’ zone. Helm slipped by Karlsson and lifted the puck over Sawchenko. An assist went to Andre Burakovsky, who poked the puck off of Karlsson’s stick.

Jacob Middleton fought Kurtis MacDermid after the first goal. J.T. Compher and Marc-Edouard Vlasic had matching roughing minors in the final seconds of the period.

Those matching minors put the teams four-on-four to start the second period. Cale Makar scored 34 seconds in. He took a shot from above the circle, then gathered up his own rebound just above the goal line to score. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews.

Valeri Nichushkin made it 4-0 at 15:29. Initially, he redirected pass from Cale Makar, but Sawchenko stopped that. The goalie left a rebound and Nchushkin was still there to lift the puck in. Assists went to Makar and MacKinnon.

Jeffrey Viel got the Sharks on the board at 19:19, tipping a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. A secondary assist went to Nicolas Meloche.

Rudolfs Balcers scored 13:02 into the third period. He knocked the puck loose with a hit along the boards and then took it to the net for a look-away shot, aided by Vlasic who was there to make it a two-on-one and sell the look. Assists went to Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl.

With 3:21 remaining, the Sharks pulled Sawchenko for an extra skater. Erik Karlsson made it 4-3 with a goal at 18:35. Logan Couture knocked down a high clearing attempt and then passed it to Karlsson. Karlsson seemed to fumble the pass a bit, then gathered it for a wrist shot into the far corner.

Valeri Nichushkin scored into the empty net when he and Nathan MacKinnon went two-on-one against Brent Burns.

The Avalanche out-shot the Sharks 29-28, with the shot count close in each period. On the power play, the Sharks had five opportunities and six shots. They also gave up five short-handed shots. The Sharks had one penalty to kill, and gave up one shot, one goal and had one short-handed shot. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 54% of the draws.

James Reimer was backing up Sawchenko Friday, and Adin Hill is injured.

The Sharks next play on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, in San Jose at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Defeat Kings 4-3 in OT, Karlsson Returns

San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl celebrates scoring an overtime goal against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thu Mar 10, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

LOS ANGELES- The San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in overtime Thursday. Brent Burns, Nick Bonino, Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose. Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves for his first NHL win. Phillip Danault, Andreas Athanasiou and Trevor Moore scored for Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick made 26 saves in the loss.

Thursday saw the return of Erik Karlsson, Jonathan Dahlen and Jaycob Megna. Karlsson had two assists in 25:47 of ice time. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Erik was flying tonight. You could tell he was happy to be back and he was full of energy. I think our team looked like that too. You know, you get Megs and Karly back there, settle things down. You know, we’re not running around as much in our own end, and we’re spending more time in the other team’s end. So, it’s nice to sort of get some guys back from injury and look like a real team out there.”

The Sharks power play scored at 2:39 when Erik Karlsson made a pass to Brent Burns in the middle of blue line. Burns’ one-timer sent the puck in and out before you could blink. Karlsson and Couture got the assists.

Phillip Danault tied it up at 5:58. Sawchenko went to catch the puck on the initial shot but it bounced out of his glove. By then, he was out of position and when Danault found the puck, he had an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Trevor Moore and Andreas Athanasiou.

Athanasiou scored to give the Kings a lead eight seconds later. He took the shot from above the circle without seeming to look where he was shooting and it beat Sawchenko on the glove side. Assists went to Moore and Olli Maatta.

Moore made it 3-1 at 10:40 of the second period with a shorthanded goal. Danault and Moore played a little catch in the Sharks zone before Moore took the shot from the slot.

Nick Bonino trimmed the Kings lead at 12:13 with a power play goal. Jonathan Dahlen took a shot from inside the circle. Quick stopped it but it bounced over him and into the blue paint, where Bonino was able to nudge it over the line. Assists went to Dahlen and Jacob Middleton.

Alexander Barabanov tied it up at 1:21 of the third period. Erik Karlsson took a quick shot from up at the blue line and Barabanov managed to deflect it just as he arrived in front of the net. Assists went to Karlsson and Hertl.

Tomas Hertl scored the game winner at 1:15 of overtime. Hertl carried the puck over the line, across the ice and behind the net. When Hertl went past the net, Quick dove for the puck but missed it and Hertl carried on, around behind the net to score with a backhand. It was his first goal in 13 games. Assists went to Barabanov and Burns.

The shot count for the game was close, 36-30 Kings. In each period, the Sharks were within three shots of their opponent, a significant improvement over recent games. The Sharks won 53% of the face-offs.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at home, at 6:30 PM PT against the Kings again.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Ducks, Sawchenko Gets the Start

San Jose Sharks goaltender Zach Sawchenko, right, stops a shot by Anaheim Ducks center Adam Henrique in second period action at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

ANAHEIM- The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks Sunday. Adam Henrique, Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim and Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves for the win. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose and Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves in his first NHL start.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about Sawchenko’s performance:

“Sawzy, I thought he stood tall. I thought that he gave us the saves we needed early, he made some big saves to keep the momentum on our side. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the two points for him. But for his first full start I think he should be pretty happy with it.”

Undrafted, Sawchenko played for the San Jose Barracuda and the Allen Americans from 2019 to 2021 before signing with the Sharks at the end of last season.

The goaltender talked about making his first start: “It was a long road to get here. I think it’s that much more special, doing it here with the same team that I started with whatever it was, four years ago or three years, whatever the number is.” Sawchenko is of Ukrainian descent and he was asked about the performance of the Ukrainian anthem that played before the game. He said: “Obviously it’s cool. It was cool to hear that yesterday in San Jose too.”

The game-winning goal came after a very convenient line change by the Ducks, and Boughner was not happy about it:

“It’s just a complete, disastrous blown call. And the thing that pisses me off the most is they don’t even come over to the bench, they race off the ice. Just, the respect to come and explain it. Everybody missed it, no review, if you watch it, the replay, it’s too many men all day long.”

The game started with a fight between Jeffrey Viel and Sam Carrick.

Logan Couture made it 1-0 Sharks at 7:47. Couture carried the puck in, looking for the pass but took the shot instead and sent the puck right under Stolarz. Assists went to Timo Meier and Santeri Hatakka.

The Sharks came out of the first period with the lead and a shot lead of 10-9. The Sharks had to kill three penalties and had one power play in the period. Their penalty kill gave up just one shot and had two short-handed shots. Their power play got two shots on goal.

The Ducks tied it up at 1:41 of the second period. Max Comtois’s shot went off of Sawchenko and then off of Adam Henrique and into the net. Assists went to Comtois and Troy Terry.

A little over a minute later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the lead back for the Sharks with a shot from the blue line through traffic. The puck wet off of Kevin Shattenkirk’s leg and into the net. Nicolas Meloche got the assist.

Sony Milano tied it up again with 20 seconds left in the period. The puck came out of a scrum in front of the net and Milano was right there and in the clear to put it away. Assists went to Adam Henrique and Cam Fowler.

The second period had just two penalties called, one to each team. Each power play got just one shot in. The Sharks were badly outshot in the period, 13-6 Ducks.

At 7:03 of the third period, Jacob Middleton puck the puck in the net during a penalty kill but the play was called offside and the goal was called back. Middleton was about half a stride ahead of the puck that Nieto was bringing over the line. To follow up on that valiant effort, Middleton took a stick to the face at the end of the penalty kill to give the Sharks a power play.

Nine seconds into overtime, Logan Couture was covering Adam Henrique while the Ducks had the puck. Couture took an eye off of Henrique, who was near the bench. While Couture was looking away with Henrique behind him, Rickard Rakell jumped on the ice at the other end of the bench, giving himself a good lead on Couture and Burns both. Rakell skated into the zone alone and beat Sawchenko over the glove. Assists went to Terry and Fowler.

After the game, the teams conferenced about the play. It could have been a too-many men on the ice play since Henrique was lackadaisical about getting off the ice. But the goal held up.

The Sharks struggled in the face-off circle Sunday, winning just 38% of the draws. They improved in the third, winning 53% of them. The Sharks excelled at blocking shots, however, blocking 28 to the Ducks’ 7.

The Sharks lost Radim Simek to injury late in Saturday’s game, giving Santeri Hatakka a chance in the lineup Sunday.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Shutout 8-0 by Predators; Eighth loss in ten games for San Jose

The Nashville Predators Michael McCarron (47) gets congratulations from teammates after scoring a first period goal against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks fell 8-0 to the Nashville Predators Saturday night in San Jose. Michael McCarron, Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, Matt Luff, Yakov Trenin and Mikael Granlund scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the shutout win. Alex Stalock made 22 saves before being replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who made 6 saves for the Sharks. It was the most goals the Sharks have ever given up in a shutout loss. The Sharks also have also been shutout at home more than any other team this season.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“That was the worst one of the year, for sure. I think, you know, regardless of the score, at three-nothing I thought we were actually playing a pretty competitive game. We were playing pretty hard. We only gave up two chances in the first period and I think we only generated one. So it’s a pretty even first period, regardless of the shot clock. I thought the second period, the chances we did have [Saros] made saves or [we] hit a couple posts, hit a crossbar. Once it got four-nothing we got away from our game.”

Before the game, the Sharks expressed their support of Ukraine by displaying the Ukrainian flag on the jumbotron while playing the Ukrainian anthem. It was also “You Can Play” night at the tank, promoting inclusivity in the sport. The Sharks wore rainbow jerseys during warm-ups and they held a ceremonial puck drop from San Jose sled hockey player Zack Nazareno.

Michael McCarron scored the first Nashville goal at 10:43 of the first period, off of a pass from behind the net. Assists went to Philip Tomasino and Date Fabbro.

Matt Duchene made it 2-0 with a shot up the middle from the blue line. That shot made its way through traffic and into the net at 18:30 of the period. Assists went to Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen.

Well past the ten minute mark, the Sharks were still at three shots on goal. By the end of the period, they had only managed five to Nashville’s eleven.

Roman Josi added a third goal for Nashville at 2:43 of the second period. Assists went to Matt Luff and Philip Tomasino.

Matt Luff made it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period, gathering the puck up as it slipped out of a melee in front of the net. Assists went to Tomasino and McCarron.

Duchene scored his second of the night 4:43 into the third period. He skated into the zone seemingly unnoticed by the Sharks defense and scored with a late backhand. Filip Forseberg and Mattias Ekholm got the assists.

Michael McCarron scored his second of the night at 6:07, redirecting a shot from Luff. Assists went to Luff and Josi.

The Sharks replaced Stalock with Sawchenko after that goal.

Yakov Trenin scored and unassisted goal at 11:13. He picked off a pass by Marc-Edouard Vlasic that came right to him above the blue paint.

Mikael Granlund scored a power play goal at 13:06. His shot from the bluel line went ight up the middle through traffic. Assists went to McCarron and Josi.

The Sharks power play got three shots on goal, and gave up two short-handed shots. Their penalty kill gave up oe goal and four shots.

Rudolf Balcers was back in the lineup Saturday. Erik Karlsson has been practicing but is not expected to play before next week.

The Sharks play again on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 3-1 to Golden Knights, Reimer Injured

Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden, left, attempts to skate around San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton at the T Mobile Center on Tue Mar 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 in Las Vegas on Tuesday. It was the eleventh loss in row for the Sharks against the Golden Knights. Keegan Kolesar and Reilly Smith scored for Vegas, with two goals from Smith. Robin Lehner made 16 saves for the win. Noah Gregor scored for San Jose. James Reimer made 10 saves in the first period. Zach Sawchenko made 18 saves in the second and third periods.

While admitting that some of the Sharks’ top players may be fatigued after six games in ten days, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner saw few positives in the loss:

“There wasn’t anything I could really say positive about our game tonight. Only thing I’d say is we found a way to keep it a one-goal game for a long time. And that’s an opportunity on the road no matter how you’re playing. You can come up with ten good minutes and find a way to win but we couldn’t muster anything up tonight.”

Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano was equally glum about the team’s lackluster performance: “That’s on us, we know the game plan. The game plan was set in stone, and obviously the game plan against these guys is to try to take away the rush. They’re very good on it and they stretch guys behind you and for whatever reason we didn’t want to do that.”

James Reimer played to the end of the first period but did not return for the second, due to a lower body injury. There were no updates on his status in the post-game.

Keegan Kolesar scored first for Vegas, just 2:16 into the game. Brett Howden carried the puck in, two-on-one with Kolesar. Just before jumping over a prone Brent Burns, he made the cross-ice pass to Kolesar for the shot.

Noah Gregor tied it 1:53 into the second period. Andrew Cogliano, below the goal line, made a pass to Nick Bonino up in the circle, and he found Gregor on the other side of the slot for a quick shot.

Reilly Smith scored his first of the game at 13:56. Jonathan Marchessault brought the puck in and made a quick cross-ice pass to Smith for the shot. Assists went to Marchessault and William Karlsson.

Smith scored his second 4:45 into the third period. Karlsson made a touch-pass off of Marchessault’s shot to get the puck to Smith. It was so quick that it looked like a double deflection from one stick to the other.

The Golden Knights out-shot the Sharks 31-17. They also beat them in the face-off circle, 29-21. There was only one power play in the game, to Vegas. The Sharks penalty kill gave up just two shots.

After the game, Andrew Cogliano explained that he had been out because his infant daughter was hospitalized over the weekend. With her improved and out of the hospital, he was able to return to the team.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson and goaltender Adin Hill may be available to rejoin the team soon.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 5:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Nashville Predators.

Sharks Lose 8-5 to Penguins; Pens open up six goal surge on SJ in first period

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues (9) celebrates his hat trick with Bryan Rust (17), the Penguins scored six goals in the first period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sun Jan 2, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks started 2022 off on the road, losing 8-5 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The victory marked the Penguins’ eighth win in a row. Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust each came away with hat tricks for the Penguins.

Kasper Bjorkqvist and Jake Guentzel scored the balance of the Pittsburgh goals, while Casey DeSmith made 22 saves for the win. Alexander Barabanov, Brent Burns, Matt Nieto, Jacob Middleton and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 11 saves on 17 shots in the first period before being replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who made 20 saves on 21 shots.

The Penguins scored four goals in the first 6:09 of the game, and went on to score two more before the end of the first period. “It snowballed on us. We couldn’t stop it. We tried to call time out, we tried to switch things out, but it was ugly,” said Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner after the game. He summarized the game as: “You score five goals on the road, you should at least come out with a point. So I think that speaks to a couple things on our side.”

Boughner praised his rookie goaltender, Zach Sawchenko:

“Young guy, never played a [NHL] game before, you know, going in to a 6-1 game in a building like this against a team like this. I thought he showed a lot of character, I thought he battled hard for us, and he gave us a chance to come back.”

Sawchenko allowed just one goal, and that one on the power play, in his two periods in net.

The first Pittsburgh goal, at 1:09, came from Evan Rodrigues. The Penguins had a two-on-one into the zone. Rodrigues got around Radim Simek and took a shot between the defenders that got by Reimer on the stick side. Assists went to Marcus Pettersson and Danton Heinen.

Jake Guentzel scored at 3:12. Rust made a pass across the ice, through the blue paint and Guentzel sent it right back to the net. Assists went to Rust and Sidney Crosby.

Rodrigues scored his second at 4:11. On another odd-man rush, Rodrigues carried the puck all the way to the net before lifting it in with a backhand shot. Assists went to Heinen and Dominic Simon.

Bryan Rust scored at 6:09. He took the shot from low in the slot. There was some traffic in front of the net, but no one between Reimer and Rust. Assists went to Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.

Barabanov scored one at 15:33. Timo Meier sent the puck to the net aloft. Barabanov knocked it out of the air and the slipped it around the goaltender. Assists went to Meier and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Kasper Bjorkqvist scored his first NHL goal at 16:29. Radim Zohorna sent the puck into a mass of bodies at the net. The puck went to Bjorkqvist who had dropped to a knee and was ready to nudge it back in. Assists went to Zohorna and Sam Lafferty.

Rust scored his second of the game at 19:32. He took the shot from the blue line into net traffic. It bounced over Reimer on the stick side. Assists went to John Marino and Marcus Pettersson.

The Sharks replaced Reimer to start the second period, putting rookie Zach Sawchenko into his first NHL game with the team down 6-1.

Brent Burns scored the only goal in the second period, with a blast from the blue line. The goal came on the power play at 14:27. Assists went to Nick Bonino and Noah Gregor.

Matt Nieto scored just 20 seconds into the third period with a carom off the end boards that went off of DeSmith and in. Assists went to Jacob Middleton and Andrew Cogliano.

Jacob Middleton scored at 3:01 with a redirection of an Erik Karlsson shot from the point. Assists went to Karlsson and Meier.

Logan Couture brought the Sharks within one goal at 4:09. Meier centered the puck out of traffic along the boards and Couture was ready to shoot it in.

Evan Rodrigues scored his third of the night at 17:59 on the power play. Rodrigues’ shot went past Erik Karlsson and between Jake Guentzel’s skates before getting to the net. Assists went to Kris Letang and Bryan Rust.

Bryan Rust scored into an empty net at 19:49. Assists went to Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.

The Sharks were out-shot 39-27 in the game. They won 66% of the face-offs. The Sharks penalty kill allowed four shots and two goals. Their power play had one shot and one goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Detroit against the Red Wings at 4:30 PM PT.