Thursday 14 December 2017

NHL - Sharks Round Up - October 04-17, 2017



Philadelphia Flyers @ Sharks 5-3 - Wednesday, October 04

The Philadelphia Flyers' power play struggled during the preseason, scoring five goals in eight games. Then the regular season began, and they scored on their first three power plays in a 5-3 victory against the Sharks at SAP Center. Wayne Simmonds scored three goals, two of them with the man-advantage, including the game-winner at 9:27 of the third period. It was the second hat trick of Simmonds' NHL career. The other was April 20, 2013, at the Carolina Hurricanes. Claude Giroux and Jordan Weal scored for the Flyers, Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakub Voracek each had three assists, and Brian Elliott made 32 saves in his Philadelphia debut. Kevin Labanc scored two goals in the first period for the Sharks, and Logan Couture scored in the third. Labanc was in the penalty box for all three Philadelphia power-play goals. Martin Jones made 26 saves for San Jose. Simmonds deflected Gostisbehere's shot from the point past Jones on the power play to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead with 10:33 remaining. It came six seconds after Labanc went to the penalty box for tripping. Simmonds gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead when he scored on the power play with 2:24 left in the second period. That goal came eight seconds after Labanc was penalized for slashing. Simmonds deflected Gostisbehere's slap shot from the left point past Jones. Simmonds completed the first hat trick in a season opener in Flyers history when he scored into an empty net with 36 seconds left to make it 5-3.
The Sharks tied the game 3-3 at 3:12 of the third on Couture's power-play goal. Joe Thornton had the primary assist. Brent Burns had the other for his 500th NHL point. The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 8:28 of the first period on Giroux's goal from the slot after a giveaway by Jones. Weal made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from the right face-off circle at 11:16 of the first. Labanc scored his first of the night on a rebound at 17:17 of the first to get San Jose within 2-1. He tied it 2-2 with 19 seconds left in the period with a power-play goal.
Voracek passed back across the ice to Gostisbehere at the left point for a slap shot that Simmonds deflected into the net from close range for his first goal. Labanc had the puck in the left circle with a good chance to complete a hat trick, but Elliott got across the crease to stop his slap shot with 10:43 left in the third period to keep it tied 3-3. Simmonds scored the game-winner 10 seconds later.Elliott stopped a point shot from Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon, but the puck bounced into the air, and Labanc knocked it past him with a backhand from close range for his first goal.Center Nolan Patrick, selected by the Flyers with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, had three shots on goal and a blocked shot in 13:30 in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old was 5-for-9 on draws (56 percent). … Philadelphia was 3-for-5 on the power play. San Jose went 2-for-6. ... Flyers rookie defensemen Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin were healthy scratches, as was forward Jori Lehtera. ... Defenseman Tim Heed and forwards Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Carpenter were the healthy scratches for the Sharks."He had good legs, and the three penalties I think came from being a little excited. First game and he was trying so hard that he reached on a couple. I don't hold him responsible for a couple of the three. He'll learn from his mistakes and where to back off. You can't teach what he does. A lot of the night, he was our best player." Peter DeBoer said."I've got to be more disciplined. That shouldn't have happened, and they scored off them, so I've got to be a little more disciplined and watch where I put my stick [on taking three penalties that led to three Flyers power-play goals]." Kevin Labanc.

Los Angeles Kings @ Sharks 4-1 - Saturday, October 07

Coach John Stevens has been pushing the Los Angeles Kings to become a more aggressive, attacking team in the offensive end this season. They took a big step in that direction in a 4-1 victory against the Sharks at SAP Center. Anze Kopitar scored two goals and had an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for Los Angeles, which outshot San Jose 17-6 in the first period and took control of the game. Dustin Brown and Nick Shore scored for the Kings (2-0-0). Mikkel Boedker scored for the Sharks (0-2-0).
San Jose goaltender Martin Jones gave up four goals on 29 shots and was replaced by Aaron Dell at 14:05 of the second period with Los Angeles leading 4-1. Dell made nine saves. The Kings built a 2-1 lead in the first period. Brown banked the puck off Jones' left shoulder and inside the post at 5:08 to put Los Angeles ahead 1-0. The Sharks responded quickly, tying it 1-1 at 6:14 when Boedker deflected Brenden Dillon's point shot past Quick for his first goal. Kopitar scored on a snap shot from the high slot to put the Kings up 2-1 with eight seconds left after a turnover by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns.
Kopitar scored again at 12:07 of the second period to make it 3-1.
Shore was credited with the goal that made it 4-1 when San Jose forward Melker Karlsson knocked the puck into his own goal at 14:05 of the second while trying to clear it from the crease. Jones couldn't control the puck after a long wrist shot from Trevor Lewis, and the Sharks couldn't get it out of their zone.
Kopitar gave the Kings a two-goal lead when his sharp-angled shot from near the left boards deflected off Dillon's stick and past Jones. The Sharks trailed 2-1 but had a great chance to pull even with 11:42 left in the second period on Joonas Donskoi's wrist shot from in close, but Quick made the save and smothered the puck. The Kings scored two more goals in the period to put the game away. Brown took a pass from Kopitar on the rush and beat Jones from the right face-off circle for the game's first goal. It was his 18th goal in 73 career games against San Jose.
Burns, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, had four giveaways, no points and a minus-4 rating. ... The Kings went 0-for-6 on the power play, and the Sharks were 0-for-4. ... Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli each had five shots on goal to lead the Kings. Timo Meier's five led the Sharks.

"I respect that everyone is coming to the rink ready to play, but we're missing something. Just mentally we know we've got another level." Joe Pavelski
"That was just horrible. You can't make excuses because that was a very, very poor effort from the first minute to the 60th minute, from the power play to the penalty kill. It was just garbage hockey from us." Logan Couture said.
"This is a hard league. You have to pay a price to win games, and we haven't done that enough. We really weren't in the game. There were stretches we kidded ourselves we were in the game, but we really weren't." Peter DeBoer said.


Buffalo Sabres @ Sharks 2-3 - Thursday, October 12

It was a night of firsts for the Sharks at SAP Center. Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney and Timo Meier each scored his first goal of the season to help the Sharks win their first game, 3-2 against the winless Buffalo Sabres. San Jose took a 3-2 lead when Meier knocked in the rebound of a Joonas Donskoi shot at 14:30 of the second period. Donskoi had two assists for the Sharks (1-2-0), and Martin Jones made 23 saves. Jason Pominville had his second two-goal game of the season for the Sabres (0-3-1). Jack Eichel and Zemgus Girgensons each had two assists, and Robin Lehner made 23 saves.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead when Hertl scored on the power play at 2:15 of the first period, tapping in Kevin Labanc's pass. Pominville scored at 12:26 of the first to tie it 1-1. He took a pass from Eichel in the slot and beat Jones with a wrist shot inside the left post. The Sharks regained the lead less than three minutes later when Tierney took a pass from Donskoi and scored from the low slot at 15:11 to make it 2-1. Pominville scored his second of the night from close range at 6:50 of the second period, taking a pass from Eichel on a 2-on-1 rush and beating Jones to tie it 2-2. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer's decison to have Tierney center a new-look third line with Meier and Donskoi paid off early. Meier won a battle for the puck along the left boards, skated to the right face-off circle and passed to Donskoi below the goal line. As he headed behind the net right to left, Donskoi sent a backhand pass to Tierney at the right post for a tap-in goal.
The Sabres were on a 5-on-3 power play when Jones made a blocker save on Eichel's sharp-angled wrist shot from below the left circle at 10:42 of the second period. Meier scored the game-winner less than four minutes later.
Eichel skated into the right circle, spun clockwise and sent a pass back to the trailing Pominville in the slot. Pominville's wrist shot got past Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon and beat Jones inside the left post.
The Sharks placed defenseman Paul Martin (ankle) on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Joakim Ryan from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. Ryan had one shot on goal in 21:24 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Sharks defenseman Tim Heed and forward Ryan Carpenter each made his season debut. ... Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges made his season debut. … Buffalo forward Kyle Okposo played after missing the morning skate because of an illness. ... Sabres forward Evander Kane played his 500th NHL game. ... Buffalo has had a player score two goals in each of its four games, two apiece from Pominville and Kane.
"It's tough to lose the first two games, but I think it's huge to win that game tonight and we want to build off that. We had a good week of practice, and I think it's all about our mindset, sticking to our identity. Just go out there every night and compete and play hard." Meier said.
"We played great, all four lines. [Jones] was good. ... We had a lot of chances after big forechecks. That's how we have to play every game. I'm for sure happy for two points because it was really important for us." said Hertl, who was moved from center on the third line to left wing on the second line.


NY Islanders @ Sharks 3-1 - Saturday, October 14

Thomas Greiss made 40 saves to help the New York Islanders to a 3-1 win against the Sharks at SAP Center. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the Islanders (2-2-1), who were outshot 16-4 in the third period.
Kevin Labanc scored for San Jose (1-3-0), and Aaron Dell made 20 saves in his first start of the season. The Sharks have lost three of their four games this season, all at home. Nelson gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 6:27 of the second period with his third goal of the season. He took a pass from Calvin de Haan and put a wrist shot from the left circle past Dell. San Jose outshot New York 41-23.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 4:16 of the first period on Labanc's power-play goal from the right circle with de Haan in the penalty box for slashing. Labanc knocked in a rebound of Mikkel Boedker's shot. His wrist shot deflected off of Clutterbuck's skate and between Greiss' pads.
The Islanders made it 1-1 at 17:02 of the first period when Lee tipped in Adam Pelech's shot from above the right circle. Clutterbuck, who returned after missing three games because of a lower-body injury, scored an empty-net goal at 18:10 of the third period. Greiss is 2-1-0 in three career starts against San Jose.
Nelson's goal came 13 seconds after Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter leveled Pelech with a big hit in the neutral zone. At 11:33 of the second period, Greiss saved Joe Pavelski's backhand shot from close range, preserving the Islanders' 2-1 lead. A frustrated Pavelski broke his stick by slamming it on the crossbar."I'd like the finish to be a little bit better," Pavelski said. "Something had to give. So the stick did."
As the Sharks turned up the pressure, defenseman Tim Heed sent a slap shot through traffic that Greiss denied with 16:51 left in the third period.The Islanders went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-18 this season. … Islanders forward Jordan Eberle, who sustained an upper-body injury during practice Wednesday, had one assist and three shots in 17:34 of ice time. ... Islanders defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Ryan Pulock were healthy scratches but could play Sunday at the Los Angeles Kings in the second game of a back-to-back. Seidenberg has played in one game this season; Pulock has yet to play. ... Sharks defenseman Dylan DeMelo and forwards Joel Ward and Barclay Goodrow were healthy scratches.
"I thought tonight was probably our best game of the four we've played. I thought the special teams both looked good. We did a lot of good things 5-on-5. We're building our game. If you see frustration, it's because these guys expect to win every night. We had a lot of time in their end of the ice, we put a lot of pressure on them. We had some great looks. We could have had four or five goals tonight pretty easily. You have to tip your hat to their goalie. He was outstanding." Peter DeBoer said.
"The rust is off now. I felt good again tonight. Felt strong. Felt the puck was on my stick all night, making good plays." Joe Thornton


Montreal Canadiens @ Sharks 2-5 - Tuesday, October 17

Logan Couture scored two goals and had two assists, and the Sharks defeated the Montreal Canadiens at SAP Center for the 11th straight time, 5-2. Martin Jones made 28 saves for the Sharks, and Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton scored. The Sharks (2-3-0) salvaged a second win in their season-opening five-game homestand. Now they'll hit the road for five games. Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber scored for Montreal (1-4-1), which lost its fifth straight game. Carey Price made 30 saves and fell to 2-7-1 for his career against San Jose. The Canadiens haven't won in San Jose since Nov. 23, 1999, when they defeated the Sharks 3-2 in overtime. The Sharks took a 2-1 lead 53 seconds into the second period on Pavelski's first goal of the season. Kevin Labanc's point shot deflected off Pavelski, then Weber, and went past Price.

San Jose increased its lead to 3-1 at 8:03 when Hertl scored a power-play goal, tipping in a pass from Thornton. Weber cut San Jose's lead to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 10:37 when he beat Jones with a slap shot from the left circle. San Jose made it 4-2 on the power play on Couture's second goal at 13:24. Thornton scored into an empty net with 43 seconds remaining in the third period. The Sharks took a 1-0 lead when Couture scored on a rebound at 3:50 of the first period. Montreal tied it 1-1 16 seconds later on Drouin's wrist shot from the left circle.On Couture's second goal, Pavelski showed off his soccer skills when he kicked the puck out of heavy traffic in the slot to Couture, who scored from close range. "That was pretty special," Couture said. "I don't know if he knew I was there, but to be able to keep his balance and kick it over was pretty cool."The Sharks led 3-2 when Jones stopped Canadiens forward Charles Hudon on a breakaway with 7:56 remaining in the second period. Jones made a blocker save, then a right pad save a second later when Hudon tried to knock in his own rebound.Couture took advantage of some good bounces and his puck-handling skill to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. Hertl deflected Justin Braun's shot from the right point wide left of the net. The puck hit the backboards and caromed to Couture on the other side. Price moved quickly to his left, but Couture cut the other way and scored into a wide-open net on a wrist shot. "I had some net to shoot at right away but I figured he'd be sliding pretty hard, so I tried to outwait him and luckily nobody was there."The Sharks have killed 19 of their past 20 penalties. ... Weber had four hits, two blocked shots and two shots to go with his goal. ... Sharks rookie defenseman Tim Heed had an assist for his first NHL point. … Canadiens rookie defenseman Victor Mete also had an assist for his first career NHL point.
"Obviously we didn't have the homestand we wanted, coming in 1-3. A chance to leave on a positive note and take a little momentum onto the road. Guys stepped up tonight." Pavelski said.

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