Marleau Honored at Home + Sharks Get Off the Snide

Saturday, April 24th, for the first time all season, people were allowed to attend a Sharks game at the SAP Center. Players families and Arena workers only but still the perfect occasion for the Sharks to hold a pregame ceremony commemorating Patrick Marleau and his recent historic achievement. The Wild gets on the board only 19 seconds into the game on the first shot Martin Jones saw, which predicted the game to come. The Wild scored the next four unanswered goals until about a minute into the third, when a gift from God finds the loose stick of Logan Couture in a scramble in front of the net for his first score in 16 games, 4-1 Minnesota. About three minutes later, Minnesota makes it 5-1 on a powerplay score. Sharks make it interesting, though, scoring the next two goals, including the 1st goal of Joakim Blichfeld's career, until Nick Benito effectively ends the game for the Wild with his 6-3 empty-net score. To extend the sharks losing streak to an abysmal eight games.

After eight long games, the longest Sharks losing steak since the 2005-2006 season, sick and tired of being on the wrong end of almost every bounce, the sharks look to get back on track finally and put a W in the win collum when the Arizona Coyotes skated into the Tank for a two gamer. In a role reversal of the previous game, the Sharks get on the board only 17 seconds into the game on a feed from the back of the net to Noah Gregor for the early 1-0 Sharks advantage. San Jose assaulted Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper with a barrage of shots scoring the three unanswered goals with scores by the big guns: Burns, Couture, and Karlsson, a 4-0 Sharks lead. Arizona proves they aren't going away quietly, scoring the following three unanswered goals themselves. Sharks still lead 4-3. With 8:50 left in regulation, Evander Kane enters the zone. He puts the puck on net, which ricochets and rebounds, which Alexander Barabanov, playing in his first NHL game, cleans up out front scoring what is eventually the game-winning goal to make it. 5-3 San Jose game. Jakob Chychrun of Arizona, a thorn in the Shark side all night, makes 5-4 with a little less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation. Evander Kane seals the deal, finally finding the net for 6-4 empty netter. Breaking the eight-game losing in front of their first actual crowd of fans of the season, securing the Sharks first victory since April 9th, and Josef Korenar picks up his first career NHL win

In a game that was virtually a mirror image of the game previously, the Sharks and the coyotes kicked off the second game of this set in virtually the same fashion. Sharks score first, early and often, potting the first three unanswered goals of the game by Kane, Balcers, and LeBanc. Until Arizona comes storming back, scoring the next two of their own. The Sharks, whether the storm, fighting off several Arizona surges before Tomas Hertl puts a bow on it, scoring the empty-net goal. Sharks win 4-2, a decisive sweep of the two-game series, a series in which the Coyotes never lead!

The upper echelon juggernauts of the Honda West Division, the Colorado and Vegas' out there are not opponents to be taken lightly. That is precisely what should be so worrisome to the Sharks when they travel to Denver for the first of four straight against the Avalanche. It is of the utmost importance that the Sharks are not drawn into penalties against this team for they tout one of the most lethal powerplays in the league. Sharks chose to find that out the hard way firsthand, when they are baited into two separate penalties, resulting in two separate powerplay goals for the Avalanche, 2-0 Colorado. After skating on their heels for most of the period and taking two more additional penalties, the Sharks managed to escape the second period unscathed. The Sharks entered the third with no high danger scoring chances through the first two periods, which continued well into the third, after a spirited, feisty bout between Kevin LeBanc and Nathan McKinnon and then a nullified Hertl goal after review. Sharks are shutout 3-0 after an empty-net goal as Time dwindled down.

Patrick Marleau Breaks All-Time Record Amidst Longest Losing Steak of the Season

The last time the Sharks matched up against the Minnesota Wild, the Sharks had a two-game sweep against them, and coming into the action Friday night, April 17th, the Sharks were hoping for a similar result. The puck drops, and Tomas Hertl gets the Sharks off to the quick start, only 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the contest when he skates through the Minnesota defense and puts a slap shot on Cam Talbot for the early 1-0 Sharks advantage. The Wild answer back about six minutes later and end up scoring the next three unanswered goals. Evander Kane makes it a game with the 3-2 score with about 7:20 left in regulation with a short-handed goal, but too little too late as the wild hold off a late surge and edge out the Sharks. San Jose loses its fourth in a row.

Coming into the second game of the series,  Patrick Marleau was set to tie Gordie Howe's NHL all-time games played record with 1,767. It's really quite impressive once you think about it, a record that has stood for 59 years longer than any games played record of the other four major sports. After the puck is dropped and with 8 minutes left in the first period, Brent Burns snaps a shot on the net from the blueline that comes out of the net as fast as it goes in for the 1-0 Sharks lead. After that, the Wild seem to find their leggings and rattles off three straight goals in a minute 12 seconds. The Wild add insult to the injury by scoring two more goals in the second period. Joel Kellman adds a garbage-time too-little-too-late goal for San Jose, spoiling the night's festivities. The Sharks are eviscerated, in an embarrassing 5-2 score.

Monday night in Vegas against the Golden Knights was a night of celebration. A celebration of all things that are #12, Patrick Marleau. Come his first shift of the game, Patrick moved into sole possession of the all-time leader in NHL games played record, passing the immortal Gordie Howe. A record we could very well never see broken in our lifetimes. For the majority of the game, the Sharks played over their heads, putting forth a grade-A effort in front of Patrick's accomplishment, scoring the first goal of the game on an unassisted play by Knyzhov, his second of the season. All the whole holding Vegas scoreless through the first period. The second period starts, and more of the same, Noah Gregor with his own unassisted play to make it 2-0 Sharks. Shortly after that, about a minute later, Mark Stone scores the first of his two successive power play goals on the night, 2-1 Sharks. Then again, in the third, Stone ties the game 2-2 to force the eventual overtime in a point well earned by San Jose, but do eventually fall to Vegas on the shootout 3-2, but it was all eyes on Patty Marleau all night. 

If setting the NHL record for all-time games played wasn't enough, Patrick Marleau came into the second game of the series, playing in his 900th consecutive game, a streak dating back to the 2008/2009 season. For the first half of the game, the Sharks got what looked like a stellar goaltending performance from young prospect Josef Korenar. The second half of the game told a completely different story, one where the Sharks looked overmatched by Vegas, Mark Stone in particular. San Jose extended their season-long, six-game losing streak in a 5-2 loss to The Golden Knights. I want to start having positive takeaways from each loss from either club, even when there aren't many. So my positive takeaways from this game was Brent Burns laying a hit and upending Max Pactrociety, such a sight to see!

Flat Response to Kings Sweep, but Dominate the Wild

Coming into Arizona for a 2-game, back-to-back series against the Arizona Coyotes, inquiring minds wanted to know precisely how the San Jose Sharks would follow up their series sweep of the LA Kings, and the answer couldn't be any more than what one expected, flat.  In game one, we saw the Sharks come away with a 5-2 loss, Arizona, who had their third-string netminder in, and were quick to score early and often, extinguished any confidence Martin Jones had built up with the past couple wins.  Kurtis Gabriel, who still seems to remain in Coach Boughner's doghouse, presence was noticeably lost as the Sharks struggled to establish themselves in the game flow, particularly with regards to Nick Schmaltz's hit on Radim Simek

In game two of the series, we saw more of the same with an uninspired, lackluster 4-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes where Arizona was the benefactor of six power plays with Phil Kessel scoring a hat trick. The sharks yet again for the second night in as many chances fall to Arizona's third-string goaltender Aiden Hill, this time with a shutout performance. I'll go out on a limb and say the highlight of the game was Kurtis Gabriel being assessed a major penalty with an interference and game misconduct call in his first game back in action since being reprimanded for his pregame antics last week against the LA Kings. 

One of the most surprising stories of the NHL season, the Minnesota Wild, come into the Shark Tank for a two-game series. Jeffery Viel, making his NHL debut, quickly introduces himself to the league with a dust-up with Minnesota's Luke Johnson, throwing both hands; if he's not careful, Kurtis Gabriel might soon find himself back on the Barracuda. Marcus Johansson makes with 1-0 Wild with a strike with 7 minutes left in the first. Sharks then add a goal of their own with Radim Simek one-timer from the blue line with 3 minutes left, but not before the Wild go up 2-1 with a minute left in the period. Come the second period, Erik Karlsson ties the game five minutes in when he finds the back of the net on a beautiful feed from Kane. With 4 minutes left in the second, Ryan Donato from behind the net finds Karlsson at the blueline for a one-timer into the back of the net for the 3-2 lead. The wild tie the game at three apiece in the 3rd to force the extra frame and shootout where Erk Karlsson wins the game on the 8th round of the shoot out where Logan Couture also added a goal for the 4-3 win where Jones had 25 saves.

In the second game of the series, the Sharks dictated the pace of play from the onset. After an uneventful first period for either teal, the Sharks kick off the scoring 5 minutes into the second with a beautiful cross-seam pass from Hertl to Balcers, who roofs it for the 1-0 lead. Halfway through the period, on the power play, Brent Burns feeds a blue line pass to Ryan Donato in front of the net, who fights a blue-collar puck into the back of the net for the 2-0 score. In the third, the Wild finally get on the board almost halfway through the third from way out off the bar and into the net. A little over 2 minutes later, Karlsson finds Kynzhov at the face-off circle who scores his first career NHL goal, 3-1 Sharks. Wild score a garbage-time goal with 12 seconds left in regulation but not before Evander Kane finds the puck for the empty-net goal to seal the deal for a 4-2 Sharks win.

Heartbreak Ridge and the Best Sharks Win of the Season

Imagine you're playing a solidified projected playoff contender in the St Louis Blues, and you are dominating. Imagine you're doing everything you need to do to win, Martin Jones; you're starting goaltender is phenomenal and then imagine you watch that all slip away with 40 seconds to go in regulation, then watch them give up the game-winning power play goal in overtime with a minute left to play. That's was the Sharks reality Thursday night, February 18th. Eliminating any dreams the Sharks had of two regulation wins in a row for the first time this season.

With all that said, imagine your young, relatively inexperienced defense looked pretty damn good out there despite being without their $11m stalwart.

A Saturday matinee matchup saw Devan Dubnyk return for the San Jose Sharks for the 1st time in 2 weeks. The Sharks go up 3-0 against the Blues with tallies by Kane, Couture, and rookie, Rudolfs Balcers with his first-ever NHL goal. Blues and the Sharks then trade the next two goals, including the first goal of the season for Patrick Marleau. Blues soon after tilt the ice, scoring 3 unanswered goals to tie the affair, before Logan Couture shoots a puck off the back of Jordan Binnington, scoring the game-winner for a 5-4 victory for the sharks.

On February 22nd, we saw the Minnesota Wild come to town, and Brent Burns gets the Sharks out to an early lead, but that's where I end drawing positives from this game. The wild end up scoring six goals in a 6-2 rout of the Sharks. Couture also contributed a tally at the 11:57 mark of the 2nd period.

 On Saturday evening February 27th, the St Louis Blues come to San Jose for an absolute slugfest. Neither team scoring more than one goal in a row at any point. The story of the game was Jordan Binnington being pulled after the third shark's goal, going on an absolute tirade trying to fight the Sharks bench, fake punching Erik Karlsson as he skated by before getting into a small tussle with goaltender Devin Dubnyk before being escorted off the ice. Saw 2 goals apiece by Timo Meier and Evander Kane with tallies as well by LeBanc and Couture before ultimately surrending the game-winning goal to St Louis in the third period for a 7-6 loss.

Next up, we saw the high-powered offense of the Colorado Avalanche come to the tank for a 2-game set with the return of Erik Karlsson and the San Jose Sharks. The Avs get off to a two goal lead with goals at the end of the first and the beginning of the second. that is where this game becomes drastically different. The Sharks go on to score 6 unanswered goals (tallies by Simek, LeBanc, Meier, Karlsson, Leonard, and Kane) and go on to put on the best total team performance of the season in a resounding 6-2 win. San Jose scored 12 goals in the past 2 games, putting to bed any talk that the sharks have a hard time scoring. Imagine if Erik Karlsson played at this level every single game we'd be talking about a much different season.

Best Moment of the Shark Season Thus Far!

At 3-3 the Sharks have been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team yet surprising nonetheless. With a few standout players showing up, the John Leonard's & Ryan Dontato's of the world. But first I want to present you with the best moment of the Shark young season so far:

Brent Burns dangles through Wild defense