Down the Frozen River

Tag: Martin Jones

  • Golden Knights defeat Sharks 5-3 in Game 5, can clinch spot in WCF on Sunday

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    The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from their first Western Conference Finals appearance. Is it worth mentioning that it’s only their inaugural season/postseason? Asking for a friend.

    Vegas topped the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, on home ice in Game 5 on Friday, scoring four unanswered goals before the Sharks almost forced a comeback at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights now have a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6.

    Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves on 30 shots against for a .900 save percentage in the win for Vegas, while San Jose’s Martin Jones stopped 27 shots on 31 shots faced for an .871 SV% in 48:33 time on ice before being replaced by Sharks backup goaltender, Aaron Dell.

    Dell went on to stop all seven shots he faced for a 1.000 SV% in his relief appearance that lasted for 10:24 TOI.

    James Neal (3) opened scoring in the closing seconds of the first period, collecting a garbage goal by pouncing on a rebound and putting the puck in the open twine behind Jones. Shea Theodore (3) and David Perron (5) notched the assists on Neal’s goal at 19:57 of the first period to make it, 1-0, Golden Knights.

    Vegas had a 15-7 advantage in shots on goal after one period.

    Colin Miller took the game’s first penalty, as the Golden Knights defender was called for holding San Jose’s Chris Tierney at 2:07 of the second period. The Sharks did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    San Jose’s Tomas Hertl shortly followed up with an interference minor against Miller a couple minutes later.

    About a half-a-minute later, Alex Tuch (3) found the back of the net on a power play goal assisted by Reilly Smith (9) and Jonathan Marchessault (7) at 4:52 of the second period. Tuch’s goal put the Golden Knights up, 2-0.

    Erik Haula (3) added a goal of his own about four minutes later, making it, 3-0, Vegas. Perron (6) and Ryan Carpenter (2) amassed the assists on Haula’s goal at 8:59 of the second period.

    Shortly thereafter, Justin Braun was guilty of tripping Tuch and was subsequently sent to the penalty box. Vegas did not convert on the power play and play continued rather tamely until Joe Pavelski roughed up Marchessault and took a trip to the sin bin for roughing at 16:40 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Golden Knights led, 3-0, on the scoreboard and, 28-17, in shots on goal.

    Theodore opened the final frame with a cross checking penalty against Hertl 84 seconds into the third period. A few minutes later, Theodore and Hertl got into it again, this time with Theodore delivering a swift slash to Hertl, leading to another Sharks power play at 4:11 of the third period.

    San Jose did not convert on either player advantage opportunity.

    Almost midway through the third, Tuch (4) scored his second goal of the night, giving the Golden Knights a run of four unanswered goals to lead, 4-0, at 8:36 of the third. Cody Eakin (1) and Oscar Lindberg (1) notched their first assists of the postseason on the goal.

    As a result of the mountainous lead for Vegas, Peter DeBoer replaced his starting goaltender, Jones, with backup, Aaron Dell.

    Less than a minute later, Neal slashed Sharks fourth line center, Eric Fehr. San Jose converted on the ensuing power play 29 seconds later, as Kevin Labanc (1) notched his first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Logan Couture (6) and Hertl (3) picked up the assists as the Sharks finally got on the scoreboard and trailed by three goals with over half a period left in regulation.

    Nearly two minutes later, Hertl (6) fired the puck past Fleury to bring the Sharks within two goals at 11:44 of the third period. Mikkel Boedker (5) and Couture (7) notched the assists and San Jose trailed, 4-2.

    Four minutes later, Boedker (1) scored his first goal of the postseason to bring the Sharks within one and put Golden Knights fans on edge at their own arena.

    Couture (8) capitalized his third assist of the night on Boedker’s goal at 15:44.

    With about two minutes remaining in the game, DeBoer pulled Dell for an extra skater. The Sharks were not able to complete the comeback as Marchessault (3) fired one into the empty net at 18:39 of the third period to seal the deal for the Golden Knights, 5-3.

    Tensions escalated in the final minute as the undisciplined Sharks continued to fall apart late in the game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic slashed Eakin, then added an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty next to his name on the official event sheet, yielding a four-minute power play to Vegas.

    Almost 20 seconds later, Golden Knights defender, Deryk Engelland, and San Jose blueliner, Brenden Dillon, got into it and were served matching misconducts that led to a 12 second head start on hitting the showers before their teammates.

    At the final horn, Vegas had defeated San Jose, 5-3, on the scoreboard and finished the night leading in shots on goal (39-30), blocked shots (24-18), hits (53-35), giveaways (15-7) and faceoff win percentage (51-49). Both teams finished the night 1/4 on the power play.

    The Golden Knights can eliminate the Sharks on the road at SAP Center on Sunday night in Game 6 and advance to their first Western Conference Final (conveniently also in their inaugural season). Puck drop is expected to occur a little after 7:30 p.m. ET and United States viewers looking to tune in can do so on NBCSN. Meanwhile, Canadians can set their TVs to CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Jones Shuts Out Knights; Evens Series at 2

     

     

     

     

     

    The San Jose Sharks got quality goaltending from Martin Jones and buried the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 to send the series back to Las Vegas tied at two.  Jones had 34 saves on the night and bested Knights goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, who seemingly had Sharks circling him all night long.  The loss was the first shutout loss in the playoffs for the Knights.

    The Sharks’ first goal came off of an impressive skating exhibition by Marcus Sorensen who outmaneuvered four of the Sharks skaters and Fleury to put the puck top shelf with under five minutes left in the first period.  The Knights felt there was interference (effectively a pick on one of their defending players), but the referees apparently felt otherwise.

    The Sharks may not have got back Joe Thornton, but they did get back Joonas Donskoi and he didn’t waste time getting back on the scoresheet.  In the dying minutes of the first period, Donskoi skated down the ice with two Knights back to defend, but managed to shoot the puck through Brayden McNabb‘s legs and Fleury had no hope to stop it.  Fleury managed 30 saves and was better than his save percentage might suggest on the night.

    In the second period, Tomas Hertl cashed in on chaos in front of Fleury after a shot by Mikkel Boedker.  At that point, it was all over but the shouting.  “Little” Joe Pavelski would add a power play goal in the third and that was the final nail in the coffin.

    This was the first game of the series where the Sharks had a better Corsi-For percentage than the Knights.   The Sharks looked faster than Vegas and the Knights seemed unable to establish the forecheck.  The Vegas power play went 0-for-5 and they have to be a little concerned by the lack of offense.  James Neal still only has one goal for the series.   The Sharks have evened the series without much from Evander Kane to this point.

    With that said, Vegas regained home ice advantage in Game 3 and now they head home for a critical Game 5.  They have to generate more offense and part of that has to come on the power play.  If they can do that and/or have Fleury play out of his mind, they have a good change.  But if they continue being out skated by San Jose and allowing the Sharks to take shots from high danger areas, the clock will strike midnight for Cinderella.

  • Both power plays roll, Vegas wins 4-3

     

     

     

     

     

    Having suffered their first-ever playoff loss Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights rebounded in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ Second Round to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime at SAP Center to reclaim a one-game advantage in their series.

    Play was back-and-forth across all 200 feet of the rink in the opening 10 minutes, but San Jose certainly had the upper hand in terms of shots on goal. The Sharks’ nine scoring attempts easily eclipsed Vegas’ four, but First Star of the Game G Marc-Andre Fleury was more than up to the task of keeping that attack at bay.

    Soon after, action turned decidedly in the Sharks’ favor as the Golden Knights struggled to get the puck into their attacking third. Starting at the 9:24 mark, the Knights went 5:54 without firing a shot on G Martin Jones in the second half of the first frame, due in large part to some stellar play by San Jose in the neutral zone. The only reason that skid came to an end is due to W Mikkel Boedker sending the puck over the glass, taking a delay of game penalty and giving Vegas a power play.

    Further proving San Jose’s defensive abilities, it yielded only one shot against on that man-advantage.

    However, no matter how well San Jose controlled play in the first period (the Sharks’ final shot differential for the frame read 16-10), the game remained scoreless at the first intermission. As such, the frame belonged to Fleury, who saved all 16 of those shots as a part of his 39-for-42 save performance (.929 save percentage).

    That tie finally came undone at the 6:59 mark of the second period when W Timo Meier (C Chris Tierney and Boedker) scored a power play wrist shot. Taking advantage of W William Carrier committing a tripping penalty against Boedker 1:31 earlier, the Sharks completed some excellent one-time passes to set Meier up for a tic-tac-goal from the right face-off circle.

    Meier’s was the first of three-consecutive power play goals scored in the third period, but unfortunately for the teal-clad fans, the next two belonged to the visiting Knights.

    D Colin Miller (W James Neal and W David Perron) tied the game only 2:41 after Meier’s goal with a power play wrister, taking advantaged of D Brenden Dillon‘s holding penalty against Perron at the 7:56 mark.

    Known for his scoring ability, Neal drew a lot of attention once he ended up with possession along the goal line to Jones’ left. With Sharks swarming towards him, he crossed a centering pass to Miller across the crease, who then returned a wrister towards the far post to give Vegas its first lead of the night.

    With the Knights’ second power play unit striking gold for the club’s first goal, it was first unit that got its time to shine when Third Star F Tomas Hertl was caught roughing Neal with 7:13 remaining in the second period. F Jon Marchessault (RW Alex Tuch and W Reilly Smith) buried a wrister only 22 seconds after Hertl took his seat in isolation to give Vegas a 2-1 advantage.

    The Golden Knights had one more trick up their sleeves in the third period, but this one they managed to pull off under even-strength conditions. Smith (Second Star C William Karlsson and Marchessault) set the score at 3-1 only 1:17 after Marchessault’s marker with a slick backhanded shot on Karlsson’s centering pass, his first marker of this postseason.

    However, these Sharks were far from ready to turn their attention to Game 4 just yet. Though they officially failed to capitalize on D Jonathon Merrill‘s crosscheck against D Dylan DeMelo at the 5:45 mark of the third period, LW Evander Kane‘s (D Brent Burns and DeMelo) wrister 2:04 later was completed before the defenseman could rejoin play. Kane fired his shot from the right face-off dot, beating Fleury over his glove.

    Vegas Head Coach Gerard Gallant challenged for goaltender interference against F Logan Couture, but it was ruled that the screening forward was outside the crease and enough time had passed since any previous contact that Fleury was able to recollect himself to prepare for the save on Kane’s wrister.

    It also didn’t help that much of the previous contact was due to Fleury crosschecking Couture in the back when he had been in the crease, but those facts are neither here nor there since Fleury came out on the winning side of things.

    As for forcing overtime, San Jose did that with 1:57 remaining in regulation when Hertl (D Justin Braun and RW Kevin Labanc) somehow sneaked a wrister past basically every skater on the ice and used them as screens against Fleury. After D Deryk Engelland blocked Braun’s shot from just above the crease, Fleury had no idea where the puck went until it ended up behind him.

    In terms of shots on goal, overtime was an even affair considering both squads managed three shots on goal apiece. However, it was Vegas’ third and final offering that earned it the victory.

    Karlsson (Neal and Marchessault) provided that breakaway snap shot at the 8:17 mark of the overtime period.

    A quick stretch pass is all the Golden Knights needed to set up the league’s third-best goalscorer from the regular season. Marchessault’s pass from the right corner found Neal at Vegas’ defensive blue line, and the runner-up in last year’s Stanley Cup Final dumped a pass to the game-winner at the red line before sitting back and watching him do the rest of the work. Karlsson turned on the NOS to set up a one-on-one against Jones, firing his snapper from the top of the right face-off circle to beat the netminder to the far post.

    Game 3 was an important match for the Golden Knights, as they’ve now reclaimed home-ice advantage in this playoff series. Jones and the Sharks now face the difficult task once again of needing to win a game at T-Mobile Arena – the very place they lost 7-0 in Game 1.

    Puck drop for Game 4 from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. is scheduled for May 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern. The match will be broadcast on CBC, NBCSN and TVAS.

  • Undisciplined Knights take first playoff loss

     

     

     

     

    After losing Game 1 7-0, the San Jose Sharks have miraculously stolen home ice away from the Vegas Golden Knights after a Game 2 4-3 double-overtime victory at T-Mobile Arena.

    Between its inability to stay out of the penalty box and lack of success at defensive zone face-offs, it’s almost a surprise Vegas was able to extend this game to the 85:13 it lasted.

    As for the former note, no Golden Knight takes as much responsibility for his club playing shorthanded as W David Perron. He took a game-high six penalties in minutes, all for unruly infractions like slashing (against D Brenden Dillon with 3:56 remaining in the first period), holding the stick (against D Dylan DeMelo 1:56 into the second period) and roughing (against the aforementioned Dillon with 6:36 remaining in the second period).

    Fortunately for Perron, only one of his infractions ended up costing the Knights a power play goal – but it was a big one, considering it started the Sharks’ trend of success off set plays. On the immediate face-off in Vegas’ defensive zone following Perron’s infraction against DeMelo, F Joe Pavelski won the scrum and fed the puck to Third Star of the Game D Brent Burns, who ripped a nasty slap shot from the blue line – with the help of a lucky bounce off F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare‘s skate – past G Marc-Andre Fleury‘s right pad, snapping the netminder’s perfect 144:04 goalless streak.

    Burns’ goal set the score at 2-1, canceling out one of Second Star C William Karlsson‘s two markers. The Swede potted his first of the night (D Colin Miller and D Nate Schmidt) on a snap shot with 2:01 remaining in the first period, capitalizing on a missed slap shot-turned-assist by Miller that bounced off the endboards and right into his lap.

    Karlsson’s offering was the Knights’ fifth and final shot of the first period, as the Sharks’ defense was doing an excellent job all night keeping the hosts’ attack at bay. In the more than 85 minutes played all night, Vegas managed only 29 shots on G Martin Jones – well below the (t)10th-most 32.8 shots on goal per game it averaged all regular season. Of those, he saved 26 for a .897 save percentage.

    In a mirror image of registering his club’s last shot of the first frame, Karlsson also fired the Golden Knights’ first shot on goal of the second period, and he found just as much success. Only 26 seconds into the frame, he set the score at 2-0 with a snapper assisted by W Reilly Smith that probably should not have reached the back of the net. Jones was late sealing off the near post, allowing the puck to barely squeak past his arm to set off the T-Mobile Arena goal horn.

    As for how Vegas overcame its shortcomings, one needs look no further than the goaltending crease. Though he is the only player judged by a personal win-loss record, Fleury absolutely stood on his head in this contest just like he has in his last five playoff showings. The man nicknamed “Flower” did not wilt under the Sharks’ pressure, as he saved 43-of-47 shots faced for a .915 save percentage.

    That being said, the second period was a tough one for him, as it was in those 20 minutes that he let in all three of his regulation goals against. Not only was Burns’ marker part of that total, but so too was First Star F Logan Couture‘s (F Tomas Hertl) snapper with 8:52 remaining in the period and Burns’ (W Timo Meier and Pavelski) wrap-around 2:59 after.

    Just like his first goal of the game, Burns’ second was also the result of another set play from the face-off dot. Pavelski won the draw and shoved the puck to Meier, who quickly dished to San Jose’s favorite defenseman so he could get to work. Burns rumbled up the right boards and into the trapezoid, eventually getting rewarded with a gaping cage when Meier literally crashed into Fleury’s left post. Head Coach Gerard Gallant challenged for goaltender interference, but it was ruled he was shoved by a Golden Knight and was not responsible for any contact he made with the netminder.

    For those keeping score at home, Perron was also in the box for this goal against, but Dillon took a corresponding roughing penalty to even play at four-on-four.

    Anyways, that left the score at 3-2 going into the second intermission (during which it was revealed the Buffalo Sabres will be drafting first overall and the Carolina Hurricanes won the lottery by jumping up nine spots into the second pick at the NHL Entry Draft), and that’s where it remained at the midway point of the third period.

    Having yet to experience a playoff loss, the Vegas crowd was beginning to grow antsy – that is until Schmidt (D Shea Theodore and F Erik Haula) took a page out of Burns’ book and ripped an impressive clapper from the blue line following a resumption of play.

    The play was a mirrored-image of Burns’ second tally, as Perron won the draw and shoved the puck to Haula along the boards, who returned the play to Theodore at the point. The defensemen quickly connected after that, allowing Schmidt to line up a perfect clapper past Jones’ blocker to tie the game at three-all.

    Some excellent goaltending extended this game into the second overtime period. In total, 16 shots on goal were fired in the frame between the Golden Knights and Sharks, but none found the back of the net thanks to the incredible play of Fleury and Jones.

    Well, that’s technically not true.

    F Jon Marchessault thought he had scored the game-winning goal with 3:02 remaining in the first overtime period, but it was ruled he interfered with Jones in the blue paint and inhibited his ability to make a play on the shot. That took the score off the board and left the game raging on into the cool desert night.

    The contest finally reached its end at the 5:13 mark of the second overtime when Couture (RW Kevin Labanc and Burns) took advantage of D Jonathon Merrill‘s hooking penalty against Meier to bury a power play wrister behind Fleury.

    Completing the theme of the night, Couture’s play was the direct result of Hertl’s face-off victory only moments before. After the play was set up with Burns at the point, he dished to Labanc heading towards the right face-off dot. The sophomore would have been well within his rights to attempt a shot through traffic, but he instead elected to sling a pass through the zone to Couture at the opposite dot, who elevated his writer over Fleury’s blocker.

    With the exception of another stellar performance by the three-time Stanley Cup champion, Vegas has only itself to blame for this loss. Perron and the Golden Knights will need to put an emphasis on staying out of the penalty box in their upcoming games, especially considering the next two are away from the comforts of home.

    After a quick 90-minute flight from Sin City to San Jose, Game 3’s puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern on Monday, April 30. Hockey fans that can’t snag one of the 17,562 tickets into The Shark Tank that night should tune their televisions to CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

  • Golden Knights take bite out of Sharks, 7-0, in Game 1

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    Seven different goal scorers and yet another Marc-Andre Fleury shutout powered the Vegas Golden Knights to a 7-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on home ice Thursday night in Game 1 of their 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.

    The T-Mobile Arena crowd was delighted to Fleury’s third shutout of the 2018 postseason as the Vegas goaltender turned aside all 33 shots faced for the win. San Jose’s Martin Jones made eight saves on 13 shots against for a .615 save percentage in 23:26 time on ice before being replaced by backup, Aaron Dell, in the loss.

    Dell made 19 saves on 21 shots against for a .905 SV% in 36:18 TOI.

    San Jose gave up four goals to the Anaheim Ducks over the course of their entire First Round series (four games). The Golden Knights scored four goals on the Sharks in the first 12 minutes of Game 1 in the Second Round.

    Jonathan Marchessault took a high-stick from Tomas Hertl and Vegas went on the power play 63 seconds into the game. While the Golden Knights didn’t convert on the man advantage, they took complete control of the game’s momentum fast and early.

    Brayden McNabb was responsible for the series clinching goal in Los Angeles against the Kings and the Vegas defender was responsible for firing the first shot on goal that would eventually end up in the twine in the Second Round.

    Cody Eakin (2) tipped in McNabb’s shot from the point to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 4:31 of the 1st period. McNabb (1) and David Perron (2) notched the assists on the goal.

    The fans at T-Mobile Arena didn’t get to sit back down for long after Eakin’s goal as the Golden Knights struck again 26 seconds later on a goal from Erik Haula (2).

    Alex Tuch rushed in the offensive zone and dropped a pass back to Haula who got a quick release past Jones on the far side to make it 2-0 Golden Knights at 4:57. Tuch (2) and James Neal (2) were credited with the assists on Haula’s goal.

    Having created their own 3-on-2 in the offensive zone thanks to good, quick, short passes, Marchessault (1) fired one past Jones to give Vegas a three-goal lead, 3-0, at 6:02 of the first period. That’s three goals in a span of 1:31, mind you. Reilly Smith (4) picked up the only assist on Marchessault’s first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    The Sharks earned their first power play of the night after Tuch got a stick up high on San Jose blueliner, Justin Braun. They did not convert on the man advantage.

    Kevin Labanc was sent to the sin bin at 9:26 of the first period for hooking Tuch. Brent Burns shortly followed Labanc’s ruts to the penalty box with a minor penalty of his own for delay of game after he sent the puck clear over the glass at 10:14.

    San Jose killed off Labanc’s penalty, but was quickly thwarted of attempting to kill off the remainder of Burns’s minor as Tuch (2) broke free of the Sharks defense and shot one past Jones’s blocker to give the Golden Knights the 4-0 lead on the power play.

    William Karlsson (2) and Smith (5) had the primary and secondary assists on Tuch’s power play goal at 11:43.

    Smith received a minor penalty for goaltender interference at 12:09 of the first period and the Sharks went on their first 5-on-3 man advantage at 13:29 when former Shark turned Golden Knight via waivers this season, Ryan Carpenter, tripped up Burns.

    San Jose did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Through one period, the Golden Knights led, 4-0. Meanwhile, San Jose led in shots on goal, 17-9. Vegas led in blocked shots (15-2), hits (22-13) and giveaways (5-2). The Sharks were 0/3 and the Golden Knights were 1/3 on the power play after 20 minutes of play.

    Shea Theodore (2) opened scoring in the second period after receiving a cross ice pass from Smith and redirecting the puck past Jones. Smith (6) and Marchessault (3) had the assists at 3:28 of the second period.

    As a result of Vegas’s newfound, 5-0, lead, Peter DeBoer replaced his goaltender, Martin Jones, with San Jose’s backup goalie, Aaron Dell. The relief appearance was Dell’s Stanley Cup Playoffs career debut.

    Jon Merrill caught Logan Couture with a high-stick and the Golden Knights were shorthanded at 6:10. The Sharks did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Eric Fehr caught Theodore with a high-stick of his own about a couple of minutes later and Vegas was not able to convert on the ensuing man advantage.

    Late in the second period, Timo Meier (tripping) and Chris Tierney (holding) were penalized about four minutes apart. The Golden Knights did not score on either power play, despite James Neal having thought he scored— the goal was immediately waved off and reviewed, as it appeared Neal had punched the puck into the net with his hand.

    As such, the call on the ice was not reversed.

    Vegas went into the second intermission with the lead on the scoreboard, 5-0, and trailing in shots on goal, 25-24. The Golden Knights led in blocked shots (18-11), hits (36-23) and takeaways (8-4) after 40 minutes of play. San Jose was 0/4 on the power play and Vegas was 1/6.

    Sharks captain, Joe Pavelski, was guilty of interfering with McNabb 68 seconds into the third period and the Golden Knights found themselves going on the power play for the seventh time on the night.

    Just as quick as Pavelski was released from the box, the San Jose forward found himself going back to the box as he let the best of him go undisciplined— slashing Vegas defender, Nate Schmidt at 3:25 of the third period.

    Evander Kane tangled with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare after the whistle and delivered a swift cross check to the Vegas forward’s face resulting in a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for Kane that will undoubtedly result in at least a hearing with the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety (given the precedent set by Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey cross checking Minnesota’s Eric Staal in the head in the First Round).

    It didn’t take long for Vegas to capitalize on the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage as Colin Miller (1) shot a one-timer past Dell to give the Golden Knights a 6-0 lead.

    Karlsson (4) and Marchessault (4) had the assists on the goal at 4:32 of the third period and the Golden Knights’s power play continued.

    At the goal line from just to the side of the net, Neal (2) swung around in front of the goal and beat Dell from point blank to give Vegas yet another power play goal and increase the lead, 7-0.

    Perron (3) and Haula (1) notched the assists on the point-after-touchdown goal at 8:09 of the third period.

    The Golden Knights had matched their entire offensive output against the Los Angeles Kings in the First Round in less than 60 minutes against San Jose.

    At the final horn, Vegas won, 7-0, and grabbed the 1-0 series lead in what was Fleury’s 13th career postseason shutout.

    The Golden Knights led the final shots on goal total, 34-33, as well as blocked shots (26-13), hits (48-33), giveaways (10-8) and faceoff win percentage (52-48). San Jose went 0/5 on the power play and Vegas went 3/10 on the night.

    Game 2 is Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, where the home team, Golden Knights, look to go up, 2-0, in the series. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBC. Fans in Canada can follow along on CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #103- Good Two See You

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #103- Good Two See You

    Second Round predictions, Minnesota needs a new GM, Calgary’s got a new coach, award finalist reactions, a Game 7 breakdown between Boston and Toronto, and where do the Leafs go from here? All that and more as Nick and Connor discuss on the latest DTFR Podcast.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #102- Carolina, Calgary, Vezina and Selke

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #102- Carolina, Calgary, Vezina and Selke

    Nick and Connor discuss Bill Peters’s future as a head coach, what the Calgary Flames should do, who should take home the Vezina Trophy and Selke Trophy, as well as revisit the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights advancing to the Second Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • Sharks sweep Ducks with 2-1 win in Game 4

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    For just the second time in franchise history, the San Jose Sharks have swept a playoff series. The Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, in Game 4 at SAP Center and advanced to the Second Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a result of the win.

    Tomas Hertl scored the game-winning goal in the third period to give the Sharks their first postseason series sweep since they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in four games in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    San Jose goaltender, Martin Jones, stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced for a .968 save percentage in the win. Meanwhile, John Gibson had 22 saves on 24 shots on goal for a .917 SV% in the loss.

    Marcus Sorensen (3) continued his incredible postseason run so far and got the home crowd roaring early in the first period after he followed up on his own rebound and beat Gibson to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. Brent Burns (1) and Melker Karlsson (3) had the assists on Sorensen’s goal at 5:43 of the first period.

    Ducks blueliner, Hampus Lindholm, took the game’s first penalty when he tripped Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi late in the period. San Jose was not able to convert on the ensuing power play.

    After 20 minutes, the Sharks led the Ducks 1-0 on the scoreboard. San Jose also led in hits (13-6) and takeaways (6-3), while Anaheim led in shots on goal (10-9), blocked shots (10-2) and faceoff win percentage (64-36).

    The second period brought a shift in momentum as Anaheim got their first power play of the night after Joe Pavelski was guilty of tripping Marcus Pettersson a little past the seven-minute mark of the period.

    Though they were not able to convert on the man advantage, the Ducks kept the pressure going until Nick Ritchie slashed Kevin Labanc and forced Anaheim to go on the penalty kill.

    A few minutes later, Timo Meier, got his stick up in the face of Rickard Rakell and the Ducks went back on the power play. San Jose killed it off and promptly took the game’s next penalty with a minute remaining in the second period.

    Eric Fehr took the skate of shame to the sin bin for hooking Ducks defender, Josh Manson.

    As time was ticking down, Ryan Getzlaf fired a shot on goal with less than a second remaining in the period. The Ducks celebrated, but after a quick review, it was confirmed that the clock read “0.0” as the puck went past Jones.

    Anaheim outshot San Jose, 14-6, in the second period. The Ducks also led in blocked shots (12-11) and faceoff win% (54-46) through 40 minutes of play. San Jose had a slight advantage in hits (20-19) and the lead on the scoreboard, 1-0. Neither team was successful on the power play through two periods (with the Ducks having gone 0/3 and Sharks, 0/2).

    With a minute remaining on Fehr’s penalty and a fresh sheet of ice thanks to the second intermission, the Ducks attacked the Sharks early in the third period with ferocity.

    Just 27 seconds in the period, Getzlaf entered the zone on a three-on-two breakout and threw the puck to Rakell who fired a shot past Jones. Anaheim thought they had tied the game on the power play, but Sharks head coach, Peter DeBoer, challenged the call on the ice on the basis that the Ducks entered the zone offside.

    After review, it was determined that Getzlaf entered the zone offside and the call on the ice was reversed. No goal, still 1-0 San Jose.

    Evander Kane took a stick up high from Brandon Montour a couple of minutes later and the Sharks were given their third power play of the night. Anaheim’s defense stepped their game up killed off the penalty, keeping San Jose scoreless on the man advantage. The Sharks would finish the night 0/3 on the power play.

    Melker Karlsson then caught Andy Welinski with a high-stick of his own while losing his balance and was sent to serve a two-minute minor penalty. The Ducks were unable to put one past Jones on the power play, but they were getting some quality chances and building momentum for the inevitable.

    Jakob Silfverberg sent a quick pass to Ryan Kesler who was awaiting behind the goal line. Kesler received the pass and quickly threw the puck to Andrew Cogliano (1) who was crashing the net and fired a quick redirection shot point blank on Jones to tie the game, 1-1.

    Kesler (2) and Silfverberg (1) were credited with the assists on Cogliano’s first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs at 7:53 of the third period.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Getzlaf went to work on getting the puck out of his own zone with a lackadaisical clearing attempt around the boards. Instead of working the puck into the neutral zone and forcing San Jose’s attack to retreat and get back onside, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was able to scoop up the loose puck and throw a shot on goal.

    It was then that Tomas Hertl (3) was able to redirect Vlasic’s shot through Gibson’s five-hole and put the Sharks back on top, 2-1. Vlasic (2) picked up his second assist of the series on Hertl’s goal.

    The quick response from the Sharks was enough to motivate the home team that was already feeding off of the energy inside SAP Center.

    Gibson vacated his net for an extra skater with less than two minute to go in regulation, but even after Randy Carlyle called a timeout with 1:01 left on the clock after a stoppage in play, the Ducks were not able to tie the game and force an overtime.

    San Jose had completed the sweep at the sound of the final horn.

    The Sharks had won Game 4 by a score of 2-1 and finished the night leading in hits (28-27). Anaheim finished the night leading in shots on goal (31-24) and 0/4 on the power play.

    For the first time in 19 years, the Anaheim Ducks were swept in a playoff series.

    Having already witnessed the Vegas Golden Knights’s 1-0 victory in Game 4 against Los Angeles on Tuesday night, the San Jose Sharks know exactly who they’ll be facing in the Second Round. Vegas and San Jose will meet for the first time in the postseason at T-Mobile Arena for Games 1 and 2 as the Golden Knights will continue to have home ice in the next round.

  • Sharks win 8-1 in Game 3, can sweep Ducks on Wednesday

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    The San Jose Sharks had a night of firsts on Monday at SAP Center. Eight different goal scorers contributed to the most goals in a Stanley Cup Playoff game in franchise history for the Sharks as San Jose beat the Anaheim Ducks, 8-1.

    As a result of the win, the Sharks can sweep the Ducks Wednesday night on home ice.

    Martin Jones had 45 saves on 46 shots against for a .978 save percentage in the win— setting a franchise playoff record for most saves in a regulation game— while Anaheim goaltender, John Gibson, made 19 saves on 24 shots against for a .792 SV% in 39:43 time on ice in the loss. Ducks backup goaltender, Ryan Miller, made nine saves on 12 shots faced for a .750 SV% in relief for Gibson.

    San Jose didn’t waste much time getting on the scoreboard as Logan Couture (2) picked up his 2nd of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs just 3:44 into the first period on a follow up chance. Mikkel Boedker (2) had the only assist on the goal and the Sharks led 1-0.

    Just past the halfway point of the first period, Ryan Getzlaf jumpstarted a deep rut to the penalty box for the Ducks all night by being penalized for holding Sharks forward, Joonas Donskoi. The Sharks were unable to convert on their first power play of the night.

    Instead, Timo Meier was penalized for hooking Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg shortly after San Jose’s man advantage ended. As such, the Ducks went on the power play and promptly capitalized about a minute later with Rickard Rakell (1) scoring a power play goal to tie the game, 1-1.

    Brandon Montour (1) and Getzlaf (2) had the assists on Rakell’s game-tying goal at 13:40 of the first period.

    After 20 minutes of play, the score was 1-1 with Anaheim outshooting San Jose, 11-8. The Ducks also led in hits (24-8) and faceoff win percentage (63-37). Meanwhile, the Sharks had a 5-4 advantage in blocked shots and led in takeaways (6-0), as well as giveaways (3-2) through one frame. Anaheim was 1/1 on the power play in the first period and San Jose was 0/1 on the man advantage.

    The second period opened similar to the first period in that San Jose scored early.

    Joonas Donskoi (1) passed the puck to Evander Kane who flipped it back to Donskoi for the shot on net and the Sharks went ahead, 2-1. Kane (1) had the only assist on the goal at 1:15 of the second period.

    Almost two minutes later, Marcus Sorensen (2) received a pass from Donskoi on a quick transition, deked and scored on Gibson to make it 3-1 San Jose. Donskoi (1) was credited with the assist on Sorensen’s goal at 3:41 of the second period.

    Then things settled in for about ten minutes until Eric Fehr (1) got the puck on his stick around center ice, brought it into the offensive zone with great hands, deked past Anaheim’s defense and made it 4-1 for the Sharks. Sorensen (1) and Melker Karlsson (2) notched the assists on the goal at 13:43 of the period.

    Less than a minute later, Ducks forward, Nick Ritchie received two penalties after the whistle— a minor for slashing San Jose’s captain, Joe Pavelski, and another minor penalty for roughing against Pavelski. Sharks defenseman, Dylan DeMelo, picked up a roughing minor against Ducks defenseman Derek Grant.

    All of the penalties came at 14:28 of the second period with the Sharks ending up on a 5-on-4 power play, until Ducks defenseman, Francois Beauchemin, slashed Logan Couture about a minute later.

    San Jose called a timeout before taking advantage of their 5-on-3 power play at 15:59.

    It only took Tomas Hertl (2) 50 seconds to score on the two-man advantage, giving the Sharks a four-goal lead, 5-1, at 16:49. Pavelski (4) and Couture (2) picked up the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on Hertl’s power play goal.

    With 40 minutes in the books, San Jose led, 5-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed, 30-24, in shots on goal to the Ducks. Blocked shots were even at 10-10, while Anaheim led in hits (34-18). The Sharks led in takeaways (10-3) and giveaways (8-5) after two periods and were 1/3 on the power play. Meanwhile, Anaheim did not see any power play time in the second period and was still 1/1 on the man advantage.

    Seeing as they were already losing, 5-1, Ducks head coach, Randy Carlyle figured he might as well throw his backup goaltender to the fire and Ryan Miller replaced John Gibson in goal to start the third period.

    Sorensen was assessed a minor penalty for holding Marcus Pettersson 5:09 into the third period, but the Ducks were unable to get anything past Jones on the ensuing power play.

    Then things only continued to worsen for Anaheim.

    Ryan Getzlaf was clearly disinterested by the time the third period rolled around and he let it be known in his undisciplined effort, amassing a slashing penalty and a roughing penalty at 7:22 of the third period. San Jose then went on a four-minute power play and was sure to take advantage of their special teams play.

    Pavelski (1) had the puck on his stick with time ticking down on the Sharks power play and beat Miller clean through the five-hole to make it 6-1, San Jose. Meier (2) and Donskoi (2) had the assists on the goal that upped San Jose’s lead from four to five.

    After Getzlaf lost his mind, Corey Perry went off and cross-checked everything in sight (that’s a bit of an exaggeration, he only cross checked Kevin Labanc and was sent to the penalty box). Speaking of Getzlaf, he must have said something that a ref didn’t like because as Perry was being assessed his minor penalty at 11:12 of the third period, Getzlaf picked up a 10-minute misconduct, ending his night at SAP Center.

    San Jose did not score on the ensuing man advantage.

    Eric Fehr tripped Perry moments later and was sent to the sin bin, but the Ducks were not able to convert on the man advantage.

    Moments later, Ryan Kesler slashed Sharks blue liner, Paul Martin, and didn’t get to sit for too long in the box as Evander Kane (3) redirected a shot on goal from Marc-Edouard Vlasic to give San Jose a 7-1 lead with yet another power play goal. Vlasic (1) and Couture (3) assisted on Kane’s goal at 17:16 of the third period.

    At 19:24 of the third period, Brandon Montour slashed Fehr and the Sharks converted on yet another power play 12 seconds later to make it 8-1.

    Timo Meier (1) pocketed the goal after Chris Tierney fired off a shot while falling. Tierney (1) and Labanc (2) had the assists on what was a franchise playoff record 8th goal of the game for San Jose at 19:36 of the period.

    Despite being outhit 43-24 and outshot 46-36 by the Ducks, the San Jose Sharks emerged victorious with a power play that went 3/7 on the night compared to Anaheim’s 1/3 on the man advantage.

    At the final horn, San Jose had defeated Anaheim, 8-1, and as a result now has a commanding 3-0 series lead heading into Game 4 at SAP Center. The Sharks have outscored the Ducks 13-3 through three games into the series and can sweep Anaheim at home on Wednesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 10:30 p.m. ET and viewers outside of the respective local markets can tune in on GOLF channel in the United States and SN1 and/or TVAS2 in Canada.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #100– DTFR100 Celebration

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #100– DTFR100 Celebration

    In a first, everyone (except for Jordan) appears on the Down the Frozen River Podcast to predict how the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs will go before the 2017-18 NHL regular season even ends, technically speaking. The 100th episode anniversary is informally observed.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.