NHL - Sharks - Eastern Canadian Tour - December 13-16, 2016

Sharks @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 SO - Tuesday, December 13, 2016

The San Jose Sharks scored twice in a 2:07 span of the third period to tie the game, then scored in the shootout to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Air Canada Centre. Logan Couture scored in the shootout, and goalie Martin Jones stopped three shooters. Justin Braun and Joe Pavelski scored for San Jose (17-11-1). Frederik Andersen made 40 saves for Toronto (11-11-6), which has lost five of its past six. Zach Hyman made it 1-0 at 6:58 of the first period, tipping an Auston Matthews shot past Jones, who was 4-0-0 against Toronto. The Maple Leafs had a goal from defenseman Morgan Rielly waved off at 3:31 of the second period after forward Nazem Kadri was called for goaltender interference. Toronto challenged, but the decision was upheld. Sharks forward Tommy Wingels was assessed a holding penalty and forward Matt Nieto took a goaltender interference penalty to give Toronto a 5-on-3. Matthews scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play at 7:46 of the second period to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead. Braun scored at 12:43 of the third period to make it 2-1. Maple Leafs defenseman Matt Hunwick took an interference penalty, and San Jose tied the game 2-2 at 14:50 when Pavelski tipped a shot from defenseman Brent Burns past Andersen.

* Braun ended his streak of 34 games without a goal with a backhand high to Andersen's glove side.
* Jones stopped Hyman on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:50 of the second period, preventing the Maple Leafs from taking a 3-0 lead.

* Andersen slid across to his right to rob Sharks defenseman David Schlemko after a San Jose power play at 5:40 of the second period.

* Hyman blocked a shot from Burns while killing a penalty at 3:05 of the first period. He went down and was helped to the locker room but returned without missing a shift. Less than four minutes later, he scored to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead.
* Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not play. He sustained a lower-body injury that limited him to 7:58 of ice time in a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Vlasic declared himself ready after the morning skate but Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said his status was a game-time decision. … Schlemko returned after missing three games with an ankle injury. He played 17:08 and had seven shots on goal. … It was the first time this season the Sharks participated in a shootout. .. The Maple Leafs haven't defeated the Sharks at home since Jan. 29, 2002.

"To a point yes, to a point it felt like it was on us and that we had made it too easy on [Andersen] at times. He saw a lot of pucks. When we did have looks, we didn't finish.''
"They got a breakaway or two and [Jones] made some huge saves, especially when it was 2-0, shorthanded, all those kind of moments. He really kept us in the game there.'' Pavelski said.
"They're good, they've got speed, they forechecked hard. We didn't create enough in their zone, and that's a credit to them, they broke the puck out pretty well.'' Couture said.

Sharks @ Ottawa Senators 4-3 SO - Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Rookie Kevin Labanc scored the only goal in the shootout to give the San Jose Sharks a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Labanc scored on Mike Condon with a shot between the pads in the fourth round to give the Sharks their third straight win and first win against Ottawa in the past six games. Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Chris Tierney scored for the Sharks (18-11-1). Martin Jones made 28 saves for San Jose, which was playing the second of back-to-back games and won in the shootout for the second game in a row; San Jose defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris and Dion Phaneuf scored for the Senators (16-11-3), and Condon made 26 saves. The Senators lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Phaneuf gave the Senators a 3-2 lead with 3:46 remaining in the third period with a power-play goal, but Tierney scored on a rebound 1:18 later to tie the game 3-3. Turris tied the game at 2-2 at 17:27 of the second period on a sharp pass across the goalmouth by Mark Stone. It was his 12th goal of the season. A goal by Patrick Marleau which would have given San Jose a 3-2 lead was overturned after a coach's challenge by the Senators ruled the play was offside. Burns put the Sharks ahead 2-1 with his 13th goal at 11:30 of the second period.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead when Logan Couture made a no-look backhand pass to Pavelski at 5:57 of the first period, two seconds after a penalty to Tom Pyatt expired. Ryan scored on a setup by Ryan Dzingel from behind the net at 7:01 of the first period to tie the game 1-1. It was his first goal since Oct. 30. Mike Hoffman was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct at 7:50 of the third period after cross-checking Couture, who left the game. DeBoer did not have an update on Couture's status.

* Micheal Haley caused a turnover by the Senators in the neutral zone with a check on Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brenden Dillon sent Burns in on the right wing. Burns swept around Senators defenseman Ben Harpur and scored on a deke to put the Sharks ahead 2-1.

* With 6:41 remaining in the first period, the Sharks had a 2-on-1. Joe Thornton carried the puck into the Ottawa zone down the right side and set up Lebanc for a shot from the left-wing circle. Condon got his blocker on the puck and deflected it into the netting.

* After getting knocked down in front of the San Jose net by Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, Stone got up, corralled a carom off the end boards and put a pass between Braun and Marc-Edouard Vlasic to Turris at the backdoor.

* With the help of the successful coach's challenge that overturned Marleau's goal, the Senators killed Hoffman's five-minute major starting at 7:50 of the third period. Ottawa killed seven penalties after giving up three such goals in each of their past two games.

* Vlasic returned to the lineup after missing one game with a lower-body injury. … Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki served the second game of a two-game suspension for boarding Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli on Saturday. … The Senators lost in the shootout for the first time in four games this season.

"Great goal. [Brent Burns is] the best player in the world. Not just the best defenseman. The best player in the world." Joe Thornton

"It was nice to go last, I guess, kind of feel out the goalie and see what he gave," said Labanc, who led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring (127 points) with Barrie last season.
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said assistant coach Johan Hedberg selects the players who will attempt shots in the shootout.
"He's always got [Labanc] in the top four or five guys so really it was a no-brainer. I'm just following the list."

Sharks @ Montreal Canadiens 4-2 - Friday, December 16, 2016

The San Jose Sharks chased goalie Carey Price from the net and handed the Montreal Canadiens their second home loss in regulation. David Schlemko and Patrick Marleau scored power-play goals 2:10 apart in the first period and the Sharks (19-11-1) extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 win against the Canadiens (19-7-4), who are 14-2-2 at Bell Centre. The Sharks scored four goals in the first 26:44 to chase Price for the first time, other than because of injury, in 97 starts since Oct. 13, 2014. Forward Timo Meier made his NHL debut and scored on his first shot on goal to make it 3-0 at 13:18 of the first period. Melker Karlsson's goal at 6:44 of the second period increased the lead to 4-0. Canadiens coach Michel Therrien had two reasons for pulling Price, who will start at the Washington Capitals on Saturday after he was originally scheduled to be rested. Martin Jones, who made 26 saves, lost his shutout when Brian Flynn scored at 10:28 of the third period. Jeff Petry scored at 13:48 to draw Montreal within 4-2. Price made 14 saves and was unable to get his 250th NHL win. He had not been pulled at home since Jan. 25, 2014, when he was replaced by Peter Budaj after allowing four goals in a 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals. Al Montoya, who would have started in place of Price on Saturday, made five saves in relief.

* Karlsson deflected Micheal Haley's centering pass from the left corner off his body and backhanded it on a bounce off the ice past Price for his third goal.

* Jones stopped Michael McCarron's shot with one second left in Montreal's first power play with San Jose leading 3-0 in the second period.

* Sharks center Joe Thornton waited patiently behind the Canadiens net to set up what he called a great one-timer by Marleau for San Jose's second straight power-play goal.
"I was just kind of waiting to see who would get open, and [Marleau] just was open and he knows what to do from there," Thornton said.

* Price skated right past Montoya without acknowledging him on his way to the bench after he was pulled. If it was a message to his teammates, none of them spoke about it after the game, but the Canadiens battled back to within 4-2 in the third period, when Montoya made four saves after making one on the only shot he faced in the second.

* Montreal right wing Andrew Shaw did not play because of concussion-like symptoms. He won't travel with the Canadiens to Washington, and neither will forward Sven Andrighetto, who did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period. The Canadiens recalled forward Chris Terry from St. John's of the American Hockey League.

"He's one of the best goalies in the world, if not the best, so it's always good to get to him early. If he starts getting hot, he's pretty tough to beat." Schlemko said.

"That doesn't happen very often, and I think I read that this is only their second home loss here this year too, so I think we caught them on a good day, but we'll take it." Peter DeBoer said.

"We kind of struggled on the power play in Ottawa a little bit so we talked about that [Friday] morning. We know how tough these guys are here at home so we wanted to get off to a quick start and that just helped us out." Joe Thornton
"In that building, scoring the first goal on the first shot, it's hard to describe in words. I'm happy, but at the same time I know I can do much more." Timo Meier