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Marcus Sorensen

WATCH LIVE: Golden Knights, Sharks renew their rivalry

By Sean LeahyOct 2, 2019, 10:15 PM EDT

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Wednesday’s matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks. Coverage begins at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The Golden Knights were defeated by the Sharks in OT of Game 7 in Round 1 last April after a controversial major penalty was called on Vegas’ Cody Eakin for a cross-check to Joe Pavelski in the third period with the Knights leading 3-0. San Jose scored four times on the man-advantage, while Vegas tallied a goal late to force overtime. Barclay Goodrow won it for San Jose in OT and secured one of the most improbable comebacks in postseason history, leading the Sharks into Round 2.

On Tuesday, Sharks forward Evander Kane was suspended three games for physical abuse of an official, stemming from an altercation with Vegas’ Deryk Engelland in San Jose’s final preseason game. Kane swung his stick at Engelland in response to a cross-check, but got a piece of the ref in the process. Then, the ref grabbed Kane and both fell to the ice. Kane appeared to shove the ref while getting back to his feet.

“I get kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by a referee,” said Kane. “I’ve never seen a ref take five strides. If you look at his face, he’s getting all this power and he’s trying to drive me into the ice, which is what he did. That’s unbelievable. Talk about abuse of an official? How about abuse of a player? It’s an absolute joke.”

The Sharks and Knights open the season with a home and home series. They open the season Wednesday in Vegas, before meeting again on Friday in San Jose. Vegas is 5-1-2 all-time against San Jose in the regular season. They’ve split their only two playoff meetings.

[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

WHAT: San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights
WHERE: T-Mobile Arena
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Sharks-Golden Knights stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

SHARKS
Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Danil Yurtaikin
Lean Bergmann – Tomas Hertl – Lukas Radil
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc
Melker Karlsson – Barclay Goodrow – Dylan Gambrell

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Dalton Prout
Mario Ferraro – Tim Heed

Starting goalie: Martin Jones

GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Cody Glass – Mark Stone
Brandon Pirri – Paul Stastny – Valentin Zykov
William Carrier – Tomas Nosek – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt
Jon Merrill – Shea Theodore
Nick Holden – Deryk Engelland

Starting goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury

Brendan Burke and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire will have the call of Sharks-Golden Knights from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Pavelski joins Karlsson, Hertl as Sharks missing Game 6

Getty Images
By James O'BrienMay 21, 2019, 8:14 PM EDT
3 Comments

It was already clear that the San Jose Sharks would face the St. Louis Blues without Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl. Now it’s confirmed that they’ll try to stave off elimination without their captain.

Joe Pavelski didn’t participate in warm-ups for Game 6 on Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN; Live Stream), so it’s clear that he’ll be out, too.

With those three out, three Sharks draw into the lineup: forwards Dylan Gambrell and Marcus Sorensen, along with defenseman Tim Heed.

Here’s how the lines look:

No doubt about it, the Sharks are in an extremely tough spot. Really, they would have been even if they had Karlsson, Hertl, and Pavelski, as they’re hoping to win Game 6 on the road against a sharp Blues team. But these circumstances make matters even worse.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

The Blues scored a 1-0 goal about 90 seconds into Game 6, so the hits keep coming for San Jose.

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

The Wraparound: Can Thornton keep rolling?

By Joey AlfieriMay 17, 2019, 9:59 AM EDT

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

You’ve probably heard by now that Game 3 of the Western Conference Final between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues ended in controversial fashion, so you can understand why some of the in-game stuff has been overshadowed over the last couple of days. One of those standout performances came from slumping center Joe Thornton. Can he keep it going in Game 4? (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN; live stream)

Thornton scored two goals in the game and he also added an assist on Logan Couture‘s game-tying goal late in regulation. Not bad for a guy who had just one point in his previous eight games.

“This guy’s one of the greatest players of all time,” head coach Pete DeBoer said after Game 3. “I know he wasn’t happy with his last game. And that’s the response you get from a Hall of Fame player. We wouldn’t have a chance to win without him. The character, the response, the leadership.”

The Sharks managed to get to the Western Conference Final by leaning on top players like Logan Couture, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, and Brent Burns, but getting added production from their third line could help propel them to the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.

DeBoer made a subtle change to Thornton’s line heading into Game 3, as he replaced Marcus Sorensen with Melker Karlsson. The line, which was made up of Thornton, Karlsson and Kevin Labanc controlled over 60 percent of the shot attempts when they were on the ice and they created two goals. They have had 60 percent of the scoring chances when they were on the ice (all stats via Natural Stat Trick).

Getting continued production from that line may allow the Sharks to get a stranglehold on this series.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

THURSDAY’S SCOREBOARD
Bruins 4, Hurricanes 0 (Bruins win series 4-0)
The Buzzer has more on Thursday’s action

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• PHT Conference Finals predictions

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

The Wraparound: Sharks ‘need everyone’ to start chipping in

By Joey AlfieriMay 15, 2019, 9:47 AM EDT
2 Comments

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

The Western Conference Final between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues is tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3 tonight (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN). Despite not getting much production from their depth players, the Sharks found a way to split the first two games.

San Jose has scored eight goals in four games (six in Game 1, two in Game 2). Of those eight goals, seven have come from players on their top two lines. Here’s the breakdown: Logan Couture has scored half the goals, while Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier have also found the back of the net. Kevin Labanc is the only player in the bottom-six that has found a way to chip in through two games.

“In my opinion, that wasn’t anywhere near what we’re capable of, and I don’t think we’ve played up to our capabilities in a while now,” Couture said after Game 2. “… And it’s discouraging, it’s frustrating, because we’re going to need everyone here if we’re going to beat these guys, because they’re a very good hockey team.”

It’s difficult for any team to expect their fourth line to chip in regularly when it comes to offense. Barclay Goodrow, Joonas Donskoi and Melker Karlsson just don’t have it in them so whatever you get from them in almost like a bonus. Where they need more offensive production is from the third line which is made up of Joe Thornton, Marcus Sorensen and Labanc.

Thornton and Labanc have just one point in their last eight contests, and Sorensen has no points in his last seven outings. That likely won’t be enough to get by the Blues (unless Couture continues carrying the team on his back). It also wouldn’t hurt to get some offense from Evander Kane, who has two assists in his last seven contests.

“We didn’t have enough participants across the board,” head coach Pete DoBoer said when asked about his third line’s lack of production. “I thought Logan Couture was pretty good, a couple other guys. But it’s tough to win this time of year if you don’t have everybody going, and I thought they got contributions from everybody like we did [in Game 1]. So we’ve been here before, and we know how to handle this.”

Can they get going in Game 3?

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

TUESDAY’S SCOREBOARD
Bruins 2, Hurricanes 1
The Buzzer has more on Tuesday’s action

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• PHT roundtable
• Hurricanes/Bruins series preview
• PHT Conference Finals predictions

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

The Playoff Buzzer: Blues overcome clutch Couture

Getty Images
By James O'BrienMay 14, 2019, 1:02 AM EDT
7 Comments

Blues 4, Sharks 2 (Series tied 1-1; Game 3 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN; stream here).

The two teams took turns stunning each other during Game 2. First, Schwartz and Vince Dunn stunned the Sharks with two goals, with one coming in the first period and the other happening in the second. Dunn’s goal seemed to awake a sleeping giant, as Logan Couture then stunned the Blues with two goals in two minutes. Bortuzzo’s eventually game-winner was maybe the most stunning moment of the night, while Oskar Sundqvist‘s 4-2 insurance tally seemed to come out of nowhere (although that pass by Alexander Steen was no accident). Binnington was good enough for the Blues to get another road win during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Three Stars

1. Robert Bortuzzo

This was one of those “more than meets the eye” performances, as Bortuzzo transformed into an unlikely hero.

Bortuzzo’s game-winner stands as the number one reason why he snags this spot over players who were more productive during Game 2. He did more than that, though, as Bortuzzo brought attention to a delay of game penalty, landed a thunderous check on Marcus Sorensen, and blocked a Kevin Labanc one-timer that looked like a golden opportunity for San Jose to tie what was at the time a 3-2 game.

In just 10:37 of ice time, Bortuzzo scored that goal, enjoyed a +2 rating, generated two SOG, two blocked shots, and totaled five hits.

2. Logan Couture

Really, Couture was probably the biggest star of Game 2, though he probably wouldn’t argue too hard for that point since his Sharks lost.

Couture beat Binnington twice in slightly less than two minutes, first generating a shorthanded goal and then beating Binnington after a fantastic outlet pass from Timo Meier. Couture only took six faceoffs in Game 2, but won five of them, while also firing four SOG and delivering one hit, one blocked shot, and a +1 rating. Couture did his part – and then some – but most of his teammates just couldn’t really get much going.

3. Joel Edmundson

The only player other than Couture to score two points was a Blues defenseman, and that blueliner was Edmundson, not Bortuzzo.

Edmundson collected two assists in Game 2, giving him five assists and six points during 13 playoff games. Edmundson’s been heating up in general, really, as he’s generated four of his six points (one goal, three assists) in the last four games.

The Blues’ defensive group combined for two goals and three assists overall in Game 2.

Factoids

Tuesday’s game

Game 3: Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes (Boston leads series 2-0; airs on NBCSN at 8 p.m. ET; stream here)

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.