German_Force » late in the third period again

With two games in two days Womens Luke Kunin Jersey , the surging San Jose Sharks are looking for a strong finish heading into the NHL’s Christmas break.They start on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the league-worst Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center.San Jose opened a four-game homestand with a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, a blip on what’s been a pretty strong stretch of hockey in recent weeks.Article continues below ...“This might have been our best game in the last six games and it was the one we lost,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “We had a good effort. Some unfortunate bounces.” After losing a season-high four in row between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, the Sharks have won seven of nine. DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News on Friday that the team talked about what they wanted to accomplish before the league goes on hiatus for three days.“We had a goal 10 days to two weeks ago and we talked about our last seven games heading into the break,” he said. “We’ve won four out of the five since we started talking about it, so we want to finish this off.”Following this game, San Jose (19-12-5) faces another Pacific Division opponent when the Arizona Coyotes visit on Sunday. The Sharks are 5-2-1 against division foes this season.Erik Karlsson said following the win over the Jets that San Jose expects to be among the league’s elite, but there needs to be a full-time effort in each game.“Today, we showed it in bits and pieces. … You can’t make small mistakes early in the game, it’s going to come back and cost you,” said the Sharks defenseman Marcus Foligno Jersey , who’s riding an eight-game assists streak.After putting up 98 points last season, Los Angeles (12-20-3) is at the bottom of the league and has the fewest goals scored with 78. Coming up on the halfway point, no player on the club has cracked double digits in goals. Dustin Brown has a team-high nine after scoring 28 last season, while Anze Kopitar has eight after a career-best 35 in 2017-18.The key to any sort of success this season, according to Drew Doughty, is shutting down the opposition.“The defensive style we play, that’s how we’ve got to win hockey games. That’s the bottom line. The only way this team is going to win hockey games is if we’re giving up max two goals a night,” the defenseman said after the Kings snapped a four-game winning streak with a 4-1 stunner over Winnipeg on Tuesday.That means better play from Jonathan Quick. He’s three wins shy of 300, but 0-4-1 with a 3.63 goals-against average on the road this season.Los Angeles has won four straight on the road and is 11-3-0 overall when allowing two goals or less in 2018-19.In the only previous meeting this season, Kevin Labanc scored in overtime to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Kings on Oct. 5 at Staples Center. San Jose and Los Angeles have split the last four meetings in Northern California and only one team in one game scored more than two goals.The Kings are expected to have Ilya Kovalchuk back in the lineup, according to Fox Sports West. The No. 1 overall pick in 2001 missed 10 games after ankle surgery.Kovalchuk returned to the league on a three-year deal in July http://www.minnesotawildteamshops.com/authentic-matt-dumba-jersey , five years after leaving for the KHL. The 35-year-old winger has five goals and nine assists in 25 games this season. Look for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple to stick with their strengths Friday night at Honda Center.The Ducks (8-9-3) have been one of the toughest teams to score against in recent seasons, while the Maple Leafs (13-6-0) have featured one of the top-scoring offenses.Anaheim had the third-lowest goals-against average in the NHL last season at 2.55, but the Maple Leafs combined for 10 goals in a two-game sweep of the Ducks. Toronto tied for third in the NHL last season at 3.29 goals per game.Article continues below ...Anaheim hasn’t been as stingy this season. The Ducks are 11th in the league in GAA (2.85), but they continue to feature one of the league’s top goaltenders in John Gibson.The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have become stronger on offense thanks to the addition of explosive center John Tavares. They’ve also tightened up on defense behind former Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen.Andersen, who was drafted in the third round by the Ducks in 2012 and played his first three NHL seasons in Anaheim, has built some of the best numbers in the league this season. After making 42 saves Thursday night in a 5-3 victory at the San Jose Sharks, backup goalie Garret Sparks will start against the Ducks.Gibson and Andersen alternated starts for Anaheim during the 2015-16 season before the Ducks traded Andersen to Toronto in June 2016, making Gibson their No. 1 goalie. Anaheim signed Gibson to an eight-year contraction extension last summer.The Ducks have been very successful this season when holding opponents to two regulation goals or fewer, owning an 8-0-2 record in those situations Mikael Granlund Jersey , compared to 0-8-1 when they don’t.The main issue for Anaheim has been consistency, Gibson said.The Ducks started the season 5-1-1, marking the fifth time in franchise history they accumulated at least 11 points through the first seven games. Anaheim followed that run by losing seven in a row, however, one shy of the franchise record.Since ending the losing streak, the Ducks have alternated wins and losses over the past six games. They posted impressive one-goal victories against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, only to lose their following game to the Los Angeles Kings (4-1), Minnesota Wild (5-1) and Vegas Golden Knights (5-0).“We’ve been able to win one here and there, but not go on a run,” Gibson said. “Hopefully Youth Mikko Koivu Jersey , we can start stringing some together.”In the loss to the Golden Knights on Wednesday, Anaheim played without one of their top defensemen, Cam Fowler. He was struck in the face with the puck late in the third period against the Predators on Monday and sustained multiple fractures that will sideline him several weeks.The Ducks will likely start three rookie defensemen against Toronto, which is averaging 3.50 goals — good for third in the NHL.A big reason for the slight increase in offensive production this season has been the addition of Tavares, a five-time NHL All-Star who left the New York Islanders on July 1 and signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs.Tavares scored the first goal Thursday night against the Sharks, giving him five goals and 10 points in a seven-game point streak.