SAN JOSE – Goalie Josef Korenar will make his second straight start Wednesday when the Sharks look to sweep their two-game series with the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center.
Korenar earned his first career NHL win Monday, stopping 21 of 25 shots in the Sharks’ 6-4 victory over the Coyotes. Wednesday’s game will mark Korenar’s fourth start with the Sharks, as it appears he’ll continue to get regular opportunities to play over San Jose’s final eight games.
Korenar, who is now 1-3-0 with a .882 save percentage in six games, looked sharp at times and shaky in others Monday.
With the Sharks up 4-2 early in the third period, Korenar was beaten high to the short side by a Jakob Chychrun shot from near the top of the circle.
But after Sharks forward Timo Meier took a tripping penalty with 13:19 left in regulation time, Korenar responded with two saves on the kill, stopping a pair of shots from Clayton Keller.
“He battles hard in there, he’s a young guy, he’s still finding his game,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Monday night of Korenar. “There was a couple (of goals) that I’m sure he would want back tonight. (Arizona’s) last two goals weren’t great goals, but they got a power play and he came up with two or three big saves on that power play.
“That just shows he’s got the ability to brush that off, he’s got the ability to battle back and be aggressive still and not be conservative in the net. That’s what I like. I like a guy that is going to get in there, he’s going to fight. He definitely deserves another start.”
After forward Alexander Barabanov scored to restore the Sharks’ two-goal lead, Chychrun scored again, this time with 4:44 left in regulation time.
Chychrun flipped a puck on goal that Korenar couldn’t fully control. The puck came free in the crease and was knocked in by Chychrun to cut San Jose’s lead to 5-4. Evander Kane sealed the Sharks’ with an empty-net goal with nine seconds remaining.
With the victory, Korenar, at 23 years and 85 days old, became the youngest goalie in team history to record a win. The previous youngest goalie to win in a Sharks uniform was Jeff Hackett, who won when he was 23 years and 178 days old on Nov. 26, 1991 when San Jose beat Vancouver 4-1.
“For sure, there were some good saves, and there were some things I can do better,” Korenar said Monday night. “The fourth goal, the puck was stuck in my helmet and I tried to pop it out, and it popped too much. We’ll look at the video and try to learn from it.”
INJURY UPDATES: The Sharks played Monday’s game without forwards Kevin Labanc and Ryan Donato, who were dealing with nagging upper and lower body injuries, respectively, according to Boughner. Both players skated Tuesday and could be available for Wednesday’s game.
Forward Joachim Blichfeld had to leave Tuesday’s practice early after he was struck in the face by a puck, and his status for Wednesday’s game is unclear. Dylan Gambrell blocked a shot from Coyotes defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in the final minutes of Monday’s game his availability to play Wednesday may also be in question.
Matt Nieto (lower body) also skated Tuesday but will not be available against the Coyotes, Boughner said.
"start" - Google News
April 28, 2021 at 04:08AM
https://ift.tt/3vr52sA
Sharks’ rookie goalie to start again vs. Arizona Coyotes - The Mercury News
"start" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2yVRai7
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Sharks’ rookie goalie to start again vs. Arizona Coyotes - The Mercury News"
Post a Comment