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Sharks fall short in road trip
finale
Logan Couture injured in 3-2 loss
The Sharks wrapped up their 5-game road trip with a
stop in St Louis to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blues at the
Enterprise Center. San Jose entered play still licking their wounds after their
tough loss in Washington DC on Sunday. The Sharks fell behind on a pair of 2nd
period goals, then fell short in a comeback bid, losing 3-2.
San Jose
lost the game, and may have lost captain Logan Couture, who suffered a knee
injury in the 2nd period. The Sharks will know more on Couture's prognosis
after the team returns home on Wednesday.
The up and down road trip
ended on a negative after San Jose made enough mistakes to stake the Blues to
the three goals it would take to win this one. San Jose generated only 5 shots
in the 1st period, but solid defense helped them hold square in the opening
frame.
The Blues drew first blood 5:39 into the 2nd period when Tyle
Bozak cut across the slot after picking up a drop pass from Alexander Steen
before roofing a shot past Aaron Dell. The Blues simply flexed their muscle on
the play, beating the Sharks to the puck. Bozak was a step above.
Ivan
Barbashev made it a 2-0 lead less than two minutes later. The Blues forward
took off on a breakaway chance but this shot was steered wide by Dell. The
Sharks coughed the puck up in the left corner where Oskar Sundqvist fished it
away from Logan Couture and sent a pass to Barbashev on the right post for a
slam duck redirect.
The Blues were finally called for a minor penalty
1:39 into the 3rd period, and the sharks capitalized. Timo Meier pumped a shot
from the top of the right circle, beating Jordan Binnington for his 15th goal
of the season. Erik Karlsson earned the primary assist, with the secondary
going to Barclay Goodrow.
St Louis answered 1:53 later when David
Perron scooped up a loose puck in the high slot, then whipping a shot that Dell
tried to glove, but was late. Perron's shot clipped Dell's glove, depositing
for Perron's 18th tally of the season.
Jordan Kyrou appeared to give
the Blues a 4-1 lead with 8 minutes left in regulation when his shot from the
slot eluded Dell. Sharks head coach Bob Boughner challenged the play for
offside, which turned out to favor the Sharks and nullifying the goal.
A cross checking call on Barclay Goodrow backed the
Sharks into a corner late in the 3rd period. Down by 2 goals, the Sharks cut
back into the Blues lead when Erik Karlsson scored a short-handed goal at
16:50.
Karlsson's goal setup the Sharks for their own comeback, but
the Blues held on to snd the Sharks to their second consecutive loss.
Game Notes:
* Logan Couture was ridden into the end boards by
defenseman Vince Dunn on what should have been called interference at the least
early in the 2nd period. Not only was there no call, but Couture crumpled to
the ice after hitting his left knee on the boards. The Sharks captain had to be
helped off the ice, favoring his left knee. Couture did not return to the game.
* Erik Karlsson's short-handed goal was the second of his NHL
career.
* The Sharks were perfect on special teams, killing all three
Blues power play chances. They would score on their lone power play chance, and
then again while short-handed.
* Logan Couture has missed 66 games
over his 9 year career. He missed 30 games in 2015-16.
* Aaron Dell
made 24 saves, but fell short. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| STL |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
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| 2nd period - 1, STL,
Bozak 9 (Steen, Schenn), 5:39. 2, STL, Barbashev 6 (Sundqvist), 6:59. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Meier 15 (E. Karlsson, Goodrow), 2:!4, (pp). 4, STL, Perron 18 (O'Reilly),
4:07. 5, SJ, E. Karlsson 5 (unassisted), 16:50, (sh). |
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| 1st period - Vlasic, SJ
(holding), 12:21. |
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| 2nd period - Labanc, SJ
(slashing), 14:34. |
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| 3rd period - Schenn, STL
(hooking), 1:39. Goodrow, SJ (cross checking), 15:41. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Dell |
27 |
24 |
| STL - Binnington |
31 |
29 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
5 |
11 |
15 |
31 |
| STL |
10 |
9 |
8 |
27 |
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| Enterprise Center -
18,096 |
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| Referees:
Sutherland, Schlenker. Linesmen: Brisebois, Suchanek. |
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