The Sharks hit the road on a 4-game, 6-day
trip, starting in what should have been the easiest city to break their 4-game
losing streak in St Louis. The Blues entered play having lost 8 consecutive
games, but that streak would be snapped as they dispatched the Sharks 5-3 at
Enterprise Center. The Sharks tied the game 3 times throughout the contest, but
a pair of 3rd period goals would do in San Jose, who have fallen for the 12th
time in 15 games this season.
With the Blues reeling and a 4 day break
for the Sharks, this should have been the night to get into the win column. It
wasn't to be as they had to play catch up all night. They couldn't overcome the
last deficit.
Torey Krug staked the Blues to the early 1-0 lead just
2:30 into the contest when he threw the puck at the new from the right corner.
The defenseman was deep in the Sharks zone following a faceoff win, and flipped
the puck at Kaapo Khakonen from the end line. The Sharks goaltender just didn't
seal off the right post, allowing the puck to find a seam and an early deficit.
The Sharks got that goal back with 3:40 to play in the period when a
pin-balling puck found its way past goaltender Jordan Binnington. Erik Karlsson
fired the puck on net from the blueline, but Kevin Labanc tipped in on its way
in. The redirected puck caught Timo Meier in the skate, which deflected it over
to the right side where defenseman Justin Faulk tried to glove it, but it
flicked off his glove and into the Blues goal. Meier was credited with his 6th
goal of the season on the play.
Jaycob Megna was sent off for holding,
even though it was more of a soufflé wrestling move at 5:34 of the 2nd
period. The intent was to stop St Louis from scoring, which they would do on
the ensuing power play.
One thing that still works with the Blues is
their ability to move the puck on the man-advantage. With Megna in the box, St
Louis cycled the puck to th eright corner, drawing two defenders to that
vicinity. Pavel Buchnevich recognized the imbalance, and sent a pass through
the slot to Jordan Kyrou on the off wing for a slam dunk goal. The tally was
Kyrou's 4th of the season.
Tomas Hertl tied the game 6 minutes later when a
Kevin Labanc shot kicked off Binnington and landed right in front of him.
Binnington had to cover teh right post as Labanc and Mario Ferraro were stacked
on that side of the ice. Hertl was cruising through the slot when the puck
found him for an easy deposit into a wide open net.
Brandon Saad
helped St Louis reclaim the lead with 1:52 remaining in the period. The Sharks
got caught in their own end on an extended shift as Josh Leivo carried the puck
behind San Jose's net. Leivo spotted Saad floating down the slot between two
defenders and fed him with a pass out of the left post. Saad one-timed the feed
past Khakonen for his 1st goal of the season.
The Sharks came out of
the 2nd intermission on a mission. Logan Couture re-tied the game 86 seconds
into period. Karlsson threw a puck to the front of the net, where Couture
deflected it past Binnington. It was Couture's 5th of the season.
Calle Rosen pushed the Blues back on top at 8:20 on a shot from inside the
blueline. Khakonen had a good look at the long shot but it slipped past him on
low to the stick side.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic setup Nico Sturm with a
pass in tight 2 minutes later, but the German forward whiffed on the puck,
missing on a wide open net that would have tied the game.
San Jose
pulled Khakonen with 2 minutes left in regulation. That enabled the Blues to
stat pad, with an empty net goal by Noel Acciari.
Game Notes:
* Now that the Sharks big-money guys are starting to score, the
supporting cast has gone cold. Nico Sturm was the offense the first two weeks
of the season. He hasn't scored in 5 games. He missed on a sure goal in the 3rd
period, whiffing on a Marc-Edouard Vlasic feed that should have found the back
of the net.
* Steven Lorentz was scratched for the first time this
season. The forward had played in all 14 games prior to the St Louis game,
scoring a single goal and adding a pair of assists. Evgeny Svechnikov and Scott
Harrington joined Lorentz in the press box.
* Brandon Saad's goal was
his 27th point in 30 career games versus the Sharks.
* Erik Karlsson
has recorded 15 points in the last 6 games. Timo Meier has 10 points in his
last 6 games. Tomas Hertl has 8 points in his last 5 games.
* The
Sharks head to Dallas, where they will face a relatively hot Stars team. Dallas
won all three games last week before falling to Winnipeg on Tuesday night.
