Playing the last game of a 6-game road trip,
it would have been easy for the Sharks to pack it in. Entering play on Thursday
night, the Sharks opponent, the St Louis Blues, have gone 5-1-1 since inserting
former Shark Jim Montgomery as head coach. All the cards were stacked against
them but the Sharks found a way to grind out a tough 4-3 win over the Blues at
Enterprise Center. Macklin Celebrini had 2 goals and an assist in the victory
to help San Jose secure 6 of 12 standings points on the trip.
San Jose
finally found a way to beat the Blues, who took a heartbreaking win at SAP
Center on opening night and then beat the Sharks in the shootout in late
November. The Blue won the season series, but the Sharks looked good in their
lone win.
It was a hard nosed victory over a team that has been
righting their own ship after a sluggish start to the season.
The
Sharks drew first blood just 81 seconds into the game when Tyler Toffoli jammed
home a loose puck from just outside the left post. Celebrini and Nikolai
Kovalenko had moved the puck to the front of the Blues goal and St Louis
goaltender Jordan Binnington went into a sitting position in an attempt to
defend his goal. The puck squirted over to Toffoli on the left for the
forward's team leading 12th tally of the season.
St Louis answered at
10:26 when Jake Neighbours beat Alexandar Georgiev with a shot from the slot.
Neighbours collected a lead pass from Ryan Suter as he slated up the left wing,
carrying it into the Sharks zone. When he reached the top of the left circle,
Neighbours cut to the slot, crossing up defenseman Timothy Liljegren setting up
a clear shot from between the circles.
The Neighbours goal was one of
only 4 shots that Georgiev faced in the period. The Sharks generated 14 shots
themselves, fueled by a holding penalty to Neighbours at 16:40. The Sharks
power play had a few good looks, but Binnington kept the game tied.
Ty
Dellandrea was called for a vicinity hook late in the period, which allowed the
Blues to carry over 1:34 of time on the man advantage to the 2nd period but
could do nothing with it.
Celebrini added his 9th goal of the season
5:43 into the period after Timothy Liljegren sent him up ice with the puck.
Celebrini carried it up the left wing and tried to hit Toffoli on the off wing,
but Colton Parayko went down to block the feed. The puck hit Parayko and
bounced right back to Celebrini who snapped it past Binning ton from 12 feet
out to put the Sharks back on top.
Former Blues 1st round draft pick Klim Kostin laid
the body on Blues captain Brayden Schenn with 2 minutes left in the period, but
Dylan Holloway took exception to the hit and went after the Sharks forward.
Both players were sent off for roughing, but Holloway was assessed a double
minor, setting up the 2nd Sharks power play of the night.
That played
out in the Sharks favor when Celebrini snapped a shot past Binnington from the
left dot with 7 seconds remaining in the period. The goal pushed the rookie's
goal count into double digit territory.
St Louis made it a 1-goal game
5:34 into the 3rd period when Brayden Schenn punched home a rebound after
Georgiev was caught out of his net after the Blues had threatened from out
front. Schenn was lurking on the right side when the puck landed right on his
stick.
With the Blues forced to press in the Sharks zone, San Jose
would benefit with several odd-man rushes. They would cash in on one when
Kovalenko steamed up the right side before hitting Jake Walman on the off wing.
Walman had a wide open net to shoot at with Binnington trying to cut off the
angle on Kovalenko. Walman's goal was his 5th of the season.
Jordan
Kyrou made things a little tighter for the Sharks by scoring at 7:57 to cut
into the San Jose lead once again. The Blues forward dished the puck as he was
skating down the slot, but the pass kicked off a Shark defender out front,
rebounding right back to him for the deposit from the left side.
The
Blues pulled Binnington with 2 minutes to play, but they would not bag the
equalizer.
Georgiev earned the win in his Sharks debut, stopping 17 of
20 shots.
Game Notes: * The Blues requested that St
Louis native Luke Kunin take out the ceremonial opening faceoff before the
contest. The puck was dropped by a local high school student who is fighting
Lymphoma. The game was a featured NHL Fights Cancer Night at Enterprise Center.
* Macklin Celebrini (10 goals, 9 assists) moves into 2nd place tie in
rookie scoring with Lane Hutson's (0 goals, 19 assists). They both trail Matvei
Michkov's 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) for the NHL lead. Games played:
Hutson 28, Michkov 27, Celebrini 19+.
* With his goal and an assist,
Jake Walman set a new career high in scoring with 22 points (5 goals, 17
assists). Walman's assist came on Celebrini's 2nd goal of the night.
*
After his acquisition on Monday, Nikolai Kovalenko recorded his 1st, 2nd and
3rd points as a Shark with 3 assists in the game.
* Klim Kostin was
hobbled by a puck he blocked late in the 2nd period. The Sharks fowad did not
return after leaving the ice with less than 2 minutes remaining in the period.
