Photo credit: Scott Kane AP Photo
~ By Pearl Allison Lo
~ San Jose went back to their goal scoring ways and ended Saint Louis’ longest win streak of the season, in a 6-3 win Monday.
After losing an 18-game streak of 2 goals or more Saturday, the Sharks scored six goals for the second time in less than a month and for the first time in February. Each goal scorer for San Jose scored a pair of goals.
Meanwhile, for the Blues, it was injury upon injury. Playing their first full game without a key player, Alexander Steen, hot backup goalie Brian Elliott was also injured in the first and did not return to the game. Saint Louis was unable to tie the Chicago Blackhawks atop the Central Division with the loss.
San Jose did not go injury free either. Matt Tennyson was knocked unconscious before Elliott, after a hit by Ryan Reaves. Tennyson was playing in only his sixth game with the team since December 8. He did not return to the game either, but afterwards, it was reported as likely a concussion and Tennyson will be traveling en route to the Sharks’ road trip finale.
With the win, San Jose is tied for most road wins with the Washington Capitals. most since November 12
The 17-7 shot margin in the first period was indicative of the way the scoring went.
The Sharks got off to a lead for the first time this road trip, when Tomas Hertl scored at 4:44, aided by his top linemates Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.
The hit by Reaves at 8:37 gave San Jose a long power play, as Reaves was given a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct as he left the game. Hertl made Tennyson’s exit sting a little less when he scored his second goal during that penalty, with a different pair of teammates, Joonas Donskoi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Logan Couture also capitalized on the long power play when he scored in the identical spot as Hertl, a 5-on-3 goal. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns helped at 12:59.
After Couture’s 3-0 goal, goalie Jake Allen, who was just activated from injured reserve yesterday, ended up going into net. It mostly seemed though it was because of Elliott’s injury.
Saint Louis managed to get a goal at 17:36. Captain David Backes scored, assisted by Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.
The teams took a little break from scoring until the Blues got to within one in the second. The power play went from the Sharks to Saint Louis when San Jose’s penalty cut it short. Tarasenko scored the Blues’ second power play goal of the night, aided by Kevin Shattenkirk and Jori Lehtera at 11:25.
20 seconds later, Couture and the Sharks did not lose their momentum, as Couture scored his second of the night, helped by Melker Karlsson and Vlasic.
Thornton singlehandedly scored San Jose’s fifth goal at 7:26 of the third. Teammate Patrick Marleau had hit the post during the second.
Jay Bouwmeester got the third period goal for St. Louis at 9:50, assisted by Tarasenko and Lehtera. Sharks’ coach Peter DeBoer challenged the score as goalie interference, but it remained 5-3.
Thornton then capped off the game, bringing it back to a three goal lead, with a no look empty netter. It was his first four point game in over two years, as mentioned by Darin Stephens.
Game notes: Couture had a game high eight shots. San Jose’s General Manager Doug Wilson announced before the game that Raffi Torres left, along with 2017 and 2018 second round selections, for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Nick Spaling and Roman Polak. The Sharks will look to make it a 4-1 road trip when they face the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday at 7pm.
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