Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Andreas Johnsson gets warmed up before a game.
By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)
On home ice the Sharks had a good start that fell away to a terrible second period giving the Blues the victory by a final of 6-3.
In goal tonight for the Sharks was James Riemer while Thomas Griess got the start for the Blues.
San Jose’s offense got off to a quick start in this one as just 3:50 into the first period Andres Johnsson flipped the puck out to a streaking Alexander Barabonov. Despite their being a Blues defenseman back Barabonov dangled Justin Faulk and put one in past Griess to make it 1-0. On that goal Johnsson got his first point in a Sharks uniform.
Smelling blood in the water just a few minutes later Erik Karlsson dropped a pass to Logan Couture that he one-timed past Griess to extend the lead to two.
The rest of the first period was rather quiet with the Blues in particular struggling to get much going on offense.
At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose at 10-4.
During intermission it seems that St. Louis got a thorough talking to as they came out in the second period with a new sense of urgency.
That urgency ended up paying off as 2:35 into the second Colton Parayko snuck in back door and tapped one home to make it 2-1.
Feeling the pressure just a few minutes later the Blues went on the power play as Barabonov took a tripping penalty.
On the power play Jordan Kyrou found himself wide open in the slot and fired one past Riemer to tie the game up at two.
St. Louis was not just content with tying it though and Logan Brown obliged sniping home his first goal of the season and giving the Blues the lead.
Late in the second period Radim Simek took a tripping penalty giving the Blues an opportunity to extend their lead.
The Sharks penalty kill once again came up short as Brayden Schenn was left open backdoor and scored his 17th goal of the season.
At the end of the second period the shots favored San Jose at 19-16.
In the third San Jose got off to a rough start as at the 14:29 mark of the period Kevin Labanc was called for tripping.
While the other two power plays had gone well for the Blues this one did not as short handed Steven Lorentz scored to make it 4-3. After the goal the Sharks continued to push for the equalizer.
Late in the third period Jacob Macdonald made a terrible turnover in the neutral zone that lead to Tyler Pitlick taking the puck and scoring. The goal was Pitlick’s fourth goal of the campaign and sucked all life out of the building.
The Sharks pulled Riemer to try and tie the game but to no avail as Kasperi Kapanen scored on the empty cage to seal the game at 6-3.
“We just weren’t sticking to out game and that’s something we definitely got to adress and look in the mirror it’s unacceptable,” Lorentz commented after the game.
The three stars of the game were: 1st: Pavel Buchnevich 2nd: Colton Parayko 3rd: Nikita Alexandrov
San Jose’s next game will be this Saturday against the Washington Capitals at home at 3 p.m.
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