Sharks Beat Blues 5-4

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks beat the Blues 5-4 in St.Louis on Saturday. Sharks goals came from Evander Kane, Logan Couture (2), Rudolfs Balcers, and Patrick Marleau. Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for the win. The Blues goals were scored by Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Ryan O’Reilly and Jordan Kyrou. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in the loss.

Despite allowing another four-goal second period to the Blues, the Sharks persisted for the win. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about coping with penalties and questionable calls: “We stuck with it and we had some great kills, character kills, and we found a way to get three points out of these two games. It could have easily been four.”

Evander Kane ended a four-game goal drought at 7:24 of the first, giving the Sharks the first lead of the game. Logan Couture tried to move the puck from the boards to Kane but it went to Zach Sanford instead. Sanford turned it right over to Kane, with some help from Kevin Labanc. Kane was ready to spin, settle the puck and shoot before Binnington could get set.

Couture doubled the lead at 10:10. Kane chased the puck down behind the net and sent it up ice to Kevin Labanc, who found Couture in front of the net with a quick pass. Couture tapped it right in.

The first period ended with the Sharks leading in shots 10-9, and in the face-off circle at 54%. The Sharks took one penalty in the first, and the Blues had one shot on that power-play.

The second period was much busier than the first. The Sharks added to their tally at 3:48. Rudolfs Balcers scored his first as a Shark by stopping above the blue paint and waiting for a pass from Tomas Hertl, who was below the goal line. Despite the Blues defense around him, Hertl got the pass cleanly to Balcers for a one-timer past Binnington.

The Blues scored at 4:45. Jordan Kyrou, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocking his path, bounced the puck off of the post from below the goal line. It went right to Brayden Schenn for a shot past Devan Dubnyk on the blocker side. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Mike Hoffman.

Patrick Marleau gave the Sharks a three-goal lead at 8:18. Evander Kane sent the puck under a leaping Matt Nieto to Marleau on the far side of the net. Marleau tapped it in behind Binnington.

The Blues came right back with their second goal at 8:37. Torey Krug took a shot from the Blue line that went off of Zach Sanford. The goal was reviewed for a high stick but was allowed. Assists went to Krug and Schenn.

Ryan O’Reilly’s one-timer from just above the goal line cut the Sharks lead to one at 15:30. The Sharks were short-handed as Mario Ferraro left the ice abruptly after losing his helmet. Assists went to Hoffman and Kyrou.

Kyrou tied it up ith just 1:19 left in the second. Kyrou skated in, two-on-one with David Perron. Perron drew the defensive attention so Kyrou took the shot and beat Dubnyk on the glove side. Assists went to Perron and O’Reilly.

The Blues led on the second-period shot clock, 15-10, and in the face-off circle, at 54%. As in the first, the Sharks took one penalty but the Blues didn’t get any shots out of it.

Couture, just on the ice after a line change, gave the Sharks a new lead at 11:51 of the third. His shot from the face-off circle slipped through traffic at the net before Binnington could find it.

The Blues pulled their goaltender with just over a minute left but the Sharks held on. The Blues took their first penalty in the third period, but it was offset by a penalty to the Sharks as well, for some four-on-four play. The Sharks took a second penalty in the third, but their penalty kill did not allow any shots. The final shot count was 32-27 Blues, and the face-offs went to the Blues 52% of the time.

The Sharks next play on Monday, back in San Jose, against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose to Blues 3-2 in OT

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in overtime to the Blues on Thursday in St. Louis. Mike Hoffman, Brayden Schenn and David Perron scored for St. Louis. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for the win. Noah Gregor and John Leonard scored for the Sharks and Martin Jones made 42 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said: “There were definitely parts of that game where we were in control of that game.” The team does seem to have shed it’s second period troubles, and is also playing better five-on-five. On that topic, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“We did some good things five-on-five tonight. And, you know, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Now it’s our penalty kill allowed that first goal in, took some momentum away from us. But we’re doing some better things and we’re working at it every day.”

St. Louis scored the only first period goal, on the power play at 6:12. Oskar Sundqvist tried to jam the puck under Martin Jones but was rejected. The rebound, however, went out to Mike Hoffman who had an open net to shoot into. Assists went to Sundqvist and David Perron.

St. Louis outshot the Sharks 12 to 10 in the first period. In the face-off circle, the Blues also prevailed with a 53% win percentage. The Sharks had one power play and one shot on that power play. The Blues had two power plays and got three shots in, including the goal.

Noah Gregor tied the game at 8:27 of the second period. The Sharks had been in their own zone for too long when Gregor carried the puck out. He maneuvered around the Blues defense and took a shot. That did not go but the Sharks got it back and eventually Nicolas Meloche got another shot in, this time from a bad angle. The shot rebounded to the other side of the net, where Gregor was ready to shoot it back in for his third of the season. Assists went to Meloche and Gambrell.

John Leonard scored his second NHL goal to give the Sharks the lead at 14:31. Ryan Donato fanned on a shot from close in, then and spun around and sent the puck down to Leonard who was by the post. Leonard’s quick shot beat Binnington as the goalie tried to get back in position. Assists went to Donato and Patrick Marleau.

San Jose outshot the Blues 12-8 in the penalty-free second period. The Sharks also improved in the face-off circle, winning 58% of the draws.

The Sharks held onto that lead until 19:20 of the third, when Brayden Schenn tied it up to force overtime. The Blues net was empty for the extra skater. Mikke Hoffman shot the puck at the net from just above the goal line, hitting Jones in the shoulder pad. Schenn was on the spot to catch the rebound and knock it in. Assists went to Hoffman and David Perron.

The Blues dominated the face-off circle in the third, winning 72% of the draws.

David Perron scored the game-winner 4:00 into overtime. Patrick Marleau was called for hooking Ryan O’Reilly, giving the Blues a power play that started with 1:36 left in the period. As the Blues entered the zone, Torey Krug held the puck just below the blue line long enough for Perron to get to the net. The Shrs penalty killers were nowhere near Perron and he took a quick shot from the face-off circle. Assists went to Krug and Jordan Binnington.

The Blues out-shot the Sharks 10-1 in the overtime period.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT, again in St. Louis against the Blues.

Sharks Win 2-1 in Shootout Against Blues

The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl (right) puts the puck on net for the game winner in the overtime shootout against St Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (left) in St Louis in the second game of their two game series on Wed Jan 2o, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 2-1 against the St. Louis Blues in a shootout Wednesday. The Sharks got a regulation goal from Marcus Sorensen and the shootout winner from Tomas Hertl. Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win. The lone Blues goal came from Brayden Schenn and their goaltender, Jordan Binnington, made 37 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about the improvements he saw in his team’s game:

“I thought our turnover rate was better, I thought our wall play was better, our possession time I think was a little better. And line changes, as crazy as that sounds, as simple as that sounds, I thought we did a better job of, you know, our shift length and changing and just all the fundamentals that we’ve been talking about.”

Boughner also pointed to how the team’s third and fourth lines helped in the win, beyond scoring the Sharks’ only regulation goal: “I believe the third and fourth line created some of our best o-zone shifts tonight when we needed it, just at the right time. They jumped over the boards and they played a little bit of a blue-collar style game which was perfect for us.”

The teams traded penalties in the first period but ended with no score. The Sharks had two penlaties to kill and the Blues had three. The shots were close, at 10-9 St. Louis.

The Blues scored first, at 4:27 of the second period. With the Sharks on a power play, Jordan Kyrou brought the puck through the neutral zone with speed before running into the Sharks defense. He held on to the puck until Brent Burns made some contact, knocking the puck loose. From there, Torey Krug and Brayden Schenn got it to the net and Schenn put it into the top corner. Assists went to Kyrou and Krug.

The Sharks tied it up with just over two minutes left in the second. Marcus Sorensen pushed the puck deep into Blues territory before gathering it up and sending it back up to Burns on the blue line. Mario Ferraro took a shot that touched Matt Nieto’s stick and trickled wide. Sorensen was right there to knock it in. Assists went to Nieto and Ferraro.

The shot count was close again in the second period, at 11-10 Sharks. The game remained scoreless after that. The Sharks had one third period power play, and killed two penalties. In all, the Sharks out-shot the Blues 17-4 in the final period.

After the game, Logan Couture talked about the third period: “I think in the third period, we played the style of hockey that we want to play. Obviously throughout the game there were a lot of penalties back and forth and it’s tough to get a flow going. But I liked our third period for sure.”

The Sharks seemed to score in the final 11 seconds of OT, but it was called back for incidental contact with the goaltender.

The shootout went an extra round as Martin Jones faced David Perron, Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou without letting in a goal. Binnington faced Ryan Donato, Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc before tomas Hertl’s shot got by him.

The Sharks next play on Friday in Minnesota against the Wild at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Blues 3-2 in OT, Move to 1st in West

Photo credit: @fntsyhky

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime at SAP Center Saturday. The win nudged the Sharks up to first place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. Two goals came from Timo Meier and the overtime winner came from Kevin Labanc. St. Louis goals came from Pat Maroon and Brayden Schenn. The Sharks’ Martin Jones made 17 saves, while the Blues’ Jake Allen made 30 saves in the loss. Joe Thornton tied Stan Mikita on the NHL’s all time points list with his assist on Timo Meier’s first goal of the game. Meier also set a record for the most NHL goals in a season by a Swiss-born player.

After the game, Meier said:

It took us 60 minutes and some extra to win this game but our team, full four lines, all the guys showed up today. It was a tough battle, you know, they didn’t give us a lot of room out there. They’re a good forecheck team so it took our full lineup tonight and our best game to win this one.

Speaking of how the team has been performing, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

It’s that time of year, there’s 15 games left or less, we’re trying to catch Calgary, we’re trying to win the division and important games. I think everyone has adversity, we’ve had some flu, and some injuries and things but guys have taken it as a challenge and really stepped up. I think we’ve had some gutsy wins here.

Both teams were missing significant pieces from their lineups. The Sharks were still without Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane, while the Blues were missing their leading goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Blues scored first with a power play goal. Pat Maroon was in the right place to take advantage of a puck that came off the glass and landed by the goal post. It was his fifth of the season. Assists went to Colton Parayko and Vince Dunn.

The Sharks answered with their own power play goal at 16:23. With the power play winding down, Meier caught a pass from Joe Thornton and took a shot behind him. The puck went under goalie Jake Allen for Meier’s 25th of the season. Thornton and Tim Heed got the assists.

Meier added another in the final minute of the first period at 19:33. Logan Couture was in the corner when he made a backhand pass to Meier right in front of the net. Meier found an opening and put it away. Assists went to Couture and Tomas Hertl.

The Sharks led in shots in the first 10-8. Each team scored on a power play and each team killed one penalty. The Sharks had the edge in the face off circle as well, winning 53% of the time.

The second period was almost uneventful, up to the final two minutes. The Blues got a power play when Tomas Hertl was called for hooking. They tied the game at 19:57 of the period. Barclay Goodrow had the puck on his stick and was about to move it away from the goal mouth. Instead, Brayden Schenn came in and knocked it off of Goodrow’s stick and into the net. It was Schenn’s 13th of the season.

The Sharks lost their edge in face offs in the second. The Blues won an impressive 73% of them. The teams were even with six shots each.

Neither team scored in the third, but the Sharks outshot the Blues 15-4. The Blues won 60% of the face offs. The Blues continued to win those face offs in overtime.

Kevin Labanc scored the overtime winner with the team’s second shot of the period. Tomas Hertl gave him the puck in the neutral zone and, after carrying it across the line, Labanc passed it to Couture on the left wing. Couture gave it back quickly, just as Allen moved to block a shot from Couture. Labanc was able to get the shot off before Allen could move back across. The assists went to Couture and Hertl.

The Sharks next play on Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota against the Wild at 5:00 PM PT.