San Jose Sharks Have St. Louis Singing the Blues
Dec 17, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Irwin (52) pushes St. Louis Blues left wing Chris Porter (32) during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The San Jose Sharks (21-7-6, 48 points) defeated the St. Louis Blues (22-7-4, 48 points) by the final score of 4-2 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. It was a big win for the Sharks, who have been struggling as of late and needed a big win against a strong opponent.
The Sharks had a tough matchup tonight against a great defense, and as such at times had trouble generating offense. They only mustered 27 shots compared to St. Louis’ 22, but in the end came out on top, completing a season sweep of the Blues that included two wins in St. Louis.
Also limited tonight were special teams goals; in fact there were none. Combined, the teams went 0-for-6 on the power play, but for San Jose that was a non-issue.
The offense started on a Joe Pavelski goal off of a rebound after a shot from the point. The goal came after some tenacious work on the boards by San Jose’s third line.
Then, about three minutes later, defenseman Matt Irwin scored his first goal of the season on a rush up ice that was started by him. After he passed the puck off at the blue line he headed straight for the net and ended up putting home a puck that bounced off the end boards. Just like that it was 2-0 Sharks after the first period.
Later on in the second period the Sharks struck again to make it 3-0 when Brent Burns broke his eight-game goal-less streak. He received a pass from Joe Thornton behind the net, took it to Jaroslav Halak’s right, and fired a shot that beat the Blues’ goaltender.
After that, the Blues struck twice to make it a 3-2 games on goals by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Boumeester. Both goals came off of bad defensive turnovers after the Sharks had gained possession of the puck in the defensive zone. That goal by Boumeester came with just 24.2 seconds left in the second stanza and was a big blow the Sharks.
In the third period the Sharks, who have had trouble closing out games all season, got a goal from Martin Havlat at 8:19 of the third period. Very similar to others, he too scored off of a rebound after heading to the net. At that point it was 4-2, and from that point on the Sharks help on to win and it was a good game to break out of their bad funk.
GGS 3 Stars
1. Patrick Marleau (2 assists)
2. Justin Braun (2 assists)
3. Jay Boumeester (1 goal)