Mathematically still alive for the playoffs, those hopes continuing to plummet; Kyrou, Schenn third-period goals not enough to rally Blues against Sharks, who inexplicably swept season series winning all three games against St. Louis
It was another microcosm moment for the St. Louis Blues in their 3-2 overtime loss against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.
The Blues (40-32-5) have once again proven that they can compete, even beat, the best teams around the NHL, and even when they don't win, like Thursday's 6-3 loss against the Nashville Predators, they show the ability to play well in areas. And on the flip side, they once again solidified the proof that they can't perform again the bottom feeders of the league.
The San Jose Sharks, all 18 wins of them (18-50-8) own three wins against the Blues this season. They haven't beaten anyone else more than once.
Saturday's loss marks the eighth time (eighth!) that the Blues have dropped points against four of the five bottom teams as far as points percentage in the league. The Anaheim Ducks, Sunday's opponent by the way, are the only ones not to have picked up points against the Blues, who are 4-7-1 against the Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes.
That simply isn't good enough.
On Saturday, just like Thursday in Nashville, the special teams were brutally bad, and just like last Saturday's embarrassing 4-0 loss against the Sharks on home ice, it was the second period that undid the Blues after they dominate play in the first period but can't solve a goaltender.
Last week, it was Mackenzie Blackwood; Saturday, it was Devin Cooley, making just his third NHL start with a robust 4.62 goals-against average and .852 save percentage his first two starts.
Just like Thursday, the power play was 1-for-6 and had opportunities early in the game to seize control. And the penalty kill, just like Thursday, failed in the second period allowing two power-play markers to William Eklund, who by the way also ended the game with his first NHL hat trick.
The Blues played the game with all of their young players, electing to sit veterans Torey Krug, Kevin Hayes, who missed his first game of the season, and Sammy Blais in favor of Zach Dean, Nikita Alexandrov and Scott Perunovich along with Zack Bolduc Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker.
Let's get into the key points of the game:
* Toropchenko trying to set early example -- Even with the Blues' playoff hopes sliding into the black hole, Alexey Toropchenko plays each and every shift with a purpose.
The forward strips a puck in the neutral zone and creates a 2-on-1, keeps the puck but is denied twice by Cooley in the opening minute of the game.
It was Toropchenko's way of telling his teammates it was go time.
* Blanks on three power plays -- The Sharks couldn't seem to stay out of the penalty box in the first period, but the Blues kept giving them a free Get Out of Jail card every time.
Old friend Klim Kostin boarded Tucker at 11:14; Fabian Zetterlund hooked Brandon Saad at 17:20, and Calen Addison was sent to the showers when the defenseman was called for cross checking, then picked up another minor for unsportsmanlike conduct voicing his displeasure with the call, but it was bad enough to warrant a 10-minute misconduct and a game-misconduct at 19:39. So the Blues, who outshot the Sharks 14-5 in the first period, would get 3:31 of clean-sheet ice to begin the second period with a chance to grab some control.
* Wasting chance for momentum -- The Blues would have shots but spent most of the man advantage on the perimeters, and when they would get some looks on the interior, they'd either pass up shots or fumbled pucks, mismanaging them and early in the second period, they're already 0-for-4. Not a recipe for success.
* Momentum shifts -- The Sharks fed off their penalty kill, and why wouldn't they?
The Blues were obviously frustrated with not getting much in the way of chances against Cooley and the Sharks, who spent much of the first period-plus in their own zone, but Tucker took the game's first penalty by the visitors, a slashing minor getting beat to the net, at 5:29.
It took a terrific Joel Hofer save on Thomas Bordeleau at 6:23 to keep it a scoreless game.
* Local boy turns tides -- Luke Kunin, a Chesterfield native, changed the complexion all in one play, a hit on Jake Neighbours along the benches that sent Neighbours flying backwards, his head snapping back off the top of the bench at 13:47, and Justin Faulk didn't like it one bit -- albeit it was a clean check.
Problem was Faulk and Kunin each were assessed fighting majors, but Faulk was also given an instigator minor and 10-minute misconduct.
An even bigger issue was apparently Faulk was injured in the fight and did not return with an upper-body injury, and Neighbours also did not return because of an apparent head injury.
And Eklund made the Blues pay when he scored on a one-timer from the right circle at 14:42 to make it 1-0 Sharks.
* PK woes continue -- With Nathan Walker now in the box for interference at 15:07, Eklund struck again to make it 2-0 at 16:59 when the 2022 first-round pick was around the net and banged home a loose puck after the Sharks put it into the crease area and converged bodies around Hofer.
So the Blues once again trailed and were chasing the game against this team that for whatever reason, continued to give them fits this season.
* Parayko punches -- Something nobody expected but it certainly caught the attention of the Blues was Colton Parayko dropping the gloves with Kostin just nine seconds into the third period.
Someone had to ignite some sort of fire, and ultimately it worked because after Jack Studnicka was whistled for hooking at 2:13, Kyrou finally put a dent behind Cooley and cut the Sharks lead to 2-1 at 3:21 on a shot from the high slot with Schenn providing the traffic.
The problem with gaining some momentum there was the Blues had a couple undisciplined moments that took time off the clock when Robert Thomas was called for hooking at 9:27 and Hofer was called for tripping (it was a bad call) at 13:35, but the penalty kill did its job.
* Schenn ties it late -- The old goalie pull worked out this time for the Blues when Schenn tied it 2-2 at 17:30 when Thomas won a face-off, the puck at the left point to Scott Perunovich, who rounds it off the wall to the back of the net, where Thomas blind backhands one to the slot for Schenn to one-time home.
The Blues pressed for the winner and had ample opportunities but got the game to overtime with a 33-24 shots edge.
* Game was there for the taking -- Things played out exactly how the Blues wanted.
They had momentum from two third-period goals and were given another opportunity on the power play. This time, with Mikael Granlund going to the box for hooking Pavel Buchnevich 46 seconds in.
The Blues would get a 4-on-3 to win it, and two things came to mind: would they dare pull Hofer to make it a 5-on-3 knowing they needed to maximize getting two points, which they didn't, and who would they utilize in that situation?
They elected to go with four forwards (Thomas, Kyrou, Schenn and Buchnevich) and it was a disaster.
Thomas lost three draws in the offensive zone that allowed San Jose to get three clears, and there wasn't much of anything at the net to create any kind of havoc.
* Eklund wins it -- Not long after the Blues blew their chance, Eklund darted up the left wing past Schenn and wired a wrister just inside the left circle to win it for San Jose, which outscored St. Louis 12-3 in sweeping the three games and leaving the Blues hanging by a thread in the wild card.
