Blues Lose In Overtime Against Sharks

The St. Louis Blues (21-9-3) lost to the San Jose Sharks (19-11-4) 3-2 in overtime tonight in San Jose, California.  The Blues arrived in San Jose following a disappointing loss the the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday which ended their five game streak.  The Sharks came to the game with a four game streak after defeating the Oilers on Thursday.  Brian Elliot, Carl Gunnarsson and Jaden Schwartz remained out of the action.  Alexander Steen replaced Schwartz on the STL line as opposed to Steve Ott who held the position in the two games against the Kings.  Jake Allen got a start in the net.

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GAME RECAP

The teams took turns on the offensive during the early minutes of the game.  After twelve minutes of mostly uneventful play, the Blues led the Sharks in shots 4-0.  The first penalty came at 13:31 when the Blues were called for too many men.  The Blues killed the penalty without giving the Sharks much of a scoring chance.  The period ended with the Blues leading the Sharks in shots 8-2 with great chances by David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Sharks put up more of an effort at the start of the second period.  The Sharks closed the shot gap to 9-8 by 5:47, when Jori Lehtera was called for high-sticking.  The Blues killed the penalty but allowed the Sharks to overtake them in shots 14-10.  At 10:47 Andrew Desjardins scored to put the sharks up 1-0.  Then at 14:29 Patrik Berglund found a rebound and scored to tie the game at one.  Dmitrij Jaskin and Alex Pietrangelo earned assists.  At 17:21 Steve Ott scored on a breakaway to put the Blues up 2-1.  Maxim Lapierre and Ian Cole received assists.  The Blues ended the period with the lead.

The third period was a lot of the same action.  The Sharks continued to play strong but slowed their shot production although they still held the lead in shots on goal.  San Jose put up their strongest offensive in the last five minutes of the period.  With a minute left the Sharks pulled their goalie.  Then with 20.6 seconds left, Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored to tie the game at two and send play into overtime.

The Blues had a difficult time getting a shot in overtime and allowed the Sharks a dangerous break after three and a half minutes.  With 1:03 left Alexander Steen was called for tripping.  With 37.5 left Brent Burns scored from high in the slot to close the game 3-2 and give the Sharks the win.

HOW THEY PLAYED

The first period of the game was uneventful.  If you judge by shots on goal, then the Blues certainly played a better period.  Still some of their passing and handling wasn’t as controlled as it had been in the past.  Coach Hitchcock adjusted some of the lines tonight and as it was in their slump a month ago, the Blues don’t play a strong first period when their lines are shuffled.

Patrik Berglund and Steve Ott were the unlikely heroes of the second period with the first two goals.  Lately, Berglund has made a lot more plays, put a lot more shots on goal and tonight made the right shot in the right place at the right time.  He’s now increasing his value by being useful in more places than inside the circle.

Ott has had a stellar trajectory this season.  His fourth line that you can’t call a fourth line with Ryan Reaves and Maxim Lapierre have been mostly untouched and have generated a steady steam of points.  Ott was put on the powerhouse STL line after Jaden Schwartz’s injury and tonight earned some time on the first line for parts of the third  period after scoring his first goal as a Blue in the second period.  Ott has stepped up to be the fail-safe player the Blues have needed in the event the STL line goes cold.  Despite the outcome of the game, Ott gets my vote for the Blues’ player of the game.

With the exception of Steen’s tripping penalty in overtime, the Blues did a great job fixing their problem with taking too many penalties.  They played a disciplined game and a clean second period.  Penalties have cost the Blues a lot of even strength minutes and allowed their opponents goals.  The lack of penalties taken by both teams kept the score a lot lower than Blues’ games from the past weeks.

The Blues lost tonight’s game mainly due to a lack of offensive pressure in the second and third periods.  This has become expected from them recently.  Unfortunately their lead in the first period wasn’t strong enough for them to score enough to make up for their predictable tapering performance in the rest of the game.  The Blues’ opponents make adjustments after the first period.  The Blues should follow suit.

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