Sharks feed early…
A poor clearing attempt by Binnington is fed by the Sharks from behind the net and a scramble in front with Binnington down trying to find the puck ends up in the back of the net…1 to 0 at 1:21.
Four minutes in Nathan Walker drops the gloves with Ty Delandrea…pretty even shoving match until Walker gets Delandrea’s helmet off and he lands several rights. Walker looking to get the team going!
Ten minutes in, and the Sharks have the edge in play…10 shots to three. And then, on their 4th shot, Jake Neighbours, with a toe drag inside the left circle, rips one top shelf for his 10th of the season. Assists Ryan Suter and Colton Parayko. We are tied at one at 10:26.
Blues shorthanded with 3:20 left in the 1st period. One shot allowed…a good kill and led to a Blues powerplay with 33 seconds left.
The period ends tied at 1…Sharks with 14 shots to four, for the Blues.
Sharks ambush the Blues in the 2nd period
Blues finish their powerplay at the beginning of the 2nd period and can muster only one shot.
San Jose takes the lead just over 5 minutes into the period. Macklin Celebrini passes off a sliding Colton Parayko, gets the bounce, and pops one behind Binnington who was out of position playing for the pass. 2 to 1 Sharks.
Blues back to the powerplay 8:27 in…no blood on one shot.
Sharks get a powerplay after a pile-up in the corner giving Dylan Holloway 4 minutes and Klim Kostin 2 minutes that should have been evened up. Celebrini with a slick wrister from the faceoff dot over Binnington’s shoulder…a backbreaker in the final 7 seconds of the 2nd period. 3 to 1…Sharks outshot the Blues through 2 periods 25 to 12.
Sharks continue to feed...
Brayden Schenn gets the Blues back to within a goal with 14:26 left, taking a rebound and burying it for his 5th of the season. Neighbours and Zack Bolduc with the assists.
Sharks come right back on a 2 on 1 and shoots it into an open net 27 seconds after Schenn’s goal and we are back to a 2 goal lead for the Sharks. Ex-Blue Jake Walman with the goal.
And again, it’s a one-goal game when Jordan Kyrou takes a drop pass from Pavel Buchnevich after a corner feed from Robert Thomas…Kyrou snaps it home behind Georgiev, his 11th goal…4 to 3…12 minutes left in the period.
5 Minutes!!!
Binnington to the bench with a minute left…Blues put the pressure on…unable to get the tying goal…4 to 3 the final.
Notes: Sharks 31 shots to 20 for the Blues…hits 32 to 31 for the Sharks…Celebrini the difference in the game with 2 goals and an assist...Holloway's point streak ends...Blues are 5-7-1 at home...