San Jose Sharks Top St. Louis Blues 4-2
By Felix Chow
Season Series Sweep
Dec 17, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Derek Roy (12) pressures San Jose Sharks left wing James Sheppard (15) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Sharks defeat the Blues 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Whether it’s taking revenge for the first round exit against the St. Louis Blues in the 2012 playoffs, another “win for Boyle” since the ugly Lapierre hit, or just bouncing back from the previous loss to the Nashville Predators, the San Jose Sharks swept the season series 4-2 against a very formidable opponent. The Sharks opened the scoring in the first period with two goals, one by Joe Pavelski (Assists: Martin Havlat and Matt Irwin) and the other by Irwin (Assists: Justin Braun and Patrick Marleau). Brent Burns (Assists: Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl) and Martin Havlat (Assists: Marleau and Braun) had the other two goals later in the game.
Odd-Bounce Advantage
While the Blues looked like they were still trying to reset and refresh from their previous loss to the Ottawa Senators in OT at Scotiabank place, San Jose took advantage of the opportunity. Both goals in the opening stanza were from odd bounces off the back boards, but they’ll take ’em anyway they can. So long as they forechecked hard, got pucks to the net, and skated hard to the net, they had scoring chances and they converted.
A Lead Not Lost
If it weren’t for Burns’ goal two minutes into the second, the score might really have been tied, which is the last thing Sharks fans want to see. It seemed the 3rd Shark goal was finally the wake-up call that the Blues needed to get back in, as Kevin Shattenkirk (Assist: Ian Cole) cut the lead to two at 15:31 and 4:04 after, former Calgary Flame Jay Bouwmeester (Assists: Alex Pietrangelo and Alexander Steen) closed the gap within one. Bottom line: San Jose got caught sleeping a bit.
Next Game vs. Los Angeles Kings
Ah, the old Pacific Division rivalry has met up again… er, I mean will meet up again at 7:30 PM at Staples Center. The Sharks, a team that is trying to play a consistently full-60 minute tilt, will have another shot at getting their first win in a while on the Kings’ home turf. Is this a critical game for a team with Cup aspirations? Absolutely.