Devin Cooley gets his first NHL win as a William Eklund hat trick leads Sharks past Blues

It was a historic night in San Jose. For the first time ever, a junior San Jose Shark has won a game for the big club. Devin Cooley got his first career NHL win, William Eklund got his first career NHL hat trick, and the Sharks got to smile as they swept the season series against the St. Louis Blues with an overtime win at the Shark Tank. Probably the final nail in the coffin for the Blues' playoff aspirations, the Sharks have some reasons to smile tonight.

San Jose's start to this game could have been better. They started cold, and it got worse towards the end of the first. Calen Addison was called for a cross-check, but that was not a cross-check, so the young defenseman voiced his displeasure at the call. However, he seemingly hit the magic word to get on the officials' nerves as he was given another two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and awarded a game misconduct. San Jose would kill it off, so no harm, no foul.

In the second, a big hit from Luke Kunin on Jake Neighbours would draw Justin Faulk into the fight against the Sharks winger, but he was called for an instigator penalty, so the Sharks went to the powerplay. William Eklund would be the one to make the Blues pay for that as he grabbed his seventh powerplay goal of the season, and the Sharks were leading against an opponent they just seemed to know how to beat.

Another powerplay was given to the Sharks when Nathan Walker was called for interference on Jack Studnicka. San Jose's powerplay went to work, demanding a lot of Joel Hofer in the Blues net, who needed to be incredible to keep the Blues in this. Eventually, a shot from Thomas Bordeleau was knocked down by Hofer. Fabian Zetterlund swung at the bouncing puck, but Eklund again put the biscuit home for his second powerplay goal.

St Louis would get on the board in the third on a powerplay by Jack Studnicka. Jordan Kyrou would be given way too much time on the puck while Brayden Schenn crossed the eyes of Devin Cooley, making it difficult for the netminder to track it. The puck finds the top corner, and Cooley's shutout bid is snapped early in the third period. Now, the job was to hold on for the Sharks.

With 2:30 left, St Louis would tie the game up. A beautiful pass from behind the net by Robert Thomas after a puck was dumped in let Schenn all alone to fire the puck home when Sturm couldn't tie him up, and Mario Ferraro was too slow to react. Devin Cooley had no chance, and once again, he's robbed late from his first career win on home ice. It was heartbreaking, but the Sharks had gone toe-to-toe with the Blues; they couldn't falter now as we were headed to overtime.

In overtime, we got a decisive goal. As the Sharks rush up the ice quickly, San Jose creates a two-on-one with William Eklund carrying the puck. With the Swede red hot, he was always going to pull the trigger, and he hit the top corner of the net as the Sharks sweep the season series. In better news, Devin Cooley, the junior Shark, got his first career NHL win on the back of Eklund completing his hat trick. A feel-good moment the organization needed.