Mackenzie Blackwood shuts out the St Louis Blues to give the San Jose Sharks rare win
By Conor Power
We've waited a long time for a win from this Sharks roster. Finally, it comes via a shutout from Mackenzie Blackwood who continues his individual success on the year. He's been by far the brightest Shark, and it's always good to see him proving his doubters in New Jersey wrong. He shut out the St Louis Blues and the Sharks get to add another win to the standings in a rough season for the organizations.
It started when the Blues turned the puck over in their own zone. Unable to deal with the pressure from the Sharks, Zack Bolduc threw the puck into the slot for Filip Zadina. Zadina just sniped it hme to stay hot after the all-star break, and the Czech winger gave the Sharks the lead at the halfway point of this game. It was a great shot from the former sixth overall pick, and San Jose lead.
Before the end of the second, the Sharks would strike again. William Eklund would kickstart the Sharks counterattack by finding Mikael Granlund flying up the ice. Granlund would play catch with Fabian Zetterlund and the shot from Zetterlund would bounce high into the sky. Granlund was the fastest to the rebound at the side of the net, and the Sharks doubled their lead with nine minutes to go in the second.
San Jose would tally again with less than two minutes to go in the second. Another bad turnover from the Blues unable to deal with a puck dumped in from Calen Addison. It hit a stantion along the glass as Joel Hofer had gone behind the net to try to play it, but Luke Kunin found his way onto it and sniped it to put the Sharks in a dominant position.
The dagger would come when the Blues pulled Hofer to try and get into it, but Jan Rutta hit the yawning cage from his own zone with the 19th shot of the game for the Sharks, and San Jose was going to pick up its first win in 10 games on the back of a 35 save shutout from Mackenzie Blackwood. A great game from the netminder got the Sharks two points, and because of the Blackhawks win, the Sharks don't gain ground in the Celebrini sweepstakes.