The San Jose Sharks rolled back into first place in the Pacific
Division Thursday with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at HP
Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks rolled back into first place in the Pacific Division Thursday with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at HP Pavilion.
Jonathan Cheechoo scored two power play goals in the third period to spark the Sharks to a second consecutive home win. The Sharks improved to 61 points in 49 games. Dallas, a 2-1 loser to Buffalo, also has 61 points but has accomplished that in 53 games. The Anaheim Ducks have 60 points in 53 games.
The Blues brought a six-game losing streak into the game, settling into 12th place in the Western Conference. St. Louis suffered a 3-2 shoot-out setback Wednesday night in Vancouver.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead into the third period before gaining some breathing room off consecutive tallies by Cheechoo and Steve Bernier.
Cheechoo was open at the left post to turn Milan Michalek’s easy pass into a power play goal at the 3:19 mark. Joe Thornton assisted on the play by finding Michalek open near the right post with a long pass from the right boards.
Bernier made it 3-0 when he one-timed a shot from the high slot off a Patrick Marleau pass into the low left corner of the net at 8:05. Craig Rivet also earned an assist.
Brad Boyes, the former Shark, netted his team-leading 29th goal of the season on a Blues power play 10:45 into the third period. The scoring play took only 10 seconds of power play time, turning back Evgeni Nabokov’s attempt at a 40th career shut-out.
Cheechoo went to the top of the Blues crease and jammed home a soft rebound of a Joe Thornton shot from the right flank, making it 4-1 at 15:07 on another San Jose man-advantage situation.
After collecting just three shots in a scoreless first period, San Jose came up with 13 in the second period, including Michalek’s team-leading 17th goal.
Thornton sifted a cross-ice pass past defenseman Barret Jackman to a streaking Michalek at the Blues’ blueline to begin a 2-on 1 scoring play. Michalek controlled the puck to within 10 feet of the crease, then first whiffed a shot before cuffing the puck just over the shoulder of goalie Manny Legace for the 1-0 advantage at the 6:57 mark.
Thornton entered play 11th among NHL scorers and second in assists. Vincent Lecavalier, atop the scoring chase with 66 points, was held without a point in an 8-4 loss to Ottawa Thursday. Thornton’s three assists left him within six points of the leader. Thornton paces the NHL lead with 45 helpers..
The game drew 17,142, only 354 short of a sell-out. The Sharks have managed 19 sell-outs in the first 26 home dates.
The Sharks are off for four days because of All-Star Weekend. The Sharks return to the ice Tuesday to begin a brief two-game series in Canada. San Jose faces the Edmonton Oilers, cellar-dwellers in the Northwest Division, Tuesday, then Calgary Wednesday. The Sharks begin a six-game homestand Saturday Feb. 2 at 2pm against the Chicago Blackhawks.
