SAN JOSE
– A sixth consecutive victory did not come easy for the San Jose
Sharks Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues. Ryan Clowe
finally won it 5-4 for the Sharks when he converted a fourth-round
shoot-out goal to complete a comeback at sold-out HP Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – A sixth consecutive victory did not come easy for the San Jose Sharks Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues. Ryan Clowe finally won it 5-4 for the Sharks when he converted a fourth-round shoot-out goal to complete a comeback at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The Sharks never gained the lead until Clowe’s shoot-out effort solved rookie goaltender Ben Bishop (1-1-0 in three career games) to conclude the contest. San Jose battled back from 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits before forcing overtime. Clowe scored both San Jose goals in the third period.
San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov had to make two game-deciding saves in the shoot-out to keep the Sharks alive for Clowe’s winner.
After Joe Pavelski missed the net in the first round for San Jose, St. Louis center Andy McDonald whipped a shot past Nabokov for a 1-0 edge. When Jeremy Roenick was turned back by Bishop, Brad Boyes had an opportunity to win in for the Blues, only to be forced wide by Nabokov.
Dan Boyle’s patient goal made it 1-1 before Nabokov forced an extra round by sliding across the crease to rob David Perron. When Clowe, who scored twice in regulation, beat the 6-foot-7 Bishop, Nabokov followed with a clinching save against Patrik Berglund.
San Jose will go after a seventh consecutive victory Saturday night against the visiting Dallas Stars. The Sharks are 8-0 at home, 12-2 overall to lead the 30-team NHL with 24 points.
The Blues, losers of three in a row entering the game including a 5-4 setback Wednesday in Anaheim, built a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Penalties by Alexei Semenov and Rob Blake gave St. Louis a 5-on-3 power play. The Blues took a 1-0 lead with four seconds left in that power play when Keith Tkachuk stuffed home a rebound of a Lee Stempniak shot at 5:14.
A bad line change by the Sharks led to Stempniak’s one-timer from the left circle by Nabokov at 6:30.
“Not the start we wanted,” said San Jose coach Todd McLellan. “To crawl back in it is rewarding.”
Joe Thornton drove a point-blank shot past Bishop at the 9:24 mark to cut the Blues lead in half. Patrick Marleau set up the scoring play with a hard forecheck on defenseman Eric Brewer, eventually regaining the puck from linemate Devin Setoguchi and finding Thornton open at the low slot.
Rob Blake netted the only goal of the second period. Blake’s first goal as a Shark, 224 for the career, came on a long blast from the top of the right circle that skidded off Bishop’s glove and into the net at 7:07 while on the power play.
The teams each came up with two goals in the third period. McDonald circled around the Sharks net before drilling a 10-footer inside the right post at 7:56. Clowe tied it at 3-3 at the 9:03 mark when he drove to the net as Blake fired at Bishop, cleaning up the rebound from the right flank.
After Blue center David Backes whacked the puck past Nabokov following a repelled shot from Stempniak at 10:38, the Sharks countered with an equalizer at 18:21 with the teams skating 4-on-4. Clowe collected a long rebound of a Brad Lukowich shot, gained his balance and lined the shot inside the right post before Bishop could get into position.
“Give credit to St. Louis,” added McLellan. “They weren’t going away. That made it hard to come back. There was no panic and that was a good sign for us.”
