Sturm scores two straight in 4-3 loss to St. Louis Blues
SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks came away with one point Thursday night at HP Pavilion, wiping out a 3-0 deficit in the third period before St. Louis Blues center Petr Cajanek scored with 14.8 seconds left in overtime to secure the 4-3 win in front of 14,459 fans.
The Blues, topping the Central Division with 21 points in just 14 games, appeared on the way to a easy decision over the Sharks when Dallas Drake and Mike Danton scored in the third period for a 3-0 cushion.
Sparked by Marco Sturm’s franchise record two goals within a 20-second span, San Jose countered with three goals in a 45-second onslaught.
Sturm made it 3-1 with 9:30 gone in the third when Brad Stuart’s slapshot from the right point careened off Sturm and past Blues goalie Chris Osgood during a 5-on-3 San Jose power play.
The same quintet was on the ice 20 seconds later for the Sharks with the man advantage. Sturm controlled the puck in the high slot, then wristed a shot inside the left post as teammate Vincent Damphousse screened Osgood.
The Blues took a time-out after Sturm’s sixth goal of the year. Coach Ron Wilson took the 30-second pause to call on his troops to “pour it on them.”
San Jose needed 25 seconds after the time-out to draw even. Kyle McLaren stopped a Blues attempt to clear the zone, then whipped a shot toward the net that Mike Ricci ticked as the puck dropped inside the left post at 10:15.
“We had numerous chances to finish it off,” said Wilson. “The momentum was in our favor. Their goalie made a couple of great saves.”
A Stuart drop-pass with 22 seconds left in the overtime led to a Pavol Demitra head-man pass to Cajanek for the rush along the left boards before the Blue chipped the puck over a prone Evgeni Nabokov.
“I hope Stuey learns from that,” said Wilson. “It’s a cardinal rule that you don’t drop-pass on a rush.”
The point earned by the Sharks left the team 11th in the Western Conference, two points out of a tie for eighth place. San Jose hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday, the New Your Rangers Tuesday to complete the four-game homestand.
“I thought we battled hard and got a point out of it,” said McLaren. “It was unfortunate we couldn’t bury our chances in overtime. It’s time for us to start winning at home.” The Sharks are 0-3-3-1 at HP Pavilion.
St. Louis turned a 50-foot shot from Murray Baron 12:03 into the first period into a 1-0 lead. The Blues appeared to go up 2-0 6:20 into the second period on a put-back goal by Eric Nickulas. A review by the video-goal judge ruled that the net had been off its position during the goal, a result of defenseman Scott Hannan bumping into the net setting up to protect the far post.
Blues winger Keith Tkachuk was given a five-minor major for cross-checking and a game misconduct for his action against Rob Davison 10:03 into the second. San Jose could not take advantage of that extended power play.
“It was a good point for us because we were down,” said Sturm. “The key to the goals was good traffic at the net. In the first period, we had some shots but no one screening. The second period was getting better, and it paid off later.”
