Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-2 Saturday, at the SAP Center in San Jose. Blues goals came from Jordan Kyrou (2), Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron and Vince Dunn. Ville Husso made 29 saves for the win. Tomas Hertl and Dylan Gambrell scored for San Jose, and Devan Dubnyk made 16 saves in the loss.
The Sharks were penalized for a face-off violation in the third period, when the game was still tied 2-2. Patrick Marleau was taking the draw and the linesman took issue with the way he did it. Of the call, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:
“It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. I think everybody in the rink, including their team, our team, I think, the other linesman, the refs, I think everybody was shocked. It was a brutal, brutal call. It really in my mind, cost, it turned the whole game around.”
Patrick Marleau, who could not recall being penalized under this rule before, said: “Obviously he thought I cheated or turned too quickly on the draw. So I guess that was the reasoning behind the penalty.”
Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk was also asked about that penalty. He said:
“It’s 2-2 in the middle of the third period and you get a penalty called that I don’t think I’ve ever seen called except for maybe the first year, [in] exhibition season, when they first made the rule. And it’s embarrassing, it’s Mickey Mouse.”
Dylan Gambrell scored for San Jose at 2:33 of the first. The puck came to him high in the slot after Sorensen and Brent Burns chased it down behind the net.
St. Louis tied it up at 3:32 when Vince Dunn scored his fourth of the season. Dunn’s shot from the blue line looked likely to go wide but instead it hit Erik Karlsson’s shin pad and deflected in. Assists went to Jordan Kyrou and Ryan O’Reilly.
Kyrou gave the Blues the lead at 6:45. O’Reilly got control of the puck below the goal line and passed it up to Kyrou. Kyrou put the puck under Dubnyk in in the net. Assists went to O’Reilly and David Perron.
Mike Hoffman put the puck in the net near the 12 minute mark. The goal was called back after the Sharks challenged the play as offside.
At the end of the first period, the Sharks led on the shot clock 11-5. There was just one penalty in the first, to St. Louis. The Sharks had two shots on that power play.
Tomas Hertl tied the game 8:10 in to the second period. Nikolai Knyzhov’s pass from the defensive zone found Timo Meier on the other side of the neutral zone. Meier’s pass found Hertl speeding into the Blue’s zone. There was no one in the way to stop him as he took the shot.
The Sharks took two penalties in the second period and their penalty kill allowed just one shot to the Blues. The Sharks led in shots again, 10-8.
O’Reilly scored just 12 seconds into the power play that resulted from the face-off violation penalty. His shot from the face-off dot found its way through traffic and in. Assists went to Dunn and Perron.
Kyrou scored his second of the game at 15:51. Dubnyk followed the puck across to the right and Torey Krug passed it across the ice. Kyrou, who had just evaded Ryan Donato, tapped the puck in. Assists went to Krug and Perron.
David Perron scored into an empty net at 18:01 to make it 5-2.
The Final shot count was 31-21 Sharks. In the face-off circle, the Sharks showed improvement over recent games, winning 59%. Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl both won 67% of their draws.
The Sharks next play on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, in San Jose at 7:30 PM PT.
