Tarasenko keeps red-hot Blues on a roll
Sharpshooter scores in overtime against Sharks to give St. Louis its sixth-straight win
ST. LOUIS — Vladimir Tarasenko scored his second goal of the game in overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues over the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Tarasenko got a pass from Vladimir Sobotka and tipped in the winner at 2:33. It was Tarasenko’s 31st goal. He has 30 or more in four consecutive seasons.
St. Louis has won a season-best six straight games. San Jose had won eight straight.
Oskar Sundqvist also scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen made 22 saves.
Evander Kane and Joe Pavelski scored for San Jose. Aaron Dell stopped 29 shots.
Kane drew first blood for the Sharks with his 29th goal. Melker Karlsson fed Kane, who put a wrist shot off Allen’s glove at 6:26. Kane has nine goals and five assists in 14 games since he was acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 26.
Brent Burns got the second assist, giving him 50. He became the first Sharks defenceman to record 50 assists in a season.
St. Louis tied it when Sundqvist threw the puck on net and it sneaked in at 17:43. Ivan Barbashev was parked in front of the crease and helped screen Dell, who got a piece of the puck.
It was Sundqvist’s second goal in 65 career games, including 37 with the Blues. Sundqvist’s only other goal came April 2, 2016, when he was with Pittsburgh.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period.
The Sharks took a 2-1 lead on one by Pavelski. Standing beside the net, Pavelski got a pass from Burns and tapped it in for his 20th.
Tarasenko tied it for St. Louis. He got a perfect leading pass from Brayden Schenn in the left circle, then snapped a quick wrist shot in. Tarasenko has five goals and six assists in his last 11 games against San Jose.
The Blues missed a chance to take the lead about two minutes into the third period when Barbashev skated in and had Dell beat but hit the post with his shot.