SECOND-PERIOD BLUES COSTLY
Sharks doomed by sloppy play in period in which St. Louis scores four
Logan Couture and Brent Burns both had three points Monday night but the San Jose Sharks couldn’t slow down Justin Faulk, Jordan Kyrou and the St. Louis Blues.
Faulk scored twice in the second period and Kyrou had the game-winner with 9:32 left in the third as the Blues handed the Sharks a 5-4 loss at Enterprise Center.
Goalie Devan Dubnyk finished with 27 saves in his first Sharks start, but the Blues scored four times in the second period to hand San Jose its second loss in three games.
The Sharks and Blues play again Wednesday night.
The Sharks trailed 4-3 entering the third period as the Blues scored four even strength goals in under 17 minutes in the second. Couture tied the game at the 4:17 mark of the third period for his second goal of the game.
Justin Faulk and Mike Hoffman scored just 1:35 apart as the Blues tied the game 2-2 by the 4:09 mark of the second period. Burns scored a power play goal with 7:54 left in the second period, but St. Louis answered with two goals in the final 5:43 to
take the lead.
Brayden Schenn tied the game at the 14:17 mark of the second period, as he was credited with a goal after a scramble in front of the Sharks net.
Kyrou helped set up the goal, as he streaked into the Sharks’ zone and around Erik Karlsson before he closed in on Dubnyk, who poked check the puck away. The rebound came to Schenn, whose shot on goal was first stopped before it was knocked into the net.
Faulk gave the Blues the lead at the 19:00 mark of the second, as he redirected a pass from David Perron past Dubnyk.
Dubnyk, making his first start since March of last season, faced 24 shots in the first two periods, 23 of which came at even strength.
The Sharks had a 2-0 lead after the first period.
Labanc scored his first of the season at the 11:38 mark of the opening period, redirecting a shot from Burns from inside the blue line past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington for a 1-0 Sharks lead.
Just 2:40 later, the Sharks scored their fourth power play goal of the season. Tomas Hertl took a pass from Burns and had the puck below the faceoff circle to Binnington’s right before he
found an open Couture with a pass across the slot. Cou- ture buried into a mostly open net, scoring his first regular season power play goal since March 18, 2019.
The Blues were smoked 8-0 by the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, allowing five power play goals in the process. Monday’s game was their first since that night, and the Sharks knew they would face a more determined Blues team.
“They’re going to try and push the pace right away,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “Obviously, they didn’t have the greatest result last game and so we know what they can do. We know that they’re a very solid team. They’re big a team and a good forechecking team.
“That being said, we can expect them to come out hard, and we just have to have a better push back.” SIMcK KAaK >> The Sharks got a key piece of their defense corps back Monday night as Radim Simek made his season debut after he was activated off of injured reserve.
Simek, who missed the Sharks’ first two games with the Arizona Coyotes with discomfort in his right knee, started Monday’s game on the Sharks’ third defense pair with Nikolai Knyzhov.
Two weeks ago, Simek said he was having pain in his surgically repaired knee, raising questions about whether he would be available to start the season. He was kept off the ice for a few days in training camp, but started to skate again Jan. 10 and has been slowly brought along.
Simek’s presence added some experience and a greater physical dimension to the Sharks’ blue line. He’ll also likely take a little bit off the plate of San Jose’s top two defense pairs, which had to log more minutes than usual Thursday and Saturday against the Coyotes.
As of Monday morning, Erik Karlsson led the NHL in average time on ice with 29 minutes and 41 seconds. Brent Burns was fifth with 27:08.
Playing mainly with Burns, Simek, when healthy, has averaged over 16 minutes of ice time in his first two seasons with the
Sharks. San Jose came into Monday with a 53-29-7 record when Simek has been in the lineup.
The Sharks certainly hope Simek and Knyzhov can develop some chemistry together on the third pair after Jake Middleton and Nicolas Meloche both got one-game looks in that role. Middleton was a healthy scratch Monday and Meloche was added to the taxi squad.
“It’s huge. (Simek) is a big part of this team,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said Monday morning of Simek’s return. “He provides a lot of support back there on the (defensive) end, and makes us as a group feel a lot more confident, and I’m sure our goaltenders are going to appreciate him being back there as well.”
NiL bcKUT >> Center Fredrik Handemark, who signed a one-year deal with the Sharks in May, made his NHL debut Monday night, starting the game on the fourth line with Patrick Marleau and Marcus Sorensen on the wings.
Handemark, who started the season on the taxi squad, became the third Sharks player to make his NHL debut so far this season. Meloche and John Leonard’s first game in the league came in Thursday’s opener.
Besides being 6-foot-4 and around 210 pounds, Handemark also comes with a reputation of being a faceoff specialist.