» COUTURE CARRIES SHARKS TO VICTORY

ST. LOUIS — On a night where the Sharks made a trade to bolster the bottom of their lineup, the top line took care of the heavy lifting.

A few hours after the Sharks (33-19-8) acquired Eric Fehr to plug a hole at fourth line center, the team opened up its four-game road trip on the right note by beating the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, behind a pair of goals from Logan Couture’s line.

The victory extended the Sharks winning streak to three games and allowed them to regain a three-point lead over the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division.

Couture opened the scoring at 6:35 of the second, settling down the rebound of a Mikkel Boedker shot on the doorstep and throwing it into the top shelf with goalie Carter Hutton sprawled out on the ice. Kevin Labanc earned the secondary assist on the goal.

The line struck again after Ivan Barbashev tied the game on a two-on-one play at 8:23 of the middle frame. Donskoi gave the Sharks a 2-1 edge by picking the top-right corner on a three on two after receiving a cross-ice pass from Couture in the left circle. MarcEdouard Vlasic stretched his assists streak to five games on the play.

The goal was Donskoi’s first in 17 games and just his fifth point in the same timeframe.

Boedker continued his redhot play by recording his second point of the night with his 12th goal at 15:54 of the second. The Danish forward extended his goal streak to four games by burying a Chris Tierney feed in front, slipping the puck through Hutton’s five hole on the rush. Jannik Hansen earned his fourth point in six games with the secondary assist.

The Blues (34-22-4) closed the gap to 3-2 in the final minute of the period when Vladimir Tarasenko put home a rebound chance on the power play, but the Sharks closed out the game by shutting the door in the third.

Scott Upshall nearly tied the game late in the third period by hacking past goalie Martin Jones in front, but Brent Burns saved the Sharks bacon, batting the puck off the goal line.

Burns returned to action after leaving the Sharks bench for the final 16:35 of the third period in Sunday’s win over the Dallas Stars.

Jones continued his stellar play in the wake of his return from injury on Jan. 30, making 30 saves on 32 shots.