Sharks edge slumping Blues, 3-2.
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 traded for Eric Fehr to plug a hole at the fourth line center position, the team opened up its fourgame road trip Tuesday 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 threepoint lead over the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division.
Here’s what we learned from the Sharks’ win in St. Louis:
1. THE SHARKS HAVE THREE LINES THAT HAVE PERFORMED LIKE NO. 1 LINES IN JOE THORNTON’S ABSENCE >> With Thornton and Tomas Hertl sidelined by injuries, the Sharks are without a clear-cut No. 1 line right now. But they’re 3-0 without Hertl because a new line is stepping forward and leading the charge every night.
When the Sharks knocked off the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 15, they received a pair of goals from the Mikkel Boedker, Chris Tierney, Jannik Hansen line. The Timo Meier, Joe Pavelski, Melker Karlsson combination looked like the second coming of the Philadelphia Flyers “legion of doom” line Sunday, scoring two goals in a win over the Dallas Stars.
On Tuesday, the Couture line supplied the offensive production.
“That’s why we’re winning,” Couture said. “Each night a different line has stepped up offensively and scored goals. We’re going to need to continue that if we’re going win more games without (Thornton).”
Couture opened the scoring at 6:35 of the second with his team-leading 24th goal, 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.
The line struck again after Ivan Barbashev tied the score on a two-on-one play at 8:23 of the middle frame. Donskoi gave the Sharks a 2-1 edge by picking the topright corner on a three on two after receiving a crossice pass from Couture in the left circle.
The goal was Donskoi’s first in 17 games and just his fifth point over the same timeframe.
After Couture’s line took care of business, Boedker scored the winning goal at 15:54 of the second, giving the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Boedker extended his goal streak to four games, recording his seventh point in as many nights, by punching a pass from Tierney through goalie Hutton’s five hole on the rush.
Hansen earned his fourth point in six games with the secondary assist.
“We talked, when (Thornton) went down, that our season was going to depend on guys finding another level, and playing to their potential and filling that void,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “Some guys took that to heart and we’ve gotten some great contributions.”
2. MARTIN JONES IS HEALTHY AND IT’S OBVIOUS >> The numbers told the story. Couture just put it into words.
After producing a .930 save percentage in his first 17 appearances, Jones recorded an .886 save percentage in his next 13 starts after returning from a “minor injury” on Dec. 2. The Sharks finally shut Jones down for four games after denying that he was dealing with an injury on Jan. 18.
Now, the truth is obvious. Since his return from injury after the All-Star break, Jones has registered a .933 save percentage in 10 starts.
“He had that injury he was dealing with and he didn’t want to take any time off. But the coaching staff sat him down and told him it’s going to be better in the long run (if he takes a break),” Couture said. “They were right.”
Jones stood tall again Tuesday. After Vladimir Tarasenko made it a 3-2 game with a power play goal in the final minute of the second, Jones shut the door with 13 saves in the third period. He also got some help from defenseman Brent Burns, who scooped a Scottie Upshall shot off the goal line with 4:06 left on the clock.
“He was money tonight,” DeBoer said. “The story of the game was that Jonesy was big at the right times.” 3. THE SHARKS GET WHAT THEY ‘DESERVE’ IN TRADE WITH MAPLE LEAFS >> General manager Doug Wilson took a stab at closing the revolving door at fourth line center Tuesday by trading a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Fehr.
DeBoer coached against Fehr a lot when he was in the Eastern Conference with the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils and he believes the 32-yearold could potentially check off a lot of boxes at fourth line center.
“The guys deserve that,” DeBoer said. “They’ve played hard and put themselves in a spot with 20 games to go to get into the playoffs under some trying circumstances. They deserve what was done today.”