Rare call burns Sharks in loss
Ryan O’Reilly scores a go-ahead power-play goal after Sharks,Marleau are called for a faceoff violation
The Blues took advantage just 12 seconds later. Ryan O’Reilly’s powerplay goal at the 4:22 mark proved to the winner as the Sharks were saddled with a 5-2 loss, their fourth straight defeat.
Part of 76.6 in the NHL rule book states the following: “When at least two face-off violations have been committed by the same team during the same faceoff, this team shall be penalized with a bench minor penalty to the offending team. This penalty shall be announced as a “Bench Minor Penalty for Delay of Game — Face-off Violation.”
The Blues took advantage just 12 seconds later. Ryan O’Reilly’s powerplay goal at the 4:22 mark proved to the winner as the Sharks were saddled with a 5-2 loss, their fourth straight defeat.
Part of 76.6 in the NHL rule book states the following: “When at least two face-off violations have been committed by the same team during the same faceoff, this team shall be penalized with a bench minor penalty to the offending team. This penalty shall be announced as a “Bench Minor Penalty for Delay of Game — Face-off Violation.”
Jordan Kyrou and David Perron also scored in the third period for St. Louis, breaking a string of seven straight games this season between the Sharks and Blues being decided by one goal.
After allowing two goals on five shots in the first period, Dubnyk stopped all eight shots he faced in the second period and finished with16saves.
Tomas Hertl scored his eighth goal of the season at the 8:10 mark of the second period. Nikolai Knyzhov started a breakout with a long pass to Timo Meier, who found a streaking Hertl for a breakaway, and Hertl beat Blues goalie Ville Husso high to the glove side.
The Sharks held the Blues to five shots on goal in the first period but trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Gambrell scored his second goal of the season at the 2:23 mark of the first period, firing a shot high glove side past Husso, who was without his stick. Brent Burns had a point-blank chance stopped by Husso seconds earlier.
The Blues responded 69
seconds later, as a shot by Vince Dunn deflected off Logan Couture’s stick and off Erik Karlsson’s leg and past Dubnyk. Then at the 6:45 mark, Jordan Kyrou took advantage of a Sharks defensive breakdown, getting open in front of Dubnyk before he one-timed a pass from Ryan O’Reilly past Dubnyk for a 2-1 Blues lead.
Mike Hoffman beat Dubnyk with a shot from a sharp angle with 7:52 left in the second period, but the Sharks challenged the play and after an official review, it was ruled offside.
Matt Nieto missed Saturday’s game with a lowerbody injury he incurred in Friday’s game, a 2-1 Sharks loss in a shootout. He is considered day-to-day. The Sharks were also without
Kurtis Gabriel and Rudolfs Balcers on Saturday.
In their place, Sharks coach Bob Boughner played Antti Suomela and Fredrik Handemark. It was Suomela’s first NHL game since March 11, 2020, the last day of the Sharks’ 20192020 season.
The Blues announced Saturday that Oskar Sundqvist suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and is out for the season. Sundqvist, 26, was injured in Friday’s game, as teammate Kyle Clifford’s knee accidentally collided with the back of Sundqvist’s leg.
The Blues were also without Zach Sanford, who is on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list, and Tyler Bozak, who was scratched with an upper-body injury.