Blues get even with 2-1 win over Sharks

ST. LOUIS — The Blues got even in the Western Conference final with a nail-biting 21 win over San Jose in Game 4 on Friday night at Enterprise Center.

The Blues came out strongly in the first period of Game 4, scoring a goal just 35 seconds in and then adding a power-play goal late in the first period.

The second period was a matter of survival for the Blues, as the Sharks had the puck for long stretches of time. On one shift late in the period, the Blues line of Tyler Bozak, Robert Thomas and Pat Maroon were caught on the ice for well over a minute and couldn’t get off as the Sharks continued to cycle the puck through the zone. Finally, after an icing call, Bozak won a faceoff and flipped the puck out of the zone, allowing the players to get a breather.

In the second period, the Blues were outshot 11-8. It looked at one point like the Sharks would get a power play after Brayden Schenn skated in to shove Marc-Edouard Vlasic after he took a swipe at Jordan Binnington’s glove as he covered a puck. Schenn was sent to the penalty box, but after the referees conferred, Vlasic was also sent off to keep the game even at 4 on 4. The Sharks, however dominated that stretch, having the puck in the Blues zone almost the entire two minutes, but no one scored.

San Jose got a goal to tighten matters up on a power play with 13:13 to go in the third. The Blues had had a power after Pat Maroon was high sticked, but midway through the power play, Alex Pietrangelo was called for interference and after a brief 4 on 4, San Jose sent on the power play. Just 13 seconds into the man advantage, Brent Burns took a shot from the left point that Binnington slowed but didn’t stop. Tomas Hertl reached in to poke in the loose puck. It was the first goal of the series for Hertl, who had nine in the first two rounds.