Nothing has come easy for the San Jose Sharks so far this year. Not even when they build a three-goal lead for the first time all season.
None of that matters, though, when they’re able to come away with a win.
Logan Couture scored a go-ahead goal at the 11:51 mark of the third period as the Sharks earned a wild 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, taking three of a possible four points in the two-game series at Enterprise Center.
Couture also scored in the first period, Evander Kane had a goal and assist and Rudolfs Balcers scored his first goal of the season as the Sharks bounced back from a disastrous second period to pick up their third win this year in regulation time.
Couture’s goal, his team-leading eighth of the season, helped give the Sharks two points the hard way, as they coughed up a pair of three-goal leads in the second period and were tied with the Blues 4-4 after 40 minutes.
“When you score five on the road, you don’t expect to have that much trouble,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “But no one’s going away. Everybody’s pushing hard for points we knew they were going to push.”
Of the 16 games the Sharks (7-7-2) have played so far, 12 have been decided by one or two goals. Their only win by more than one goal this season came Jan. 24, when they beat the Minnesota Wild 5-3 when they scored twice in the final two minutes of the third period.
The Sharks are now 6-1-2 in one-goal games this season.
“(Boughner) came in after the second period and said this is going to be a big character win when we go out and win this game,” Couture said. “Everyone in the room believed that we we’re going to find a way to win. No one got down on each other.”
The Blues scored four times in the second period, including three goals in a 10 minute and 4 second span, as the Sharks gave up two separate three-goal leads.
After Patrick Marleau gave the Sharks a 4-1 lead at the 8:18 mark of the second period, scoring his first of the season and the 563rd of his 23-year NHL career, the Blues answered with even strength goals by Zach Sanford, Ryan O’Reilly and Jordan Kyrou, with Kyrou’s goal coming at the 18:41 mark.
Devan Dubnyk, making his first start since Feb. 6, responded with eight saves in the third period and finished with 28 stops to earn his first win as a Shark.
“We knew (Dubnyk) was going to stand tall for us in net,” Couture said, “and we just had to find a way to get a goal.”
It was the second time this season Dubnyk had been in net for a four-goal Blues outburst in a second period, as it also happened Jan. 18 when he made his first Sharks start.
“I don’t think we needed to change anything.” Dubnyk said. “I mean, we were in full control of the game, guys were skating, working, getting pucks deep. It didn’t look like they could handle it, and it was every line.”
The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the first period as their top line came through with a pair of even strength goals after Blues miscues.
Kane scored after a Blues turnover for his fifth of the season at the 7:24 mark. A Zach Sanford pass went off Kevin Labanc’s skate and right to Kane, who fired it through Binnington’s pads. Just 2:46 later, Kane’s forecheck forced Binnington to make a bad pass from behind his own net. The puck came right to Labanc, who fed Couture in front for a 2-0 Sharks lead.
The Blues came into the game with just 11 available forwards after Sammy Blais landed on the NHL’s COVID-19 list Saturday.
Blais played Thursday in the Blues’ 3-2 overtime win over the Sharks and practiced Friday. Being on the COVID list could mean a number of things, including an initial positive test, isolation for symptomatic individuals or a required quarantine for a high-risk close contact.
The Blues also had several injured players, including forwards Jaden Schwartz (lower body), Ivan Barbashev (ankle), Robert Thomas (thumb) and Tyler Bozak (upper), and defenseman Colton Parayko (undisclosed),
While the timeline for the return of Schwartz and Parayko is unclear, Barbashev is expected to miss at least six weeks. The Sharks and Blues play each other on Feb. 27 and March 8 in San Jose.
The Sharks will not have to return to St. Louis for at least the rest of the regular season, as they’ve already completed half of their road schedule. The team begins a season-long eight-game homestand on Monday against the Minnesota Wild.
Besides Monday’s game and the two games against the Blues, the Sharks also play three games against the Vegas Golden Knights and two against the Colorado Avalanche.
“Some very, very big games coming up against some very good teams, teams that are probably going to finish at the top of our division,” Couture said. “So very important for us. I liked both of our games here in St. Louis.
”When I look back at that first game here (Thursday) when we didn’t get two points, that still stings, but happy with the way that we battled tonight,” Couture said. “Didn’t have a great second, obviously, to give up four goals. But we fought in the third and found a way.”
NOTE: Dylan Gambrell had to leave the game in the second period to enter the NHL’s concussion protocol after he took a hit from Blues forward Kyle Clifford at the 7:40 mark.
“I don’t think (Gambrell) felt himself after it, so, better to be safe than sorry,” Boughner said in his postgame interview. “I just watched the hit before I came in here, and it looked like a pretty clean hit. It was just a play where he got squeezed off and his head hit the glass, so hopefully it’s nothing serious and we can have him back. He is playing great, so I guess we’ll know more tomorrow.”
