Sharks Win! Blackwood Shuts Out Blues 4-0

The San Jose Sharks visit Enterprise Center to take on the St. Louis Blues.

Filip Zadina and Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored, and the Sharks snapped a nine-game losing streak.

Period 1

5 in: Don’t like that attempted Thrun exit through two Blues. Not an optimal read, though granted, Blues F2 came late. Thrun didn’t walk into traffic open-eyed.

Wonder how these Blues would’ve looked with Timo Meier.  They were rumored to be interested last year. They seem on the cusp, could’ve used a player like Meier. Sounds like they didn’t want to pony up for Meier though.

7 in: More San Jose Sharks’ puck-watching. Parayko creeps down the slot, nobody marks him. Looks like Bordeleau saw him, but overcommitted on trying to stop the pass from the corner. Pass connects to Parayko and he walks in. Not good.

8 in: Good Bailey backcheck on rush, but not sure if that was his man. Looked like he was covering for someone. Sharks giving up a lot in first period like last game.

8 left: Blackwood stops another Blues rush. He’s been terrific. Sharks mailing it in once again in the first period.

5 left: Soft Thrun exit pass off the wall to Labanc for easy exit. Like.

As Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 37 today — Happy Birthday! — notes, feels like Blues entering zone with ease. Feels like though? Per SPORTLOGiQ, Blues having 50 percent entry success versus 67 percent for the Sharks. But! Stephen A. Smith style. St. Louis have 24 attempted entries, San Jose just six. So Vlasic’s feeling is bang-on.

Blues 7-0 Slot Shots, 4-0 High-Danger.

Period 2

Like last game, San Jose Sharks have a little more of a spark coming out of the period.

Kostin penalty: Immature penalty, I think. While Kostin was being hooked, a stick swing like that is going to be noticed.

5 in: Zetterlund hustle leads to set-up of Granlund in slot and a Zetterlund deflection chance in-tight.

6 in: Good Addison lead pass to Sturm, well-timed, as Sturm building speed, gives the exploding Sturm a good chance.

Pretty backhand NZ pass from Zetterlund to Bordeleau, easy entry.

Zadina goal: Steals it off rookie Bolduc on FC. Fakes a pass to Sturm. His first goal in nine games, great individual effort.

Thrun-Labanc-Hoffman-Zadina-Kunin get PP2 time.

Granlund goal: Beaut Eklund exit to Zetterlund. Great job by Granlund to hang around net, veteran smarts?

5⃣0⃣ – With his 12th goal Mikael #Granlund records 50 points this year, the 4th time in his career.#NHLStats #HockeyTwitter #SJSharks #SJSvsSTL

— SHARKS FACTS & STATS (@SjSharksFACTS) March 31, 2024

Blues timeout!

Per David Quinn, Sharks assistant Scott Gordon said today the "good news is we've pissed two coaches off here in the last three games."

Drew Bannister laid into his team after he called a timeout following Mikael Granlund's goal, which made it 2-0 Sharks

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) March 31, 2024

The Lund Line takes another faceoff, looks like it's a thing

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 31, 2024

Kunin goal: Looks like Bailey and Kostin with Kunin. Good effort by Bailey to keep puck alive off bad bounce off corner for Blues.

Kostin was dropped in lines pretty much after his penalty.

San Jose Sharks opportunistic, but credit to them too, outshot Blues 12-5 in this period. Pretty much flipped the script from the opening frame, 7-2 Slot Shots, 4-1 High-Danger at Even Strength.

Blackhawks win in Philadelphia, just wondering, how many times have the Sharks and Hawks won on the same day this year? Twice before perhaps today, 11/9 and 12/7.

Period 3

St. Louis Blues on top of San Jose Sharks to start period, as expected. Blackwood strong. This is a good test, learning lesson for Sharks, the right things to do to close games.

4 in: Vlasic exit pass to no one, turnover. Can’t have that when you’re trying to close out. Blues all over Sharks to start.

6 in: Looks like Quinn has put back his lines. Kostin in NZ looks for offense to Granlund, instead of just getting it deep. Turnover. More immature hockey by the Sharks. You get him trying to make a play, but you gotta be 100 percent there, I think.

12-3 Blues shots through 11.

Granlund penalty: That seems like a soft call? Regardless, another learning lesson for Sharks.

5 left: No great play there, Bordeleau just gets it deep from center ice. That’s all you gotta do.

Rutta goal: Assist from Sturm! Well-deserved points for heart-and-soul guys on this team.