GDT #77: Blues @ Sharks | 5:00 pm CT | BSMWX, 101 ESPN
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 7:01 am
BLUES The St. Louis Blues' playoff hopes took a hit Thursday. Despite outshooting the Nashville Predators 47-31, the Blues lost 6-3.
"I thought we were the better team for most of the night," Robert Thomas said after the game. "It's a frustrating result obviously. I think we did a lot of really good things, we just couldn't find a way to bury on our chances."
Nashville goalie Juuse Saros stole the show. He finished with 44 saves and completely stifled the Blues' offense. Through two periods, the Blues outshot Nashville 34-20, but they trailed 3-1.
"Some nights you've got to try and lock it down and know in order to win a game," Faulk said, "you might have to be a low-scoring game because you know you're going against a good goalie and a team that tries to play pretty tight defensively, not open it up too much."
The Blues made a push in the third, getting goals from Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou. However, they just could not turn enough of their shots into goals, especially on the power play. Of their six power-play chances, the Blues scored only once: a 6-on-4 goal from Kyrou with 2:15 left.
"On our power play, we have to get more pucks to the net," Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said. "Credit to them, they blocked a lot of shots, but we have to do a better job of finding a way to get pucks to the net in those situations."
With the Blues loss and the Los Angeles Kings win Thursday, the Blues are now seven points out of the Wild Card with just six games remaining. After San Jose, the Blues continue down the California coast and visit the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.
SHARKS With a 17-50-8 record, it's rare that the San Jose Sharks dominate another team head-to-head. In fact, they've only beaten one team multiple times this season: the St. Louis Blues.
The Sharks came to Enterprise Center just one week ago, ending a nine-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory. Since then, not much has changed. They've lost both games since, including Thursday against the Kings.
Despite a 1-3-0 record over the last four games, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood has been a bright spot. In that span, Blackwood has posted a 1.77 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.
San Jose continues to be in rebuild mode, shedding veterans while stacking picks and prospects. There's a chance the Blues see one of those prospects Saturday. The Sharks announced Thursday they signed forward Colin Graf to an entry-level contract, which begins immediately in 2023-24. Graf, who won an NCAA championship with Quinnipiac University, has led the Bobcats in scoring two years in a row and is his conference's reigning player of the year.
For now, though, San Jose is still in the early stages of rebuilding, and that's earned them the league's worst record and just three wins since the All-Star break.
HEAD TO HEAD This is the third and final meeting between the Blues and Sharks. Over their two meetings, the Sharks have outscored the Blues 9-1.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Nathan Walker was nominated Friday for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association nominate one player from every team for the award, which is awarded annually to "the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."
SHARKS Chesterfield native Luke Kunin must enjoy playing his hometown team. He has three points against the Blues this season, including a goal in each of the two meetings.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have lost back-to-back games against San Jose, but were 9-0-1 in their previous 10 games against the Sharks.
The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal to the Sharks in nine of their last 10 matchups, going 17 for 18 (94.4%) on the penalty kill over those 10 games.
The Blues have scored at least three goals in seven of their last nine games against San Jose, outscoring the Sharks 33-24 over those nine games.
Five of the Blues' final six games will come against Western Conference opponents (three against the Pacific Division; two against the Central Division).
Pavel Buchnevich has 10 points in his last nine games (two goals, eight assists), recording three multi-point games in that span.
Jake Neighbours scored his 27th goal of the season in Nashville, which leads the Blues. Neighbours, who was drafted No. 26 overall in 2020, has the third-most goals of anyone from his draft class this season. He trails only Carolina's Seth Jarvis (29 goals) and Buffalo's JJ Peterka (28 goals).
Brandon Saad has scored in back-to-back games and has eight points in his last seven games (six goals, two assists).
Jordan Kyrou has nine points in his last seven games (five goals, four assists), including back-to-back games with three points (four goals, two assists on March 21 & 23). He has six three-point games this season; the Blues are 6-0-0 in those games.