The San Jose Sharks could be headed for last place in the overall NHL standings. But that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of playing a spoiler role in the final two weeks of the regular season.
That’s what happened Saturday night as Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin all scored second-period goals and Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 36 saves to earn her second shutout of the season and help the Sharks to earn a 4-0 victory over St. Louis. Blues at the Enterprise Center.
Blackwood, who made 11 saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, earned his first win since Feb. 15 as the Sharks ended a nine-game losing streak and significantly dented the Blues’ playoff hopes playoffs.
St. Louis (39-31-4), for the moment, remains five points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Kings were playing in Calgary against the Flames late Saturday night. The Blues, who also lost to the Sharks in San Jose on Nov. 16, have just eight games remaining.
Despite the victory, the Sharks (17-48-8) remained seven points behind Chicago for 31st overall in the NHL standings, as the Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 earlier Saturday.
Chicago has eight games remaining and the Sharks have nine, starting with Monday’s home game against the Seattle Kraken. This marks the start of a five-game homestand in which the Sharks will once again face the Kings and Blues, providing more opportunities to play the role of spoiler.
Zadina’s goal, his 13th of the season, was the result of an individual effort as he stole the puck from Zack Bolduc in the left corner of the Blues net. He then took a step to give himself some space before turning and firing a shot past St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer at 8:30 of the second period.
After Granlund scored his 12th of the season just 3:35 later, corralling a rebound off a Fabian Zetterlund shot, Kunin gave the Sharks some added confidence in his return to his hometown.
After a Sharks putback by Henry Thrun, the puck went through the slot into the Blues zone, past Justin Bailey, but came straight to Kunin, who beat Hofer’s high blocker for his ninth goal of the season. Kunin, 26, is from Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Jan Rutta scored an empty goal for the Sharks at 16:47 of the third period, ending the Blues’ distant hopes of a comeback.
The Blues are booed off the ice. #stlblues
– Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 31, 2024
The second period was a disaster for the Blues, who managed only three shots, including one in the first 18 minutes of the period. This led to some booing from the home crowd at the end of the second half as the Blues retreated to the changing rooms.
The boos didn’t end, there were the last seconds that passed in the third period.
Blackwood was also solid for the Sharks on Thursday, making 29 saves in San Jose’s 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
His efforts in the first half on Saturday kept his team in the game, as he stopped six high-danger chances, including those on Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. His shutout was his 10th of the season.
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