TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues played an up-tempo game on Tuesday to match with the young Arizona Coyotes, but they were unable to convert a number of good chances up front and fell 6-2 at Mullett Arena.
Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 40 saves to hold the Blues power-play 0-for-6 in a season-high 10:44 of man-advantage ice time.
“The power play didn’t click well enough to win us the hockey game, that’s the bottom line,” said Craig Berube. “Gotta give credit to their goalie too, he was sharp.”
Pavel Buchnevich provided the spark for the Blues offense, scoring two goals to keep his stellar run going. Since returning from a lower-body injury on Feb. 23, Buchnevich has a team-high 11 points as he brings a six-game point streak back to Enterprise Center for a ’90s Vintage-themed matchup with the San Jose Sharks.
After Thursday night’s contest, the Blues head to Columbus on Saturday for a back-to-back set that finishes at home against Vegas.
They’ll face the Sharks for the second time in a week with a record of 27-31-5, worth 59 points and sixth in the Central Division.
SHARKS The San Jose Sharks have been up and down since last seeing the Blues, taking two tough losses against Washington and Colorado but winning an impressive game over Winnipeg in between.
The Sharks surrendered 14 goals in the two losses, but held Winnipeg – facing a slide down the standings – to two goals as they won in overtime on the road.
Tomas Hertl scored a game-tying goal with 11 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and Logan Couture won the game with his 22nd goal of the season.
Though the win ended a five-game losing streak, the Sharks followed it up with a difficult 6-0 loss to the Avalanche at the end of the back-to-back. Colorado scored three goals each in the first and second period to get out to a big lead and then left no room for a comeback, allowing only 13 shots on goal for Alexander Georgiev’s fourth shutout this year.
San Jose plays the last of a three-game road trip in St. Louis on Thursday night, heading back home to face Minnesota on Saturday.
The Sharks will face the Blues with a record of 19-34-12, worth 50 points and eighth in the Pacific Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues are 2-0 against the Sharks this season and hope to earn the season sweep just a week after a 6-3 win in San Jose. The Blues have won seven straight games against the Sharks, scoring at least four goals in five of those games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Justin Faulk, who recorded his 25th assist of the season on Tuesday night. Faulk has seven points in his last eight games, sharing No. 10 among NHL defensemen in that span.
SHARKS Logan Couture, who scored the game winner in overtime at Winnipeg on Monday night. Couture, in his fourth season as captain of the Sharks, has a team-high 22 goals this season.
BLUE NOTES
Thursday’s game marks the only time this season that the Blues will suit up in their ’90s Vintage jerseys, inspired by the sweaters worn by Brett Hull, Chris Pronger and other franchise legends in the late 1990s… Pavel Buchnevich’s active six-game point streak is his third of the season, currently at four goals and seven assists since Feb. 23. Last season, Buchnevich surged to a career-best 12-game point streak from April 1-21… The Blues have not allowed the Sharks a power play goal in six of their last seven matchups, going 9-for-10 on the penalty kill in that span… Jakub Vrana tallied six shots on goal in his Blues debut on Tuesday, trailing only Jordan Kyrou for the team lead.
