Sharks top Blues for third straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker each had a goal and an assist, and Martin Jones made 31 saves to help the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.
San Jose (33-19-8), which has won three in a row and five of its past six games, extended its lead on the Anaheim Ducks to three points for second place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks opened a four-game road trip, all against Central Division teams.

WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Blues highlights]
"They were big," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said of the two points. "It didn't clinch us a playoff spot and it didn't lose them one, but it obviously was important and we wanted to start this road trip out the right way."
Ivan Barbashev and Vladimir Tarasenko scored and Carter Hutton made 20 saves for St. Louis (34-23-4), which has lost a season-high four straight games. The Blues hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild.

"Desperation time was a while ago, so yeah, this is where pride has to come in," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "We have to make sure that we obviously stop the bleeding. We have to start building confidence in the game that we're playing and have a feeling that showing up to the rink that everybody's going to be ready to go.
"We can't just accept that we're playing good and not winning hockey games. That's not good enough. We need points, we need wins and we need to start doing it now."
All five goals in the game were scored in the second period.
Couture gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:35 when he lifted a rebound over Hutton after an initial shot from the slot by Boedker.
It was Couture's 24th goal of the season.
"It's been a good year so far offensively," Couture said. "I think I've capitalized on the chances I've had. Tonight was a nice one to get the puck on my stick and a wide open net, so hopefully I can continue it."
Barbashev tied it 1-1 at 8:23 on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that beat Jones high on the short side.
Joonas Donskoi put the Sharks ahead 2-1 at 12:05 on a quick snap shot from the left face-off circle before Boedker made it 3-1 at 15:54 on a shot from close range, his fifth goal in four games.

Tarasenko's power-play goal with 24 seconds remaining made it 3-2 off a rebound of Vince Dunn's shot from the slot.
The Blues outshot the Sharks 13-5 in the third period and had a push for the tying goal but fell short.
"You can say all you want, but at this point in the year you've got to get points and you've got to get results," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "We had chances, we just didn't score. I mean, the second period we weren't aggressive enough, but we had a lot of chances. We've got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net."

Goal of the game

Donskoi's goal at 12:05 of the second period.

Save of the game

Jones' save against Patrik Berglund at 1:42 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Couture's goal at 6:35 of the second period.

They said it

"He was money tonight. I think the story of the game was (Jones); he was big at the right times and we capitalized on some of the mistakes they made." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"It's frustrating. You want to win games. ... I think the time for moral victories has come and gone. We've got to win hockey games and get points." -- Blues goalie Carter Hutton

Need to know

The Sharks acquired forward Eric Fehr from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the game for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. ... Couture has seven points (two goals five assists) in his past seven games. ... Blues forward Sammy Blais left the game with 1:39 remaining in the first period because of an upper-body injury after he was checked by Sharks forward Jannik Hansen.

What's next

Sharks:At the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Blues:Host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, TSN3, NHL.TV)