Preview: Blues at Sharks

BLUES AT SHARKS

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES With a handful of significant injuries, the St. Louis Blues are finding it difficult to score goals.
In a two-game set with the Los Angeles Kings, the Blues registered just one goal in six periods, and the only goal came from Oskar Sundqvist late in the third period in the second game.
"I'm sure it wears on them. It wears on everybody," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said of the offensive struggles. "You tend to start squeezing your stick. You end up trying to do too much, which isn't a good thing. It takes away the skill players' composure and relaxation out there when they're playing. It does, it wears on guys.
"We did a lot of good things (Wednesday against the Kings)," Berube added. "Obviously we're having trouble scoring goals, but it's not like we're not creating opportunities and chances. We are. I thought our team worked hard tonight… We're going through some adversity right now, but it's going to make us a better team down the road."
With the lack of offense, the Blues have lost three straight games in regulation.
St. Louis is beginning a six-game road trip to the West Coast that starts in San Jose, will continue to Anaheim and Los Angeles before concluding with another game against the Sharks.
SHARKSSan Jose's most recent game, scheduled for Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights, was postponed after Sharks forward Tomas Hertl was placed in the League's COVID protocol.
Because there were no additional positive tests, the Sharks were cleared to return to practice Friday and are expected to meet the Blues as scheduled on Saturday night.
San Jose (7-8-2) has played just three home games at SAP Center this season. The first 12 games were played on the road due to COVID-19 protocols in California. In those three home games, the Sharks are 1-2-0.
San Jose's most recent outing was Monday against the Minnesota Wild. Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored the only goals for San Jose in a 6-2 loss.
MATCHUP NOTESThe Blues are 7-1-1 in their last nine games against the Sharks (including the postseason)… Over the last three matchups, the Blues penalty kill is a perfect 8-for-8… Jordan Binnington is 7-3-1 in his career against San Jose with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .910 save-percentage.

THE SERIES SO FAR

Jan. 18: Blues 5, Sharks 4
Justin Faulk scored two goals, Mike Hoffman netted his first as a Blue and Jordan Kyrou broke a 4-4 tie in the third period with his second game-winning goal of the season.
Jan. 20: Sharks 2, Blues 1 (SO)
Martin Jones made 22 saves and four more in a shootout to help the Sharks to a 2-1 win against the Blues at Enterprise Center. Brayden Schenn scored the Blues' only goal, while Jordan Binnington made 37 saves.
Feb. 18: Blues 3, Sharks 2 (OT)
Brayden Schenn scored with 39.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and David Perron ended the game with an overtime game-winner with one minute left. It was Perron's sixth overtime goal as a Blue. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.
Feb. 20: Sharks 5, Blues 4
The Blues trailed 3-0 early in the second period and stormed back with four goals, one each from Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Ryan O'Reilly and Jordan Kyrou, to even the score after 40 minutes. But in the third period, Logan Couture scored his second of the game to seal a 5-4 victory for San Jose at Enterprise Center.

BLUE NOTES

Jordan Binnington will become the 18th goaltender in Blues history to play in 100 games with the organization in his next appearance. Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Binnington ranks seventh overall in the League with 62 wins (regular season), third with a 2.33 goals-against average and 10th in save percentage (.927).