Holloway wins it with 3 seconds left in OT, Blues top Sharks

ST. LOUIS – Dylan Holloway scored with three seconds remaining in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Holloway took a long stretch pass from Philip Broberg and skated in along the left side, moving the puck forehand to backhand and lifting it into the top shelf over Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic's right shoulder.

"Coming in that angle, I knew I was going in backhand and then I was just kind of reacting … it happened so fast," Holloway said. "Quick reaction to see if he was going to go far side and then honestly, it was bad ice so I was just trying to get it up. I was fortunate enough for it to go in."

Holloway said he didn’t know if there would be time to get his shot off because of how little time there was prior to the Blues gaining possession after Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov shot it high and wide from the slot.

“Honestly, when (Macklin) Celebrini had the puck, I thought there was two seconds left, so I abandoned my guy and he got a good crack in the slot,” Holloway said. “That would have been my bad, but I looked up right after that and saw there was about five seconds, and then I just stretched and just kind of prayed that I could get it on net in time.”

Holloway also had an assist, Dalibor Dvorsky scored, and Joel Hofer made 24 saves for the Blues (30-30-11), who are 9-1-2 their past 12 games and moved six points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“It was a difficult game, there wasn’t much rhythm to it,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “I don’t know why, but I don’t think there were two consecutive passes all night long by either team, but you know what, I love the way our team is maturing. That game tonight, we win because we stuck with our defensive principles. We struggled for a while to manage the puck, but then we found it and we’re doing things, showing signs of becoming a good game management team, which is going to give you a lot of wins, especially nights like tonight where you don’t think you have your A game.”

Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks (32-31-7), who have lost six straight (0-5-1), having been outscored 29-12 during that stretch, and remained six points behind Nashville for the second wild card.

Yaroslav Askarov saved all 11 shots he faced but left the game at 9:06 of the second period due to an undisclosed injury he sustained when Blues forward Nathan Walker was shoved into the net by Vincent Desharnais. Askarov, who had missed the past seven games with a lower-body injury, was replaced by Nedeljkovic, who made 10 saves in relief.

“I liked our game,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought we did some really good things tonight. Hopefully a step in the right direction.

“Details were good. We had seven chances 5-on-5 against, that’s pretty good. We should win those games. Frustrating with the result, but a step in the right direction.”

Dvorsky gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 17:19 of the second period after Jimmy Snuggerud chipped a puck in to Holloway behind the net. Holloway tried to come out and put a backhand shot on goal, but the puck slipped off his stick to Dvorsky in the slot, who finished the quick snap shot past Nedeljkovic.

“Right place, right time,” Dvorsky said. “Good job by ‘Snuggy’ rimming it back. I don’t know if it rolled off (Holloway’s) stick. I thought it was a pass, but great job by ‘Holly’ and I just shot it. I’m happy it went in, so good job by the whole line.”

Wennberg tied it 1-1 at 5:04 of the third period on a breakout along the left side. He got the puck from William Eklund as he was streaking down the middle of the ice and kicked the puck to his forehand before putting it over the right shoulder of Hofer.

Wennberg's goal ended Hofer's shutout streak at 166:49, which dates back to St. Louis' 2-1 shootout loss at the Calgary Flames on March 18.

“Frustrating with the result,” Wennberg said. “Obviously, we had a chance to win this game. ... We’re in this position right now fighting for a playoff spot and we’re letting ourselves down. But that’s part of it as well. It’s not going to be easy. No one right now is giving up at all. We have to look forward to the next game. There’s opportunities, there’s chances. We’re playing some good hockey. The mindset’s got to be the same.”

NOTES: Holloway has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 14 games since returning from a right high ankle sprain and nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight games against the Sharks. … Snuggerud has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games. … San Jose forward Tyler Toffoli had two shots in 13:03 of ice time after missing two games with a lower-body injury. … St. Louis center Robert Thomas (upper body) did not play and is day-to-day. … Celebrini has just one assist in his past five games after a nine-game point streak (seven goals, seven assists). He is four points away (35 goals, 61 assists) from becoming the sixth teenager to reach 100 points in a season.