Saad scores twice for Blues in victory against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Brandon Saad scored twice for the St. Louis Blues in a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.

James Neal put the Blues ahead 4-3 with a backhand at 11:42 of the second period, and Robert Thomas scored into an empty net at 19:00 of the third period for the 5-3 final.
"Going into the third period with a lead, you want to lock it down as much as you can," Neal said. "It's a good team win, really liked the way the guys battled."
Thomas had a goal and an assist, Tyler Bozak had two assists, and Joel Hofer made 23 saves and had an assist in his NHL debut for St. Louis (7-1-1).
"There [were] obviously a lot of emotions going through my head," Hofer said. "It's obviously super special. You dream of it your whole life, and to get the win, in the first game, too, it's the cherry on top."

Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, and Adin Hill made 23 saves for San Jose (6-4-0), which had won two in a row.
"I feel like we got away from our identity a bit," Hill said. "It was a little too run-and-gun for what we like tonight and that was the result."
Burns made it 1-0 on a power play at 7:13 of the first period. San Jose was skating 5-on-3 when Tomas Hertl set Burns up for a slap shot from above the left face-off circle.

Saad scored shorthanded at 10:00 to tie it 1-1. Logan Couture's pass was intercepted by Bozak and Saad scored on Hill's glove side.
Couture gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 17:16 after he stole the puck from Justin Faulk.
Pavel Buchnevich tied the game 2-2 at 4:20 of the second period.
"We could have jumped out to a bigger lead off the start," Couture said. "If we get two or three off the hop, I think we put ourselves in a better spot."

Nick Merkley redirected a shot by Mario Ferraro to put the Sharks ahead 3-2 at 4:49 before Saad tied it 3-3 at 8:09.
"We had some opportunities and we let a couple of opportunities slip away," Sharks coach John MacLean said. "It was just one of those games where we can't forget St. Louis is a pretty good hockey club, and when they got the lead they shut it down good."
NOTES: Blues forward Brayden Schenn sustained an upper-body injury in the first period. Coach Craig Berube said Schenn is day to day. … St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko had his seven-game point streak end (four goals, seven assists). … Hofer (21 years, 97 days) is the youngest goalie to win his NHL debut with the Blues (Michel Plasse, March 30, 1971, 22 years, 302 days). … Forward David Perron played his 615th game with the Blues to pass Barclay Plager for 11th place and is one game behind Bob Plager for 10th. … St. Louis was playing the second of a back to back. It lost to the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday. … Sharks defenseman Artemi Kniazev had two shots and was minus-2 in 11:59 in his NHL debut.