BLUESThe 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.
SHARKSThe 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-HEADThe 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.
