Sharks defeat Blues, climb to second in Pacific Division

SAN JOSE --The San Jose Sharks moved back into second place in the Pacific Division with a 2-0 victory against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center on Thursday.
Martin Jones made 16 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 19th in his NHL career, and Mikkel Boedker and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose (36-22-9), which has won three of its past four games.

WATCH: [All Blues vs. Sharks highlights]
The Sharks are one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and two ahead of the Los Angeles Kings.
"I think our motivation was the standings," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "Everyone's fighting for a playoff spot. We know how important points are, and the guys were ready to play.
"It wasn't an easy game. The Blues battled hard, their goalie made some big saves. What I liked was our resiliency. We stuck with it, didn't try and force it, knew that if we stayed with it long enough it would come, and eventually we got rewarded."
Boedker took a pass from Joonas Donskoi and beat Jake Allen with a wrist shot for a 1-0 lead at 12:12 of the third period. The goal was the Sharks' first on the power play in 13 games (1-for-29).
"We got set up, we got it to move around a little bit and [Donskoi] made a great play," Boedker said. "I got good wood on it, and it definitely felt good to get that in the back of the net.
"We knew about the opportunities that we'd missed. We know what's going on. It's just a matter of sticking with it. We have All-Star players in this group that are going to dig us out of the hole."

Hertl scored into an empty net with 14.1 seconds left to make it 2-0.
St. Louis (35-27-5) trails the Kings by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"The work ethic and the defensive focus was here but there were too many turnovers," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "You can't create offense like that. You can't create when you're defending and chasing all night."
Allen started in place of Carter Hutton, who was a late scratch with a neck injury he sustained Thursday. Allen made 34 saves.
"It's hockey," Allen said. "These things happen. You have to be ready to go. I felt like I played solid. It's just tough to get wins right now. We have our backs to the wall. We're not getting chances like we used to. We have to step it up or it's going to be tough."
San Jose outshot St. Louis 36-16 and set a season low for total shots allowed. The Sharks held the Blues to two shots in the third period.
"Coming out, we knew we didn't have to change much," Sharks forward Timo Meier said of the third period. "We were playing pretty well, just didn't score. Sometimes you got to stay patient, you got to keep going and do the little things right. It paid off for us scoring later in the game."

Goal of the game

Boedker's goal at 12:12 of the third period.

Save of the game

Jones stopping Kyle Brodziak at 18:31 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Hertl's goal at 19:45 of the third period.

They said it

"Execution-wise, we weren't sharp enough. When we had opportunities to join the rush we weren't quick enough." -- Blues forward Kyle Brodziak
"The boys played really well tonight. It's the way we need to play moving forward here. It's a good thing if I'm not getting too many shots." -- Sharks goaltender Martin Jones

Need to know

The Blues recalled goaltender Ville Husso from San Antonio of the American Hockey League and signed goaltender Ben Wexler. Husso will join the Blues on Friday in Los Angeles. Wexler, a native of Palo Alto, California, served as an emergency backup against San Jose. He appeared in 26 games for the University of Illinois from 2014-17. ... Blues forward Brayden Schenn played his 500th NHL game, and Meier played his 100th. … St. Louis is 1-7-2 in its past 10 games. … San Jose is 3-1-0 on its six-game homestand.

What's next

Blues:At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-W, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)