Blues defeat Sharks, set team record with 14-game point streak

SAN JOSE -- The St. Louis Blues extended their point streak to a team-record 14 games when they came from behind for a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.

St. Louis is 12-0-2 in its past 14 games. The Blues will play the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The teams are tied for second in the Central Division; Minnesota has a game in hand.
Robert Thomas made it 2-1 31 seconds into the second period with his 20th goal of the season. The Blues had 14 seconds left on a power play that carried over from the first period when the forward scored on a wrist shot for the game-winner.
Thomas extended his point streak to 15 games (27 points; eight goals, 19 assists).
"He was really good," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "He did some really good things offensively and defensively. He was shooting the puck. He probably had the best quality chances of anybody on our team. He's just playing really good hockey. He's working, competing, doing a lot of good things."
Dakota Joshua scored, and Jordan Binnington made 20 saves for the Blues (47-20-11), who have won five of their past six.
"Our guys have played really well," Berube said. "I think they're dialed in, winning games in different types of ways. It was a tighter one tonight, but we came through and closed it out at the end."

Noah Gregor scored, and James Reimer made 25 for the Sharks (30-35-12), who have lost 11 of their past 12.
"It was a challenge for us to try to match them," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "There were times I thought we did a decent job. You're not going to win many games scoring one goal and you're not going to win against these guys if the power plays are 5-1 at the end of the night. You certainly aren't going to win against these guys if your best players aren't your best players and all three of those things happened."
Gregor gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period.
"Good play from [Rudolfs Balcers] to flip it to me and get it to me," Gregor said. "I was able to grab some speed through the neutral zone and get a decent shot off. I wasn't trying to go five-hole but it worked out nice. It was good to see that one go in."
Joshua tied it at 5:18 after Logan Brown set the forward up with a no-look pass from behind the net.
"It was kind of nice in a way of just having a close game towards the end," Binnington said. "The last couple, it's obviously great the boys have been putting a lot of goals home. But just having that tight finish and everyone competing right till the end ... was good to see."
Pavel Buchnevich scored into an empty net for the 3-1 final at 19:48 of the third period.
NOTES: The Blues' point streak dates back to March 28. … Thomas' point streak is the fourth-longest in Blues history (Brett Hull, 25 games in 1991-92, 20 games in 1989-90; and Blake Dunlop, 19 games in 1981-82). ... Thomas became the eighth 20-goal scorer for the Blues this season. The last team to have more 20-goal scorers in a season was the 1993-94 Rangers with 10. ... Blues defenseman Torey Krug was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. He is day to day, Berube said. Calle Rosen took Krug's spot in the lineup and had one shot on goal in 14:57 of ice time.