National Hockey League
St. Louis 4, San Jose 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 9, 2023
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees: Reid Anderson, T.J. Luxmore
Linesmen: Jonathan Deschamps, James Tobias
Attendance: 18096

Robert Thomas scored a goal and added an assist to lead the St. Louis Blues past the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-2 Thursday.

Torey Krug, Sammy Blais and Jakub Vrana also scored for the Blues, who won for just the second time in their last 10 games.

Pavel Buchnevich had two assists for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to earn his first victory since Feb. 16.

Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, who are 2-9-1 in their last 12 games. Alex Barabanov had two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.

The Sharks outshot the Blues 15-9 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead at the 10:23 mark.

Barabanov faked a shot from the left circle, then slid a pass to Karlsson at the right circle -- and Karlsson scored before Binnington could slide over.

That was Karlsson's 20th goal and 83rd point of the season, setting a new career-high point total.

Krug tied the game 1-1 by converting a three-on-two break with 7:29 left in the period. Thomas rushed the puck up the right wing, Alexey Toropchenko drove the net from the left wing and Krug stepped in as the trailer to score.

The Blues took a 2-1 lead midway in the second period. Colton Parayko dove in the neutral zone to tip the rolling puck ahead to Blais, who broke to beat Kahkonen.

The Sharks tied the game 2-2 with 5:29 left in the period. Barabanov stickhandled through the middle of the Blues zone and set up Hertl's blast from the slot.

Vrana scored 2:53 into the third period to put the Blues up 3-2. After Buchnevich tried to jam the puck in at the right post, Vrana pushed the puck behind Kahkonen and off Karlsson.

Thomas scored a power-play goal to expand the Blues lead to 4-2 with 4:58 left. Brandon Saad made the centering pass from behind the net and Thomas ripped a one-time shot from the right faceoff dot.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
San Jose   St. Louis
Alexander Barabanov 2 Points Robert Thomas 2
Tomas Hertl 1 Goals Robert Thomas 1
Alexander Barabanov 2 Assists Pavel Buchnevich 2
N/A Power Play Goals Robert Thomas 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Kaapo Kahkonen .867 Save Percentage Jordan Binnington .941
Kaapo Kahkonen 26 Saves Jordan Binnington 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
San Jose 34 2 0-4 3-4 8 43
St. Louis 30 4 1-4 4-4 8 26
Upcoming Games
  • St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Columbus. The Blues have a W/L % of .607 after a win and .306 after a loss.
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Sharks have a W/L % of .211 after a win and .319 after a loss.