The offensively challenged Blues, who have scored five goals in five games, got a goal from Jay Bouwmeester, and Brian Elliott made 29 saves. St. Louis is 2-2-1 despite averaging one goal per game during that span. Coach Ken Hitchcock said after the morning skate Thursday that he felt the goals were on the verge of coming for the Blues, and the first period was a microcosm of what has been happening. The Blues are creating chances with little results.
Donskoi's first goal in four games put the Sharks up 1-0. After an offensive zone turnover by the Blues' fourth line, Pavelski raced through the middle of the ice and flipped a backhand pass to Donskoi, who beat Elliott from the right circle short side 3:55 into the second period. Thornton's 4-on-4 goal at 7:15 put the Sharks ahead 2-0. He beat a sliding Elliott with a one-time shot from the right circle. It was Thornton's 49th point (12 goals, 37 assists) in 45 games against St. Louis.
The Blues cut the deficit in half when Bouwmeester's shot from the left point looking for a tip from Vladimir Tarasenko actually deflected off defenseman Paul Martin's stick and past Jones with 3:06 remaining in the second. It was Bouwmeester's first goal in 37 games. But Nieto's sealed the win when he scored on a backhand shot with 3:16 remaining after he won a loose puck with Colton Parayko.
A scoreless first period produced ended with 29 combined shots, 16 by San Jose. Jones was good early, and his best save came on Tarasenko right in front just over a minute into the game. Elliott made several strong stops, including one on Pavelski's one-timer during the Sharks' first power play midway through the period and then a flurry of saves in the final seconds. The Blues allowed the same number of shots to the Sharks in the first period as they did in 60 minutes of a 1-0 shutout victory against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Sharks Bites
Martin Jones: "It's tough to win let alone on the road so it's a good sign. I think the last month, we've been playing very well, even at home, so it's good to see things coming together here. Anytime you get goal support, that helps. You look at the stats, every single team in the League is the same. [You're] just a better team when you have the lead and you score first. Those were important goals for sure."Peter DeBoer: "Great formula for a road win. Goaltending was great, good special teams and we got contributions from everybody. I love [Jones'] game right now. I love the feeling he gives our team. The composure that he's playing with is contagious to our group. He's doing a good job for us. Some of [Hertl's] best games have been games where he hasn't had real production, but he's gotten four or five shots on net and he's attacked seams and he's won battles. That's where my evaluation of him comes from.""I don't think [Hertl] was bogged down by the responsibility [of playing center]. You're playing on the third line, you're not playing with Pavelski and Thornton.
Your job's probably a little more complicated (as a winger) with those guys. He's got to move the puck, get to holes, get to the front of the net and get rewarded for that."
Matt Nieto: "I saw (the puck) in a couple of skates there and was able to get it out of that scrum. Everyone was kind of eye-watching the scrum and I found a way to get in behind and make a move right in front of the goalie there."
Thomas Hertl: "First half, the goals weren't really coming. So it was a little bit frustrating, because I had 19 games and no goals. That's pretty long. Now I just go to net, get bounces and score. It's way better. The biggest thing is that we're winning too."
"If you play the wing, you have a little bit more chances to shoot. More time in front of the net, go to certain offensive zones, play deep. If you play center, you're (spending) more time in the D zone battling, less time offensive than if you play wing. More energy for the offensive zone. If you're winning, everybody has points and everybody feel better. All four lines are playing very good now."
Blues Quotes
Jay Bouwmeester: "It's human nature when it's not happening for you. You get a little antsy, but when we are playing well, we are creating chances. It's just a matter of putting them in. We've got to find a way.""It was kind of 3 on 2, the guy was coming late. He made a good pass over and the shot flipped off his stick. It wasn't a very good shot, but those fool the goalie. It was one of those ones, it happens."
Ken Hitchcock: "Today, the first period was the best period we played in a long time. It was a great period, and then we got away from it in the second and gave them the momentum. We funneled pucks at the net, we put shots at [Jones'] feet, we had lots of scoring chances close at the net, and then we got frustrated and started making plays rather than continuing with that program and so we ended up with lot of zone time but mostly playing sideways rather than that attack mode that we did in the first period."
"I think we're just going through an unlucky phase. We'll get lucky here in the next week or so and start scoring. This has been going on for a little while, we've been getting points, winning games. Our top guys are going to have eventually help us here and contribute. It can't be just one or two guys, like (Bouwmeester) scoring or (Troy) Brouwer. We're going to have to get more production from other people up the ladder here if we expect to have success."
Brian Elliott: "The first one, [Donskoi] basically double-hit it in the air. It's not what you're expecting as a goalie, hard to react to, and then on Thornton's goal too, if I didn't even move, it probably would have just hit me. That's frustrating as a goalie."
David Backes: "There's not a lot of that good feeling that goes around ... there's not that swagger where the next time it hits your stick it feels like it's going through the back of the net. We've got to get back to that, back to smiling and picking each other up and when those chances come make the most of it."
"I think once you've played a few years you learn there are times when you're not scoring a ton of goals and we've done a decent job of finding ways to win games when you're only scoring one or two goals a game. But that's not sustainable over the long term and now it's, 'OK, we've gone a few games, let's get out of this rut and get back to three or four a game.' The puck's got to go in the net for us and it's up to the guys in this room to make that happen."
San Jose Mercury's view
Even when he was mired in a 19-game scoring drought earlier this season, Tomas Hertl wasn't totally unhappy with the way he was playing. But it sure was easier for Hertl to flash that trademark smile when the puck started to go in the net. After collecting just 16 points in his first 37 games, Hertl, on a line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton, has 11 points in the past 11 games heading into Thursday's game against the St. Louis Blues. Hertl's production is a little more reminiscent of the early part of his rookie season, when he had 25 points in his first 35 NHL games. He was thought to be a Calder Trophy candidate before he suffered a knee injury in a collision with Los Angeles' Dustin Brown. It's been tough for Hertl to get back to that pace ever since, as he has battled injury, inconsistency and perhaps even a lack of confidence. But Sharks coach Pete DeBoer hasn't measured Hertl's value this season strictly on his point total, as he's wanted the 22-year-old to exhibit more of a power forward mentality and use his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame to his advantage. DeBoer, though, said there is an expectation for forwards to produce when they are on a line with The Joes, and there has been a rotation of players filling that role through the first four months of the season. Joonas Donskoi was there at the start of the year, Melker Karlsson was on the left wing soon after he came back from injury, and more recently, DeBoer had Dainius Zubrus on the top line before Zubrus was injured. 
When Hertl got back with Thornton and Pavelski on Jan. 9, the chemistry was immediate, as Hertl had two goals and an assist in the Sharks' 7-0 win over Toronto. Including that game, Pavelski has since had 11 points and Thornton has had 14 points, although not all have come at even strength with Hertl on the ice. Thornton's 10-game point streak ended in Tuesday's 3-2 Sharks loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Hertl's future might be at center, but he's been more than comfortable on the wing on the top line. Hertl showed up to training camp in great shape and started the season as the third-line center. He was moved up to second-line center when Logan Couture fractured his right fibula at the ankle in a collision with Hertl in practice in October. There was a learning curve, and offense was tougher to come by, but Hertl handled the extra responsibility of matching up against opposing teams' first- or second-line centers. He still leads the team with a 56.5 faceoff win percentage.
STL Today's View
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock laughed off concerns about his team's lack of offense Thursday morning, as the club prepared to face the San Jose Sharks at Scottrade Center. Rarely are teams going to win games scoring just one goal, like the Blues did Tuesday in Nashville. They tried it again Thursday with defensman Jay Bouwmeester contributing the only offense, and it was not enough in a 3-1 loss to the Sharks in front of a crowd of 18,803. Let's go to the running tote board: the Blues have scored five goals in their last five games, and just three goals in their last four games. Though the club is 2-2-1 in that stretch, it will find itself falling out of the battle for the Central Division quickly at this pace. Chicago and Dallas both won in overtime Tuesday, leaving the Blues eight points behind the Blackhawks and five behind the Stars. There appeared to be more concern Thursday about the offensive issues than existed earlier in the day. The Blues are creating chances, as they've put an average of 25.8 shots on goal and directed an average of 52.4 on net (including missed shots and blocks) in their last five games. But only five have gone in, three from the likes of Bouwmeester, Dmitrij Jaskin and Ty Rattie. The Blues' 54th game of the season Thursday was their first meeting with San Jose. It was not a particularly ideal time or place to be meeting to meet the Sharks, who had one regulation loss in their last 11 games and were tied for second in the NHL in road wins with 16. The game was scoreless after the first period, but the clubs had combined for 29 shots in the first period. The Blues had 13 of those, but directed 25 toward the net. In the second period, San Jose cracked the ice with goal from Joonas Donskoi, the eighth of the season for the Sharks' right winger. The Blues lost possession in their defensive zone and San Jose moved up ice quickly. Joe Pavelski, the Sharks' leading scorer with 25 goals, carried the puck through the neutral zone, and had both Blues' defenders in front of him. Bouwmeester got drawn in by Pavelski, who then flipped the puck to Donskoi with speed. He beat Elliott over the glove to the short side for a 1-0 lead just 3:55 into the period. A series of three minor penalties later in the period put San Jose on a 4-on-3 advantage with Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko both in the penalty box for hooking. Just as Lehtera returned to the ice to make it 4 on 4 again, Joe Thornton buried his 10th goal of the season for a 2-0 lead with 12:45 left in the second period. The Blues were down by two goals and stuck on just three shots on goal in the second period. They needed offense desperately, and who better to rely on than ... Bouwmeester? The defenseman who came into the game with just one goal in 49 games cut the Blues' deficit to 2-1 with 3:06 left in the period. His slap shot from 56 feet changed directions after hitting the stick of San Jose defenseman Paul Martin and got past goaltender Martin Jones. But it didn't matter, as San Jose locked down with 10 of their 26 blocked in the third period and picked up a third goal from Matt Nieto with 3:16 remaining in regulation for a two-goal cushion.
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