From: jca2@cec1.wustl.edu (Joseph Charles Achkar)
Subject: Blues brush off Sharks 3-2
Keywords: St. Louis Blues, Sharks, Hull, Janney
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis MO
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:10:02 GMT


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I didn't watch the game since I couldn't find it anywhere on satellite in
the St. Louis are. This is a game summary from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
written by Dave Luecking.
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      DALY CITY, Calif. -- Two hours before the Blues played the San Jose
Sharks, Blues captain Brett Hull talked about the importance of the
National Hockey League game.

      "We'd Better beat these guys," he said.

      For obvious reasons.

      The Sharks, in their second NHL season, have a poorer record than
every team but one -- the expansion Ottawa Senators. The Sharks are
second-last in the league in goals, ahead of only the Senators.  And
they're last in team defense.

      No, the Blues couldn't afford to lose to them, and they didn't. But
it wasn't easy.

      The Blues eeked out a 3-2 victory at the Cow Palace before a crowd
of 10,763, the lowest in the Sharks' brief history.  The non-sellout was
only their second.

      The victory was only the Blues' third on the road this season,
giving them a record of 3-10-1 on the road.  They're 2-2 on this six-game
trip, with two games remaining.  The Blues play the Kings on Saturday in
Los Angeles and the New York Islanders on Tuesday in Dallas.

      Overall, the Blues improved to 11-14-4 for 26 points, two behind
the fourth place Toronto Maple Leafs and four ahead of the last-place
Tampa Bay Lightning in the Norris Division standings.  The Blues also are
four points behind third-place Detroit with two games in hand.

      San Jose dropped to 5-23-1 for 11 points, buried in last place in
the Smythe Division standings and 23rd overall ahead of 3-25-2 Ottawa.

      Craig Janney assisted on both Blues goals Thursday, giving him 35
assists this season. He is second in the league to Pittsburgh's Mario
Lemieux, who has 46.  Janney leads the Blues with 42 points, including
seven goals.

      Nelson Emerson and Lee Norwood scored the Blues' goal.  Emerson
scored his 13th and third in two games.  Norwood scored his second of the
season, his first in 11 games.

      Brendan Shanahan also assist on both goals and extended his point-
scoring streak to five games, with five goals and five assists in that
span.

      Vitali Prokhorov got the winning goal with 2:43 to play in the
third period, his fourth of the season and his first since getting a hat
trick against Philadelphia on Oct. 21.  Russian comrades Igor Korolev and
Vitali Karamnov had the assists, the first of Karamnov's NHL career.

      Dean Evason and Sandis Ozolinsh scored for the Sharks, who have
lost seven in a row overall and a club-record six in a row at home.  They
also are 0-5 against the Blues in their two-season existence.

      San Jose didn't allow a shot on a goal in the first 5 minutes 46
seconds.  They set up shop in the Blues' zone, outshot the visitors 6-0
and took a 1-0 lead on a bad goal.

      Just over a minute into the game, John Carter picked up a loose
puck in the neutral zone and headmanned the puck to Evason skating into
the Blues' zone.  Evason released a  week shot that bounced between Bret
Hedican's legs and over Curtis Joseph's pad at 1:13.  The goal was
Evason's fourth of the season.

      Joseph shook off the goal and made a big save on Ray Whitney's
break-in just over a minute later.  Whitney was raising his arms to
celebrate the goal, but Joseph smothered the loose puck.

      Shanahan's bone-jarring hit on Perry Berezan four minute into the
game seemed to ignite the Blues. Hull got the Blues' first shot on goal,
and the Blues went on to outshoot the Sharks 15-3 in the rest of the
period.

      The Blues finally tied the game on Norwood's power-play goal with
1:07 remaining in the period. San Jose's Pat MacLeod  was in the penalty
box for hooking when Janney deftly moved past Berezan and sent a slick
backhand past pass to Norwood in the slot.

      Norwood snapped a quick wrist shot over Hayward's glove hand for
his second goal of the season. Despite their slow start, the Blues
outshot the Sharks 15-8 in the first period.

      Some big saves by Joseph early in the second period kept the Blues
in the game.  He stopped Carter, Pat Falloon and MacLeod in close.

      The Blues had an early power play, but Jeff Brown negated Jeff
Odgers penalty with a holding penalty just 30 seconds into it.

      Rob Zettler's holding penalty created another man-advantage and
this time, the Blues appeared to capitalize.  Hull picked off Ozolinsh's
hard clearing pass and fired a hard pass to Shanahan to the right of the
net.  Shanahan deflected the puck into the net, and the red light went on
at 11:48, but referee Mick McGeough called for a review.  Replays showed
Shanahan directing the puck with his skate, and the goal was disallowed.

      No matter. The Blues continued pressing. Hayward robbed Hull,
reaching back and gloving the puck after it had bounced over his shoulder
with nine minutes left in the period.

      Emerson finally gave the Blues a 2-1 lead with 4:58 remaining.
Janney stripped the puck from Berezan with some aggressive forechecking.
Shanahan pulled the puck off the end boards, deked MacLeod and slid a
pass to Emerson coming in on right wing.

      Emerson waited for Hayward to open his pads and then slid a shot
between his legs for his 13th goal of the season and his third in two
games.

      The Blues' Russian line gave the Blues a two-goal cushion at 17:17
of the third period. Prokhorov danced past Michel Picard and Zettler and
snapped a wrist shot over Hayward's shoulder with Karamnov assisting.

      Russian countryman Ozolinsh made it close at the end, scoring on a
rebound with 49.3 seconds to play, but the Blues held on for the victory.

Box score
---------
BLUES 3, SHARKS 2

St. Louis    1  1  1--3
San Jose     1  0  1--2

First Period

    SJ - Evanson 4 (Carter) 1:14
    B  - (PPG) Norwood 2 (Janney, Shanahan) 18:53

    Penalties - Carter (SJ), charging, 11:47; MacLeod (SJ), hooking, 17:33.

Second Period

    B - Emerson 13 (Shanahan, Janney) 15:08

    Penalties - Odgers (SJ), holding, 2:42; Brown (B), holding, 3:12; Zettler
(SJ), hooking, 6:55.

Third Period

    B - Prokhorov 4 (Korolev, Karamnov) 17:17
    SJ - Ozolinsh 3 (Garpenlov, Kisio) 19:10

    Penalties - Prokhorov (B), slashing, 6:09; Emerson (B), tripping, 12:36.

Shots On Goal

BLUES    15  8  7 -- 30
SAN JOSE  8  8  6 -- 22

Power-Play Opportunities - Blues, 1 of 4; San Jose, 0 of 3

Goaltenders - Blues, Joseph (8-11-3); San Jose, Hayward (5-23-1). Referee -
Mick McGeough. Linesmen - Randy Mitton and Mark Wheler. A - 10,763.

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