Sharks at Blues
After a lukewarm start, the St. Louis Blues are getting the return they expected when they paid a large sum to acquire Ryan O'Reilly. The 27-year-old center attempts to extend his point streak to nine games when the Blues host the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
O'Reilly, who was obtained from Buffalo over the summer for three players, a first-round draft pick and a second-round selection, notched four assists in his first two games with St. Louis before being kept off the scoresheet for three straight contests. He has amped up his game since, registering seven goals and eight assists during his eight-game streak - with a trio of three-point performances that includes his first career hat trick in the Blues' 4-1 triumph over Carolina on Tuesday. San Jose had its three-game road point streak snapped Thursday as it dropped a 4-3 decision in Dallas. Timo Meier scored his team-leading 12th goal as the Sharks battled back from a 3-1 deficit before allowing the winning tally with 5:47 remaining in the third period.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS California (San Jose), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (8-5-3): Joe Thornton skated in his 1,500th NHL game on Thursday, becoming only the 19th player in history to accomplish the feat. The 39-year-old former Hart Trophy winner celebrated by recording his 1,032nd assist, pulling him within one of Mario Lemieux for 11th place on the NHL's all-time list. Captain Joe Pavelski is second on the team with seven goals but has yet to register an assist this season.
ABOUT THE BLUES (5-5-3): It didn't take long for Robby Fabbri to get back in the swing of things, as the 22-year-old center scored a goal in his third game back from a knee injury on Tuesday. Fabbri, who recorded 18 tallies and 37 points as a rookie in 2015-16, tore the ACL in his left knee in his 51st game the following season and missed the entire 2017-18 campaign after re-injuring himself during training camp. Vladimir Tarasenko has landed on the scoresheet in nine of his last 10 contests and collected four goals and three assists during his five-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. The Blues have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last six games.
2. Thornton's next goal will be the 400th of his career.
3. St. Louis is 3-2-0 on its seven-game homestand that concludes Sunday against Minnesota.