Blues at Sharks
The St. Louis Blues attempt to snap their road losing streak when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. St. Louis suffered its fifth consecutive defeat away from home Friday as it dropped a 4-3 decision at Anaheim. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Steen each recorded a goal and an assist as the Blues lost their ninth straight visit to Anaheim and fell to 0-2-0 on their four-game road trip.
San Jose is coming off a 3-0 triumph at Anaheim on Wednesday that halted the club's three-game slide (0-2-1). Joe Pavelski registered his fifth two-goal performance of the season and Antti Niemi posted his third shutout, but the Sharks lost center Joe Thornton to an upper-body injury that could keep him out of Friday's contest. The Blues look to avenge a 3-2 overtime loss at San Jose on Dec. 20 in which they allowed the tying goal with 21 seconds remaining in the third period.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, RSN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE BLUES (22-13-3): Carl Gunnarsson blocked a shot and finished with a plus-1 rating over 17:18 of ice time Friday after being activated from injured reserve earlier in the day. The 28-year-old Swedish defenseman had missed 10 games with a shoulder injury. The Blues have lost six of their last seven after putting together a four-game winning streak.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (20-13-5): Thornton notched an assist before getting hurt Wednesday, putting him two behind Nicklas Lidstrom (878) for 21st place on the all-time list and also two points in back of Norm Ullman (1,229) for 38th in NHL history. Niemi's shutout on Wednesday was the 30th of his career, but he has yet to blank St. Louis in 16 career starts.
OVERTIME
1. Pavelski leads the league with 10 power-play goals.
2. St. Louis G Brian Elliott is expected to start against the Sharks after returning from a knee injury to record a 44-save performance at Nashville on Tuesday.
3. San Jose LW Patrick Marleau has gone 10 games without a goal.