KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010 / SPORTS
3B
NHL
St. Louis' home struggles continue
Sharks' early lead proves too much for Blues to handle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Patrick Marleau scored his 38th goal to remain tied for the NHL lead, helping the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Thursday night.
Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi also scored, and backup Thomas Greiss had a strong game in goal for the Sharks, who rebounded from their lone regulation loss in the last 11 games after squandering a two-goal
lead against Detroit two days earlier. San Jose has 83 points, one behind Washington for first overall in the NHL.
Patrik Berglund had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who are an NHL-worst 9-15-5 at home while getting outscored 90-71. Backup goalkie Ty Conklin, who made 27 saves, fell to 0-6 at the Scottrade Center.
St. Louis had shown signs of improvement at home recently, getting points in its previous five games, but played catchup most
Conklin is 1-6 at home overall, including a victory over the Red Wings in a season-opening series in Sweden, and 7-2-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average on the road. He got the start a day after Chris Mason helped the Blues win 3-2 in Chicago.
of the night against San Jose. The Sharks are 18-6-2 on the road, third-best in the NHL, after winning the opener of a six-game trip
leading into the Olympic break.
Marleau's goal total beats the point total of Blues top scorers Brad Boyes and Paul Kariya, tied at 35 points apiece.
Clowe capitalized on a big rebound for his 14th goal at 7:53 of the first, putting the Sharks up by two. Berglund answered
San Jose has 83 points one behind Washington for first overall in the NHL.
and is tied with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. Marleau gave the Sharks the lead after only 21 seconds off a feed from Joe Thornton, who collected the rebound of a backhand shot by Dany Heatley.
with a power play goal midway through the period, but Setoguchi slipped the puck under a diving Conklin on a power play late in the second to make it 3-1.
Alex Steen cut the gap to one goal with a shot that deflected off the skate of Sharks defenseman Jay Leach at 8:39 of the third.
San Jose Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss, of Germany, reaches out to knock away a loose puck as St. Louis Blues' Keith Tkachuk, top, looks on during the second period of Thursday's game in St. Louis. The Sharks won, 4-2.
ASSOCIATED PRESS