The San Jose Sharks might be headed toward a last-place finish in the NHL’s overall standings but that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of playing a spoiler role during the final two-plus weeks of the regular season.
That’s what happened Saturday night as Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund, and Luke Kunin all scored second-period goals and Mackenzie Blackwood had 36 saves to earn his second shutout of the season as the Sharks earned a 4-0 win over the host St. Louis Blues.
Blackwood, who made 11 saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, earned his first victory since Feb. 15 as the Sharks snapped a nine-game losing streak and significantly dented St. Louis’ playoff hopes.
The Blues (39-31-4), who were booed off the ice at Enterprise Center, remained five points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Kings were playing in Calgary against the Flames late Saturday night.
The Blues, which also lost to the Sharks in San Jose on Nov. 16, now have just eight games remaining.
“I don’t think we think too much about,” being a spoiler, Kunin said. “Just worry about ourselves, our own game, and go out and try to win and compete every night.”
The win kept the Sharks (17-48-8) seven points back of Chicago for 31st place in the NHL’s overall standings, as the Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 earlier Saturday.
Chicago has eight games remaining and the Sharks have nine, starting with Monday’s home game against the Seattle Kraken. That starts a five-game homestand in which the Sharks face both the Kings and the Blues again, presenting more opportunities to play spoiler.
“I think we’re more just focused on what’s going on in our own locker room,” Blackwood said. “As long as we’re playing the right way and building towards something, we’re happy.”
Zadina’s goal, his 13th of the season, came off an individual effort as he stole the puck from Zack Bolduc in the corner to the left of the Blues net. He then took a stride to give himself some space before he turned around and fired a shot past St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer at the 8:30 mark of the second period.
After Granlund scored his 12th of the season just 3:35 later, putting in a rebound after a Fabian Zetterlund shot, Kunin gave the Sharks some added insurance in his return to his hometown.
After a Sharks’ dump-in by Henry Thrun, the rolling puck came through the slot in the Blues’ zone, got past Justin Bailey, but came right to Kunin, who beat Hofer high blocker side for his ninth goal of the season. Kunin, 26, is from Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and had several family members in attendance.
“You always try to shoot those rollers. You don’t know how they’re going to come off,” Kunin said. “Always pretty cool to get one with a lot of friends and family in the building.”
Jan Rutta scored an empty netter for the Sharks at the 16:47 mark of the third period to end the Blues’ remote hopes of a comeback.
The Blues are being booed off the ice. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 31, 2024
The second period was a disaster for the Blues, who mustered just three shots, including ones in the first 18 minutes of the period. That led to some boos from the home crowd at the end of the second period as the Blues retreated to the locker room.
“All the things we were doing well in previous games, as far as getting out of our zone on breakouts, we were just not doing any of that,” Kunin said. “Talked it over there after the first and it got a lot better there the rest of the game.”
Blackwood was also solid for the Sharks on Thursday, making 29 saves in San Jose’s 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
“It’s really a carbon copy of what happened (in Minnesota),” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “I thought we were on our heels in the first period and (Blackwood) stood tall, gave us a chance. We got our wits about us and played a much better second period and were opportunistic with our chances.”
Blackwood’s first period Saturday kept the Sharks in the game, as he made stops on six high-danger chances, including ones on Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. His shutout was the 10th of his career.
“Obviously the guys were battling hard, pushing and skating right to the end,” Blackwood said. “(Thursday night) didn’t really go our way. We played hard but we didn’t get the bounces and tonight we did. So it’s nice to be rewarded for that.”