| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- San Jose forward Mike Ricci said the Sharks were lucky and good. Because of that, they're tied in the Western Conference playoffs.
San Jose, the eighth seed, used two fluke goals and some hard work to get by the top-seeded St. Louis Blues 4-2 Saturday. The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 and heads to San Jose for Game 3 on Monday night.
|  | | Mike Ricci had much to celebrate after his late goal broke a 2-2 tie. |
Ricci's power-play goal with 5:42 left proved to be the difference. But the Sharks were fortunate to even be in the game then.
Bryan Marchment scored the Sharks' second goal with a shot from behind the Blues' net. Gary Suter, who also had an assist, was credited with a goal when defenseman Marc Bergevin threw the puck into his own net.
"Funny things happen," Ricci said. "We'll take that break. But we're not going to rely on those things happening any more."
Ricci's goal came as a result of hard work. With Scott Young serving a double minor for high sticking, Ricci followed up his own shot and shoved the rebound under Blues goalie Roman Turek to give San Jose a 3-2 lead.
Owen Nolan added an empty-net goal with 1:03 to play. Steve Shields made 18 saves for the Sharks, who won for just the third time in 18 visits to St. Louis (3-14-1).
Although the goals by Marchment and Suter were not conventional, San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said his team had nothing to apologize about.
"All the other four goals, other than the empty-net goal, were going to the net goals," Sutter said. "Bergevin makes that play because Ricci's going to the net. You don't get all that razzle-dazzle in the playoffs."
"Goals like that happen all the time," Shields said. "It's just that it's magnified because it's the playoffs."
Blues coach Joel Quenneville questioned his team's thought process.
"We were undisciplined," Quenneville said. "We didn't make a good effort in the second period and some of our decisions were questionable."
Young agreed with his coach.
"In the playoffs, you have to play with controlled emotion, and today we might have gotten a little carried away with our emotion," Young said. "We have to play with a lot more discipline."
San Jose, which will also play host to Game 4 on Wednesday, has not won a playoff game at home since April 28, 1998 -- losing the last four. Young isn't taking anything for granted.
"We're not invincible," Young said. "We knew that. We also expect to play a lot better than we did today."
St. Louis appeared to have the momentum when Stephane Richer tied it 2-2 at 8:35 of the third on a 2-on-1 with Craig Conroy. Conroy carried the puck in on left wing and drew defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson to him. He then passed to Richer, who put it into the wide-open net.
Marchment gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead 3:07 into the period. He chased down a loose puck behind the Blues' goal, and attempted to throw it in front. Instead, it banked in off Turek's pad. Marchment
had no goals in 49 regular-season games.
Bergevin gave the Sharks their other goal at 17:10 of the first period when he caught Gary Suter's shot and attempted to throw the puck behind his net, instead sending it past a surprised Turek.
Marty Reasoner also scored for the Blues, his second of the playoffs.
Young, who missed the first game with a separate shoulder, made his presence felt early on by setting up Reasoner's goal. Young bumped Marchment off the puck in the right corner, then skated to the right circle and flicked a shot at Shields. Reasoner tipped it in at 9:54 to make it 1-0.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
San Jose Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Colorado 3
Phoenix 1
Detroit 8
Los Angeles 5
Pittsburgh 2
Washington 1
San Jose 4
St. Louis 2
Toronto 5
Ottawa 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Blues' Marc Bergevin throws the puck into his own net.
avi: 794 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marty Reasoner scores off the tip-in shot.
avi: 708 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Bryan Marchment banks the shot off Roman Turek for the goal.
avi: 958 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
