San Jose

Listless Sharks Shut Out by Blues, Drop Second Straight

SAN JOSE – The St. Louis Blues entered SAP Center on Saturday night with the NHL’s worst combined save percentage by their goaltenders.

Carter Hutton wasn’t challenged often in an uninspiring Sharks performance, though, making 23 saves in helping the Blues spank San Jose, 4-0.

San Jose fell to 2-4-1 in its last seven games. The Sharks are just 10-10-2 against Western Conference teams on the season.

The Blues scored twice in the second period to jump out in front.

Colton Parayko’s blast on a St. Louis power play nicked Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s stick before whizzing past Martin Jones at 5:27, for the big defenseman’s second of the season.

Parayko assisted on David Perron’s marker at 10:01, too. He directed a puck towards the end wall, where it hit Brenden Dillon’s skate and came to rest just off the post. Perron whacked it through for a 2-0 lead.

Shortly after that goal, the Sharks lost center Joe Thornton when he was caught spearing Paul Stastny at 11:09 of the second period. Thornton was issued a five-minute major and game misconduct, the ninth of his career and first since 2010.

St. Louis didn’t score on that power play, taking a pair of minor penalties that actually gave the Sharks an advantage of their own midway through. The lead was extended in the third, though, when Jori Lehtera redirected an Alex Pietrangelo floater at 9:16.

Alex Steen scored an empty net goal with 5:23 left in regulation to cap the scoring.

The Sharks are 2-5-0 in their last seven regular season games against the Blues, although they defeated them in six games in last season’s Western Conference Final.

The Sharks were able to dress a healthy top six on defense for the first time since Dec. 30. David Schlemko (upper body) returned from missing the last five games, while Paul Martin (lower body) was back after sitting out Wednesday’s match in Calgary.

The Blues downed the Sharks at Scottrade Center on Nov. 17, 3-2. They return to SAP Center on March 16.

Special teams:

The Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play, including an extended two-man advantage early in the second period, when Joe Pavelski missed a wide-open net. They are 0-for-9 in two games against the Blues this season.

The Blues entered the night with 10 power play goals allowed on 36 opportunities over the last nine games.

St. Louis was 1-for-3 on the power play, and 6-for-19 in its last five games.

In goal:

Jones fell to 2-4-0 in his career against St. Louis, giving up three goals on 25 shots. He’s allowed at least three goals in his last four starts.

Hutton evened his record for the season at 5-5-2. He’s 3-0-1 in his career against the Sharks.

Lineup:

After making his NHL debut on Wednesday, Tim Heed was a healthy scratch. Mirco Mueller was reassigned to the Barracuda on Friday.

Tommy Wingels drew back into the lineup for an injured Joonas Donskoi (upper body). Ryan Carpenter was recalled on Saturday morning as an extra forward, but did not dress.

On Friday, the Sharks announced that defenseman Dylan DeMelo would miss approximately two months with a broken right wrist.

Up next:

The Sharks will host the Jets on Monday in a rare home matinee at 1 p.m. It’s the first of three games between San Jose and Winnipeg this season, and the only one at SAP Center.

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