Jordan Binnington made 22 saves through regulation and overtime, then stopped all three shootout attempts for his 151st career victory as the St. Louis Blues earned a 3-2 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Binnington tied Mike Luit atop the Blues’ all-time victories list among goalies.
Jordan Kyrou and Nathan Walker scored in regulation for the Blues, who won for just the second time in their past eight games (2-5-1). Jake Neighbours provided the lone goal for either team in the shootout.
Alexander Wennberg scored twice for the Sharks, who have won just one of their last six games (1-2-3). Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini assisted on both tallies.
Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves in his third NHL start and first for the Sharks.
With Askarov pulled for an extra attacker, Wennberg scored from the right faceoff dot with nine seconds left to force overtime.
The Blues scored 11 seconds in the game with their fourth forward line. Askarov tried to clear the puck along the boards, but Radek Faska intercepted his pass in the left corner and set up Walker’s point-blank goal in front of the net.
San Jose tied the game 1-1 at 8:23 of the opening period with a power-play goal. Wennberg snapped a shot into the upper left corner of the net from a tough right-side angle.
St. Louis finished the first period with a 15-7 shots advantage. The Blues earned two good scoring chances late in the period, but Askarov stopped Robert Thomas stepping out from behind the net and Kyrou on his shot from the slot.
Early in the second period, Klim Kostin broke in on Binnington from the left wing on a two-on-one break and pushed the puck through him. However, the puck trickled wide and the game remained tied.
Kyrou put the Blues up 2-1 with 8:13 left in the second period. Pierre-Olivier Joseph fired the puck into the crease from the left corner, and Kyrou redirected it through Askarov.
Askarov made a glove save on Brandon Saad’s shot from outside the right post early in third period to keep the Sharks within one goal.
–Field Level Media
