Despite barrage of goals, San Jose Sharks lose to St. Louis Blues

SAN JOSE — The Sharks wore their original-style jerseys in their game against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at SAP Center, bringing back some nostalgic memories from their early days as an organization some 30 years ago.

As those who were around at the time remember, it wasn’t always predictable, or good.

The Sharks scored a season-high six goals, but also allowed more than they had all year in a wild 7-6 loss to the Blues in which neither team could get many key saves or hold a lead for very long.

In a game that nearly featured a goalie fight, or at least a heated altercation, the Blues finally took the lead for good at the 7:14 mark of the third period, as Marco Scandella scored his second of the game for a 7-6 advantage for St. Louis.

The Sharks had a one-goal lead at four separate times Saturday, including a 4-3 lead midway through the second period after Evander Kane’s second goal of the game.

But the Blues responded with goals from Zach Sanford and Mackenzie MacEachern, with MacEachern’s shorthanded goal coming at the 1:18 mark of the third period to take a 5-4 lead. From there, the Sharks got goals from Kevin Labanc and Logan Couture, with Couture’s goal at the 6:31 mark of the third period tying the game 6-6.

“We did a lot of good things with the puck. Without the puck, it’s mental when you get a lead and you lose it four times, and the next shot’s down and it’s in the net,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “So it’s a tough one. It’s a game that we played well enough to win.”

Sharks goalie Devan Dubnyk allowed seven goals on 31 shots, as the Sharks fell to 7-9-2 this season. Their next game is Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, their third game of what is now a seven-game homestand.

“I haven’t been in a game like that in a long, long time, so it was a strange one,” Dubnyk said. “Disappointing. I thought that we played really well as a group and I just wanted to be able to come up with something there when the guys keep coming back and tie it at 5-5 and 6-6.

“You want to be able to knock one down for them, so it sucks. But just got to forget about it as best you can and get ready for the next game.”

Before the late barrage of goals, the Sharks chased Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

And when Binnington got pulled from the game midway through the second period after he allowed his fourth goal, he didn’t go quietly.

Binnington was pulled by Blues coach Craig Berube shortly after Kane’s goal at the 10:34 mark of the second period. As Binnington skated toward the St. Louis bench, judging from his body language, he must have heard someone from the Sharks bench say something in his direction. Binnington circled back and shoved Radim Simek before he skated away.

But Binnington wasn’t done.

Since there’s no room for the backup goalie on the visitors bench at SAP Center, Binnington had to skate to the other end of the ice close to the Sharks net and Dubnyk. Binnington then faked a punch on Erik Karlsson with his blocker hand before he continued toward the exit. As Dubnyk skated out to say something to his counterpart, Binnington shoved him, exchanging words with Dubnyk before he skated away.

“I’ve seen him do that a couple times before, but I think that was good for us,” Sanford said. “Obviously he was pissed off and we were pissed off. To see him do something like that and go out with some fire was good for us and getting Ville in there kind of kicking it up a level playing hard the rest of the way.”

The Sharks led 4-3 after Kane’s goal, but the Blues tied it up on a goal by Sanford with 1:44 left in the second period.

The Sharks had a 2-1 lead after a strong first period.

Timo Meier scored his third of the season on the first shot of the game, as his shot from a sharp angle toward the net went off Blues defenseman Torey Krug and skipped past Binningtonn for a 1-0 Sharks lead just 17 seconds into the game.

The Blues got that goal back at the 6:08 mark of the first. Just seconds after a Sharks turnover, Marco Scandella’s slapshot from just inside the blue line got past Dubnyk, who was making his first start since Feb. 20. Kane then scored his first of the game at the 10:11 mark of the first period on the power play.