SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Game 14 – 11/5 – SJS 4 vs. ANA 5 (SO)…Kevin Labanc (1g, 2a), Timo Meier (1g, 2a) and Tomas Hertl (1g, 2a) each posted three-point efforts as the San Jose Sharks extended their point streak to three games with a shootout decision against the Anaheim Ducks. Erik Karlsson (0g, 1a) and Meier extended their individual scoring streaks to five games each, totaling 13 points (7g, 6a) and nine points (5g, 4a), respectively. Hertl now has three multi-point efforts in the past four games.
SJ Goals: Labanc (2), Meier (5), Kunin (2), Hertl (2)
SF: 52
SA: 25
SJ PP: 1/5
SJ PK: 0/0
W: Stolarz
OTL: Reimer
RECENT SHARKS TRANSACTIONS
10/18 Activated F Alexander Barabanov off IR
10/10 Assigned C Thomas Bordeleau, D Nick Cicek, G Aaron Dell, LW William Eklund and F Jeff Viel to the San Jose
Barracuda; Placed F Alexander Barabanov and D Markus Nutivaara on IR; Returned F Ethan Cardwell to his junior team
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: ST. LOUIS BLUES
The San Jose Sharks begin a four-game road swing with a Thursday tilt at St. Louis, the first of back-to-back games Thursday and Friday against the Blues and Dallas Stars, respectively. St. Louis finds itself mired in a franchise-record eight-game skid, the Blues tagged with a record of 0-8-0 and without a standings point after starting the year with three consecutive wins. The Blues have been outscored by a 43-12 margin over that span, most recently falling 3-1 to Boston on Monday and by a 5-1 count to Philadelphia Tuesday. Thursday’s matchup is the lone home game for the Blues this week, sandwiched between Monday-Tuesday road tilts on the east coast and with an upcoming road swing including Saturday at Vegas, Monday at Colorado and Wednesday at Chicago.
Nov. 10, 5:00 p.m. PT
SAN JOSE SHARKS vs. ST. LOUIS BLUES
3-8-3 (9 pts), 8th in Pacific 2022-23 RECORD 3-8-0 (6 pts), 8th in Central
1-1-3 LAST 5 GAMES 0-5-0
First Meeting SEASON SERIES First Meeting
45-58-2-9 ALL-TIME RECORD AGAINST OPPONENT 67-37-2-8
2022-23 PLAYER STATS
12 players (14) GAMES PLAYED LEADER 13 players (11)
Erik Karlsson (10) GOALS LEADER Vladimir Tarasenko (4)
Erik Karlsson/Tomas Hertl (9) ASSISTS LEADER Justin Faulk/Brayden Schenn (7)
Erik Karlsson (19) POINTS LEADER Justin Faulk/Brayden Schenn (10)
STORYLINES
KARLSSON KEEPS COOKING…Erik Karlsson extended his scoring streak to five games on Thursday, recording an assist to reach 13 points (7g, 6a) in the five-game stretch. Karlsson, who leads NHL defensemen in goals (10) and points (19), set a career best with at least one goal in four consecutive games (10/27/22 – 11/3/22, 7g), just the second-ever Shark blue-liner to accomplish the feat. Karlsson, who was named Third Star of the Week by the NHL on November 7, is the third-ever NHL defenseman and first since 1929-30 season to reach double-digit goals in 13 or fewer games, Harry Cameron needing seven games in 1917-18 with the Toronto Arenas and King Clancy needing nine games in 1929-30 with the original Ottawa Senators. Entering the week, Karlsson ranked fifth in the NHL in scoring and trailed only Connor McDavid in goal total (13).
IT’S TIMO TIME… Timo Meier extended his scoring streak to five games with a goal on Saturday with a season-best three points, a goal and two assists. Meier is up to five goals and four assists in his current five-game point streak and cracked the Sharks all-time top 10 in goals scored with his marker on Saturday against Anaheim, tying Marco Sturm (128) for 10th.
HERTL HEATING UP… Tomas Hertl registered a season-high three points in Saturday’s (11/5) game against the Anaheim Ducks, including a goal and two assists. The forward has 10 points in the team’s previous nine games dating back to October 20 at New York Rangers and has three multi-point efforts in San Jose’s last four games. Hertl has five goals and 17 points in 25 career games against the Blues.
CRANK THE POWER… The Sharks’ power play closed out the six-game home stand in style with goals in five consecutive games, notching six goals in that span, to go 6-for-18 (33.3-percent) since October 25. Of those six power play markers, Erik Karlsson has factored into five with a goal and four assists.
PRIME PENALTY KILL…San Jose killed off their first 22 penalties of the season before finally allowing a power play goal on Oct. 22 at New Jersey, and has remained near the top of the league at 92.3-percent on the year. San Jose has been operating at a league-best 88.4% shorthanded efficiency since the 2022 NHL All-Star break, and the Sharks have the league’s fourth-best penalty kill percentage since the start of the 2020-21 season (83.9%).
WORKING OVERTIME… San Jose has been logging plenty of ice time of late, going beyond the 60 minutes of regulation in four of the past five games, including shootouts in each of the last three. The recent run is the fourth time in Sharks history that the team has reached a shootout in three straight, including February 5-9, 2021 (2-1), December 21-27, 2013 (3-0), and January 29-February 2, 2013 (2-1). The Sharks have never gone to a shootout in four straight.
STURM WARNING…Nico Sturm netted his fifth goal of the season during Saturday’s (10/29) game against Tampa Bay, the forward breaking a tie with Logan Couture (4) for second-most on the roster. Sturm has three goals and four points in San Jose’s last five games, lighting the lamp against Tampa (10/29), Vegas (10/25) and Philadelphia (10/23), and his five-goals-in-eight-games stretch was the best of his career.
CAPTAIN COUTURE…Logan Couture recorded three points (2g, 1a) in the Sharks 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. San Jose’s captain opened the game’s scoring with a strike just 26 seconds in. Per NHL PR, this put him in a tie with Joe Pavelski for the most opening-minute goals in franchise history (eight). With his second goal of the evening – the 300th of his career – Couture became the third player to score 300 goals with the franchise, after Patrick Marleau (522) and Joe Pavelski (355). He is now second on the club in scoring with seven points (4g, 3a) in 10 games.
REIM TIME…Sharks goaltender James Reimer earned his first shutout of the season on Oct. 23 with a 30-save performance at Philadelphia. Reimer’s shutout, his fifth as a Shark, moved him into a tie with Aaron Dell for eighth on the franchise’s all-time shutouts list. Reimer also owns a .937 shorthanded save percentage since joining the Sharks at the start of the 2021-22 season, the best in the NHL in that span (min. 10 games played) and the best two-season stretch by a goaltender since the NHL began tracking the statistic in 1997-98 (min. 30 games played, second best is Cory Schneider from 2010-12 with a .936 SV% in 58 GP).
QUICK START KUNIN…Sharks forward Luke Kunin tallied points in each of his first two regular games with the Sharks, recording the secondary assist on Tomas Hertl’s goal on Oct. 7 and scoring his first goal as a member of the Sharks the next day. Kunin’s 21:23 minutes of ice time on Oct. 7 is the second highest he’s logged in his career and the most he has logged since 2019. His power-play marker on Oct. 8 was the first power-play goal of his career and the first special teams goal scored in the 2022-23 NHL season. Kunin had points on each of the Sharks first two power play strikes (1g, 1a) of the season, matching his career high for power play points in a season. Including exhibition and preseason, Kunin scored one point in each of the first six games he played with the Sharks.
GRIER’S GAMEPLAN…On July 5, Sharks president Jonathan Becher and assistant general manager Joe Will introduced Mike Grier as the team’s fifth General Manager and first black general manager in NHL history. The 47-year-old appeared in 221 games with the Sharks from 2006 through 2008 as part of a 14-season, 1,060 game NHL playing career. Just two days later, Grier was with the team as they selected center Filip Bystedt with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. On July 13, the Sharks traded longtime defenseman Brent Burns and signed Matt Benning, Oskar Lindblom, Markus Nutivaara and Nico Sturm on the first day of free agency. A full list of players under NHL contract that have joined the organization since July 5 is below:
QUINN FOR THE WIN…On July 26, Grier introduced David Quinn as Head Coach of the Sharks and later named Scott Gordon, Ryan Warsofsky and Brian Wiseman as Assistant Coaches, Thomas Speer NHL Goaltending Coach and Nick Gialdini Video Coach. Quinn, who most recently served as head coach for Team USA at both the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 World Championship, spent three seasons as head coach of the New York Rangers from 2018 to 2021, earning a 96-87-25 record. In his three years, the Rangers held the league’s eighth-best power-play percentage (22.1%), ranked seventh in team blocked shots (4,195) and takeaways (2,244), and were tied for tenth in wins when trailing first (52). Adam Fox, who made his NHL debut under Quinn in 2019-20, was awarded the Norris Trophy following the 2020-21 season. Quinn’s first NHL win was a 3-2 overtime victory against the Sharks at Madison Square Garden with the Rangers on Oct. 11, 2018. His first NHL win with the Sharks was a 3-2 overtime victory against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 21, 2022. The 56- year-old is one win shy of 100 as an NHL head coach.
ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Scott Perunovich – Shoulder (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Oct. 4)
Marco Scandella – Right Hip (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Sep. 20)
Logan Brown – Upper-Body (Placed on IR on Nov. 9)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 35
Recent Transactions
November
9 – Recalled forwards Nikita Alexandrov and Josh Leivo from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
9 – Placed forward Logan Brown on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury
9 – Assigned forward Jake Neighbours to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
BLUES VS. SHARKS
-This will be the first of 3 matchups between the Blues and the Sharks this season (Mar. 2 at San Jose & Mar. 9 in St. Louis)
-The Blues went 3-0-0 against the Sharks last season (2 on the road, 1 at home), outscoring the Sharks 12-5 in those 3 games
-The Blues have won 5 straight games against San Jose
-The Blues have also earned at least a point in 7 straight games against San Jose (6-0-1)
-Going back to Mar. 27, 2018 (reg. season), the Blues are 12-2-3 in their last 17 games against the Sharks
-The Blues won their only home game against San Jose last season and are 6-1-1 in their last 8 home games against San Jose (reg. season)
-Blues’ defenseman Niko Mikkola is expected to dress in his 100th career NHL game
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
11/12 – At Vegas
11/14 – At Colorado
11/16 – At Chicago
11/17 – vs. Washington
11/19 – vs. Anaheim
FAST STARTS ARE KEY FOR BLUES
-The Blues are 3-1-0 this season when leading after the first period and are 1-0-0 when leading after 2 periods
-Their 3 wins when leading after the first period share 10th in the NHL (1. Boston, 10-0-0)
-The Blues are also 3-3-0 this season when scoring first
-They have given up just 6 goals in the first period this season, which shares 2nd in the NHL (1. Dallas, 4)
-The Blues first period goal differential of +2 shares 10th in the NHL (1. Vegas, +13)
BLUES CONSISTENT UNDER ARMSTRONG
-Since Doug Armstrong took over the reigns as the Blues General Manager in 2010-11, the Blues have posted a 524-301-99 record
-Their 524 wins since then rank 5th in the NHL (1. PIT, 547)
-The Blues have made the postseason 10 out of the 12 seasons since Armstrong became GM, 1 of 5 teams in the NHL to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (PIT, 12/WSH, 11/BOS & NSH, 10)
-Armstrong is also just 1 of 2 GMs to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (David Poile, 10)
-Since 2010-11, the Blues rank 8th with 2.91 goals per game (1. VGK, 3.20) and rank 3rd in the NHL with 2.57 goals against per game (1. BOS, 2.46)
-The Blues also have the 2nd best penalty kill (83.0%) under Armstrong (1. BOS, 83.5%), and share the 5th best power play (20.7%) in the league (1. WSH, 21.6%)
BINNINGTON CHASING BLUES HISTORY
-Jordan Binnington, who has 93 career wins in 170 GP, is just 7 wins shy of becoming the 6th goaltender in franchise history to reach 100 wins as a Blue (Liut/Allen/Joseph/Fuhr/Elliott)
-Binnington is on pace to become the 3rd fastest goaltender to reach 100 wins with the Blues
-Binnington also shares 7th on the Blues all-time franchise list with 11 shutouts, just 1 of 8 goaltenders in franchise history to record at least 11 shutouts
Fastest to 100 career wins with the Blues:
- Brian Elliott – 175 GP
- Jake Allen – 176 GP
- Curtis Joseph – 209 GP
BLUES STAY STRONG UNDER BERUBE
-Since taking over on Nov. 18, 2018, Berube has led the Blues to a 159-89-36 record (354 points)
-The Blues 354 points since Nov. 18, 2018, rank 10th in the NHL (1. TBL, 391), while their 159 wins also rank 10th (1. TBL, 185)
-Their 3.20 goals per game rank 10th in the NHL under Berube (1. FLA, 3.53)
-The Blues have posted a mark of 2.82 goals against per game under Berube, which ranks 10th in the NHL (1. BOS, 2.52)
-The Blues also have the 3rd best power play in the NHL at 23.8% since Berube became head coach (1. EDM, 26.8%)
-Last season on Dec. 29 vs. EDM, Berube became the 7th different coach in NHL history to win 200 games and play in at least 1,000 career games
Wins as Coach / Games Played
Craig Berube – 234 / 1,054
Randy Carlyle – 475 / 1,055
Bob Pulford – 363 / 1,079
Craig MacTavish – 301 / 1,093
Red Kelly – 278 / 1,316
Brent Sutter – 215 / 1,111
Larry Robinson – 209 / 1,384
VLADDY CONTINUES HIS HOT PLAY FROM LAST SEASON
-Vladimir Tarasenko has 3 points in his last 5 games (2g, 1a)
-Tarasenko leads the Blues with 4 goals
-Tarasenko also ranks 3rd on the Blues with 9 points (4g, 5a) (1. Faulk/Schenn, 10)
-Tarasenko shares 1st on the Blues with 7 even-strength points (4esg, 3esa) (Faulk)
-Tarasenko recorded 3 assists on Oct. 19 in Seattle, including 2 in a span of 17 seconds in the first period
-His 2 assists in 17 seconds marked the fastest 2 assists by a Blues player since Brett Hull on Nov. 14, 1996 (12 seconds)
-Tarasenko posted 48 assists and 82 points (34g) last season, both of which were career-highs
-His 82 points last season were the most in a season by a Blue since Pavol Demitra recorded 93 points (36g, 57a) in 2002-03
FAULK AMONG TOP D-MEN IN THE LEAGUE TO START SEASON
-Justin Faulk shares the lead on the Blues with 10 points this season (3g, 7a) (Schenn)
-He also shares the team lead with 7 assists (Schenn) and shares 2nd on the Blues with 3 goals (1. Tarasenko, 4)
-Faulk has recorded 6 assists in his last 7 games and has recorded at least 1 point in 7 of the Blues’ 11 games this season
-Faulk posted 10 points (3g, 7a) in his first 9 games of the season, which is the most points he has posted in the first 9 games of the season in his career
-Faulk has also recorded the 14th instance in franchise history of a Blues’ d-man posting at least 10 points in the teams’ first 10 games of the season (Last: Alex Pietrangelo, 12 points (4g, 8a) in 2017-18)
-Faulk shares 7th among all d-men in the NHL with 3 goals (1. Karlsson, 10) and shares 18th among all dmen with 7 assists (1. Makar/ Q. Hughes, 12)
-Faulk also shares 9th among all d-men in the NHL with 10 points (1. Karlsson, 19)
-Faulk’s OT goal on Oct. 19 at Seattle was his 3rd overtime goal as a Blue, matching Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson for the most among defensemen in franchise history
-Faulk also has 10 game-winning goals as a Blue, which shares the 6th most among defensemen in franchise history (1. Pietrangelo, 25 / 4. Parayko & Ramage, 11)
BRAYDEN IS SCHENN-SATIONAL
-Brayden Schenn shares 1st on the Blues with 10 points this season (3g, 7a) (1. Faulk)
-He also shares the team lead with 7 assists (Faulk)
-Schenn has 5 points (2g, 3a) in his last 7 games and has recorded at least 1 point in 7 of the Blues’ 11 games this season
-Schenn recorded 10 points in the first 10 games of the season, matching the 2nd best start of his career in the first 10 games of the season (10 points (6g, 4a) in 2020-21 in first 10 games / 11 points, (8g, 3a) in 2019-20 in first 10 games)
-Schenn leads the Blues this season with 4 power play points (1ppg, 3ppa)
-Schenn has 24 power play goals since the start of the 2019-20 season, which ranks 2nd among all Blues in that span (1. Perron, 26)
THOMAS LOOKING TO BUILD OFF CAREER SEASON
-Robert Thomas has posted 7 points (2g, 5a) this season, which ranks 4th on the Blues
-Thomas has 3 points (2g, 1a) in his last 6 games
-Last season, Thomas set career-highs with 72 games played, 20 goals, 57 assists, and 77 points
-Thomas’s 57 assists last season led the Blues and were the most in a single season by a Blue since Pavol Demitra also recorded 57 assists in 2002-03
-Last season Thomas and Kyrou became the first set of teammates in franchise history to each record 40 assists in the same season prior to turning 24 years old
-They also became the 2nd set of Blues teammates to each record 70+ points in the same season prior to turning 24 (Brian Sutter, 70 points (36g, 34a) & Bernie Federko, 70 points (20g, 50a), in 1978-79)
ALEXANDROV CALLED UP TO THE NHL
-The Blues recalled forward Nikita Alexandrov, along with forward Josh Leivo, from the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday
-Alexandrov, who was drafted by the Blues in the 2nd round (62nd overall) in 2019, has yet to make his NHL debut
-Alexandrov has posted 8 points (4g, 4a) in 9 games with Springfield this season, which ranks 4th on the team
-He posted 30 points (12g, 18a) in 67 games with Springfield last season, which was his first full season in the AHL
-He also posted 8 points (2g, 8a) in 18 playoff games last season, helping the Springfield Thunderbirds reach the AHL Calder Cup Finals
