GDT #15: Blues @ Sharks 9:30 CT Bally Sports, 101ESPN

[theohall]

BLUES The St. Louis Blues continued their strong November run, cruising to a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday behind Jordan Binnington's 13th career shutout. The 30-save effort ties Binnington with Roman Turek for fifth on the franchise's all-time leaderboard.

The Blues have now won three games in a row and five of their last six, taking an up-and-down October into as strong a November as any team in the NHL. Since Nov. 3, the Blues' 10 points share the League lead and their 4.50 goals per game trail only Pittsburgh and Winnipeg atop the standings. Prior to November, the Blues' offense ranked No. 31 in the League at just 1.75 goals per game.

Tuesday night's win over the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup champions saw Robert Thomas extend his point streak to a season-long seven games and saw Brayden Schenn come within one point of 600 for his career. Torey Krug also continued his scoring surge, dishing out assists to Jordan Kyrou and Jakub Vrana in the second period.

The Blues look to keep up their momentum when they begin a four-game road trip to the West Coast. Starting with a matchup against the struggling San Jose Sharks, the trip continues in Los Angeles and Anaheim for a weekend back-to-back and concludes right before Thanksgiving in Arizona.

They'll visit the Sharks with a record of 8-5-1, good for 17 points and fourth in the Central Division.

SHARKS The San Jose Sharks have struggled in the win column out of the gate this season, losing their first 11 games before consecutive wins over Philadelphia and Edmonton last week.

The last year saw the Sharks part ways with top contributors Erik Karlsson - fresh off his 2023 Norris Trophy win - and Timo Meier as they commit to a rebuild process. Between their two trades with Pittsburgh and New Jersey, respecitvely, the Sharks added several draft picks and prospects as well as future financial flexibility.

The Sharks have dropped their last three contests since the back-to-back wins last week, most recently a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers. San Jose had a 3-2 lead seven minutes into the third period, but the Panthers scored two goals in a 63-second span to take the lead and later sealed it with an empty-netter.

Thursday's Hockey Fights Cancer-themed matchup with the Blues marks the end of a two-game homestand for the Sharks, heading North to Vancouver and Seattle next week.

The Sharks host the Blues with a record of 2-13-1, worth five points and eighth in the Pacific Division.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues went 3-0-0 against the Sharks last season, overall winning their last eight matchups and earning points in their last 10. Both the win streak and point streak are the Blues' longest active such streaks against any single team, with the series continuing on March 30 in St. Louis and April 6 in San Jose.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Torey Krug, whose two assists on Tuesday put him up to six points in his last four games. During this streak which began on Nov. 7, Krug's point total shares third among all NHL defensemen.

SHARKS Tomáš Hertl, leading the Sharks with 11 points this season. Hertl has four points in his last four games and has recorded 19 points in 28 games against the Blues throughout his career.

BLUE NOTES
The Blues' five straight road wins against San Jose is one shy of matching their longest active road win streak against a single franchise, a six-game win streak in Toronto

The Blues have scored a power-play goal in five straight games against San Jose, going 6-for-18 (33.3%) on the power play over that span

Jordan Binnington's shutout on Tuesday makes the Blues just the third team in the NHL to have multiple goalies post at least one shutout this season. Joel Hofer's, the first of his career, came on Oct. 26 at Calgary.

The Blues' overall mark of 2.50 goals-against-per-game this season ranks fifth in the NHL

Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn both share No. 6 in the NHL with five goals apiece in the month of November.

The Blues' next seven games will all come against Western Conference opponents, facing Nashville, Chicago and Minnesota following the upcoming road trip.

[theohall]

Interesting side note from Krug's interview with JR on The Athletic. Krug says the current Blues system he's played before. Considering he only played for Boston, it's the same system Cassidy has used and continues to use with Vegas. It just took the Blues forwards time to adjust.

[glen a richter]

In theory this should be a righteous ass kicking. Will they play down to the opponent or will they do what they should do?

Blues 7 - Kyrou (3), Thomas (2), Buchnevich, Krug
Sharks 1

[Portland Blues]

WTF? Just looked at my phone and we're down 5-0 at the end of the 2nd.

[glen a richter]

I guess that answered my question.

[theohall]

You had to ask...