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Saturday, Dec. 4 8:00pm ET
Home still very sweet for Blues | |||||
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BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Forget back spasms, the story line on Pierre Turgeon now is back-to-back three-point games. Turgeon followed a three-goal game in his return from a four-game layoff with a goal and two assists Saturday night as the St. Louis Blues beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2.
Turgeon didn't have an explanation. "When it goes that way, you take the wave and just ride with it and keep going," Turgeon said. "I'm just riding the wave." Roman Turek was six minutes away from his second shutout of the season when Owen Nolan scored his 18th goal on a power play with six minutes to go. Ron Sutter's shorthanded goal with 1:55 left made it close for Turek, who is 4-0-1 for his career against the Sharks. The Blues ended the threat when Derek King scored off Turgeon's setup with 51.2 seconds to go. Turgeon leads the Blues with 14 goals and 30 points, and has a hand in six of the team's last seven goals. He had all three goals in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. "He's been great all year, but the last two games he's been even better than that," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's nice to see him come back flying." Teammates are a bit envious. "I don't know what he's drinking, but whatever he's drinking he should keep drinking it," defenseman Marc Bergevin said. "And I want some of that." The comeback was no consolation for the Sharks. "We're not playing well enough, and I don't think it really matters who we're playing," goalie Steve Shields said. "We can match up against anybody in the league, but when we don't play our best we can't win." Jochen Hecht scored the game's first goal, his first in eight games, and assisted on Turgeon's goal. Mike Eastwood also scored for St. Louis. The Blues are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, which coincides with the return of defenseman Al MacInnis from a broken ankle, and tied Detroit for first place in the Central Division. The teams also are tied for second overall in the NHL with 36 points, one point behind the Phoenix Coyotes. St. Louis is 5-0-2 in its last seven home games and 10-1-2 in its last 13 at home, outscoring its opponents 51-21, after losing the first two. The Blues were one game above .500 last season at the Kiel Center. Hecht beat Steve Shields on the Blues' second shot, scoring from the side of the net at 1:26 of the first period after setup passes by Turgeon and Scott Pellerin. Turgeon scored at 33 seconds of the third period, taking a pass off the boards from Hecht and skating in alone on Shields. Eastwood made it a three-goal lead at 8:46, breaking in on the left side off a feed from MacInnis for his ninth goal. Eastwood, who had nine goals last season, has seven goals and four assists in the last 12 games. Geoff Courtnall, who retired due to post-concussion syndrome last month, served as an analyst for the Blues' radio broadcast team. Courtnall was subbing for Bruce Affleck, who has an illness.
| ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard San Jose Clubhouse St. Louis Clubhouse RECAPS Chicago 9 Boston 3
St. Louis 4 AUDIO/VIDEO Pierre Turgeon narrates his goal and one of his assists. avi: 1052 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Jochen Hecht scores with just 1:26 gone in the first period. avi: 700 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Owen Nolan scores his tenth power-play goal of the year. avi: 413 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 |