ST. LOUIS — The Sharks did what they had to Thursday night to show that maybe their regular-season struggles against the Blues don't matter anymore.
Martin Havlat scored his second goal of the game 3:34 into the second overtime, giving the Sharks a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series Thursday night.
St. Louis swept the regular-season series between the teams 4-0.
After the Blues' Kevin Shattenkirk failed to get clear his zone, Havlat got a pass in the high slot from Ryane Clowe and fired a one-timer past Jaroslav Halak.
Andrew Desjardins tied it for San Jose with 5:16 left in regulation, banging in a one-timer from the slot from Tommy Wingels. Dan Boyle had two assists, and Antti Niemi made 40 saves for San Jose.
Patrik Berglund scored his first two career playoff goals in the third period for the Blues, the No. 2 seed in the West.
The Blues were in control most of the first overtime, reeling off nine shots in a row at one point, but Niemi stopped all 14 shots that reached him.
Bruins 1, Capitals O OT: Chris Kelly scored on a long slap shot 1:18 into overtime and the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins beat the visiting Capitals 1-0 in the opener of their East quarterfinal. "Goalies are so good now I think the days of going down the wing and beating a goalie are long gone," said Kelly, who thought the shot deflected off a defenseman's stick. "So I was pleasantly surprised to see it go in." In goal for Washington was rookie Braden Holtby, making his playoff debut because of injuries to Washington's top two goalies. He had 29 saves. "He was nervous," Washington captain Alex Ovechkin said, "but once he made the first save, he calmed down."
Rangers 4, Senators 2: Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle scored minutes apart in the second period to break open a tight game shortly after a New York timeout. The host Rangers were nursing a one-goal lead on a Rob Callahan goal when coach John Tortorella used his lone timeout after back-to-back icings. "We wanted to stop slapping the puck around," Tortorella said. "We kept smacking it back to them." The Rangers calmed down after that, Callahan said.
coyotes-Blackhawks: Chicago center Jonathan Toews, who missed the final 22 games of the regular season because of a concussion, played in Game 1 of the West series.
More playoffs: Canucks forward Byron Bitz was suspended for two games for boarding Kings forward Kyle Clifford in Game 1 of their West series. Bitz was given a major penalty and a game misconduct. Clifford stayed on the bench for a while, then left and did not return. … Predators defenseman Shea Weber was fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, for slamming Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg's head against the glass at the end of Game 1 of their West series. Zetterberg wasn't hurt, which factored into the penalty decision, the league said. … The Red Wings will be without center Darren Helm for the rest of the playoffs after surgery to repair tendon damage in his right arm. He was sliced by the left skate of Nashville wing Alexander Radulov in the first period Wednesday. … Linesman Tony Sericolo made a mistake in not whistling the play dead for offside before Daniel Briere's first goal in Game 1 of the Penguins-Flyers series, NHL executive Colin Campbell said. "We're as upset as Pittsburgh, almost," Campbell said. The Flyers were down 3-0 at the time; they won 4-3 in overtime. The Penguins said after the game the missed called wasn't the reason they lost. … The Kings apologized for making a playful jab on their Twitter account after their 4-2 win over the Canucks in Game 1 of their West series late Wednesday. The post said: "To everyone in Canada outside of BC (British Columbia), you're welcome."
around the league: The Flames and coach Brent Sutter parted company amicably, the sides said. Calgary didn't make the playoffs in Sutter's three seasons. Sutter told Canada's TSN TV network the sides had different views of the team's direction.
Sharks | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
at Blues | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
First Period—None. Penalties—None.
Second Period—1, San Jose, Havlat 1 (Boyle, Clowe), 6:02 (pp). Penalties—Perron, StL (slashing), 4:23; Demers, SJ (interference), 9:40; Backes, StL (interference), 14:33; Galiardi, SJ (interference), 16:54.
Third Period—2, St. Louis, Berglund 1 (Shattenkirk, Steen), :54. 3, St. Louis, Berglund 2 (McDonald, Russell), 7:28 (pp). 4, San Jose, Desjardins 1 (Wingels, Boyle), 14:44. Penalties—Mitchell, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:23; Berglund, StL (roughing), 4:23; Havlat, SJ (tripping), 6:31; Huskins, StL (hooking), 8:23. First Overtime—None. Penalties—None. Second Overtime—5, San Jose, Havlat 2 (Clowe, Couture), 3:34. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—San Jose 4-9-10-8-3—34. St. Louis 7-13-8-14-0—42. Power-play opportunities—San Jose 1 of 3; St. Louis 1 of 3. Goalies—San Jose, Niemi 1-0-0 (42 shots-40 saves). St. Louis, Halak 0-1-0 (34-31).
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Explore all your optionsat Bruins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Capitals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First Period—None. Penalties—Krejci, Bos (boarding), 12:54; Beagle, Was, double minor (high-sticking), 18:27.
Second Period—None. Penalties—Brouwer, Was (delay of game), 2:29; Carlson, Was (roughing), 12:18; Krejci, Bos (roughing), 12:18; Holtby, Was, served by Johansson (roughing), 12:42.
Third Period—None. Penalties—Chara, Bos (cross-checking), 3:12. First Overtime—1, Boston, Kelly 1 (Pouliot, Rolston), 1:18. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Washington 5-2-9-1—17. Boston 9-17-3-1—30. Power-play opportunities—Washington 0 of 2; Boston 0 of 4. Goalies—Washington, Holtby 0-1-0 (30 shots-29 saves). Boston, Thomas 1-0-0 (17-17).
at Rangers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Senators | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
First Period—1, N.Y. Rangers, Callahan 1 (Stralman, Anisimov), 12:01. Penalties—Kuba, Ott (holding), 4:00; Prust, NYR (tripping), 8:11; Bickel, NYR (cross-checking), 15:13; Karlsson, Ott (roughing), 15:31; Boyle, NYR (roughing), 15:31.
Second Period—2, N.Y. Rangers, Gaborik 1, 16:24. 3, N.Y. Rangers, Boyle 1 (Anisimov, Girardi), 19:06. Penalties—McDonagh, NYR (tripping), 12:56; Kuba, Ott (hooking), 16:53.
Third Period—4, N.Y. Rangers, Richards 1 (Hagelin), 2:15. 5, Ottawa, Alfredsson 1 (Spezza, Michalek), 10:05. 6, Ottawa, Condra 1 (Foligno, Turris), 17:41. Penalties—Neil, Ott, misconduct, 2:51; Rupp, NYR, misconduct, 2:51; Smith, Ott (slashing), 7:44; Smith, Ott (delay of game), 12:04. Shots on Goal—Ottawa 13-11-8—32. N.Y. Rangers 8-12-11—31. Power-play opportunities—Ottawa 0 of 3; N.Y. Rangers 0 of 4. Goalies—Ottawa, Anderson 0-1-0 (31 shots-27 saves). N.Y. Rangers, Lundqvist 1-0-0 (32-30).
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