Tempers flare, but San Jose Sharks lose to St. Louis Blues in Game Two - San Jose Mercury News

ST. LOUIS â€" The Sharks never were able to overcome a gaffe just 91 seconds into the game Saturday night and dropped a 3-0 decision to the St. Louis Blues in a game that had a nasty edge to it. Their playoff series now goes back to San Jose knotted at one game each.

That mistake occurred when St. Louis left wing Vladimir Sobotka fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that goalie Antti Niemi appeared to think he had smothered. Instead, the puck trickled into the crease and though no one seemed to be pressuring him, defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic swept it into his own net off the heel of his stick.

A second-period goal by David Backes provided breathing room for the Blues as San Jose was unable to get the puck past starting goalie Jaroslav Halak or back-up Brian Elliott, who replace Halak when he collided with his own defenseman early in the second period.

The Sharks had their chances in the game, but could come no closer than Joe Pavelski's shot off a goal post at 13:23 of the first period.

Halak had to leave the game just 97 seconds into the second period after Blues defenseman Barret Jackman, ran into him while trying to break up an odd-man rush with Logan Couture and Marty Havlat on the attack.

Back-up Brian Elliott stopped all eight shots he faced the rest of the second period and the Blues added to their lead at 13:49 when T.J. Oshie carried the puck down the sideboards, eluded a check by Jason Demers, deeked out

Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski and found Backes, who didn't miss the open side of the net.

Tempers flared several times late in the game and their was a late tussle between defenseman Dan Boyle and Blues forward Alexander Steen as the Sharks tried to scrap their way back into the game with no success.

Boyle earned a four-minute roughing penalty at that point and Oshie scored a power play goal with 24.8 seconds left to make it 3-0. All players on the ice squared off after the final buzzer.

The Sharks needed two overtimes to win Game 1 of the series 3-2 on Thursday night with Game 3 set for Monday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

For more on the Sharks, see David Pollak's Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks.