• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sharp's shorthanded goals lead Blackhawks past Blues

Nov 4, 2007 - 6:30 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Patrick Sharp scored two shorthanded goals in the third period to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Sharp netted the game-winner with 2:21 remaining after St. Louis turned over the puck in its own end.

Manny Legace played the puck along the end boards, but Rene Bourque intercepted it on the left wing and fired it toward the net. The puck caromed off the stick of defenseman Barret Jackman to Sharp, who wristed it past Legace from the slot for his fifth goal of the season.

"Bourque made a great play to keep it alive," Sharp said of his sixth career shorthanded goal. "But, that (scoring two shorthanded goals in one game) is the first time that has ever happened to me.

"We have forwards that can skate in here that want to have short shifts and keep our legs fresh. So both of those goals were results of speed up ice and aggressiveness."

Sharp became the eighth player in franchise history to score two shorthanded goals in a game. The last was Steve Sullivan, who accomplished the feat against Colorado on January 26, 2001.

The player who did it prior to Sullivan was current Chicago coach Denis Savard in 1988.

"(Sharp) played a heck of a game for us," Savard said.

The tally came nearly three minutes after Paul Kariya had tied the game at 2-2. Kariya netted his third goal of the season when his shot from the left faceoff circle slid past goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin after a deflection off the stick of blue-liner James Vandermeer.

With St. Louis on a power play less than eight minutes into the third, Sharp stole the puck from Jackman at the blue line and skated in on Legace. Sharp faked to his right before backhanding the puck past the netminder to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 advantage at 7:41.

"I knew I had a jump on the guy (Jackman) and just wanted to put on my best move," Sharp said.

St. Louis coach Andy Murray saw the play as an opportunity lost.

"All I know is that we have the puck under perfect possession and, 5 1/2 seconds later, it's in the back of our net after we had a couple of great chances at the other end," he said. "We failed to execute in a couple of situations when we needed to."

Dustin Byfuglien had an eventful return to the NHL on Saturday.

The 22-year defenseman, who was recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, opened the scoring just 4:45 into the first period.

Byfuglien took Bourque's drop pass and blasted a shot from outside the top of the left faceoff circle over the left shoulder of Legace for a 1-0 lead.

David Perron evened the contest with just over four minutes remaining in the opening session.

Perron, a healthy scratch in seven of the Blues' first 11 games, had to wait through a five-minute video review before being able to celebrate his first career goal.

Doug Weight backhanded a centering pass from the left wing boards as Perron was rushing down the slot. With Byfuglien dragging him down, Perron crashed into netminder Nikolai Khabibulin, and the puck slid inside the right goalpost.

"(Byflugien) came to camp and was hurt, but he has worked hard," Savard said. "We hope he continues to play as well as he did tonight."

Khabibulin finished with 20 saves for Chicago, while Legace made 19 for St. Louis.

Chicago also benefited from the goalposts, most notably at the expense of St. Louis center Jay McClement. He hit the crossbar on a shorthanded breakaway with six minutes left in the second period and then fired a wrist shot off the right post midway through the third.

"With two determined teams, it was a chess game out there tonight," Savard said. "We came up with the result we wanted. It was a good effort by everybody, and though we were fortunate, we deserved it."