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Sharks end road trip with win over Blues

Dec 19, 2010 - 5:47 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Logan Couture scored two goals, Antero Niittymaki made 21 saves and the San Jose Sharks earned a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Devin Setoguchi also scored for the Sharks, who finished their three-game road trip 2-1 after back-to-back wins.

David Backes scored the only St. Louis goal on a penalty shot in the second period, and the Blues lost for the third time in four games.

The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the first period against a good home team in St. Louis.

"In the last two or three games our starts have been great and the momentum kind of carries over. We feed of it," said Setoguchi.

Couture deflected a Dan Boyle slap shot on a power play for the first goal at 9:30, and Vlasic beat Jaroslav Halak with a fluttering shot from the left side at 18:15.

Halak allowed the two first period goals on just seven shots and was beaten by another Couture deflection at 8:21 of the second period.

St. Louis got its only goal when Backes' soft wrister got through Niittymaki midway through the period, pulling the Blues within 3-1.

"It hit my pad," said Niittymaki. "It's game of inches sometimes."

San Jose ended the scoring when Halak gave up a rebound in the crease and Setoguchi was there to stuff it home.

"For whatever reason we had a tough time getting pucks down behind their defense and doing the things we do really well," said Blues defenseman Eric Brewer. "They did a good job of keeping the puck moving and keeping us a step behind."

Game Notes

The Blues fell to 10-3-2 this season at Scottrade Center...San Jose was 1- for-4 on the power play, while St. Louis was scoreless on its only opportunity.