By ,
Published November 20, 2014
The St. Louis Blues look to continue their surge up the standings under head coach Ken Hitchcock as they play host this evening to the San Jose Sharks.
The Blues have posted a 10-2-3 record since Hitchcock took over for a fired Davis Payne on Nov. 6, moving into a tie with the Red Wings for second place in the Central Division. That after the Blues started 6-7-0 under Payne.
St. Louis improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight games with a second straight victory on Thursday. Ian Cole had a goal and an assist in the 4-2 win.
Cole was inserted back into the lineup after Kevin Shattenkirk sat out with flu-like symptoms. The defenseman is also questionable for tonight.
T.J. Oshie scored a pair of goals and Chris Porter also tallied for the Blues, while Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves.
"Not the way we wanted to win," said Oshie, "going kind of back and forth like that, but definitely take the two points any day."
St. Louis is 2-1 on a five-game homestand and snapped a three-game skid to the Sharks with a victory at San Jose on Oct. 15 in the first of four meetings between the clubs.
San Jose has won three of its last four in St. Louis and kicks off a three- game road trip this evening. The Sharks had lost two straight and four of five prior to Thursday's 5-2 victory over the Stars.
The Sharks scored three unanswered goals in a span of 6:04 in the second period after the Stars had tied the game, getting tallies from Ryane Clowe, Brad Winchester and Torrey Mitchell.
Logan Couture and Jamie McGinn also scored and Antti Niemi made 18 saves in the victory.
"I was happy that we didn't sag, that we showed some resiliency and were able to come back and take the game over," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan.
Both Jim Vandermeer and Douglas Murray are questionable for this game because of hand injuries for San Jose.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/hitchcocks-blues-take-on-visiting-sharks