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Breaking down the pick play that helped the Sharks beat the Blues

Pick2

It wasn’t as blatant as Danny Briere’s missed offside or the blown too-many-men call last night in Phoenix, but unlike the first two officiating lapses, this one undeniably cost the St. Louis Blues last night’s series opener against the Sharks.

We’re of course referring to San Jose’s overtime winner that was predicated by a pick play, intentional or not, that would have made Karl Malone and John Stockton proud.

A description of the goal from CSNBayArea.com:

Controlling the puck along the boards, Logan Couture dumped it down low to Ryane Clowe. Couture immediately charged towards the corner, when he collided with the Blues’ Vladimir Sobotka, who was trying to defend Clowe. That gave Clowe plenty of time to set up [Martin] Havlat between the circles for a one-timer that gave the Sharks an exciting victory in the playoff opener.

In the spirit of Abraham Zapruder, here’s the goal in four frames:

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Pick4

Not surprisingly, Couture isn’t admitting any wrongdoing.

“Clowie was yelling for it, I went towards the puck, and Sobotka ran into me so it created a little hole for Marty,” Couture said.

“I’m going towards the puck into the corner, trying to get it if Clowie reverses it. He’s standing there, he runs into me, I run into him, so…”

So the Sharks are up 1-0 in the series.