Guerin nets hat trick in Blues' loss to Sharks

~ San Jose picked up a 6-5 road victory.

ST. LOUIS -- Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo each had a goal and three assists to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Mike Grier and Patrick Marleau both had a goal and an assist for San Jose, which has won the first two games of its season-high, eight-game road trip. Ryane Clowe and Matt Carle also scored for the Sharks.

Bill Guerin had a hat trick for St. Louis, giving him 25 goals for the season. It was Guerin's seventh NHL hat trick and first since March 3, 2004, when he was with Dallas.

Guerin, who also had an assist, is the first Blues player to record a hat trick at home since Scott Mellanby scored four times against Phoenix on March 6, 2003. Keith Tkachuk and Christian Backman also scored for the Blues, who have dropped six of eight.

The Sharks nearly let a four-goal lead get away. San Jose led 5-1, and then carried a 6-3 advantage into the third period.

Backman cut the deficit to 6-5 when he scored off the rebound of Guerin's shot at 14:03 of the third.

San Jose did most of its damage against starting goalie Manny Legace.

Clowe beat him with a wrist shot from the left circle 39 seconds into the game on San Jose's first shot, The Sharks scored on three of their next 12 shots, and Legace was pulled for Curtis Sanford after allowing Thornton's power-play goal at 4:40 of the second period that made it 4-1. Legace went back in at the start of the third and stopped all five shots he faced.