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ST. LOUIS — Timo Meier said he wasn’t sticking around to see if there was a change of heart.
Around the time a few members of the St. Louis Blues were complaining to the two referees about what preceded Erik Karlsson’s overtime goal in Game 3 on Wednesday night, Meier and just about every other Sharks player had already made their way to the visitor’s dressing room at Scottrade Center.
“At least the group I was with, we went down to the locker room,” Meier said Thursday, a day after the Sharks’ 5-4 victory that gave them a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Final. “I didn’t look back on the ice, didn’t know what was going on out there. I was in the locker room.”
A play by Meier was obviously at the heart of Game 3’s controversial ending.
The Blues saw Meier bat the puck in the air with his glove toward the front of the net, although it appeared Meier’s pass might have glanced off Jay Bouwmeester’s leg before the puck got to Gus Nyquist.
Nyquist then played the puck in front of goalie Jordan Binnington, and fed Karlsson, who scored his second of the game 5:23 into the extra session.
Timo Meier on last nights non-call pic.twitter.com/qNTtC1IgmM
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 16, 2019
Meier was given an assist on Karlsson’s goal and has two goals and three assists in the series. He also has 15 points in 17 playoff games, tied for second most on the Sharks with Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Logan Couture leads the Sharks and the NHL with 14 goals and 20 points.
Meier was knocked down by Bouwmeester and was on his knees when he directed the puck with his glove toward the front of the Blues net.
“It’s a fast game out there. On that play, I kind of got tripped up, fall on the ice, the puck obviously bounces up and hits me,” Meier said. “It’s a fast game. Sometimes you just react to it to the puck coming to you. Like Logan (Couture) said, mistakes, they happen. It’s a natural habit.
“But obviously it’s a big win for us and it’s behind us and we’re moving on.”
Did Meier expect there to be a whistle?
“Like I said, it’s a fast game. I went down to the ice, I got cross-checked after the puck was in the air,” he said. “I was down on the ice and I looked up and the puck was in the net and obviously I saw the guys celebrating.”
Game 4 is Friday night before the series shifts back to San Jose for Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. The Sharks, 3-1 in overtime games this postseason, are looking to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in four years.
