Down the Frozen River

Tag: Brian Elliott

  • HOT TAKES: Is It Time To Trade Marc-Andre Fleury?

    By: Nick Lanciani

    With Matt Murray’s impressive 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff run for the Pittsburgh Penguins, is it time for them to think about their future in goal and realize the future is now? Let’s decide whether or not it’s time for the Penguins to trade Marc-Andre Fleury.

    Pittsburgh Penguins Logo

    Trade Him, Trade Him Now

    Everyone’s making a big fuss over goaltenders these days, yet it seems like the smart thing to do would be to stick with your number one goalie all along. The St. Louis Blues fallout in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final against the now-headed to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history, San Jose Sharks, had nothing to do with shaky goaltending, despite being outscored by a large margin.

    Brian Elliott was the Blues clear starting goalie in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs as Jake Allen lost his way in the final month and a half of the regular season and was relegated to the backup role in the playoffs. Allen’s Game 5 loss to the Sharks comes as no surprise, given well, let’s just say Elliott is the clear number one goaltender as of right now for St. Louis’s 2016-2017 season opener (and I’m not just saying that because of a bet I made with Connor).

    The Penguins rode the momentum of their tremendous run on the backs of Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray and Jeff Zatkoff this season, but one thing has emerged as a clear choice to make. Is it time to replace Fleury?

    Look, that might sound surprising— okay, I’m even surprising myself— but let’s face it, Fleury is coming off his greatest season ever and there’s no greater time to amass a significant return than right now. Especially when Matt Murray put up similar numbers in the regular season to the currently elite Washington Capitals goaltender, Braden Holtby’s rookie year.

    Fleury went 35-17-6 is 58 games played this season with a 2.29 GAA and a .921 SV%. He recorded five shutouts this year, which put him at 20 shutouts over the last three seasons. Last year, Fleury went 34-20-9 in 64 appearances, with a league leading and career high 10 shutouts and a 2.32 GAA and .920 SV%. For the lack of a better summarization, Fleury’s been on fire in recent years.

    His success seems to be unusual, considering how Fleury often flutters out of peak performance in the playoffs— oh wait.

    Having been out of the lineup since March 31st with a concussion, Fleury returned to his first game action in relief of Murray in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning on May 20th. Fleury made his first start in nearly two months on May 22nd in Game 5.

    In two playoff appearances, Fleury is 0-1-1 with a 3.03 GAA and an .875 SV%. In other words, not good for his first couple of games back on the wings of a spectacular Vezina Trophy worthy season (it beats me why Jonathan Quick is a finalist this year and Fleury is not). A good playoff goalie is expected to make an impact on the series, bar none.

    I get it, he’s coming back from being mostly inactive for the last couple of months, but he is considered a regular at what he does for a living and should not have even started Game 5, based on Murray’s performance in the playoffs as a whole. You don’t change your goalie in a series unless it’s goalie change in a relief appearance or heading into an elimination game— otherwise you’re only tinkering with momentum and robbing a goalie’s confidence (and perhaps the rest of the team’s confidence).

    But Matt Murray is ten years younger and making an impact as good, if not better than Fleury, when it comes to crunch time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    In Murray’s 13 regular season games this season, he went 9-2-1 with a 2.00 GAA and a .930 SV%. His rookie season save percentage almost mirror’s Holtby’s .934 SV% as a rookie 21-year-old back in the 2010-2011 season. Holtby also went 12-10-2 in 14 games with a 1.79 GAA, for the record, that year.

    While Holtby set himself apart from the rest in 12 playoff appearances this year with a 1.72 GAA and .942 SV% at 26-years old, Murray’s been Holtby-esque spectacular, all while defeating the Capitals and taking his team further than Holtby’s ever been in the playoffs.

    In 14 playoff appearances, Murray is 10-4-1 with a 2.30 GAA and a .924 SV% in his first run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs heading into Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. Holtby went 7-7-4 in 14 games played with a .935 SV% and a 1.95 GAA in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs (his first taste of playoff hockey). While the numbers might seem misleading, Holtby allowed 30 goals on 459 shots against that year and Murray’s allowed 32 goals on 420 shots against thus far in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    For a 21— 22-year-old goaltender, this kind of a run is insanity, no matter how you look at it.

    For a general manager, living in the Braden Holtby-as-top-dog-in-net era, it’s certainly worth considering moving Murray up not only from the third-string position, but to your number one spot for good.

    I have nothing against Marc-Andre Fleury as he is now.

    I’ll repeat that. I have nothing against Marc-Andre Fleury.

    However, at $5.75 million with 4 years left on his contract and Murray only costing $620K with two years left and a plethora of other talented pending RFA’s in the next couple of seasons for the Penguins, it’s worth the time to see what other teams would give up for a surefire number one goalie for at least the next five years (if not longer- Fleury isn’t showing signs of turning into the next Ryan Miller anytime soon).

    And given the relationship between the Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs after the Phil Kessel deal in the offseason, it might be worth investigating just how badly Toronto needs a goaltender. Let alone other teams scampering around the Maple Leafs in the standings.

    One more tidbit of information; Fleury’s rookie campaign of the 2003-2004 season only saw a 4-win, 14 losses and 2 ties performances in 21 games played with a 3.64 GAA and a .896 SV% at the age of 18 going on 19.

    The fact of the matter is that the Penguins could lengthen the life of their success with a young goalie like Murray putting on a performance similar to their rival in Washington’s goalie (Holtby) and still be built on the currently successful Chicago model of running a team.

    A team built on interchangeable scoring, a shutdown defense and a goalie that is clutch when you need him to be, but can be bailed out as he grows with the team in front of him.

    Trade Fleury while you can. Make a pure hockey move, reminiscent of the days when the Boston Bruins acquired prolific goal scorer Phil Esposito in a deal that worked out for everyone involved— Blackhawks included— or like when the Colorado Avalanche landed Patrick Roy from the Montréal Canadiens— except the Canadiens didn’t really get much out of that deal and it was kind of forced on them (or by themselves, depending of who you ask).

    Bottom line, hockey is a business and in a business you’re always looking for the here and now and where you’re headed in the future. Otherwise you’re only doomed to mismanagement at its finest. Pittsburgh has a chance to avoid poor management by trading Fleury while the price is still high and avoid falling in the standings by the grace of the rest of their organization and Matt Murray in goal.

  • Sharks Silence the Blues in Six Games, Reach First Ever Stanley Cup Final.

    The St. Louis Blues will have to wait another season to try and make it to the Stanley Cup Final. The Blues have not made it to the SCF since the 1969-70 season when they lost to the Boston Bruins in 4 games (you might recall that flying goal by Bobby Orr in overtime in Game 4). That is a whopping 44 seasons in a row, which ranks 2nd all-time among teams trailing only the Toronto Maple Leafs who have not made it since 1966-67, which is 47 seasons.

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    This is the San Jose Sharks biggest game in their 25 years of being a NHL team. They will try and silence the  St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup run tonight at “The Shark Tank”.

    With a Sharks win in Game 6 on Wednesday night, they would advance to the Stanley Cup Final. It would be their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history. The Blues will be going back to their “number one” goalie Brian Elliott for Game 6. Elliott was benched for their last two games as he was replaced by Jake Allen.

    After Allen’s horrid Game 5, where he 0nly stopped 21 out of 25 shots for a terrible .840 SV% the Blues made the switch back to Elliott for the next game. Elliott has given up 6 goals on his last 37 shots in his last 2 starts, as well as being 2-0 in elimination games these playoffs. Allen did start Game 4 in San Jose where the Blues looked like a brand new team winning 6-3 and Allen finishing with a strong .912 SV%. St. Louis fans had something to look forward too after his win, but were let down as Allen and the Blues looked like a pee-wee team and squandered a 2-1 lead and a 3-2 lead and ended up losing the game.

    As well as the Blues goalie troubles, they are having scoring troubles from their better players. For example, star winger Vladimir Tarasenko led the Blues in scoring with 40 goals which were the most on the team. Tarasenko has yet to register a POINT let alone a goal in the series. He will definitely have to pick up his play. So the Blues will look to stave off elimination and force another Game 7 back in St. Louis.

    San Jose has played in a total of 31 playoff series. Out of these 31 series, 10 of them have ended in 6 games. The Sharks have been on the losing end of the majority of these matchups with their record being 3-7. The Sharks will look to keep their composure and win in front of their home crowd. While St. Louis will look to do the opposite and get the crowd out of the game early, just as they did the last time they were here.

    The Sharks won the battle of the crowd-pleasing early, although the game’s first shot didn’t happen until almost two minutes in (courtesy of San Jose), they got the crowd pumped and ready to go with a couple chances early. St. Louis got a little life back as they went on a little run, stringing together 3 shots but were all turned away by San Jose’s goalie Martin Jones. The Sharks would keep the crowd loud and proud as they would tally first almost four minutes in.

    Here’s how it went down:

    Sharks goalie Martin Jones would come up huge with a wicked glove save to stone Blues vet Alex Steen in the slot. The rebound would go flying into the left corner. Sharks winger Tomas Hertl found the puck lying in the corner and went back to get it. Hertl basically grabbed the puck, turned around in the corner, and threw the puck out of the zone for what it looked like to be a harmless clear.

    Well, Sharks vet Jumbo Joe Thornton would sneak behind the two St. Louis’ defenders, pick up the loose puck after it was slowed down by a tip, and burst in on a breakaway. Thornton would come in on Blues goalie Brian Elliott and flip a wrister on net in the slot but would miss the net completely going high and get all glass behind the net.

    As both of the Blues defenders would clumsily go behind the net looking for the puck, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski would find the loose puck behind the net. Pavelski sneakily wrapped the puck around the back of the net to Elliott’s left and get stoned by Elliott as he whipped out his left pad. Fortunately for Pavelski, since the defenders were still behind the net, the puck sat on the goal line. Pavelski had another huge whack at the puck and pushed the puck over the goal line to-tally first and put them in the lead at 1-0. This was Pavelski’s league leading 13th goal of the playoffs.

    This early goal got the crowd ROARING early and LOUDLY. This was exactly what the Sharks wanted, to jump out to an early lead and get the crowd going. Sharks fans had something to look up to, because in all 5 previous games in the series, the team to score first would end up winning the game. The Sharks would also shut down the Blues offense early as they held St. Louis shot-less for a long six-minute span in the middle of the first period.

    Surprisingly, there were no more big opportunities, just small ones, and no team took a single penalty in the first frame which happened for the second straight game. Other than that, to sum up the opening period between these two teams… it was ALL Sharks. When I say “ALL Sharks” I really mean it, this doesn’t happen very often, when a team controls the whole period. The Sharks only let 4 shots reach goalie Martin Jones as he had a quiet period after his glove save. San Jose scored early and dominated the rest of the period and kept their 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

    The “no penalty” part of the first did not carry over into the second period. Just 36 seconds into the middle period, Blues winger Troy Brouwer gets called for interference on Sharks winger Joonas Donskoi. This sent the Sharks to their first power play of the game, where they always dominate even if they don’t score a man up. They always create momentum no matter what. Unfortunately, the Blues were great at getting their sticks in the shooting lane and only let one shot get to Elliott and they killed it off.

    The Sharks would once again lock down on defense and didn’t allow a shot until five minutes into the period. This stellar defense would lead to their second goal of the game. San Jose’s 3rd line would go right to work in the attacking zone looking for a goal. Sharks grinder Chris Tierney would find his way out of a battle in the right corner with the puck. Tierney pushed the puck up to Sharks star D-man Brent Burns at the right side point. Burns flipped a wrister on net that would find the stick of Sharks winger, Joel Ward. The puck would deflect right off Ward’s stick, past Elliott’s blocker, and into the net. This was Ward’s 3rd goal of the playoffs and 19th of his career in the postseason.

    The Sharks would have another glorious chance as they would get their potent power play back onto the ice, and this one was a lengthy one. Blues 4th liner Scottie Upshall would catch Sharks winger Tommy Wingels up high with his stick. It would be a double minor (four minutes) because Wingels was bleeding from the contact with the stick. The Blues were once again up to the task, only giving up two shots, and killed off a huge penalty to keep the score at 2-0 at the midway point of the second period.

    St. Louis would get their best chance to cut into the lead at the 10:48 mark of the period. Blues 1st line center Jori Lehtera would receive a perfect pass from teammate Robby Fabbri right in his wheelhouse in the slot on the right hash marks. Lehtera would unleash a massive one-time clap bomb and was absolutely ROBBED by Jones’ left pad. Jones pushed from his right to his left and kicked out his left pad at the last minute to rob Lehtera to keep his perfect night intact. This save was Jones’ best save of the series by far!

    The second period would end with the score still being 2-0 in favor of the Sharks. The only thing different in the summary of the period was that San Jose had all the momentum early in the period especially with the goal five minutes in. Although, after the Blues killed off the massive four minutes power play, they brought the momentum back to their side. They spent probably 70% of the remainder of the period in the Sharks zone threatening to score. St. Louis outshot the Sharks 7-2 after killing the penalty. San Jose’s Martin Jones was there for every shot and turned them all away. The Sharks are 7-0 when leading after two periods in the playoffs while outscoring the opposition 26-12 in the third periods overall.

    Well, the Sharks third period dominance showed up again early in the final period. San Jose’s 2nd line was in on the prowl looking to extend their lead and they did with beautiful passing. Sharks winger Joel Ward stole the puck in the offensive zone high on the right side boards. Ward looked up and fired a cross-ice pass over to linemate Logan Couture on top of the left side circle. Couture corralled the pass and skated down to the left side hash marks almost right on the boards.

    Couture then whipped a wicked pass over to a streaking Joel Ward, who slipped down past the defense, parked right above the goalie crease to the right and tapped it into the wide-open net to extend their lead to 3-0 just three minutes into period three. It was Ward’s second goal of the game and fourth goal in his past two games.

    The Sharks threatened to score again almost two minutes later. Sharks winger Tomas Hertl found himself with the puck behind the Blues net. Hertl stickhandled three to four times in place and found a wide open Joe Pavelski right below the left side hash marks. Pavelski put a snap shot right on net that had to be headed down into the corner by Elliott to keep the Blues’ little glimmer of hope still alive.

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    That little glimmer of hope was smashed into pieces just four minutes later when San Jose would score again to go up 4-0. Sharks’ Patrick Marleau seized the puck in the neutral zone and skated into the offensive zone on the right side.

    Marleau stopped on a T at the hash marks near the boards and dumped the puck off to streaking winger Logan Couture at the top of the circle. Couture took the puck, skated a foot, and spotted fellow winger Joonas Donskoi wide open in the slot to his left.

    Donskoi wasted no time with the pass and unloaded a massive one-timer that beat Brian Elliott to his right. This was Donskoi’s 5th goal of the playoffs.

    St. Louis would piece together a little bit of hope that was previously smashed by Donskoi’s goal. Blue’s D-man Colton Parayko would get the puck on the top of the right circle. Parayko would rip a wrister on net that was saved by Jones’ pad, but Jones would trip himself up and fall over. Blues’ Jori Lehtera would get the rebound and take the puck behind the net to set back up. Lehtera would find Russian star Vladimir Tarasenko high left side in the slot. Tarasenko would find the puck in his feet, kick the puck to his stick, and shoot a wrister on net that beat the out of position Jones high blocker side. This was finally Tarasenko’s first point and goal of the series to make the score 4-1.

    Then with 4:25 left in the game a scrum would ensue between the benches. After everything settled down, both teams would get a penalty with a player from each side going to the box. Sharks’ Tommy Wingels would get caught for slashing Blues D-man Kevin Shattenkirk while Shattenkirk would get caught for cross-checking Wingels right back. We would have played 4 on 4 hockey with the penalties offsetting each other. St. Louis wasn’t going to take any chances and needed to score badly so they pulled Brian Elliott to make it 5 on 4 in favor of St. Louis.

    This worked right in favor for the Blues as the scored 50 seconds later to cut the Sharks lead in half at 4-2. Blues center Paul Stastny would get the bouncing puck above the hash marks on the left side. Stastny would pass the puck down to recent goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko right on the goal line in the left corner. Tarasenko would see that the Sharks were giving him a lot of room and drove right to the net on the goal line. Tara would simply try his luck on goal with a little wrist shot. Somehow the seeing-eye shot would find a way into the net after Tara banked the puck right in off Jones’ hip as he was hugging the right post. This was Tarasenko’s second goal of the game and gave the team a little more hope then before.

    St. Louis would then pull Brian Elliott and replace him with Jake Allen. The main reason for the replacement was that Allen is a much better puck handler in case he had to handle a loose puck. They move did not make much sense because they pulled him for the rest of the game to get the extra attacker to play 6 on 5 hockey for the last three minutes of the game.

    The extra attacker did not pay off as they only managed four more shots that were stopped by Jones to keep their two goal lead. Then with 20 seconds left in the game, after a nice blocked shot from defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the Sharks would put the icing on the cake with Logan Couture’s empty net goal to make it 5-2.

    This would end up being the final score as the Sharks ended the Blues season earlier then they hoped. San Jose will now play in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. The most experienced players on the team, them being Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, will also play in their first SCF after a combined 3,093 games! The Sharks were then presented with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, which is awarded to the Western Conference Playoff Champion.

    There is a superstition about touching or not touching the trophy when it is presented to you. Some say if you touch it, you will lose the SCF. Well captain, Joe Pavelski did not touch the trophy, as most players choose not to so we will see what happens! This is also Sharks coach Peter DeBoer 2nd career time reaching the Stanley Cup Final. His first time was with the New Jersey Devils in 2012, his first time coaching in the NHL. The 2012 Devils, like the 2016 Sharks, missed the playoffs entirely the year before.

    Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 23 out of 25 shots for a solid .920 SV% and Blues’ Brian Elliott stopped 22 out of 26 shots for a disastrous .856 SV%. St. Louis led in faceoffs (32-27), penalty minutes (8-2), and hits (42-31) while San Jose led in shots (27-25),  blocked shots (18-14), and giveaways (19-12). San Jose was 0/3 on the PP and St. Louis was 0/1.

    San Jose’s final stats for their Conference Final are as followed: Teams leading goal scorer were Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward both with four, leading apple (assist) getter was Joe Thornton with seven, leading total point getter was Joe Pavelski with nine points (4G, 5A), the time on ice leader was Brent Burns averaging 23:39 per game. Goalie Stats: Martin Jones appeared in 6 games going 4-2 with a .920 SV% and 2.02 GAA and James Reimer appeared in 1 game (a relief effort) saving 6 out of 7 shots for a .857 and 2.06 GAA.

    St. Louis’ final stats for their CF are: Teams leading goal scorer was surprisingly Troy Brouwer with three, leading apple getter was Paul Stastny with four, total point getter was Paul Stastny with four points (0G, 4A), time on ice leader was Alex Pietrangelo averaging 26:44 per game. Goalie Stats: Brian Elliott in 4 games going 1-3 with a .884 SV% and 3.02 GAA and Jake Allen also in 4 games going 1-1 with a .885 SV% and a 3.29 GAA%.

    San Jose will have a nice little break as they wait to find out their opponent— either the Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning— for the Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh and Tampa battle in Game 7 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night at CONSOL Energy Center. The first game of the Stanley Cup Final will be on Monday, May 30th.

  • Brodziak and Brouwer Lead The Bluenotes to a Vital Game 4 Victory.

    The St. Louis Blues easily defeated the San Jose Sharks by the score of 6-3 on Saturday night at “The Shark Tank”. The Blues were led by the surprising play of underdogs Troy Brouwer and Kyle Brodziak who scored two goals apiece. This game was the Blues 100th game of the 2015-2016 season which is now a new franchise record.

    The St. Louis Blues looked to get back on track in the series after falling behind 2 games to 1. They were blown out by the combined score of 7-0 in Games 2 and 3, the Blues made a major change in net. Blues skipper Ken Hitchcock decided to bench Brian Elliot because of his very poor performances in Games 2 and 3 and go down a different path. He turned to surprising tendy Jake Allen, for his first start since April 3rd, to try and grab a crucial road win and even up the series. Allen’s only playoff action of this year’s playoffs were two relief efforts when the Blues pulled Brian Elliot. He’s only seen a total of nine shots in two games. Allen has appeared in a total of nine games, going 2-4 with a .910 SV% and 1.90 GAA in the playoffs.

    St. Louis will look to try and get a puck past Sharks star goalie Martin Jones. The Blues have not scored a single goal in seven and a half periods going back to their last goal in Game 1 totaling to a whopping 147:43 in time. St. Louis has a total of two goals in three games this series.

    The game started surprisingly slow which is uncommon for both teams. We got the games first penalty exactly five minutes into the game when Sharks star Brent Burns tripped Blues winger Jaden Schwartz. This sent St. Louis to their dreadful power play that is 1/9 on the man advantage in the series. It did not take long for the Blues to convert for the games first goal. St. Louis center Paul Stastny grabbed the puck above the hash marks on the right side. Stastny didn’t hold on to it long and dished the puck down to winger Robby Fabbri who was parked below the goal line. Fabbri immediately one touched the puck up to winger Troy Brouwer who instantly ripped a one-timer past goalie Martin Jones. St. Louis scored 1:14 into the manpower advantage and took the 1-0 lead thanks to Brouwer’s 6th goal of the playoffs. This goal ended Martin Jones stunning shutout streak at 156:59.

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    St. Louis would double their lead just 4:14 later. St. Louis would go on the forecheck and force a turnover from the Sharks D in their own zone. The Blues would jump right on the loose puck and come in on a rush. Blues center Jori Lehtera, in the slot, would sauce a pass over to winger Robby Fabbri who had all net to shoot at as Martin Jones was way out of position. Just as Fabbri released his wrister Sharks goaltender Martin Jones pushed from left to right and absolutely ROBBED Fabbri with the paddle of his goalie stick. Fabbri looked up to the rafters in disbelief that he didn’t score, but he wasn’t sad for long. Jones’ rebound sat right in the goalie crease and Sharks D-man Brent Burns hastily kicked the puck out of the crease. Unfortunately, Burns kicked the puck right to Blues center Jori Lehtera who, made no mistake and, potted the puck into the gaping net. Lehtera’s 3rd goal of the playoffs increased the Blues lead to 2-0.

    Just 17 seconds later Blues center Paul Stastny got a two-minute interference call on San Jose captain Joe Pavelski. This sent the Sharks to their first power play of the game while they are 2/10 in the series. St. Louis came to play early and weren’t having any nonsense and killed the penalty off without conceding a single shot.

    Then with 24 seconds left in the opening frame, the Blues would go back onto the power play. Sharks defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the call for slashing St. Louis winger Vladimir Tarasenko. The first period would end with the game being all St. Louis. St. Louis will start the second period with 1:36 of power play time.

    Things would not get any better for San Jose as just 48 seconds into the second period Sharks center Logan Couture would get called for a delay of game penalty. St. Louis would get a great chance to score again as they played 48 seconds of 5 on 3 hockey. The Sharks clamped down defensively, only giving up two shots, and killed the long penalty off.

    We would get another penalty with 5:10 gone in period two. Blues D-man Kevin Shattenkirk would get a two-minute trip to the sin bin for interfering with Sharks Melker Karlsson. San Jose looked to cut into the Blues two-goal lead with their second power-play of the game but ended up giving up a short-handed goal instead. Blues winger Jaden Schwartz seized the loose puck on the left-hand point from a terrible pass from Sharks vet Joe Thornton in the offensive zone. Schwartz noticed he had a two on one odd man rush the other way and decided to take off towards the net. Schwartz carried the puck all the way to the left-hand hash marks and sauced a beaut of a pass to center Kyle Brodziak on the right-hand hash marks. Martin Jones was way out of position coming over to face the shooter, again, and Brodziak promptly ripped a wrister over Jones’ blocker to triple their lead to 3-0. Brodziak’s goal was their first short-handed goal of the playoffs.

    San Jose still had a minute left on the power play to try and score a goal to gain some momentum back. St. Louis shut them down again while only giving up one shot.

    Believe it or not, just four minutes later the Blues would strike again. St. Louis’ 4th line was in on the attack in the offensive zone. Blues winger Dmitrij Jaskin found himself behind the Sharks’ net with the puck. Jaskin curled around the net and spotted center Kyle Brodziak on the left side hash marks and hit him with a tape to tape pass. Brodziak wasted no time after corraling the pass and rifled a nasty snap shot top cheese to take their lead to 4-0. This is now Brodziak’s first career two-goal game in the playoffs. The Blues scored at exactly the same time (10:11) in the first and second period.

    San Jose’s coach Peter DeBoer took no time and quickly called for backup goalie James Reimer to come in and replace the struggling, Martin Jones. James Reimer faced only three shots in the remainder of period two. The Sharks call for a goalie change made it official that now all four teams (Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, San Jose, and St. Louis) in the Conference Finals have used both of their goalies. On the other hand, bad news for the Blues, as captain David Backes did not play a single shift in the second period, when he played 5:34 in the first, as he may have been injured in the first. St. Louis controlled the whole period again and the second period ended with the Blues up 4-0.

    The Sharks looked like a new team coming right out of the break to start the third period. San Jose jumped right out of the gun and scored 1:05 into the final period to make the score 4-1. Sharks D-man Paul Martin faked a slap shot on the right-hand point and fed center Joe Thornton the puck. Thornton skated down the left side and once he got to the top of the left circle dished a beautiful saucer pass to linemate Joe Pavelski on the right side cutting to the net. Pavelski had a completely wide open net and an easy tap in goal to get the Sharks on the board and give San Jose some momentum. This was Pavelski’s league leading 10th goal of the playoffs and a new franchise record for most in a single season. He beat the previous record of nine goals held by teammate Patrick Marleau in 2010.

    St. Louis would go back on the power play when Sharks newcomer Joel Ward got caught flipping the puck out of his own zone for a delay of game penalty. This sent the Blues to their 4th PP of the game. It only took “The Notes” seven seconds to cash in on their now red hot man advantage. Blues center Paul Stastny on the left-hand boards passed the puck over to fellow center Alex Steen who let a one time shot go on the right side point. Steen’s shot found the stick of winger Troy Brouwer in the slot and was redirected right under Sharks goalie James Reimer’s arm. This was Brouwer’s second power-play goal of the game and makes it 5-1.

    With 6:57 gone in the third period, the Sharks would get back in the goal scoring column. The Sharks 3rd line went to work in the attacking zone as Chris Tierney got the puck below the goal line on the right side. Tierney spotted fellow winger Melker Karlsson just below the right-hand hash and hit him with a pass. Karlsson let a one-t clapper go that was saved by Jake Allen. Although, Allen sticked the rebound away to his left but the puck went right to Chris Tierney’s stick. Tierney quickly shot the puck on net and it deflected off of Jake Allen’s leg and went in the net to cut the Blues lead to 3 at 5-2.

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    Then just seven seconds later at the 7:07 mark of period three the Blues would take another penalty. Blues winger Jaden Schwartz tripped Sharks winger Joe Pavelski. The Sharks would go to their third PP of the game but only managed one shot and the Blues killed it off. San Jose would have numerous chances to cut into the Blues lead but goalie Jake Allen had to make two to four marvelous saves to keep the Sharks from scoring again. With three minutes later, yet again, St. Louis would get called for another infraction with Paul Stastny getting his second penalty of the game. Stastny hauled down Sharks grinder Chris Tierney. San Jose looked to try and score again quickly but the Blues halted their progress only letting one shot get on net in the two minutes.

    San Jose took a page out of Colorado’s Patrick Roy book and pulled their goalie, James Reimer, with 5:05 remaining in the game. This tactic did not work to the Sharks’ liking at all. Only 44 seconds later St. Louis would tack on their final goal of the contest. Alex Pietrangelo would make a great defensive play in his own zone at the blue line, grab the loose puck, and fire it down the ice and into the empty net to get their lead back up to 4 at 6-2.

    San Jose would tack on a consolation goal 49 seconds later at the 16:28 mark of period three. The Sharks third line would go back to work again in the attacking zone with center Chris Tierney corralling the vulcanized rubber behind the net and to Jake Allen’s right. Tierney centered the puck intended for winger Melker Karlsson who was parked just in front of the goal crease of to the left. The puck hit Karlsson’s skate/stick and slid in front of Jake Allen. St. Louis D-man Joel Edmundson tried poking the puck away but instead poked it through the legs of Jake Allen for an own goal. The goal was credited to the player who last touched the puck, Melker Karlsson. This was the Sharks last positive note of the game, and made the score 6-3

    With 2:11 left in the game a fight broke out between Blues D-man Carl Gunnarsson and Sharks D-man Brenden Dillon. It is very rare to see a fight in the playoffs, let alone two defenders involved in it! Each player received a standard five-minute call. During the fight,  St. Louis’ Alex Steen and San Jose’s Tommy Wingels both received a 10-minute misconduct. All four players hit the showers early and did not finish the game. Last but not least, the Blues took a pointless penalty with 40 seconds left in the contest with Jori Lehtera slashing Sharks’ Tomas Hertl. The game ended with the score being 6-3, a very strong win for the Blues.

    St. Louis goalie Jake Allen stopped 31 out of 34 shots thrown his way for a .912 SV%. San Jose’s goalies Martin Jones stopped 15 out of 19 shots for a terrible .789 SV% and James Reimer stopped 6 out of 7 for a .857SV% in relief of Jones. San Jose led in shots (34-27), faceoffs (30-29), hits (35-26), and giveaways (19-9). St. Louis only led in blocked shots (14-11). The teams tied in penalty minutes with 25 a piece while St. Louis went an awesome 2/4 on the PP and the Sharks went a terrible 0/4.

    These two clubs will get on a flight and fly back for Game 5 in St. Louis, Missouri on Monday night at 8 pm.

     

     

  • Hertl Power- Forward Scores 2 for Sharks in Game 3 Victory

    By: Colby Kephart

    UnknownThe San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues by a score of 3-0 in Game 3 of the 2016 Western Conference Final. The Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl line was responsible for 2 goals on Thursday night, with Hertl responsible for both of them.

    Martin Jones also had a great night stopping 22 shots out of the 22 shots he faced for his second straight shutout. Brain Elliot stopped 11 out of 14 before being pulled in the 3rd period.

    Before I get into telling you about the action let me just start by saying St. Louis scratching Steve Ott was a huge mistake. Ott gets into the heads of the other team and makes every game he’s a part of more entertaining. St Louis jumped out from the gates looking to rebound after Game 2. They had the first three shots of the game and managed to keep the Sharks from getting a shot on goal through the first few minutes. The Sharks started to get their feet going, but sent their shots high and wide.

    With 4:07 remaining in the period, a turnover forced by Joe Thornton found Joe Pavelski as he was racing into the offensive zone. Pavelski made a great pass to find Tomas Hertl alone on the other side of the ice who hammered the one-timer past Brian Elliott. It was Hertl’s 4th goal of the playoffs and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead. For most of the first period there was a lot of neutral zone play and were many battles along the boards. With less than a minute left in the period, Alex Pietrangelo took a charging penalty on the goal scorer Hertl.

    The second period started with 1:53 left on the Sharks power play as they were looking to add to their lead. The Blues were able to kill off the penalty, having only allowed a single shot on goal. The Sharks had a great chance to add to their lead as Chris Tierney danced by the Blues defenseman but was denied by Elliott.

    The Sharks forced turnovers all over the ice, but they couldn’t capitalize on them until 11:44 of the second period. Joonas Donskoi got his stick in the right spot to break up a Blues pass and started a fast break with Logan Couture leading the rush. Couture held the puck up and made a great pass back to Donskoi who made no mistake from the slot to beat Elliott with a wrist shot. It was Donskoi’s 4th goal of the playoffs and Couture’s 20th point this postseason.

    Couture took a penalty with 4:59 remaining in the period for catching Patrik Berglund with a high stick. San Jose was up to the task on the penalty kill, however, as they killed it off without any issue. The horn brought the end of a defense-heavy period as both teams combined for only 11 shots on goal. San Jose was also out hitting St Louis 32-16 after forty minutes of play.

    Unknown-1The 3rd period started with St. Louis jumping out again with pressure, getting the first 3 shots of the period and holding San Jose shot less. Shot less, that is, until Tomas Hertl received a pass from Thornton and took it to the front of the net and trickled the puck through Elliott’s pads 5:29 into the third.

    Blues head coach, Ken Hitchcock, made a goalie change, swapping Elliott with Jake Allen after San Jose’s third unanswered goal of the night (and seventh consecutive goal of the series). The goal was Hertl’s 5th of the playoffs and Thornton’s 10th assist of the playoffs.

    St Louis was trying not get shut out again and Troy Brouwer thought he had one when they forced a turnover. His wrist shot from the point beat Martin Jones but rang off the post and kept Jones shutout streak alive. With just over 5 minutes left in the game, St Louis pulled Allen for an extra attacker. The Sharks were able to keep everything out wide, without surrendering many chances to the Blues. The Blues had a few chances but Jones was up to it securing his shutout.

    Game 4 will be in San Jose on Saturday at 7:15 PM ET on NBC in the United States and on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. We can only hope Steve Ott plays in that game.

  • San Jose at St. Louis – Game 2 – Martin and the Sharks level the series with a 4-0 victory

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    With the combined efforts of Second Star of the Game Martin Jones and Paul Martin’s three blocks, the Sharks shutout the Blues 4-0 in St. Louis to level the Western Conference Finals at a game apiece.

    The Sharks struck quickly, as Tommy Wingels scored a wrister only 2:07 into the contest, assisted by Dainius Zubrus and Justin Braun (his fourth helper of the playoffs).  Heading back towards the blue line along the far boards, Wingels pass to Braun, who dumped back into the zone to Zubrus.  Zubrus advanced to the far face-off dot and found the attacking center, who scored on Brian Elliott’s stick side.  Elliott made the initial save on Wingels’ attempt, but was unable completely contain the trickling puck that proved to be the winning tally.

    It was only the second shot faced by Elliott, but it foretold the way the night would go for the Notes.

    With 8:34 remaining in the frame, David Backes was charged and found guilty of tripping Tomas Hertl in the Sharks‘ attacking zone.  His sentence: two minutes in the sin bin.  The Blues continued the trend they set in the first game with their fourth straight penalty kill against the Sharks, allowing only three shots against.

    Almost immediately after Backes returned to the ice (12 seconds later, to be exact), Chris Tierney returned the favor by tripping Kevin Shattenkirk, but the Notes‘ power play was equally successful as San Jose‘s, failing to score on three shots on goal.  Due in part to that, the contest entered the first intermission with San Jose leading 1-0.

    The game certainly began favoring the Sharks, made evident by their tally, but the Blues started getting their skates under them to get the game to be more of back-and-forth, even affair.  The Sharks led the frame’s shot totals (10 to nine), but the Blues actually led in face-off wins (60%), blocks (seven to two), takeaways (seven to three) and hits (14 to 11).

    After resuming the back-and-forth nature in the second, Third Star Logan Couture was caught holding Jori Lehtera at the 4:45 mark.  Fortunately for him and his squad, San Jose earned their second straight penalty kill of the night to keep the Notes off the board.

    A second after completing the kill, the Sharks went to the power play on a Troy Brouwer slashing penalty against First Star Brent Burns.  Burns took offense to that and made him pay only 18 seconds later with a wicked snap shot, assisted by Joe Pavelski (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Couture. This play was especially lopsided, as Alexander Steen was in the process of returning from the bench with a replacement stick.  Just before receiving a hit from Steen (on his way to the bench) at the blue line, Burns passed across ice to Patrick Marleau, who dumped into the zone to Couture.  Couture centered into the center of the zone for Pavelski, who found the crashing Burns at the left face-off dot to set up his snapper that set the score at 2-0.

    The Sharks got their third attempt at the power play at the 8:03 mark when the wily Steve Ott interfered with Pavelski along the far boards.  Luckily for the Blues, they were able to complete this kill to maintain the score differential at two tallies.

    Patric Berglund took a rough hit into the open door jam at the completion of that kill that forced him to the dressing room.  He did return to the ice with a little over four minutes remaining in the frame.

    Once again, only one goal was struck in the period, and this frame was decidedly more in San Jose‘s favor even though Brouwer had a great opportunity stopped by the goal post.  They led the period in shots (nine to six) and giveaways (one to three), while the Blues had face-offs (52%), blocks (14 to six), takeaways (eight to five) and hits (30 to 20) to their credit.

    Off a face-off only 32 seconds into the third period, Marleau hi-sticked Carl Gunnarsson and drew blood, earning him a double minor.  San Jose was once again up to the challenge, making their fourth kill of the night.  They were further rewarded at the five minute mark when Jay Bouwmeester slashed Joe Thornton, but were unable to take advantage.

    As would be expected, the Blues certainly increased their offensive pressure in the third period.  With 8:24 remaining in the frame, the Notes had already notched eight shots on goal to San Jose‘s three.

    Those attempts came to a grinding halt at that mark though, as Brouwer took his second seat in the penalty box of the night for hi-sticking Martin.  Just like the first time, Burns made him pay, this time with a slap shot assisted by Marleau and Couture (his 12th helper of the postseason).  The play looked like a basketball “extra pass” motion wrapping around the three-point arc.  Couture collected a pass along the near boards and passed to Marleau at the point, who found Burns waiting outside the far face-off circle, scoring over Elliott’s glove hand.

    Ex-Blue Roman Polak gave the Blues some life with 6:41 remaining when he interfered with Backes, made even worse for San Jose when Martin slashed Brouwer, giving St. Louis 24 seconds of 5-on-3.  After Polak served his complete time, Ken Hitchcock summoned Elliott to the bench for an extra attacker for a 6-on-4 advantage, but it wasn’t enough to get the Notes on the board.

    Elliott remained on the bench to give the Blues a 6-on-5, but it was not the Notes that took advantage.  With 19 seconds remaining, Zubrus scored his first goal of the postseason setting the score at the 4-0 final.

    Jones earns the shutout victory after saving all 26 shots he faced, while Elliott takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

    The series now leveled at a game apiece, the action relocates to the SAP Center.  Game 3 takes place Thursday at 9 p.m. eastern and may be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

  • San Jose at St. Louis – Game 1 – Elliott saves 32, earns Game 1 victory

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    First Star of the Game Brian Elliott allowed only one goal to earn the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 home win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

    The first penalty of the game was at the 5:36 mark, a holding penalty against Melker Karlsson, courtesy of Third Star Jori Lehtera.  The Sharks‘ ensuing power play was unsuccessful, as the Blues and Elliott made three saves.

    With 8:25 remaining in the first period, the Blues almost struck with their first tally of the night with a Patric Berguland deflection off his chest, but he was ruled to have interfered with goaltender Martin Jones.  The call was challenged by the Notes, but upheld.

    Logan Couture was charged with tripping with 6:04 remaining in the period.  St. Louis made him pay 1:08 and one shot later when Second Star David Backes redirected a shot past Jones with his head and stick, giving the Blues the one-goal lead.  Kevin Shattenkirk takes responsibility for the initial shot, assisted by Jaden Schwartz.

    Only 34 later, the Sharks leveled when Thomas Hertl (his third tally of the playoffs) and Joe Pavelski redirected Brent Burns’ initial slap shot from the blue line (his 12th helper of the playoffs).

    Steve Ott headed to the box with 2:42 remaining for slashing Justin Braun, but once again the Blues‘ penalty kill was up to the task, holding the score at one-all going into the first intermission.

    Although the score was tied St. Louis overall dominated play during the first frame, with a solid five scoring chances to San Jose‘s lone chance.  The Blues notched 11 shots on goal to the Sharks‘ eight, six hits to San Jose‘s five, no giveaways to San Jose‘s one and four takeaways to the Sharks‘ one.

    With 9:15 gone in the second period, the Sharks committed a turnover in the neutral zone, collected by Lehtera.  Lehtera advanced the puck into the offensive zone before firing his slap shot from the far face-off zone past Jones’ glove elbow (his second of the postseason), giving them another one-goal lead.

    Elliott was very fortunate with 1:13 remaining in the second period when he attempted to freeze the puck, but it trickled under his glove and pads.  Before the Joel Ward and the Sharks could capitalize, the referee blew the play dead, leaving the score at 2-1, which held to the second intermission.

    Although they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard, the Sharks dominated the second period.  The frame started very back-and-forth, but San Jose ended up firing 16 shots in the period to St. Louis‘ five in addition to extending their game total leads in face-offs (29-23), giveaways (two to four) and blocks (10 to eight).

    Paul Stastny was sent to the box at the 8:44 mark for hooking Pavelski.  The Blues had not one, but two shorthanded scoring opportunities, but the score remained 2-1 with 9:16 remaining in regulation.

    St. Louis earned their third period shot at the power play 20 seconds after Stastny returned to the ice when Hertl was caught tripping Colton Parayko.  Just like San Jose, the Notes were not able to produce with the man-advantage, so the score remained a one-goal differential.

    Jones left the ice for the extra attacker with 2:30 remaining in regulation, but Elliot and the St. Louis defense was up to the task to secure the 2-1 victory.

    Elliott earns the win afters saving 32 of 33 shots faced (97%), while Jones takes the loss, saving 21 of 23 (91.3%).

    Game 2 between these squads will occur Tuesday night at 8 p.m. eastern at Scottrade Center.  It may be viewed on NBCSN, SN and TVAS.

  • St. Louis at Dallas – Game 7 – Blues score six en route to Western Finals

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    Led by the Troy Brouwer, Second Star of the Game Robby Fabbri and Third Star Paul Stastny line scoring three goals, the St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars 6-1 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

    The first power play of the night was caused by Alex Goligoski at the 4:31 mark for hooking Vladimir Tarasenko in front of Kari Lehtonen’s net.  Fabbri made him pay 52 seconds later when he forced the puck across the goal line through a scrum in the crease, assisted by Brouwer and Stastny (his fifth helper of the playoffs).

    Jori Lehtera returned the favor at the 9:38 mark, as a cross check against John Klingberg earned him a seat in the sin bin.  Klingberg seemed to be injured on the play after taking a David Backes clear off an ankle, but returned to the ice for his next shift.  First Star Brian Elliott only needed to make one save on the Stars‘ man-advantage, catching the puck right when Lehtera exited the box, ending the power play.

    The Blues headed to their second power play with 5:01 remaining in the frame when Radek Faksa cross checked Steve Ott following another of his violent, but legal hits.  This time, the Stars‘ penalty kill was up to the task, allowing only one shot to reach net that was saved by Lehtonen.

    The Blues thought they had scored 40 seconds after Dallas returned to even-strength, but would-be goalscorer Tarasenko was ruled to be offside after taking his skate off the ice an instant too soon.

    They obviously weren’t phased though, as Stastny scored on a wrister with 1:38 remaining in the frame, assisted by Brouwer and Fabbri (his ninth helper of the playoffs).  Stastny collected a pass along the near boards from Fabbri and advanced to the goal line before dumping behind the goal to Fabbri again.  The rookie rounded the net and passed to a waiting Brouwer in front of the crease, who dumped to Stastny along the goal line ready to fire over Lehtonen’s stick shoulder.

    With four seconds remaining, Patrik Berglund scored again for the Notes on a wrist shot, assisted by Lehtera and Backes (his sixth helper of the postseason).  Berglund received a pass at the point and quickly rifled his shot past Lehtonen’s stick side.

    Through one period, St. Louis led not only on the scoreboard, but also at the face-off dots (57%), shots (eight to seven), blocks (10 to two) and giveaways (one to two).

    An always important statistic for the Blues is their hits (even though they trailed the first period 11 to 10), and Ott threw quite a few of them.  Somehow, the official stat sheet only gave him credit for one, but he was flying across the ice and making his presence known.

    After giving up three goals in the opening 20 minutes, Lehtonen was replaced by Antti Niemi.  He waited 3:50 before giving up a goal, a Backes wrister (his sixth tally of the playoffs) assisted by Berglund and Colton Parayko.  Bergluned received Parayko’s at center ice and flipped into the offensive zone for his captain, who collected and advanced on Niemi’s net from the near face-off dot to set the score at 4-0.

    Five seconds before the halfway point of the contest, Ott’s aggressive plays caught up with him, as he earned a seat after being called for interference against Jamie Benn, but the Blues held strong to keep them scoreless.

    St. Louis scored yet again with 4:54 remaining in the period on a quick transition attack.  Brouwer gets credit for the tally, assisted by Fabbri and Stastny.  Stastny collected a listing puck at center ice and attacked the offensive zone along the far boards.  He dumped a pass back to Fabbri, who crossed the puck in front of the crease for Brouwer, beating Niemi glove side to set the score at 5-0.

    The Stars headed back to the power play with 3:49 remaining in the frame when Jaden Schwartz was charged with hooking Cody Eakin, but St. Louis made it three for three in successful penalty kills.

    After two periods, it was actually Dallas playing the more aggressive game, firing 18 shots to set their game total at 25 in addition to winning the face-off dot (63%), takeaways (nine to eight) and hits (17 to 16).

    Dallas finally got on the board after 45:15 of play when Patrick Eaves connected on a wrister, assisted by Goligoski and Johnny Oduya.  After a save rebound, Oduya received the puck along the blue line and passed to Goligoski across the point.  Goligoski fired a slap shot at Elliott, who made another save, but this rebound was collected by Eaves on the far side of the crease, who easily buried the puck in a virtually empty net.

    With 4:40 to go and an empty net ahead of him, Tarasenko set the score at 6-1 with an wrister, assisted by Schwartz and Lehtera.  Schwartz flipped the puck into the neutral zone for a streaking Tarasenko, who had only one Star to beat before reaching the empty net to easily score.

    Elliott earns the victory after saving 31 of the 32 shots he faced (96.9%), while Lehtonen takes the loss, saving five of eight (62.5%).  For no decision, Niemi saved eight of 10 (80%) in the remaining 40 minutes.

    The Blues have advanced to the Western Finals, but don’t yet know who they’ll be playing.  That side will be determined tomorrow night at 9 p.m. eastern when Nashville makes their final visit of the year to San Jose for another Western Game 7.  That game may be viewed on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.

  • Dallas at St. Louis – Game 6 – Early mistakes too much for Blues; Stars force Game 7

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    The Stars‘ three first period goals were all they needed to force a Game 7 in Dallas, as they won in St. Louis 3-2.

    The Blues didn’t get a shot on goal until almost five minutes into the game, but it was Dallas‘ second shot that stole the show when Mattias Janmark connected on a wrist shot at the 4:53 mark (his second tally of the postseason), assisted by Valeri Nichushkin.  It was a breakaway goal caused by Colton Parayko when his pass from the blue line to the center of the offensive zone was intercepted by Nichushkin, who immediately found a steaking Janmark who had already cleared both St. Louis defensemen to set up a one-on-one with Brian Elliott.  After advancing to approximately the far face-off dot before firing over Elliott’s stick shoulder.

    The Stars doubled their lead 20 seconds later, courtesy of Vernon Fiddler, who was assisted by Third Star of the Game Colton Sceviour and Kris Russell (his fourth helper of the playoffs), caused by yet another Blues turnover.  Elliott was attempting to clear the puck, but his dump was intercepted by Russell, who immediately sent the puck back behind goal for Sceviour.  Sceviour had intentions of a wrap-around attempt, but Robert Bortuzzo, playing in his first game of the Western Semis, forced him into a backhanded centering pass that Fiddler redirected past Elliott’s stick shoulder.

    The Blues had a great opportunity to get a goal back just past the 10 minute mark, as they fired three different shots that First Star Kari Lehtonen only blocked but did not freeze, but the important thing for the Stars is that none found the back of the net.

    Jason Demers committed the first penalty of the night for a hi-stick on Jori Lehtera with 7:59 remaining in the frame.  The Blues certainly applied some pressure, but the Dallas penalty kill stood strong to keep the Notes scoreless.

    Troy Brouwer returned the favor with 3:46 remaining with a blatant cross check against Radek Faksa.  Unlike the first power play, this one counted as Jason Spezza connected on a wrister, assisted by Jamie Benn and John Klingberg.  Klingberg made a kick steal on an attempted pass from Dmitrij Jaskin, collected and dumped back towards his offensive zone for Benn.  Benn completed the advance along the near boards under pressure from Jay Bouwmeester… until he fell down, allowing Benn to center the puck for Spezza, who advanced towards Elliott’s crease and scored through traffic over the netminder’s glove.

    It was the needle that broke the camel’s back, as Ken Hitchcock pulled Elliott in favor of Jake Allen, earning his first minutes of the 2016 playoffs.  He completed the frame without giving up any goals, leaving the score at 3-0.

    Although they trailed on the scoreboard, the Blues actually played a decent period beyond their mistimed mistakes, leading the Stars in shots (nine to seven), face-off wins (57%), takeaways (four to two), giveaways (one to three) and hits (11 to nine).

    St. Louis finally got on the board at the 7:29 mark of the second period with a Second Star Alexander Steen wrister, assisted by Bortuzzo and Vladimir Tarasenko.  The left wing’s initial shot was blocked by Demers and eventually sent towards the near boards by Tarasenko where it was collected by Bortuzzo, who immediately fired a slap shot on Lehtonen’s net.  With Lehtonen still collecting himself, Steen collected the rebound and scored on the basically empty net.

    It was the lone tally of the back and forth period, leaving the Stars with a 3-1 lead going into the final period.

    After 40 minutes, the Blues had a commanding lead in shots on goal (23 to 12) in addition to leading face-off wins (51%), takeaways (nine to six), giveaways (four to five) and hits (19 to 15).

    2:41 into the third period, Russell earned a seat in the sin bin for a delay of game penalty, giving the Blues their second power play opportunity of the contest, but just like the first it yielded no goal.

    The Notes pulled within a goal at the 8:59 mark when Patrik Berglund scored his third goal of the postseason, assisted by Lehtera and David Backes (his fifth helper of the playoffs).  Backes received a pass from Alex Pietrangelo and then found Lehtera hanging around near Lehtonen’s crease.  Lehtera turned with the puck and passed between his legs to Berglund, who tipped-in his score past the goalie’s right skate.

    St. Louis was unable to level in the remaining 11:01, which means these teams will meet one more time in North Texas on Wednesday.

    In summary, after a poor first period for the Blues, this was an incredible game by St. Louis, as they fired 37 shots on goal to Dallas‘ 14 (the most they ever had in one period was seven), earned 17 takeaways and threw 21 hits.  Given how well they handled the Stars in the final 40 minutes, it is difficult to tell who carries the momentum into the deciding game.

    Lehtonen earns the win after saving 35 of 37 shots faced (94.6%), while Elliott takes the loss, saving four of seven (57.1%).  After coming into the game as relief, Allen saved all seven shots he faced for no decision.

    Wednesday’s game at the American Airlines Center will drop the puck at 8 p.m. eastern, and may be viewed on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.

  • Blues Cruise (to 4-1 Win in Game 5)

    By: Nick Lanciani

    Unknown-1Ken Hitchcock made one lineup change heading into Game 5 on Saturday afternoon and it paid off for the St. Louis Blues as Dmitrij Jaskin’s second period goal proved to be the game winner en route to the Blues’ 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

    Brian Elliott made 27 saves on 28 shots faced (with a .964 SV%) for St. Louis in the win, while Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves on 21 shots against for a .857 SV% in the loss.

    Dallas forwards, Tyler Seguin and Patrick Eaves were doubtful for Game 5 and remained scratched prior to puck drop. Ryan Reaves and Steve Ott were healthy scratches for St. Louis as Jaskin was inserted into the lineup. The winner of Game 5 has an all-time series record of 190-53 (78.2%) among teams entering Game 5 tied 2-2 in a best-of-seven game series. With the win on Saturday, the Blues now have a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6 on Monday night at Scottrade Center.

    Robby Fabbri opened up the scoring six minutes into the first period with his 2nd goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kevin Shattenkirk (7) assisted on the goal that gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead. A little after halfway through the first period the Stars had answered with a goal of their own from Alex Goligoski. Goligoski scored his 4th goal of the postseason with a wrist shot that beat Elliott at 10:58 of the first period and tied the game at 1. Vernon Fiddler (2) and Jason Spezza (8) picked up the primary and secondary assists.

    After twenty minutes of play the score was tied 1-1 and Dallas was leading in shots on goal (10-8), faceoff wins (6-4), giveaways (3-1) and takeaways (3-2). The Blues led in hits (12-8) and blocked shots (5-1) after the first period.

    Jaskin scored his 1st goal of the playoffs a little over ten minutes into the 2nd period and gave the Blues a 2-1 lead. Jay Bouwmeester (4) and Scottie Upshall (2) assisted on the goal and St. Louis never looked back the rest of the game. Troy Brouwer picked up his 4th of the postseason on a wrist shot that beat Lehtonen and was assisted by Paul Stastny (4) and Fabbri (8) at 17:42 of the period. Brouwer’s goal put the Blues up by two and gave them a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.

    Leading by two after two, St. Louis also led in shots on goal (19-16), hits (24-23) and blocked shots (12-9). Meanwhile the Stars had an advantage in faceoff wins (17-13), giveaways (7-2) and takeaways (5-2). Through forty minutes of play, there were no penalties called.

    CJhyiLmKA string of penalties were called in the third period in what seemed to be pent up penalty calling anger from the refs as David Backes, Brouwer, Mattias Janmark, Fiddler and Shattenkrik were all penalized within ten minutes of one another for minor infractions ranging from holding to slashing to roughing.

    Neither team was able to capitalize on any power play that occurred.

    With about four minutes left in the third period, Stars head coach, Lindy Ruff signaled for Kari Lehtonen to skate to the bench for an extra attacker. Despite their efforts with an extra skater, Dallas was unable to convert on their last ditch chances. Stastny ruined the fun for Dallas and their fans with an empty net goal at 18:20 of the third period. His 2nd goal of the playoffs gave the Blues a 4-1 lead and was assisted by Jaden Schwartz (7) and Backes (4).

    When all was said and done the Blues had won 4-1 and led in hits (29-26), takeaways (7-5) and blocked shots (20-15) after sixty minutes of play. The Stars led in shots on goal (28-22), faceoff wins (30-20) and giveaways (12-6) in the loss. Both teams were 0/2 on the power play.

    Game 6 is Monday night at 8 PM EST, live from Scottrade Center in St. Louis, and can be viewed on NBCSN in the United States and CBC and TVAS2 in Canada.

  • Dallas at St. Louis – Game 4 – Eakin’s overtime winner levels the series for the Stars

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    First Star of the Game Cody Eakin’s first goal of the playoffs was a big one, as the Stars beat the Blues 3-2 in overtime to level the series at two-all.

    Neither team was able to capitalize of their lone man-advantage in the frame, but Vladimir Tarasenko did find the back of the net with a wrister at the 10:17 mark, assisted by Jaden Schwartz.  Schwartz completed a steal by Carl Gunnarsson along the near boards in Dallas‘ offensive zone and was able to find Tarasenko already streaking towards Third Star of the Game Kari Lehtonen’s net.  The winger collected the pass near center ice with no defensemen in his path, allowing him to advance between the dots before going five hole on Lehtonen.

    In addition to leading on the scoreboard, the Blues also owned the face-off dot (61%), blocks (three to one), giveaways (none to three) and hits (16 to 10).

    Radek Faksa leveled the game 4:05 into the second period, with an assist from… Joel Edmundson (that’s a joke, just in case you were wondering). Edmundson was trying to find a teammate in the neutral zone, but Faksa easily intercepted that pass to advance on Brian Elliott’s crease and score on his five hole.

    16 seconds after Faksa’s goal, David Backes found himself in the penalty box for tripping Mattias Janmark.  It proved to be costly, as 53 seconds later Patrick Sharp scored the Stars‘ first power play goal of the series with a quick wrister past Elliott’s right skate.  He was set up by Jamie Benn (his eighth helper of the playoffs) and Jason Spezza.  John Klingberg passed the puck along the blue line to Spezza, who found Benn along the far side of the goal line.  Benn was forced to the top of the crease, but he found a crashing Sharp to take the lead.

    Backes earned himself another trip to the penalty box at the 11:11 mark, but he took Kris Russell with him this team, as both were charged with penalties (roughing and slashing, respectively).  The four-on-four circumstances lasted only 1:27 before the Notes earned a four-on-three when Eakin took a seat for slashing Schwartz.

    St. Louis converted on that infraction when Paul Stastny scored his first goal of the playoffs, a tip-in on Tarasenko’s initial shot to level the game at two-all.  He was also assisted by Alexander Steen.  Steen took a pass from Tarasenko near the blue line, but quickly returned the puck back to his possession outside the near face-off circle.  Tarasenko fired a wrister right at Stastny’s stick at the top of the crease, which he angled just the right way to get the puck over Lehtonen.

    Alex Goligoski sent the Blues right back to the playoffs at the 13:55 mark when he hooked Patrik Berglund, but Steen returned the ice to four-on-four after only 24 seconds when he interfered with Faksa’s advance on the puck.  Dallas was unable to convert on their end of the 24 second power play when Goligoski returned to the ice.

    Although an exciting second period, this game certainly needed a third, as the score was two-all after 40 minutes.  St. Louis continued to lead the game in face-off wins (53%), blocks (four to three) and hits (25 to 19).

    Unlike the first two periods, there were no goals or penalties committed in the final 20 minutes.  Elliott and Lehtonen deserve credit for forcing overtime, as they both saved all seven shots they faced.  Through regulation, St. Louis continued to lead in face-offs (56%), blocks (seven to four), giveaways (four to six) and hits (34 to 30).

    Only 2:58 into overtime, Eakin scored the winner with his first goal of the postseason, assisted by Sharp and Benn.  Benn collected a pass at his defensive blue line and advanced the puck to center ice before passing to Sharp along the far boards.  Eakin received a cross-ice pass at the near face-off dot, which he wristed over Elliott’s glove shoulder to level the series at two-all.

    Lehtonen earns the win after saving 24 of the 26 shots he faced (92.3%), while Elliott takes the overtime loss after saving 25 of 28 (89.3%).

    With the win, the Stars reclaim home ice for the now effectively three game series.  The important Game 5 will occur Saturday at 1 p.m. eastern in the American Airlines Center, and may be viewed on NBC, SN or TVAS.