Photo by: (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
San Jose tied the series at one by stealing a 4-0 road victory against the St. Louis Blues in game two.
Special teams were the story as the power play and the penalty kill both struggled for the Blues. Meanwhile, the Sharks had a feeding frenzy. The Sharks went two for five on the man advantage while the Blues were scoreless in all six attempts including a four-minute penalty early in the third period and short 5-3 chance late in the game.
In net, Martin Jones bested Brian Elliott posting 26 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs. Elliott stopped 23 of 26 shots in the loss as the Blues were shutout for the first time this postseason
Troy Brouwer had a difficult night hitting the post twice while ending up in box twice as well.
San Jose’s fourth line performed well in game one despite the loss, and it came out strong early in the first.
Just 2:06 into the game, the Sharks set up a cycle in the offensive zone as Dainius Zubrus circled out from the end board. Zubrus pass to Tommy Wingels in the high slot as Wingels wristed a shot on net with Nick Spaling screening in front. The puck squirted past Elliott into the net giving the Sharks their first lead of the series 1-0.
The fourth line again made noise late in the period but in a different way. Zubrus and Alexander Steen collided near center ice. Fans wanted a penalty as it appeared Zubrus made contact to Steen’s knee as Steen had to leave the ice for further medical attention. Steen remained on the bench, but appeared to be in pain.
The Blues got a prime opportunity to get one on the board about three minutes into the second period as Brent Burns pinched, but Steve Ott was able to get the puck out of the zone. Scottie Upshall slipped behind the defense, but couldn’t handle the pass as Martin sticked the puck away keeping it 1-0.
Later the Sharks added to their lead after a slashing call on Vladamir Tarasenko. On the man advantage, San Jose broke into the attacking end as Joe Pavelksi slid the puck over to Brent Burns who fired it past Elliott to make it 2-0 with 12:56 left in the second period.
The Sharks defense and Jones again stood tall early in the third period as they fought off a double minor to keep the Blues off the board.
The special teams kept being the story as the Sharks went to the man advantage again in the third period. San Jose worked the puck around as Patrick Marleau fed Brent Burns by the top of the circle to Elliott’s right. Burns teed up a one timer that beat Elliott high to the glove side for his second of the game to make it 3-0 with 8:02 left in regulation.
Even with a 5-3 power play late in the third then pulling Elliott while on the power play, the Blues failed to put one past Jones as Zubrus tacked on an empty netter to make it 4-0.
The Blues will look to retake the series lead on the road in game three in San Jose Tuesday, May 17.
