Sharks buck regular season trends

LIVERMORE, Calif. –  The San Jose Sharks (#7) were able to reverse the regular season trends  (0 for 4) against the St. Louis Blues (#2) by winning game one of this Western Conference Quarter Finals series. The opening period ended scoreless with the Blues taking an edge in shots (7-4) to the dressing room.     With 4:23 gone in the second, St. Louis forward David Perron was sent off on the game’s first penalty, (Slashing, minor).  The Sharks capitalized on their opportunity as Martin Havlat tipped a shot from Dan Boyle past Blues netminder Jaroslav Halak.  Ryan Clowe also picked up an assist on the play.  Both teams traded scoring opportunities as the pace and physical play picked up considerably following San Jose’s goal.  Ultimately time ran out in the second with San Jose holding a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes. The game’s intensity continued to increase as the third period got underway and St. Louis finally broke through less than a minute in.  Patrik Berglund tipped a hard Kevin Shattenkirk shot from the point which beat Antti Niemi blocker side.  Alexander Steen also recorded an assist by starting the sequence with a pass from deep in the Sharks zone to the waiting Shattenkirk at the right point. Later in the third, St. Louis took advantage of an aggressive San Jose penalty kill as Havlat was off for tripping St. Louis goaltender Halak behind the net.  With 7:28 gone in the third period, San Jose got caught deep and Berglund scored on a rush up the middle.  The goal gave the Blues a 2-1 lead.  Andy McDonald and Kris Russell collected assists.San Jose responded well to being down a goal, working hard to gain some momentum, as the third period progressed.  Late in the third that bit of momentum translated into a huge goal by Andrew Desjardins with just 5:16 remaining in regulation.  Tommy Wingles and Boyle earned assists and the third period ended in a 2-2 regulation tie. St. Louis dominated play for most of the OT frame, but a stellar goaltending performance from Antii Neimi held the blues off.  Had the Blues capitalized on any of several chances, it would have been their first playoff win since 2004.  Instead, the OT ended with the score knotted at 2.The roles were reversed in the second OT period, as San Jose appeared to recharge during the break.  The Sharks came out with good legs and renewed energy and controlled play for all of what ended up a fairly brief second OT.  The game winning sequence began with the Sharks winning the draw in their end and ended with Havlat scoring from the top of the left circle.  Havlat received the puck on a quick feed from Clowe at 16:26.  Logan Couture also earned an assist by getting the puck to Clowe.  Leading up to the goal there were several hard battles won by all five Sharks players on the ice. With the win, San Jose takes the lead in the best of seven series 1-0.  As a franchise, San Jose is 9-4 when winning the first game of a series.  The Sharks are 4-10 when losing the first game.
all photos by Jack Lima (jack.lima@prohockeynews.com)