ST. LOUIS, MO – The San Jose Sharks nearly took Game One of their Conference Final series with St. Louis before dropping the decision on the road. Game Two was a different story as the Sharks dominated from the outset as goaltender Martin Jones stopped all 26 St. Louis shots and San Jose needed just an early go to secure the victory.
San Jose continued the upbeat tempo which ended Game One cashing in early. While in the St. Louis zone, Justin Braun corralled the puck before sending it to Dainius Zubrus. He found a streaking Tommy Wingels high in the slot and in an instant, a wrist shot off his stick and past Blue goalie Brian Elliott made it 1-0 Sharks at 2:07.
The Blues had several chances to tie it, but Sharks goalie Martin Jones turned them all aside in a period where San Jose outshot St. Louis 10-9.
Both teams opened the second period with an end-to-end pace and at 7:04 into the period, San Jose added to their lead. With Troy Brouwer off for slashing San Jose’s Brent Burns, the Sharks went on the power play and made it count. Logan Couture worked the puck around to Joe Pavelski at the point, He fed the puck to Brent Burns at the far circle, leading to a blast which beat Elliott for the 2-0 lead.
The period ended with San Jose leading in shots again, 9-6 for the period and 19-15 for the game.
The third period began with San Jose holding serve as St. Louis struggled to get traction with their attack. With Troy Brouwer off again, this time for high-sticking Paul Martin, Brent Burns continued on his tear by converting the man advantage into a 3-0 lead. The precision passing play from the sticks of Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture allowed Brent Burns to score his sixth of the playoffs.
Dainius Zubrus added an empty net goal with nineteen seconds remaining.
While Brian Elliott was not nearly as sharp as he was Sunday night, Martin Jones was stellar when he needed to be as St. Louis pushed for one goal to get back into the game. In several sequences, particularly early in the third period, he made multiple saves while San Jose was shorthanded. St. Louis outshot the Sharks 11-5 in the final frame.
Game Three in San Jose will be Thursday, May 19th (9:00 PM ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports). Game Four takes place Saturday, May 21st (7:15 PM ET, NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) before the series returns to St. Louis on Monday, May 23rd.
Follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL and you can contact me at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.
You must be logged in to post a comment.