San Jose 3, St. Louis 0
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, May 19, 2016
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees:
Francis Charron, Wes McCauley
Linesmen:
Greg Devorski, Jonny Murray
Attendance:
17562
By The Sports Xchange
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks rode a familiar cast of heroes to victory in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday.
The St. Louis Blues are sure getting tired of seeing this act.
Tomas Hertl scored two goals, top-line mates Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski added two assists each, and Martin Jones became the first San Jose goalie to post consecutive playoff shutouts during the Sharks' 3-0 win.
The Sharks' sixth straight win on home ice gives San Jose a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the suddenly offensively challenged Blues, who had won five of six road playoff games.
"We've got to enjoy this. It was a big win coming back here," Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "They've played well on the road, and they got to another level tonight. We just want to take it one step at a time."
Blues forward Jaden Schwartz said, "That's two games in a row now where we're not scoring, and we've got to fix it."
Jones made 22 saves on the heels of stopping 26 shots in St. Louis on Tuesday in Game 2.
"He's made the big saves when we need them," Sharks defenseman Justin Braun said. "But, for the most part, I think we've done a good job keeping guys to the outside and boxing guys out when they get point shots."
Game 4 is Saturday in San Jose.
"It's tough to win when you don't score," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "It's on us now to find a way to create more offense and to find a way to score more goals."
Hertl scored his second of the game and fifth of the playoffs 6:09 into the final period, a goal that made the score 3-0 and chased Blues starting goalie Brian Elliott.
Center Joe Thornton noticed Hertl unmarked and fired a perfect pass from the left corner along the boards to his teammate. Hertl patiently walked out front and pushed a soft goal through the pads of Elliott, who surrendered three goals on 14 shots.
Jake Allen, St. Louis' starting goalie for most of the season, appeared for the first time since Game 6 in the previous round against the Dallas Stars. He stopped both shots he faced Thursday.
The Blues pulled Allen for an extra attacker with 5:43 left and didn't put him back in until 45 seconds remained.
When asked if Allen might take over for Elliott, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock would not commit.
"I'm going to think about that one," Hitchcock said. "Got two good goalies. Pretty good choice. Can't lose on either one."
The Sharks scored the only goal of the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the third.
Joonas Donskoi created a turnover by poking a pass from Blues rookie Robby Fabbri out of the San Jose zone, where teammate Logan Couture started the transition.
Couture waited for Donskoi to join the rush, creating a three-on-two break, then hit him with a drop pass. The rookie left winger blasted his fourth goal of the postseason past Elliott at 11:44.
San Jose failed to capitalize on an early-period power play, managing one shot on goal. However, the Sharks also killed a Couture high-sticking penalty late in the period as Jones' shutout streak stretched for more than 130 minutes by period's end.
The Blues dominated much of the opening period until the Sharks struck with a quick transition play following a critical St. Louis turnover.
"I think the first 5-10 minutes of the game we were on our heels a little bit," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "But as the game wore on, we got more comfortable how the game would be played. We got into a real rhythm and took control."
Thornton picked off rookie defenseman Colton Parayko's outlet pass and hit Pavelski at center. The Sharks captain slid a feed to Hertl, whose slap shot from the top of the left circle beat Elliott.
Hertl's fourth goal of the playoffs at 15:53 came on only San Jose's fourth shot of the first period. Elliott came out of his net to challenge but was no match for Hertl's blast.
"That's as hard as I've seen him shoot it," Pavelski said of Hertl. "It's great to see it go in. That really gave us a good jump start."
Braun added, "What a shot. What a pass. Top line played really well tonight, and it shows how much skill they've got."
NOTES: The Blues made their first lineup changes of the series, replacing veteran RW Steve Ott with RW Magnus Paajarvi, who made his career playoff debut after playing 276 regular-season games with Edmonton and St. Louis. In addition, RW Dmitrij Jaskin went in for RW Scottie Upshall and D Robert Bortuzzo replaced rookie D Joel Edmundson on the blue line. Bortuzzo was paired with D Kevin Shattenkirk. ... San Jose LW Matt Nieto skated Thursday, but remains out with an upper-body injury. He was injured during Game 6 of the Nashville series May 9 and missed all four games since. ... C Joe Thornton had his left thumb bandaged, but played. He was slashed on the hand in Game 2. ... Sharks D Paul Martin played his 100th career playoff game Thursday. ... RW Ryan Reaves joined Edmundson, Ott and Upshall as St. Louis' healthy scratches. ... C Micheal Haley, D Dylan DeMelo and D Matt Tennyson did not dress for San Jose.
Top Game Performances
St. Louis |
|
San Jose |
N/A |
Points |
Tomas Hertl 2 |
N/A |
Goals |
Tomas Hertl 2 |
N/A |
Assists |
Joe Pavelski 2 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jake Allen 1.000 |
Save Percentage |
Martin Jones 1.000 |
Brian Elliott 11 |
Saves |
Martin Jones 22 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
St. Louis
|
22 |
0 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
4 |
32 |
San Jose
|
16 |
3 |
0-2 |
1-1 |
2 |
22 |
Upcoming Games
-
San Jose will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Sharks have a W/L % of .511 after a win and .622 after a loss.
-
St. Louis will play their next game on the road against San Jose. The Blues have a W/L % of .580 after a win and .625 after a loss.