San Jose Sharks-St. Louis Blues Quarterfinal Series Review -NHL Playoffs Special
St. Louis Blues recorded history as they took their first playoff series since 2002 and it being against a team that has reached the Western Conference finals for the past two years straight was even a bigger deal.
San Jose Sharks were definitely stunned as the Blues nearly whitewashed them by eliminating the Californian team in five games after winning only the first.
What led the Blues to victory was the best part of the series since the team has certainly turned around in a major way from what was a hugely disappointing 2010-2011 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
"The fans have been waiting a long time and have been very patient," said defenseman Barret Jackman, the only player that was part of the 2004 playoff squad. "It's nice to give them a little taste of what's to come."
One of the biggest aspects of St. Louis’ game was having a great combination of rotating goaltenders. Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak are some of the best in the league in terms of stats and experience. Elliott managed to fill in the gap left by Halak who
left after the first two matchups with an undisclosed injury and St. Louis never looked back from then onwards.
It was Ken Hitchcock’s vision that gave the Blues what they have always needed and that is quality guidance. After the coach took over in November of 2011, Blues have never been better in history.
"There was elation and then calmness," Hitchcock said. "There's a real calmness about our group, they came down from the high real quick. That's good. I think we're going to play well the next series."
Let’s go over each game as see what went on:
Game 1
Game 1 of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff Quarterfinals was definitely a surprise for many people as St. Louis gave up the match in overtime, 3-2.
It also gave the impression that Blues would choke in the series and be unable to continue after a remarkable regular season due to the extreme playoff pressure.
Game 2
St. Louis definitely bounced back in a huge way as Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott combined to totally shutout the Sharks and take a dominating 3-0 victory to level the series with the next game being in San Jose.
Blues sent out a strong message to San Jose and they certainly lived up to their words.
Game 3
The tie-breaking game turned out to be intense as both teams were focused on taking the lead in the series but despite a third period rally by San Jose, St. Louis emerged victorious in the end, 4-3.
St. Louis scored three of the four goals potted in the first 40 minutes while San Jose tried to comeback in round-three but were denied with a game-winner by Alexander Steen.
Game 4
St. Louis just gained too much confidence over San Jose and utilised that to their benefit by scoring the first two of the night to take the match, 2-1.
Game 5
San Jose was expected to comeback at any moment and force a Game 6 competition but Blues and Brian Elliott were just too focused on the goal at hand by nearly shutting out the Sharks with a 3-1 win to eliminate the opposition.
St. Louis Blues will have to continue working their magic as they have the next series against Los Angeles Kings.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: