St. Louis Blues to miss Jaroslav Halak for Game 3 against San Jose Sharks –NHL Playoffs Update
Brian Elliott has just gotten the opportunity of a lifetime to shine as a veteran goalie for St. Louis Blues as goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, has been ruled out for game-three of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Western Conference playoff quarterfinal
series against San Jose Sharks on Monday, April 16.
Up until now, the series is tied between the two teams as San Jose took game-one and St. Louis Blues countered to level it in the next with Elliott performing top notch.
The good thing that comes out of this situation for St. Louis is that both goalies have been playing so far and any incident of a goalie being fresh to a playoff series can be avoided.
"We're lucky because we've been a two-man rotation since Day 1 here," Blues coach, Ken Hitchcock, said. "You don't expect something like this to happen but it does. We're lucky we're in the situation we're in. We have two good goalies, a 1 and a 1A literally.
Both guys have played in pretty much every building and both guys have played well in every building. For us, we don't miss a beat."
Halak was forced to leave early in game-two as he collided with Blues defenseman, Barret Jackman. It was also learned that Halak was not feeling fit, which is why he could not return to complete the match.
Elliott made an entry and performed exceptionally well by blocking all remaining 17 shots that San Jose made on their net.
The series between Sharks and Blues is now heading to San Jose for the next two games. It will definitely be a test of the St. Louis team and how they manage to perform under the influence of a different crowd.
Whatever the situation is, coach Hitchcock is certainly determined to play well and get back for game-five in St. Louis.
"We're going to need them. Obviously right now Brian is going to have to be our best player tomorrow and take this series back and get home-ice advantage back again,” Hitchcock added.
St. Louis and San Jose are scheduled to face-off for game-four of the quarterfinals on Monday, April 16.
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