It’s make or break time for the Blues in their series with the Sharks as they face a potential 3-1 hole with a loss in Game 4.
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Goalie Jake Allen, making his first start of the postseason, turned away 31 of San Jose’s 34 shots, sending the series back to St. Louis on even terms for Game 5 on Monday.
But Brouwer answered with a power-play goal only 2:55 later to give St. Louis a 5-1 edge. Taking advantage of a Paul Martin giveaway, the Blues worked it around deep in the Sharks’ zone, and shortly after Jones stopped Fabbri’s shot on goal, Jori Lehtera scored his third of the playoffs.
Hitchcock also pulled Elliott in first period of Game 6 in the second round against the Dallas Stars after he surrendered three goals on seven shots in 16:49 of action.
It doesn’t hurt that goalie Martin Jones has fortified the offensive surge with a. 972 save percentage over the past three games and padlocked the San Jose net completely during his last two outings.
The St. Louis Blues are (1-2-0) in their Western Conference Final series against the San Jose Sharks and (9-8-0) in the playoffs overall.
San Jose failed to capitalize on an early-period power play, managing one shot on goal. Logan Couture slowed with the puck in the Blues’ zone before finding Joonas Donskoi trailing the play. That score also broke a Sharks franchise mark for goals in a single postseason.
The Sharks played with a series lead in the conference final for the first time ever but now find themselves tied after four games, just as they were in their first trip in 2004 when they lost to Calgary in six.
Off to the third, and team Jaws adds another, as Hertl gets his second on the wrap-around, that sneaks through the keeper. “So yeah this is the closest (I’ve been to the Stanley Cup Finals) I guess”. That was the case in San Jose’s 3-0 victory Thursday. “He’s a competitive son of a gun”, Hitchcock said of Allen. “Whether it was Elliott or Allen, we have to be prepared to play our game and get to either one of them”.
Another St Louis turnover set the Sharks on their way, with Joe Thornton connecting with Joe Pavelski at center. It’s ultimately my call, but it feels like we need to get a little bit of momentum changed our way because we’re not rewarded for the work and they are, which is the difference.
“The thing that would help him”, Hitchock said, “is the thing we can’t give him”. I really believe we wouldn’t be here right now.
“The feeling I have is if we clean up the transition stuff, stop giving up these odd-man rushes like we did, we gave up five odd-man rushes in the first half of the game yesterday, all based on us having the puck, not them having the puck”, he said. We’ve been able to take top players and hem them in, frustrate them. It’s got to continue. Despite the impressive win, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock would not commit to G Jake Allen as his Game 5 starter….
“Brouwer keeps showing up in big games for us”, observed Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
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And how did they get to this place, where consistent hard effort pays off? Both Paajarvi and Jaskin entered the series in Game 3 and were arguably the team’s best line in that game, carrying their momentum to Game 4. If he does, spare a kind thought for Brian Elliott, who has to be wondering where that goal support was when he was between the pipes for Games 2 and 3.
