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SAN JOSE – The two unsuccessful Sharks power games started the same way on Monday.
In a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in the second game of the Western Conference final, San Jose was able to retain possession of the ball during the initial face-off. from one or the other power play that he deserved. The Blues won the first goal in the first period in the first period, then defeated the Sharks against a loose puck after Tomas Hertl won the draw to start their power play in the third period. In both cases, the San Jose power play had to regroup before it could begin.
"If you lose the ball and you lose it, that's equivalent to 20-30 seconds," Sharks winger Kevin Labanc told reporters after the match. "So, it's good to start with the puck."
The Sharks did not start with the puck in a power play, and did not create a lot of chances when they picked it up. San Jose finished the night with three throwing attempts in his two power games, according to Natural Stat Trick. St. Louis goalkeeper Jordan Binnington stopped all three goals, but only one was a chance to score and none was considered a very dangerous look.
In the first and third periods, the Sharks took advantage of an added advantage. At the end of each game, the deficit remained intact and San Jose could not get out of his power play funk.
In nine games since the explosion of a four-goal power play record in a seventh historic match of their first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks have not scored only three goals on the power play. Joe Pavelski's win against the Blues in Saturday's first game was a 5-on-3, and San Jose has not scored a goal against 4 since winning the fifth game against the United States. Colorado's Avalanche in its second place in the playoffs of the Stanley Cup. round series.
In total, the Sharks have a power record of 3 for 26 (11.5%) since the start of the second round.
"It was a little fair [tonight]Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said, "We probably had to escape a bit too often and get some pucks. Some of our entrees were not good enough. These little things that allow you to support an attack in the area – we were not good enough in these areas. "
The Sharks struggled to enter the offensive zone both on the power play. Labanc managed to carry the puck in the area a few times, and there were a few cases where defensemen Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson managed to hit a striker with a pass to enter the area.
But the Blues penalty killers were aggressive to their own blue line, forcing an initial change of possession each time the Sharks tried to beat them with a dump-in. Acting St. Louis coach Craig Berube said his team was also aggressive on penalties.
"The pressure, more than anything," said Bérubé. "We did a good job on the line [their] evasion. Win draws, pick up and defend yourself. "
In the 63 games that preceded the arrival of Bérubé at the hands of Mike Yeo just before Thanksgiving, the Blues had the 12th highest scoring in the NHL shootout (81.6%). St. Louis was just outside the top 10 limiting attempts (12th low) and shots (13th low), and closer to the middle of the group limiting the chances of high risk (16th lowest) and goals expected (17th lower) under Bérubé.
The underlying numbers of the Blues are largely the same in the playoffs, but St. Louis has only eliminated three-quarters of his penalties in the first two rounds. Only the Carolina Hurricanes (73.2%) eliminated the shots on goal from the NHL Conference finalists in the first two rounds.
Now, the Blues have eliminated 5 of 6 shorthanded chances in this series and still have not allowed a 5-on-4 goal. The Sharks' power play cut did not cost them in the second round, a series in which they beat the Avalanche 16-14 in 5-on-5 situations. They showed that they could progress without their power play materializing but turning the advantage Human advantage would help separate San Jose from another series in which the margins, until now, are extremely thin.
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If a turnaround is in store, the Sharks think it starts with more.
"We have not pulled enough," said Logan Couture. "We knew that the ice was not very good.We have to shoot the puck.I did some games where I went back and I passed it … and that 's it. is my job is to shoot the puck on the power play, and I have to do a better job of it. "
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