Western Conference Second Round Recap

The Western Conference Final starts today and it looks to be a very good match-up. Here’s a recap of the Blues and Sharks second round series.

St. Louis vs. Dallas:

The Blues came off a tough 7-game series with the Blackhawks, while the Stars stumbled into the second round by beating the Wild in 6 games. St. Louis struggled with Dallas’ speed in Game 1. For the first two periods St. Louis struggled with the Stars’ speed, frequently missing assignments on the rush, and mismanaging the gap control. This resulted in the first Dallas goal as Antoine Roussel scored midway through the second period, on a rebound into a nearly empty net as a result of a 3-2 rush. St. Louis had the Stars on their heels for a large portion of the third period, and scored to tie the game as a result of their sustained pressure. But with just under five minutes to play, Dallas scored again on a 3 on 2 rush, with Radek Faksa putting home a rebound of an Ales Hemsky shot.

In Game 2 St. Louis gave up another goal that Ken Hitchcock would not have been pleased with, leaving Alex Goligoski open by the left faceoff dot for far too long. However St. Louis scored three times on five shots in the first period, ending Kari Lehtonen’s night. He could have claimed responsibility for the first goal, but the second and third were his team’s fault. Dallas scored early into the third period off of a Mattias Janmark breakaway goal, and then on a Jamie Benn goal late in the third to tie the game up. David Backes scored on a power play rebound and won the game for the Blues, who headed back to St. Louis having stolen home ice advantage.

Game 3 was not a fun one for the Stars. For the third straight game they scored the first goal, and for the third straight time it was because of sloppy play by the Blues. The rest of the game though was dominated by St. Louis. Niemi and Lehtonen were both in goal for 3 goals, each having at least one they would have like to have back. But the main reason St. Louis was able to score 6 goals was because of they hounded down the Stars defence and forced them into turnovers. John Klingberg and Alex Goligoski in particular were responsible for a couple goals.

Game 4 headed into overtime tied at 2-2, and just under 3 minutes in, Cody Eakin placed a perfect shot above the shoulder of Brian Elliot to tie the series up for Dallas. Though it didn’t help that Eakin had that much time to shoot, Elliot probably was not pleased with the goal. In Game 5, the Blues again scored goals by pressuring the Dallas defence into turnovers and odd-man situations down low. St. Louis took the game 4-1 and took a 3-2 series lead.

St. Louis started game 6 by giving the Stars three easy goals. The first was poorly played by Brian Elliot, the second would not have gone in had Kevin Shattenkirk tied up Vernon Fiddler properly, and the third could probably have been avoided if Jay Bouwmeester didn’t fall while skating backwards. The rest of the game they put everything towards the Dallas goal, but could only score twice. Kari Lehtonen helped the Stars out by stealing a game for his team, who managed to put only 14 shots towards the Blues goal.

The Blues scored early and often in game 7. Scoring three goals on Kari Lehtonen in the first period, one that definitely should have been stopped. Antti Niemi didn’t fare any better as early in the second he allowed a David Backes shot past him, and at that point with the game 4-0, the Blues essentially were in a position to coast home. Brian Elliot had to make a few good saves to keep the Stars out of the game, and the Blues too the game 6-1, and the series 4 games to 3.

The Blues managed to counter the Stars speed, by taking advantage of Dallas’ defensemen, and also at times their weak goaltending. If St. Louis wants to make it to the Final, they will have to figure out a way to control San Jose’s speed, as San Jose’s defence and goaltending are better than Dallas’.

Nashville vs. San Jose:

This series was really back and forth in terms of which team controlled the play. Game 1 went into the third period with a 1-0 Nashville win, but San Jose scored three times in a 13 minute stretch where they took over the game. Pekka Rinne allowed a bad powerplay goal to Tomas Hertl, to make it a 1-1 game, but it was special effort from Joel Ward which gave San Jose the lead. On a Nashville Change he was able to sneak through on a breakaway and outwaited Rinne, went past him and reach around from behind the goal line to put it into the net, all while skating full speed. The third San Jose goal was off the rush on a powerplay when Logan Couture tipped the puck past Pekka Rinne, and put the game out of Nashville’s reach. San Jose added two empty-netters and took the game 5-2.

It was San Jose that headed into the third period of Game 2 with a 1-0 lead, however Nashville dominated much of the third period and tied the game up with seven minutes left to play. Nashville continued to press, but all San Jose needed was one chance. Joe Thornton made a pass to a streaking Matt Nieto, whose rebound was found by Joe Pavelski right on top of the crease and in front of a sprawling Shea Weber. San Jose added an empty netter, and won the game taking a 2-0 series lead.

In Game 3, Nashville took a 2-1 lead into the third period, and finally managed to add the insurance they weren’t able to in games 1 and 2. They took the game 4-1, and despite the Sharks being up 2-1 in the series it didn’t look like they were going to get an easy pass.

Game 4 went into overtime, and both teams took turns trading chances, controlling the play for portions of overtime. San Jose looked to have scored as the puck crossed the goal line as Joe Pavelski was pushed into goalie Pekka Rinne, however they play was ruled a no-goal on ice, and was not overturned after the review. Pavelski really couldn’t have done anything to stop himself, as he was pushed just before he began to stop. Play continued and it took all the way till the 3^rd overtime for Mike Fischer to put a rebound into the net past a sprawling Martin Jones.

Game 5 was controlled by San Jose throughout. San Jose’s depth really challenged Nashville, as both the first and second pairings were on for even strength goals with missed checks. San Jose pulled away with a convincing 5-1 win and a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 back in Nashville was a back and forth affair that Nashville tied with seven minutes left in the game. In overtime, Nashville scored on a harmless looking play, when Melker Karlsson couldn’t corral a Nashville clear towards the San Jose blue line, and Viktor Arvidsson got a hold of the puck, and shot a backhand past Martin Jones. The goal was definitely stoppable, but Martin Jones misread it. The series tied, headed back to San Jose.

San Jose gave Nashville no room to breathe in game 7, taking a 2-0 lead after the first. They added 3 more, and shut the predators out, with Pavelski, Couture, Thornton, and Marleau each getting a goal. Roman Josi and Shea Weber struggled as they were on the ice for all five San Jose goals, and to blame for some unchecked forwards and bad pinches.

Onto the next round:

This San Jose St. Louis series will be a treat to watch, as both teams have both offensive and defensive depth, and solid goaltending through the first two rounds. San Jose will need to make sure each of the Blues first three lines is shut down, because each of them can produce offensively, and the Blues will need to make sure that the speed of the Sharks is checked.