St. Louis Blues Turnovers Cost Them; San Jose Sharks Lead Series 2-1

The St. Louis Blues came out in Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks with good energy and puck possession. Unfortunately, it was merely a mirage as the Game 2 Blues returned and the Sharks dominated from there.

The St. Louis Blues looked ready to prove their offday comments true about having another level. They opened up Game 3 with a lot of energy and possession.

They were getting pucks into the zone and tracking things down very well. They looked the better team for much of the first period in fact. Alas, looking like the better team and being the better team aren’t always the same thing.

The Blues were playing with fire for much of the first period with several turnovers. Most of them led to odd-man rushes the other way and the Blues were not made to pay for quite awhile.

Awhile couldn’t last forever though. Despite good pressure in the offensive zone, the Blues turned the puck over with a little over four minutes to go in the opening frame. The Sharks top line went the other way and made them pay.

Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton set up a Tomas Hertl blast that beat Brian Elliott over the glove hand and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead that would hold up the rest of the period.

It would hold up as the game-winner in fact because, for the second game in a row, the Blues failed to score a goal of their own.

San Jose would add a goal in each period, making the final box score look almost identical as that of Game 2, aside from the empty net goal in Game 1. A 3-0 win for the Sharks, a goal in each frame and a shutout without breaking a sweat for Martin Jones.

Despite brief flashes from the Blues, they looked clueless again as to how to counteract anything and everything the Sharks were doing. The sad thing is, as well as the Sharks played (and they played very well), every goal of theirs was set up by a Blues turnover.

Joonas Donskoi‘s second period goal came when Robby Fabbri tried a cross ice pass instead of taking an available shot. Logan Couture went the other way and dropped it off for Donskoi’s shot.

Same result on the third goal, though it took longer. The Blues, again, had the puck in the offensive zone, only to be unable to hold it while the Sharks went down, worked it around a bit and then Hertl snuck in his second of the game.

All icing on the cake since the Blues could not even come close to scoring. Their best chance after the first five minutes or so of the game was Troy Brouwer hitting the post for the third time in two games.

The disheartening thing about these performances is the Blues inability to do anything positive for longer than a shift or two. They can get no momentum built up at all or when they do, they do something to shoot themselves in the foot.

This is all to take nothing away from the Sharks. The Sharks have flat out won two games. Even if the Blues were completely on point, the Sharks may have won. That’s what’s hard to deal with as a fan though, the fact that your team hasn’t put up a fight to let you know whether the game could have been won.

More from Bleedin' Blue

If the Blues hadn’t turned pucks over, maybe the game would have been different. It wasn’t like the Sharks did much outside of their transition game. If if’s and but’s were candy though, we’d all have cavities.

The reality is that the Blues haven’t shown up in this series. The Sharks haven’t let them get rolling, but the Blues haven’t really done much to affect that either.

The scary thing is that this series is starting to look like the Kings one from a couple years ago. Play well or play terrible, it’s the same result. The Blues have to change that in the next game.

Negatives

The passing again. It was crisper at the game’s start, but that waned quickly. The Blues appear unable to make even short, gimme passes. There were several scoring opportunities that never materialized because a simple pass was not put on a stick and the Sharks went in transition or at worst got an easy poke back out of the zone.

Brian Elliott. Let’s call it how it is here. He’s been fantastic. He’s the reason the Blues are still playing. He’s had two bad games. The game is not his fault because it’s hard to win without scoring, but all three goals could have been saves too. He’s looking frustrated as well, which for a goaltender is never good because it puts you more into scramble mode and trying too hard is bad no matter the position.

Vladimir Tarasenko. While we’re being brutally honest, and at this stage why not, he just hasn’t done enough. There are plenty of other players to call out for the same thing, so they’re not getting passes, but he’s the Blues best player and hasn’t done anything. Zero points in three games this series and barely a shot recorded. He had some zip to start the game, but once the team lost energy he did too. When the Blues were actually fighting during the pulled goalie segment, he just stood by the side of the net and his stick wasn’t on the ice. Nobody is playing well, but you must demand more from your star.

The lack of shots at opportune times. I don’t want to hear any nonsense about outshooting the Sharks or Martin Jones being solid. The Sharks have a gameplan to keep the Blues on the perimeter and are doing it to perfection. That said, the Blues are failing to take shots when they do get into good areas. Fabbri’s turnover was a prime example. Shoot it. Look for rebounds. Get to the dirty areas like they were in the previous two series. Instead, they want to set up a one-timer for someone else and it never works.

Speaking of dirty areas, that’s another area this team has regressed in every series. They were fantastic at being in front of the net against Chicago and getting tip goals and rebounds. Less so against Dallas and now not at all against San Jose. Chicago, though tough, isn’t as big so perhaps the Blues aren’t as strong as we thought they were, but they just seem to lack the want to as well.

Positives

The first period. No, it wasn’t domination by any means, but if the Blues could have poached a goal it would have been a different game. They played well enough to deserves something in the first period, but just didn’t do the little things quite well enough. Even so, if we see that same energy and possession and they can somehow stop the turnovers, then this will be a series.

The fourth line. I didn’t like the idea of putting both Dmitrij Jaskin and Magnus Paarvi in (mostly because of Paarvi), but it worked. In fact, those three players were the only forwards to not have a goal scored on them. People can whine and moan about their inclusion, but they didn’t turn the puck over much, they were quick and energetic and they did their job. Were they a huge influence? No, but Ryan Reaves or Steve Ott weren’t going to have any impact either and could have been a detriment if they took penalties.

Looking Forward

Game 4 will be in San Jose on Saturday. It has an odd start time of 6:15 p.m. CST.

It’s pretty much a must-win for the Blues. Clearly losing won’t end the series, but with home-ice being anything but an advantage in the playoffs for the Blues, they can’t even think they’ll be able to win Game 5 without a little momentum beforehand.

Next: Blues Have To Play More Instinctual

The Blues just need something positive to go their way like it did in Game 1. They have to earn it though and they haven’t proven themselves to be good at that in this series yet. It’s not over by a long shot. The Nashville Predators proved that the Sharks can be exposed. It’s up to the Blues to actually put some pressure on though.