The St. Louis Blues have always had an up and down relationship with the San Jose Sharks in recent years. The first game in 2019-20 was no different.
The St. Louis Blues have had a rather complicated and interesting relationship over the recent years against the San Jose Sharks. All Blues fans need say is hand pass and it conjures up all sorts of mixed emotions.
Their first game back in the Shark Tank since defeating San Jose in the 2019 conference final was a lot of the same. Fortunately, the Blues, as they tend to do, managed to find a way to get it done.
It did not look like they would early on. The first period was not awful, but it brought back bad memories from the past.
St. Louis got by 0-0 after one period based only on goaltending. That did not hold up long enough as the Sharks struck first on a lucky power play goal.
The Blues battled back, as they always seem to. St. Louis would score two goals within a little over three minutes to claim the lead for their own.
However, the second period continued to be eventful as the Sharks tied it up late. A slight defensive breakdown and a long stretch pass led to a slap shot goal for San Jose and a 2-2 game after two.
The Blues just kept at it and, despite getting outplayed for long stretches of the game, found a way to get things done.
Alex Pietrangelo repaid the favor by scoring on a similar play to that of the Sharks’ tying goal. A partial break down the right wing and a snipe over the blocker side gave the Blues what would prove to be their game-winning goal.
A couple empty net goals – gasp – led to a 5-2 win. The Blues were not overly impressive, but took advantage of the few real opportunities they came to.
Cons: Another slow start
The first period, as has become habit, was quite poor at the start. The Blues only had one shot in the first few minutes and San Jose was piling up the chances.
The Blues got outshot 15-6 overall in the first period. The Sharks were not just being held to the perimeter either.
The Blues, again, relied too much on goaltending to bail them out. It is all well and good that Jake Allen has returned to form, but continually putting him under pressure and facing grade-A chances was part of what threw him off his game in the first place.
St. Louis had a chance here or there, but they had little to no sustained offensive zone time. Things did not get better to start the second either.
Personally, the penalty called on Ryan O’Reilly at the end of the first period seemed weak, but that’s today’s NHL until you reach the playoffs and can do anything. Even then, the Sharks needed a lucky break to get past Allen.
Nevertheless, it was not the way to get a game going. The Blues are almost becoming too good at not starting well and still winning, which might set them up for failure down the road.
Pros: Jake Allen
It is almost comical, as a guy that has stood by Allen through thick and thin, that it took someone coming from nowhere and grabbing the starting role by force to restore Allen’s confidence and abilities. Those of us that supported him and believe in him always knew this was the kind of goaltender he was and should be, but his head was getting in his own way.
Now, it seems as though Jake the Snake has cleared the cobwebs and returned to being a top-notch goaltender. He is definitely one of the main reasons the Blues beat the Sharks on this night.
As mentioned, he turned aside all 15 shots by San Jose in the first period alone and they had 22 chances toward goal, meaning they were coming close a lot. He stopped another 11 in the third and finished the night with 34 saves all together.
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The Blues have proved you can pepper the net with shots and really not trouble a goalie that much. This was not the case as the Sharks were getting a lot of good looks at the net.
Allen was just sharp right from the get go. His edges were clean, his slides precise and he was well positioned. His glove hand is returning to where it should be, even if some doubters will say he should have protected the short side on the game-tying goal that made it 2-2.
If nothing else, Jake has regained his confidence, which is the most important thing in any goaltender’s arsenal. You can have every tool in the world, but if you don’t have confidence, well, we see what can happen. Now, we see how good he can be when he has that confidence.
Cons: One moment of lapse
I’m not quite sure why, but the Sharks’ second goal irritate me. Perhaps it was more to do with things going on around me as opposed to the game itself, but it still seemed like something that needed not happen.
The shot itself was fine. We have seen Oskar Sundqvist fool goaltenders plenty of time with a ripper and that’s exactly what Stefan Noesen did.
It was the play leading up that touched the nerve. It happens time and time again across the league, but today’s defenders are good enough and fast enough that a puck should not be able to go from the bottom of the defensive circle all the way up to the attacking blue line without a Blues player so much as coming within a stick length.
It would be one thing if this was just the deftest touch pass of all time that floated over sticks or just buzzed by the toe of a blade, but it was not.
The Blues had two forecheckers that were a good 10 yards away from the one man in the middle and maybe more. By the time the pass connected, the Blues defenders were at the blue line and having to turn around to chase, seemingly unaware that such a play would be possible.
By then, it was too late. Vince Dunn could only reach out in a vain attempt to block and he may have tipped the puck. It was hard to tell from the camera angles provided.
Regardless, the team needed to be more compact. They seemed to think the Sharks were as far away from goal as possible and take their eye off the prize for one moment. In that moment, the Sharks made them pay.
Pros: Kyrou
Jordan Kyrou has been building to this. He seems to get better every single game he has played in since his call up.
The improvements are incremental, but they are still obvious. In this game, you could see the ways he has improved all on the goal by itself.
It was basically a one-man show. Kyrou showed intelligence and situational awareness by slowing up the puck just enough to allow his teammates to get onside before he broke in.
From there he turned on the jets, showing he has some of the quickest first steps in the league. Kyrou split two defenders and pushed the puck through the five hole.
We can argue whether Martin Jones should have made the save, and likely he should have since the shot was not the strongest. Still, it was a great individual effort and sometimes the weaker shots are better because they stay to the ice and goaltenders don’t expect it.
Kyrou is not quite a legitimate first line player yet, but he is slowly earning his coach’s trust. He’s getting more shifts and more ice time due to his responsibility in all three zones in addition to his offensive savvy. It is just a matter of time for this guy.
Overview
This was such a strange game, but quite indicative of what we have come to expect when playing the Sharks.
St. Louis was not at their best, but they had enough moments where they were better than the Sharks. Their goaltender was far and away better than San Jose’s.
The power play was 1-2, but when they connected, it was a thing of beauty. It is not possible each and every time, but when the Blues are hitting their passes quickly and concisely, they can send the puck around the best of them and Brayden Schenn found Jaden Schwartz for one of the easier tap-in’s he will have in quite some time.
Pietrangelo continues to make his argument for a hefty raise, whether that is from the Blues or not. He netted the game winner and also an empty net goal for extra insurance.
The only downer about the end of the game was the Blues taking another penalty. While it does make things easier by giving them the escape route without fear of icing, it is still not smart to continually put teams up a man (essentially two men) at the end of game.
That said, it was another big win. Craig Berube is now has the most wins in his first 100 games in team history and his mark is all over this team.