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Blues defenceman Chris Pronger shows his appreciation to goalie Roman Turek for making 30 saves.
(AP Photo) |
Blues eliminate Sharks
With last season's stunning playoff loss to the Sharks still fresh in their minds, the St. Louis Blues edged San Jose 2-1 Saturday afternoon to take their Western Conference quarter-final series four games to two.
FULL STORY
THE
SERIES SO FAR:
GAME 1: Turek back in the groove
GAME 2: Nabokov
silences Blues
GAME 3: Kiprusoff backstops Sharks to victory
GAME 4: Turek back in the groove
GAME 5: Salvador, Blues take series lead in OT
GAME 6:Blues eliminate Sharks in OT
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 Brad Stuart -
The young defenceman scored the Sharks' lone goal in Game 6, picking up the offensive slack from Owen Nolan, Teemu Selanne and Vincent Damphousse.
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Roman Turek -
The St. Louis netminder turned aside 30 shots in Game 6, avenging last year's playoff defeat for which he took a large part of the blame.
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Playoff record:
Home: 1-2
Road: 1-2
Power
play: 0% (0 for 23)
Penalty
killing: 80.8% (21 of 26)
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Playoff record:
Home: 2-1
Road: 2-1
Power play: 19.2% (5 for 26)
Penalty
killing: 100% (23 of 23)
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Tyson Nash (torn knee).
Out indefinitely.
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| Ranked
5th in the West
Record:40-27-12-3
95 points
217 GF 192 GA |
The
San Jose Sharks are a team on the rise. The team solidified
its reputation as a team to keep an eye on this season, soaring
to the top of the Pacific Division before injuries took their
toll and rookie sensation Evgeni Nabokov struggled down the
stretch. The Sharks finished in fifth in the Western Conference
with a respectable 95 points.
The Sharks seemingly have all the tools in place to make the
franchise successful in years to come.
With a solid combination of young and established veterans
on the blueline, and scorers such as Owen Nolan and Vincent
Damphousse up front, the Sharks jumped out to an impressive
start to the season. It also helped that the Nabokov, an unheralded
netminder who began the year as the No. 2 goalie, stole the
starting job from Steve Shields and established himself as
the Calder Trophy favourite by December.
But the Sharks lost a key component in mid-January when Damphousse,
the team's leading scorer at that point, went down with a
dislocated left shoulder. The 33-year-old centre missed 36
games due to the injury, and returned to the lineup in the
last game of the regular season.
In order to fill the scoring void left by Damphousse, Sharks
general manager Dean Lombardi went out and acquired Teemu
Selanne. Although the Finnish Flash had to sit out his first
few games due to a knee injury, he returned and instantly
made an impact.
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| Ranked
4th in the West
Record: 43-22-12-5
103 points
249 GF 195 GA |
For
the St. Louis Blues, this season was definitely a learning experience.
In October, the Blues looked like they were on a mission, determined
to defend their President's Cup trophy and shake the moniker
of being a first-round bust. Everything was going according
to the plan until injuries hit the Blues by December.
And it just wasn't one player that went down to an injury,
it was a series of them. It seemed that virtually every player
from the Blues' American Hockey League affiliate spent some
time in St. Louis as the organization was forced to compensate
for losses to Pavol Demitra (22 games) Chris Pronger (30 games),
Al MacInnis (23 games) and Jochen Hecht (8 games).
Only forward Dallas Drake played in all of St. Louis' 82 games.
With a decimated lineup, and only Pierre Turgeon to shoulder
the offensive load, the Blues slowly dropped in the standings
until Blues general manager Larry Pleau went out at the trading
deadline and acquired power forward Keith Tkachuk, Scott Mellanby
and Cory Stillman to add some punch to the roster.
Pronger and the rest of the hobbled players eventually returned
to the Blues, making them mostly healthy for the playoffs,
but the team still struggled down the stretch, going 3-5-2
in their last 10 games.
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there's any series in the Western Conference that has upset
potential, it's this one. This is expected to be the toughest,
most exciting series in the playoffs with the St. Louis Blues
trying to exact some revenge after a humiliating first-round
loss to the Sharks last year.
The Blues won the President's Cup in 2000, and were expected
to sweep the Sharks in four games.
What makes this match-up so exciting isn't just the history
behind the series, but the fact that each team has added a
number of quality players in an attempt to bolster its lineup
for the post-season.
At the trade deadline the Blues added rugged wingers Keith
Tkachuk, Scott Mellanby and dealt for proven scorer Cory Stillman.
The Sharks, on the other hand, were busy as well, getting
sniper Teemu Selanne from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
It will be interesting to see if St. Louis' defence, led by
Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis, can stop a potentially dangerous
offence that features Vincent Damphousse - just back from
shoulder injury - Selanne and Owen Nolan.
The soft play of Blues goaltender Roman Turek is a cause for
concern for coach Joel Quenneville.
Series
tied 2-2
Oct.
6, 2000: St. Louis 4 @ San Jose 1
Jan.
11, 2000: St. Louis 3 @ San Jose 6
Jan.
27, 2001: San Jose 4 @ St. Louis 3
Feb.
26, 2001: San Jose 2 @ St. Louis 7
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Steve Armitage
If any series
is ripe for an upset, this is it. The Blues are still recovering
from injuries - especially Pronger - and netminder Roman Turek has
been spotty all year. "He has to crank it up" if St. Louis hopes
to advance . San Jose's pairing of Damphousse and Selanne could
prove interesting, and the performance of Nolan in the playoffs
gives SJ a dangerous offence. "Nolan is phenomenal." Sharks goalie
Evgeni Nabokov could be the difference. With a stellar first half,
mediocre second half, plus no playoff experience, some real doubts
exist between the pipes, and he'll have all the shots he can handle
with Demitra and Tkachuk coming at him.
St. Louis in 6 | |
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