Jori Lehtera scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Brian Elliott made 31 saves to help the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final at Scottrade Center on Sunday. Game 2 is in St. Louis on Tuesday.
David Backes scored a power-play goal for St. Louis, which is 4-4 at home in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tomas Hertl scored his first goal in seven games for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight on the road in the postseason. Martin Jones made 21 saves.
The Sharks outshot the Blues 16-5 in the second, but Lehtera put the St. Louis ahead 2-1 at 9:15 after picking off a Brent Burns pass in the neutral zone, skating in and taking a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Jones.
Jones was frustrated a shot he felt he should have saved decided the game.
Elliott made his best save of the second period on Joe Pavelski's one-timer from the slot off a Joe Thornton pass at 10:46.
The Blues caught a break with 1:14 left in the second when a quick whistle negated a Sharks goal that would have tied it 2-2. Melker Karlsson's dump-in was blown dead after Elliott appeared to control the puck, but the Blues goalie never had control of it and kicked it into his net.
St. Louis forward Patrik Berglund thought he opened the scoring at 11:35 of the first period when he tipped Jay Bouwmeester's shot and it was inadvertently put in by San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The goal was waved off, though, because Berglund made incidental contact with Jones. The Blues challenged the call on the ice, but it was confirmed by video review.
Backes, who had a game-high 11 hits in 18:33 of ice time, put St. Louis ahead 1-0 when he tipped Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the point past Jones at 15:04 of the first. Hertl tied it 1-1 34 seconds after Backes scored. Pavelski initially redirected Burns' shot from the right point, then the puck hit off Hertl’s right skate and got past Elliott.
Jones' best save came with a little less than 12 minutes remaining when he denied Paul Stastny in the slot off a slick feed from Robby Fabbri. The Blues penalty kill was 3-for-3. The Sharks were 13-for-42 (30.9 percent) on the power play coming into the series.
Sharks Bites
Peter DeBoer: "I think we were a little tentative to start the game. I thought the first period was a little feeling out. We talked between the first and second, started to play our game in the second period and really I thought in the second period ... the tragedy of the second period was we spent the whole period in their end and lost the period 1-0. That was basically the game."Jori Lehtera: "I just got the puck, then I closed my eyes and shot it. That's about it. ... We just kind of keep it simple."
Martin Jones: "Not much to it, just found a hole ... it [stinks] that it decided the game, but nothing really to panic over. I'll make that save next time."
Blues Quotes
Ken Hitchcock: "We haven't played a team like this. The other two series [against the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars] were similar. This series, and this team that we're playing against, is completely different. This is no different than playing Los Angeles. They're a heavy, hard team, strong on the puck, a lot of wall battles. We haven't had a series like this."
"It took us two periods just to get close to the emotional level on the compete side to get going. We'll be a lot better in Game 2."
"Well, it was varying information, so it seemed like the right thing to do [make the challenge]. When I looked at [Berglund], I saw [Berglund] absorb the puck and he's looking back on it and he might have been a little deep.”
"Our special teams were excellent. Our [power play] was excellent and our [penalty kill] was even better. They were both good. They were the reason for the victory."
David Backes: "The whistle blows and everyone stops. [Elliott] just keeps momentum to where that loose puck is. Three guys notice it, but the whistle's already blown."
Kevin Shattenkirk: "One thing I never have to worry about is [Backes] being in front of the net when I shoot it. For me to get that shot off, have it deflect before it gets to him and him still get a piece of it is amazing. That's where he's so valuable."
Brian Elliott: "[Pavelski's] obviously a good player, a guy that leads their team. It's really nothing more than just trying to stop every puck. It's not who's shooting it that really matters. It's trying to get in the way. When a guy like Jori goes down and gets you the lead, you just want to keep it, limit their chances they have, try to cover some pucks and let the guys do the rest. You don't really think about who's shooting it."
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