2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Finals
#3 San Jose Sharks vs #2 St. Louis Blues
Best of Seven Series Format: 2-2-1-1-1
Series Price (odds courtesy of 5Dimes Sportsbook): Blues -130 / Sharks +110
Game #1 – Sunday, May 15, 2016, 8:05 pm Eastern, TV: NBC Sports
Scottrade Center – St. Louis, Missouri
Opening Line: St. Louis -135 / San Jose +115
Current Line: St. Louis -140 / San Jose +120
Opening Total: over 5 -110 / under 5 -110
Current Total: over 5 -110 / under 5 -110
Neither the San Jose Sharks or St. Louis Blues have ever won the Stanley Cup as they meet in the Western Conference Finals starting Sunday in St. Louis. The Sharks have never advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, losing three times in the Conference Finals, the last in 2011. St. Louis advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for three straight years from 1968-70 in their first three years as a franchise, but hasn’t been back since. They return to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. The winner between the Sharks and Blues will face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
San Jose is coached by Peter DeBoer. The Sharks finished third in the Pacific Division with 98 points. San Jose beat the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the first round, but the first four games were decided by one goal. The Sharks then beat the Nashville Predators in seven games in the second round. San Jose won the clincher at home 5-0 Thursday night. The Sharks are 54-34-3-3 this season and the total is 48-35-12.
St. Louis is coached by Ken Hitchcock. The Blues finished second in the Central Division with 107 points, two points behind the Dallas Stars. St. Louis beat the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games in the first round, with six of the seven games decided by one goal. In the second round, St. Louis beat Dallas in seven games. The Blues won the deciding game 6-1 in Dallas Wednesday night. In fact in the last three St. Louis wins in the series, the Blues outscored the Stars 16-3. St. Louis is 57-30-5-4 this season and the total is 38-42-16.
The road team won all three games in the regular season between the teams. San Jose won both meetings in St. Louis, and the Blues won the only meeting in San Jose. This is the fourth playoff meeting between the Sharks and Blues, with each winning twice. All four playoff series before this meeting came in the first round.
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San Jose is outscoring teams 3.42-2.33 in the playoffs. The Sharks lead the league in playoff scoring. San Jose averages 28.7 shots per game and opponents average 28.5 per game. The Sharks are 13/42 (31%) on the power play and 28/34 (82.8%) on the penalty kill. The Sharks have allowed one shorthanded goal in the playoffs.
Goalie Martin Jones is 8-4 in the playoffs for the Sharks. He has a GAA of 2.16 and a save percentage of .918 (314/342). He has one shutout in the post-season. James Reimer is the back-up but hasn’t seen any action in the postseason.
Center Logan Couture leads all playoff scorers with 17 points including 10 assists. Defenseman Brent Burns has 15 points with 11 assists. Joe Pavelski has 13 points with 9 goals. Joe Thornton has 11 points with 8 assists. Patrick Marleau has nine points with 5 assists. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Joel Ward and Joonas Donskoi all have at least 7 points in the playoffs. Left wing Matt Nieto is questionable for undisclosed reasons.
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St. Louis is outscoring teams 3.14-2.43 in the playoffs. The Blues are #3 in scoring in the playoffs. St. Louis averages 28.9 shots per game and opponents average 32.9. The Blues are 11/40 (27.5%) on the power play and 31/39 (79.5%) on the penalty kill. St. Louis has allowed one shorthanded goal.
Goalie Brian Elliot is 8-6 in the playoffs. He has a 2.29 GAA and has made 419/451 saves (.929). He has one shutout. Back-up Jake Allen has played for 41 minutes in the playoffs. He hasn’t allowed a goal in seven shots faced.
Right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has 13 points with 7 goals. Center Robby Fabbri has 13 points with 10 assists. Center David Backes has 12 points with six goals. Jaden Schwartz has 11 points with 8 assists. Kevin Shattenkirk has 10 points with 8 assists. Troy Brouwer has 10 points with 5 goals. Four other players have at least seven points.
San Jose is 5-1 after scoring 5 goals or more, 10-3 against teams with winning home records, 20-7 against teams with winning records, 10-4 in road games, 5-2 in Sunday games, 9-4 overall and against Western Conference teams, 35-17 on two days rest, 1-10 in Conference Finals games. The Sharks are 4-1 in their last five trips to St. Louis. The road team has won four of the last five games in this series.
St, Louis is 6-0 in Sunday games, 4-1 on 3 days rest, 23-8 against Pacific Division teams, 15-6 against Western Conference teams, 36-15 after scoring 5 goals or more, 22-10 overall, 2-5 after allowing 2 goals or less, 1-4 after a win and in Conference Finals games. The over is 8-2-1 in this series recently including 5-1 in St. Louis.
It is no surprise that the four teams that are left are also the highest scoring teams in the playoffs. Both San Jose and St. Louis have been effective on the power play. These teams are evenly matched, but I see St. Louis winning a hard fought series in seven games. This should be high scoring and I think the blues win game one 4-3.
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