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Battle of Unbeatens: Sharks Go Head-to-Head with Blues |
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The San Jose Sharks will put their 5-0 record up against the 4-0 Blues in St. Louis tonight in a battle of two unbeaten teams.
The Sharks felt that their 3-2 win Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators was the toughest game they played in so far this season.
“They played hard. They came at us and even though we scored the first goal they came right back” commented Joe Thornton. “They are a real good team over there. Fast, physical, I thought the goaltender played great.”
Things should only get tougher for the Sharks against the Blues.
The tough game against Ottawa should help prepare the Sharks for St Louis. They had to show some character and come from behind to earn the victory and it was the first close game they have played this season.
Like San Jose, the St. Louis club has plenty of scoring depth, they boast great goaltending with Jarslav Halak or Brian Elliott, and their defense core is mostly young and talented.
They can bang bodies with the best of them in the league and the guys they rely on like their captain David Backes, T.J Oshie, and Patrick Berglund are coming into the prime of their careers.
In the off-season they added former Dallas Stars captain Brendan Morrow who exudes leadership, something the Blues have been lacking the last few years. He is a character player who can play more than one role and was the glue of the 2010 Canadian Olympic team that won gold.
The Blues have another thing going for them when playing San Jose; that is confidence. St. Louis have owned the Sharks the last couple of years and taking care of them in 5 games in the opening round of the 2012 playoffs only lends to that theory.
This is going to be a great test for both teams and could be a playoff preview. I know it is early to talk playoffs, but this is the time of year when foundations for the spring tournament begin.
The good news for San Jose is that rookie sensation Tomas Hertl who has the nhl.com record for the most hits on his 4th goal of the game against the NY Rangers (4.5 million as of Saturday) will be in the line-up.
We are only a few games into this young season, but that shouldn’t take away from the importance of this game. This should be the toughest test the Sharks have had to face this year and it comes on the road where they play seven of their next eight games. Another factor that adds to this battle is that St. Louis is a Conference rival.
A win tonight by the Sharks would go a long way in breaking the strong hold the young Blues have over the Sharks and would be a great block to build off of for the Sharks in terms building road confidence where they have only played once this year.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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