The Blues face the brink of elimination after losing 6-3 last night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. The game was much closer than the score indicates as the Sharks added 2 empty net goals in the last minute or so. You can find a video recap of the game
here.
Less than 4 minutes in to the game, Jake Allen makes a very poor play as the Blues lose a defensive zone face-off. Joe Pavelski moves the puck to Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the left point with a little bit of traffic in front of Allen. I'm not sure if Allen didn't track the puck back to Vlasic quickly or his reaction time was just slow but Allen didn't fight to see around the bodies in front of him, allowing Vlasic's rather ordinary shot to beat him high glove side. Replays show the shot is not deflected but it does deflate the crowd a bit. The Blues had a good start with the first three shots on goal but the Sharks get on the board first.
The Blues show some of their resolve, Jaden Schwartz getting the equalizer a little over 3 minutes later. The play is started by good board work by Schwartz, Patrick Berglund and Dvaid Backes with Schwartz getting the puck to Kevin Shattenkirk for the original shot before Berglund puts a shot into Backes that Schwartz cleans up. Schwartz crashed the net into an area where Martin Jones has been leaving juicy rebounds all series.
With a little under 5 minutes remaining in the first period, the Blues take the lead on a St. Louis Cardinal like play from Troy Brouwer, batting in the Paul Stastny rebound out of mid-air. Stastny had an open shot from the slot thanks to a good pass at the blue line from Alexander Steen.
Early in the 2nd period, Shattenkirk gets called with an extra-minor in retaliating to a cheap interference hit by Tommy Wingels. In my opinion, Shattenkirk has to to know the game situation and stakes and keep his cool on the play. Of course, that is often easier said than done but he has to show restraint and discipline here and doesn't. Vlasic hits the post with a shot from the far left circle as Allen doesn't get any piece of the shot. Joel Ward does his own Brouwer impersonation and bats the puck out of mid-air and into the net.
Almost 7 minutes into the 2nd period, Berglund gets his first glorious scoring chance, getting sprung on a breakway by Schwartz but gets stopped by Jones, shooting the puck right into his crest.
With a little over 8 minutes left in the 2nd period, Roman Polak gets a roughing penalty and starts a fight with Dmitri Jaskin. I can't call it instigating since he wasn't given the penalty but Polak is throwing punches well before Jaskin even gets his gloves off. See more on the incident
here. What seemed lost on the play is that the Blues scored on the play though it was just after the referee blew the whistle because of the fight. It struck me this morning as amazing that it could have been justifiable for the referee to be giving Polak two extra minors on the play and to be a bit slower on the whistle, thus counting the goal on the play and still giving the Blues a power play. Given that Robby Fabbri scored a one-timer from the blue line on the ensuing power play, that would have been a heck of a swing in the game as it would have made it 4-2. I'm not suggesting this is likely or anything just that it could have been one of the weirdest plays I have ever seen.
With about 3 minutes left in the 2nd period, Shattenkirk is called for a very
questionable penalty and some might wonder if the words he had with the officials after the extra minor he got in the Wingels incident may have impacted this play.
In the latter ¼ of the penalty, Colton Parayko vacates the front of the net, going behind the goal line into the scrum, taking himself out of the play. Before he even gets there, the puck slides out to Joe Thornton behind the net and David Backes makes a poor decision in trying to go to Thornton as he walks out front, leaving Joe Pavelski open in the slot. As Backes is approaching Thornton slides the puck to Pavelski for the one-timer goal. Allen gives himself no chance in making a save on the play as his push out to Pavelski is at a terrible angle, way too far to his right leaving the glove side wide open. Most of Allen's body is outside of the frame of the net by the time the puck hits the twine.
Much like the game before, the Blues start the 3rd period in terrible fashion, icing the puck about 10 seconds into the period. Berglund loses the faceoff to Pavelski and Pavelski later brilliantly deflects a Brent Burns right point shot past Allen. Alex Pietrangelo was out to lunch of the play, letting Pavelski go free in front of the net. In less than 2 minutes of actual game clock time, the Blues have gone from up one to down one.
Paul Stastny almost ties the game just over 6 minutes into the 3rd period but Justin Braun deflects enough of the shot so that it hits the post rather than the net. Berglund has a chance to tie the game with under 5 minutes left from about 20 feet out but can't beat Jones.
The Sharks add two empty net goals in the last 54 seconds.
Game 5 Notes
- Both goalies were not very good. Bad rebound control and puck tracking was rampant.
- Blues power play was 1 of 3 but the penalty kill was only 1 for 3. (Jammer key)
- Allen's save percentage was 84%. (Jammer key)
- Pavelski, Couture, Thornton and Burns had 2goal 5 assists. (Jammer key)
- Fabbri had another strong game though Parayako and Edmundson not as much. (Jammer key)
- Sharks D combined for a goal and 3 assists to the Blues 2 assists. (Jammer key)
- Unlike Game 4, Vladimir Tarasenko is not very dangerous all game.
Game 6 Notes
Coach Ken Hitchcock is going back to Brian Elliott as the Game 6 starter. I thought the Blues were only giving Elliott a rest in Game 4 and that he would have the net back in Game 5 unless Allen was really strong. While Allen played good in Game 4, I didn't think he played well enough to get the nod in Game 5. Would it have mattered? Who knows?
The Blues need to do what the Penguins did tonight and force a Game 7.
NHL Champions for Charity
In what I hope becomes a Hockeybuzz tradition, Hockeybuzz Sharks blogger
Steve Palumbo and I placed a wager on the series. If the Blues win, Steve has agreed to make a donation to
Covenant House Missouri (@covenanthousemo on twitter) whose mission is to empower youth who are disconnected to design their own path from homelessness to opportunity. Thanks to my twitter typo, if the Blues win, I'll be donating to Safe Connections (@SafeConnections on twitter). If the Sharks win, I will donate to the
Hydrocephalus Association (@HydroAssoc on twitter) whose mission is to connect individuals to larger communities that can provide support and understanding, to educate national and state policymakers, the medical community, and the general population, and to advance treatment and eventually find a cure for Hydrocephalus.
I hope that our wagers will inspire players and fans to pledge donations for each win their team makes in the NHL playoffs. For the players, it would be great if they would agree to donate a small percentage of their playoff bonuses to charity while fans could donate an amount per win, perhaps both upping it if their team won the Stanley Cup. As a simple example, a player could pledge 0.25% per win with a bonus 1% if they win the Cup, bringing their total to 5%.
So far this playoff season, the Blues victory over the Stars has meant that
Bill Meltzer is donating to
Safe Connections (@SafeConnections on twitter).
It’s a great day for hockey.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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