Gameday 12-03-09: Blues vs. Sharks
Game Info
Location: HP Pavilion San Jose, CA.
Game-time: 9:30 pm Central
TV: FSMW
Radio: KMOX 1120 AM
Stat Pack
San Jose Sharks: 1st in Western Conference & 1st in Pacific Division – 42 Points
St Louis Blues: 12th in Western Conference & 5th in Central Division – 25 Points
Power Play:
San Jose (Home) 14%, 28th in NHL
St Louis (Road) 18.8%, 16th in NHL
Penalty Kill
San Jose (Home): 92%, 1st in NHL
St Louis (Road): 84%, T-6th in NHL
Goals Scored per Game vs Goals Against per Game
San Jose: 3.38 GF, 2nd in NHL | 2.55 GA, 7th in NHL
St Louis: 2.44 GF, 24th in NHL | 2.56 GA, 8th in NHL
Hot & Cold
San Jose: Patrick Marleau & Joe Thornton | Marc-Edouard Vlasic
St Louis: David Backes, TJ Oshie, & Erik Johnson | Alex Steen
Food For Thought
The Blues have played San Jose well over the last few seasons. They are 2-2-1 against San Jose going back to last season.
The polar opposite power play of San Jose is very interesting. From 28th at home compared to having the top rated road power play in the NHL. Not sure what gives there, but this could be a positive point for the Blues tonight. Any time a good team struggles in a specific area, you want to exploit it as much as possible.
The Tenacious Trio of scorers for San JOse are a thing of wonder to behold. Between Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, and Patrick Marleau they combine to have 44 goals, 60 assists, and 104 points in 58 combined games played. They are #1 (Thornton), #3 (Marleau), and #7 (Heatley) in scoring. That is just amazing and deflating at the same time. You just cannot stop them. How do the Blues stop them? The same way you would try to stop Crosby and Malkin. You limit their good chances and don’t take bad penalties.
Difference Makers:
With all he high powered scoring on San Jose and the Blues recently hot “top 6″, the game falls to the goalies.
Can Ty Conklin fills Chris Mason’s skates? Mason is 9th in the NHL with a 2.29 GAA and 6th in Save % (.923). Conklin is no push over, boasting a 2.33 GAA and .926 Save %.
Nabakov is right behind Mason in both GAA and Save %, 2.35 (10th) and .921 (7th) respectively.
Which goalie will stand on their head? Or will one just give up fewer goals?
Tonight’s game will come down to which marquee winger can stick it to the other team.
Player Notes:
Per the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Jeremy Rutherford
Winchester will dress in place of Cam Janssen. Good move here as Winchester has been very, very good versus SJ the last two seasons.
Carlo Colaiacovo will return to the line up to replace Jonas Junland who was sent back to Peoria (AHL).
Alex Pietrangelo will be a healthy scratch as he prepares for the World Junior Championship camp for Team Canada.
Forwards
Perron-McDonald-Boyes
Kariya-Backes-Oshie
Steen-McClement-Crombeen
Tkachuk-Berglund-Winchester
Defense
Jackman-Polak
Sydor-Johnson
Colaiacovo-Weaver
Goalie
Ty Conklin
Keys to the Game
1. Keep it Clean
- Limit penalties and do everything possible to have solid puck management. Possession teams love to take advantage of turn overs to score quick goals, then control the puck the rest of the game.
2. Strong in Front
- The Blues allowed too much pressure on top of Chris Mason in their last three games. The Blues need to protect Conklin and keep their crease clear. At the same time they need to drive hard on Nabakov. Something Brad Winchester, David Backes, Keith Tkachuk, TJ Oshie, and David Perron should be able to do.
3. Who Else?
- Who besides the Blues current top 2 lines can produce goals? Alex Steen, Brad Winchester, Patrik Berglund, and BJ Crombeen have been quiet on the score sheet. The time for the periphery scoring to click in, is now.
Who to Watch for?
Dan Boyle
Dan Boyle has 24 (6G, 18A) points in 29 games this season, including 13 (3G, 10A) on the power play. Truly one of the best offensive defensemen in the game today.
