How San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues match up - San Jose Mercury News

SHARKS VS. ST. LOUIS

COACHING GAMESMANSHIP

Todd McLellan fired the first volley, but it didn't take long for Ken Hitchcock to respond as both bench bosses are trying to put psychological pressure on the opposition. "There haven't been very many series that we enter as the underdog, and we certainly will be that," McLellan said of his Sharks within minutes after the regular season ended. "We also understand the pressure they're under. We've been there ... The expectations that are put on you -- it's very high." Hitchcock countered by defining the series as one between the experienced Sharks and his inexperienced Blues. "They've been chasing this dream for a few years," Hitchcock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Who's the favorite or what your record was during the regular season is not relevant. They have a lot of experienced players who have been down this path before. For some of us, it's a new experience."

IN THE NETS

The Sharks have in Antti Niemi the only goalie with a Stanley Cup ring (Chicago Blackhawks, 2010). If you want to really twist statistics, Niemi has more victories this season than any other netminder in this series (34-22-9, .915 save percentage, 2.41 GAA, six shutouts). The Blues? Well, where to begin. With Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, it's a case of pick your poison as the two combined to give St. Louis the top goaltending in the NHL. The 155

regulation and overtime goals against was a league best, and their combined 1.89 GAA came close to the record of 1.87 set by the 1955-56 Montreal Canadiens. Give Elliott the statistical edge (23-10-4, .940 save percentage, 1.56 GAA, nine shutouts) over Halak (26-12-7, .926 save percentage, 1.97 GAA, six shutouts), but not by much. Sharks have much to fear here. Halak will get the start in Game 1 with Elliott nursing a minor upper-body injury.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Sharks have spent the past few days working on their penalty kill with good reason after surrendering six power play goals in the final two games -- both of which they still somehow won. Only one NHL team had a less effective penalty kill in 2011-12 than the Sharks with a 76.9 percent success rate, and the Blues -- even with a power play that tied for 18th in the NHL at 16.7 percent -- have to be designing plays to draw hooking or tripping calls. On the other hand, the Sharks did finish with the NHL's second best power play (21.1 percent), but they'll be facing a credible Blues penalty kill. "Their penalty kill is exceptional. It's been the best for the last two months, and it starts with their two goaltenders," McLellan said. Overall, St. Louis finished with an 85.8 percent success rate, good enough for seventh best in the NHL.

SHARKS FORWARDS

First line: Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski

Second line: Ryane Clowe, Logan Couture, Marty Havlat

Third line: Daniel Winnik, Andrew Desjardins, Tommy Wingels

Fourth line: Dominic Moore, Torrey Mitchell, TJ Galiardi/Michal Handzus

SHARKS DEFENSE

Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Dan Boyle

Douglas Murray, Brent Burns

Jason Demers, Jason Braun

Colin White

SHARKS GOALIES

Antti Niemi

Thomas Greiss

BLUES FORWARDS

First line: David Perron, David Backes, T.J. Oshie

Second line: Alex Steen, Patrick Berglund, Andy McDonald

Third line: Vladimir Slobotka, Jason Arnott, Chris Stewart

Fourth line: Jamie Langenbrunner, Scott Nichol, Ryan Reaves

BLUES DEFENSE

Kent Huskins, Alex Pietrangelo

Barret Jackman, Kevin Shattenkirk

Kris Russell, Roman Polak

Carlo Colaiacovo

BLUES GOALIES

Jaroslav Halak

Brian Elliott

BY THE NUMBERS

CATEGORY          SHARKS          ST. LOUIS

Goals for          219 (13th)          206 (21st)

Goals against          205 (8th)          155 (1st)

Shots on goal per game          33.8 (2nd)          30.6 (10th)

Shots against per game          28.6 (8th)          26.7 (1st)

Faceoffs won          53.3 (2nd)          50.4 (T for 13th)

Penalty minutes per game          9.6 (7th)          13.0 (27th)