The St. Louis Blues can reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970 when they were swept by the Boston Bruins. Tonight they will play at their home arena at Enterprise Center for Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. This is their chance for a Stanley Cup rematch
Head coach Craig Berube has done a great job with getting his players to focus on winning. He knows that some things they can’t control. An example is the controversial hand-pass that lead to Erik Karlsson overtime-winning goal in Game 3. Players, fans and spectators of the Blues were not happy how the referees handled the missed call. This controversial call made the Sharks lead the series 2-1. After the loss, Berube told his players to move forward and focus on the next games. He even told them to not even talk about it with the media. The Blues ended up winning the next two games outscoring the Sharks 7-1.
Berube on Sharks’ injuries: “We’re not going to change the way we have to take this game and how we have to play it and the urgency we need and the desperation that we need in the game. It doesn’t matter who is in the lineup for them, they’re going to be a desperate hungry team.”
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 21, 2019
The Blues are 2-0 when they had the chance to advance to the next round. In the first round, they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in Game 6. In the second round, they eliminated the Dallas Stars 2-1 in overtime in Game 7. The Blues try to keep their game simple.
DeBoer said Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl are not available – not even on the trip. Joe Pavelski is “a game-time decision” for #sjsharks.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 21, 2019
According to multiple sources, Sharks forward Tomas Hertl and defenseman Erik Karlsson will not play in Game 6. Captain and forward Joe Pavelski was able to make the trip but still remains a game-time decision. All three of the players suffered injuries on Game 5 when they lost to the Blues 5-0. This is a major loss, as both Hertl and Karlsson are key offensive pieces in the Sharks lineup. Defenseman Tim Heed is expected to fill in Karlsson’s spot. Forwards Michael Haley and Dylan Gambrell could both be in the lineup if Hertl and Pavelski are out.
“You’re never comfortable when your back’s against the wall like that, but we have been there before and found a way.” #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/SN50bMkJZY
— x – San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 21, 2019
“All three of those guys are important guys but if we have them, great, if we don’t, the next man up and we’ve got to find a way to get the job done,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
In elimination games, the Sharks are 4-0 in this year Stanley Cup Finals. Their ability to be tough on elimination games puts more pressure on the Blues. With their key players out, expect a different Sharks offense. In the last two games, the Sharks offense was only able to score once.
Their best way for the Sharks is to remain disciplined for the rest of the game. Hertl has been one of the top penalty-killing players. In Game 5, the sharks had seven minor penalties that included two 5-on-3 opportunities. Having that much penalties generate less offense.
Forwards
Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko
Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron
Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas
Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen
Defense
Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo
Starting Goalie
Forwards
Timo Meier — Logan Couture – Gustav Nyquist
Evander Kane — Joe Pavelski — Joonas Donskoi
Melker Karlsson — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow — Dylan Gambrell — Micheal Haley
Defense
Joakim Ryan — Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon — Tim Heed
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun
Starting Goalie
Martin Jones
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