Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie The Blues will have had 5 days to get over their blow third period lead and overtime loss to the Stars before taking on the Sharks in San Jose. The Sharks had have 4 days off to think about their 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.
The Sharks are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and 19-10-3 at home. They are 4-1 in their last 5 home games. The Sharks are 9th in goals against per game, 2 spots worse than the Blues, but they are 15th in goals per game, 10 spots better than the Blues. On special teams, the Sharks have been good with the best penalty kill in the league and the 13th best power play.
Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns key the Sharks offensive attack with 53 and 52 points in 66 games, respectively. Burns is third in the league among defensemen. Martin Jones has a 91.6% save percentage on the season with a 2.54 goals against average.
Marin Jones statistics against the Blues are close to his current year with a 91.5% save percentage and a slightly better goals against average at 2.32. Burns hasn’t exactly been a Blues killer in his career as he only has 22 points in 41 games. Notorious Blues killer Joe Thornton has been out since late January due to injury. Sharks Newcomer Evander Kane has 9 points in 15 games against the Blues.
Carter Hutton has been very strong against the Sharks, posting a 95.5% save percentage and a 1.32 goals against average. Jake Allen has been good with a 91.7% save percentage and a 2.41 goals against average. One would have to assume Hutton will be getting the nod in the net.
Against the Sharks, Jaden Schwartz leads the way with 13 points in 13 games with Alexander Steen having 19 in 23 games. Vladimir Tarasenko has 11 in 14 games while Alex Pietrangelo has 18 in 23 games. Brayden Schenn has struggled with just a lone goal in 10 games versus the Sharks.
I’m guessing the lines to be the following:
Forwards Alexander Steen - Ivan Barbashev - Vladimir Tarasenko Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn – Dmitrij Jaskin Vladimir Sobotka – Kyle Brodziak – Patrik Berglund Nikita Soshnikov – Oskar Sundqvist – Tage Thompson
Defense Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo Vince Dunn - Colton Parayko Jordan Schmaltz – Robert Bortuzzo Goalie Carter Hutton
It’s a great day for hockey.
Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others will donate in their name.