Can Banged up Sharks Stave off Elimination?
The St. Louis Blues’ incredible season has continued with two consecutive victories over the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. The Blues now own a 3-2 series lead over the Sharks. They’ll have a chance to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals in Game Six tonight. The Sharks appeared to be in the driver’s seat after a controversial double overtime goal in Game 3 gave them the series edge. St. Louis came out strong and capped off Game 5 with a convincing 5-0 victory.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVA LINE: Blues -175; O/U: 5.5 Under -119.
Jordan Binnington has continued his steady play since coming into the league earlier this year with the Blues. He wasn’t called upon often in Game 5, but made 21 saves to complete the shutout. St. Louis benefited from another goal from their fourth line. It has given the Sharks fits throughout this series. The Blues’ big guns were also prevalent during the win. It included a hat trick from Jaden Schwartz.
This, That, and a Dart Throw
San Jose had a trio of key players miss time in Sunday’s 5-0 loss. Captain Joe Pavelski has an upper body issue, two-time Norris Trophy recipient Erik Karlsson has an undisclosed injury and Tomas Hertl has an upper body issue. Joonas Donskoi, who was out with an upper body issue, returned after being injured earlier in the contest. The Blues have outscored the Sharks 7-1 since the controversial hand-pass goal that ended Game 3. Tonight could see them punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970 with one more victory.
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The Sharks owns a 4-0 mark in elimination games this postseason. The injury-riddled roster provides an added hurdle that may be too much to overcome. The team is looking to battle for the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2016. Logan Couture has six goals and seven points in eight road games this postseason. He has been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back contests overall. G Martin Jones has permitted at least four goals in three of his last four games after reaching that total just twice in his previous 12.
Jaden Schwartz of the Blues‘ netted his second hat trick of the 2019 playoffs on Sunday. It boosted his goal total to 12. That is one behind Brett Hull’s franchise postseason record set in 1980. Binnington made 21 saves for the first shutout by a St. Louis rookie goaltender in the playoffs. He has turned aside 50 of 51 shots in his last two contests. That is a huge turnaround since yielding five goals on 32 shots in Game 3.
The Dart Throw: Blues 3, Sharks 1
NHL Western Conference Finals Betting Odds & Trends
| San Jose Sharks |
|---|
| San Jose is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road |
| San Jose is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games on the road |
| The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Jose’s last 11 games when playing St. Louis |
| San Jose is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against St. Louis |
| San Jose is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against St. Louis |
| The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Jose’s last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis |
| St. Louis Blues |
|---|
| St. Louis is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games |
| St. Louis is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games |
| St. Louis is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home |
| St. Louis is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games at home |
| The total has gone UNDER in 8 of St. Louis’s last 11 games when playing San Jose |
| St. Louis is 2-9 ATS in its last 11 games when playing at home against San Jose |
| St. Louis is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against San Jose |
| The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 5 games when playing at home against San Jose |
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