The last time the St. Louis Blues won a game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was against the San Jose Sharks in 2004. Dan Boyle's backhand goal against Jonathan Quick with a minute remaining in overtime ensures St. Louis a chance to get their next playoff win against the Sharks as well.

A dominant, new-look Kings team kept the play in the Sharks' end for much of the night, as they did at the Staples Center on Thursday and as they've been doing at an unparalleled rate since the trade deadline. Despite that, the Sharks were able to do a surprisingly good job of limiting the Kings to a handful of dangerous opportunities this time around, keeping the chance count even 8-8 through two periods and winning the overall battle 14-13 at the end of the night (chance summary after the jump). It was again a contest rife with special teams play and questionable hits, including a check from behind by Mike Richards on Logan Couture. None of the five goals in the game were scored 5v5 but, apart from the bevy of penalty calls, it was about as exciting a game and as good a primer for playoff hockey as you could ask for.

But, realistically, no one cares about that game or the regular season anymore. The only relevant result of the 3-2 win is that the most wonderful time of the year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, is upon us and San Jose will face off against pre-lockout nemesis St. Louis. As a Sharks fan, you never want to actively root for the team to lose...except perhaps tonight.

Where the Canucks, who the Sharks would have played had they lost to Los Angeles, have had their struggles with possession this season, particularly in the new year, and had many of their warts masked by unbelievable goaltending, the Blues have been the best possession team in the conference. On special teams, Vancouver has allowed more shots against per minute on the PK than all but eight teams in the NHL while the Blues are sixth-best at shorthanded shot suppression (tops among Western playoff teams) although the Canucks far outstrip St. Louis in their power play effectiveness, with regards to generating both shots and goals.

Which isn't to say the Sharks should have intentionally thrown this game; it was really a pick-your-poison scenario as the the two-time defending President's Trophy champion Canucks are obviously still a great team. There's little doubt, however, that the Blues are a better one and they've done a number on the Sharks in the four meetings between the teams this season, sweeping the season series and outchancing the Sharks 44-25 in the three since Ken Hitchcock was hired.

We'll have a lot more on what should be a terrific series here at Fear the Fin in the coming days. Aside from Detroit, there probably isn't a team in the league the Sharks have more of a historic playoff rivalry with than St. Louis. So instead of inundating you all with more numbers and analysis that suggest doom and gloom awaits the Sharks on the horizon, here's Marc Bergevin throwing the puck into his own net.

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HEY GUYS LISTEN UP THAT WAS THE MOST EXCITING GAME THIS SEASON REMEMBER TO EAT YOUR HAMBURGERS. SERIOUSLY, IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR HAMBURGERS YOU WON'T BE A CHAMPION I HOPE YOU ARE READY FOR PLAYOFFS.

WHEN LOS ANGELES WAS DOMINATING THE START OF THE GAME I WAS LIKE THIS:

BUT WHEN JOE THORNTON AND RYANE CLOWE BOTH GOT GORDIE HOWE HAT TRICKS AND THE SHARKS TOOK A 5-4 LEAD IN THE THIRD PERIOD I WAS FEELING GOOD LIKE EATING MANY HAMBURGERS.

BUT THEN JUSTIN WILLIAMS SCORED TO TIE THE GAME AND THE SHARKS WERE BARELY HANGING ON. I STILL FELT GOOD THOUGH BECAUSE I REMEMBERED GAME 3 LAST POSTSEASON BY THE WAY LOOK AT MY HAT:

BUT WHEN THE GAME WENT TO THE SHOOTOUT I DIDN'T LIKE THAT BECAUSE SKILLS COMPETITIONS ARE NO WAY TO DECIDE GAMES LIKE THIS THEY ARE THE OPPOSITE OF HAMBURGERS. BUT THEN PAVELSKI SCORED IN THE SHOOUTOUT AND I WAS HAPPY.

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY!

It's been a long road to get here, and it's been a bumpy road at times. But tonight, in a game that the Sharks almost had to have, they turned in one of their most complete games of the season, effectively burying Dallas in the process.

Now, with two games left in the season, the Sharks need just two points out of four to get a playoff berth. According to sportsclubstats.com, the Sharks' playoff chances jumped 30.4% to put them at 92% to make the dance.

The outcome is not belied by the score (look at that vocabulary, worst on the site my ass), the 5-2 win was as impressive as the score would indicate. Getting on the board first yet again, San Jose would get a huge goal from Daniel Winnik, who continues to add offense to his already sound defensive game. Winnik took a shot which bounced off Kari Lehtonen and put it back off the Stars' netminder and into the net. That one goal lead would not last long, however, as Brendan Morrow would score an equalizer five minutes later. The Stars' captain took a nonchalant backhand shot from the side of the net, and the puck inexplicably bounced off Niemi's stick and through his pads.

Along the way, the Sharks would kill a 5 on 3 power play for Dallas and the score would stay even until the second, when the Stars would cycle the puck aggressively throughout the zone and take advantage of a discombobulated in-zone effort by the Sharks. I'm not above criticizing the team when they make their mistakes, and that was one tonight. With Benn coming into the zone, multiple Sharks took themselves out of the play and either fell or over-committed to their assignment. Jamie Benn would eventually work the puck up through the carnage to Alex Goligoski, who pumped a puck past Niemi to put the Stars up to a then daunting 2-1 lead.

You may be saying to yourself: "Matt, we all know you're the worst writer on the site, but now you're also delusional. This sounds like a terrible game for San Jose." Granted, the Sharks hadn't played their best game up to that point, but like myself, they rose like a phoenix from the ashes and accepted the challenge presented to them.

There were two pivotal moments for San Jose in the game, and the first came off the stick of T.J. Galiardi. After Dominic Moore took the puck behind the net, Galiardi received the pass and made a series of beautiful moves: first, he toe-dragged the puck to the perfect shooting position. Second, he put the puck in one of the tightest spots I've ever seen, getting just enough net to secure the 2-2 tie with his first goal as a Shark.

With time winding down in the second, Joe Thornton would use a quick burst of speed to try to grab a loose puck, and was tripped in the process. It wasn't the surest of calls, and I'd understand if Dallas fans were a little peeved at the penalty, but these things happen to all teams and even out. Unfortunately for Dallas, this soft one came at a time when they couldn't afford it.

Logan Couture would score his first goal in ten games after he tipped a Martin Havlat shot in the slot. It put the Sharks in the lead, and they wouldn't look back from there.

San Jose would have a four-minute power play in the third, a penalty which Joe Thornton drew off a high-stick behind the Dallas net. The Sharks wouldn't convert, and at that moment, I'd understand if Sharks fans started to have a little doubt come into their mind.

Cue the next pivotal moment for the Sharks, as Antti Niemi might have made one of the most important plays in the history of the team. Some good passing along with a few defensive breakdowns led to a Jamie Benn breakaway with a chance to tie the game. It was the worst possible situation for San Jose; this wasn't Jake Dowell walking in alone. One of the most dangerous offensive players in the league had a chance to save his team's season against a goaltender who has been nothing short of maligned this year.

But Niemi sprawled out and made a beautiful pad save to keep the Sharks in the lead. It wasn't as flashy as Nabokov's glove save against the same Dallas team in the playoffs a few years ago, but the outcome was better. Feeding off the energy, the Sharks wouldn't look back.

Joe Thornton, who Plank has gone on record saying that he has one of the worst shots in the league (I'd agree, most nights) ripped a nasty wrist shot that beat Lehtonen over the shoulder. That effectively drove the axe into Dallas.

With the Stars goalie pulled, Ryane Clowe scored an empty netter, and that was all she wrote. The Sharks overcame what was a potentially disastrous situation to triumph over the rival Stars and all but secure a playoff berth.

Making the playoffs shouldn't be enough for this team, though. They'd much rather win the Pacific, and they have the chance to do just that with two games remaining against the current division leaders, the Los Angeles Kings. If the Sharks win both, they have a great chance to take yet another Pacific Division crown. Phoenix can still win the division if they win out (they're beating Columbus 2-0 at the time of this writing), but the Sharks have to focus on their next two games and let the cards fall where they may.

It should be an exciting two game series to say the least.

A miniature four-game imitation playoff series, featuring two games each against the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings, will determine whether or not the Sharks are allowed to stick around when the real deal gets going April 11th. So far, so good.

Joe Pavelski scored twice and Antti Niemi made 22 saves, including 8 in the third period when score effects took hold, to improve the Sharks to 4-0-1 against Dallas this season with a crucial final game of the regular season series to be played on Tuesday night in Texas that could help solidify a playoff spot for San Jose. The win gives the Sharks 90 points on the season, moving them back into eighth spot in the West and a point behind division leader Los Angeles.

Pavelski initiated what was a dominant first period for the Sharks with a goal 58 seconds into the game. Scapegoat of the week Patrick Marleau decisively won a puck battle against Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas in the corner and worked it free to Joe Thornton who set up Pavelski for a one-timer in the slot that found twine. Justin Braun ensured the 1-0 lead would stand halfway through the period by denying a sure goal by Michael Ryder, deflecting the puck out of play with his stick as Dallas' leading goal-scorer stared at an empty net.

After generating several chances on three separate power plays, the Sharks finally cashed in on the man-advantage as Martin Havlat drifted a filthy saucer pass across the ice to an activated Jason Demers for another one-timer goal. The teams traded chances for much of the second period until Pavelski, gaining the blue line via his patented shoot-and-follow offensive zone entry headed straight for the front of the net to deflect a Marc-Edouard Vlasic point shot past Kari Lehtonen.

It seems like I talk about Pavelski every time I write one of these but it's for good reason: he's flat-out been the Sharks' best player all season long and seeing him rewarded for his impeccable two-way play with the first 30-goal season of his career is satisfying. And, as always, it wasn't just about the two goals with Pavelski: despite playing 6 of his 10 even-strength minutes against Loui Eriksson's line and starting 70% of his EV shifts in the defensive zone, Pavs finished +4 in scoring chances (on the ice for just one chance against - summary after the jump) and +5 in Corsi. He's pretty good at hockey.

The Sharks have teased us quite a bit over the past few weeks with flashes of brilliance followed by sub-par outings but one thing is clear: if the team can manage to put together three more efforts like this one, they'll be well on their way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Mike Smith shut-out the San Jose Sharks for the third time this year, becoming the only goalie in history to accomplish that feat, and sent the Sharks spiraling into 9th in the division.

It's likely that one of Phoenix, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Jose will be missing the playoffs this season, and with two straight losses in back to back games, fans of the Sharks are biting their nails.

Luckily for the Sharks, though, they get four games against two teams that are currently ahead of them in the standings with a chance to leap-frog back into the playoff picture in the west. Unfortunately, this isn't a team that's inspiring a whole lot of confidence right now. If it's going to take 94 points to get into the playoffs, San Jose is going to need to win three of their next four to have a shot.

Todd McLellan's team came out like a team on fire in the first, out chancing the Coyotes heavily in the first half of the first frame. However, Mike Smith was up to the task and looked incredible, stopping chance after chance by the Sharks throughout the period.

Smith would maintain his dominance throughout the game, eventually making 38 saves to keep the Sharks to a goose egg on the scoreboard. With Smith employing his usual wizardry against the team in teal (and in tears), Phoenix needed only one goal to get the win.

Radim Vrbata got two.

His first came in the second period during one of only two power plays in the game, and it came early. Antti Niemi stopped a point shot, but three Coyotes overwhelmed the Sharks around the net and Vrbata, all alone, put it past a sprawling Niemi for his 31st of the year.

Vrbata's second came as San Jose pressed hard for the equalizer. Joe Pavelski had a shot blocked high in the zone, and the puck bounced to feed a streaking Ray Whitney, who made a perfect timing pass on a two-on-one breakaway to give Vrbata another shot at Niemi, who couldn't get over fast enough.

The problem for the Sharks, in my eyes, has been their inability to get everyone moving in the right direction at the same time. When Niemi is on his game (like tonight), they can't score. Or Niemi is letting them in like he's a bouncer at Applebee's, and the team is scoring, just not enough. Power Play good, Penalty Kill bad, etc etc.

Tonight that was the case, and it the Sharks want any chance of making the playoffs, they have to get everyone on board right now.

Nothing has gone right for the Sharks against Anaheim this season so it's fitting that the season series ended with perhaps the longest video review of an empty netter in NHL history that concluded with Corey Perry being awarded a goal for shooting a puck off the side of the net, clinching a 3-1 victory for the Ducks and a 5-1 record for Anaheim versus San Jose in the season series.

While that record isn't entirely indicative of how this season series has really been played, it probably does justice to how the last two meetings between these teams have gone. The Ducks were dominant throughout their 5-3 shellacking of the Sharks last week and while tonight's contest was much closer, Anaheim still had the better of the play, outchancing San Jose 14-12 at even strength despite leading for most of the third period (chance summary after the jump).

The Sharks had their chances early in this one with Joe Pavelski ringing a point-blank shot off the crossbar about seven minutes in. A few shifts later, Pavelski and Boyle were both set up perfectly by Joe Thornton on the only power play either team enjoyed all night but neither opportunity resulted in a goal. Following that failed attempt with the man advantage, the Sharks spent much of the remainder of the first chasing, allowing the Ducks to move through the neutral zone with ease and generate chances, with the line of Bobby Ryan, Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly causing much of the damage.

The Ryan line got on the board first for the Ducks as the skilled winger beat Dan Boyle to the front of the net to tap a cross-crease pass from Smith-Pelly past Antti Niemi. The Sharks responded less than a minute later when Jonas Hiller and Francois Beauchemin got their wires crossed behind the Anaheim net, allowing a forechecking Logan Couture to strip the puck away and set up a wide-open Ryane Clowe in front of a gaping Ducks net. The score remained tied until Teemu Selanne, perhaps playing his final game against his former team, deflected a Luca Sbisa point shot into the goal five minutes into the third period, giving Anaheim a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

And so continues the roller coaster that is the 2011-12 San Jose Sharks season. With the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings picking up wins tonight, the Sharks drop from the division lead to 8th in the conference with a huge game against the Phoenix Coyotes looming in less than 24 hours. If San Jose ends up missing the playoffs, their 1-5 record against the division doormat Ducks will be a significant reason why. And while bad luck certainly played a part in determining some of those outcomes, their final two contests against their Southern California rivals were flat-out missed opportunities where the Sharks really didn't have anyone but themselves to blame.

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With all the talk about San Jose's secondary scoring being an issue as of late, they sure seem to be headed in the right direction.

Torrey Mitchell and Andrew Desjardins potted goals for San Jose in their 5-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, giving the Sharks five goals in their last three games from their bottom six forward group. The fourth line of Tommy Wingels, Andrew Desjardins, and Daniel Winnik had a very good night by eye, with all three players contributing in both ends of the ice and causing havoc for the Avalanche in their own end.

Joe Pavelski had a pair of tallies, and Ryane Clowe tallied an empty netter with 3:37 left in the game after Avalanche Head Coach Joe Sacco (correctly) pulled his goalie trailing by three late, to round out the scoring for the Sharks.

We haven't raved about Winnik's offensive skills as much as we probably should have throughout the course of this season, especially since the bulk of his contributions on the ice come from the defensive zone. With that qualifier out of the way, I think it's fair to state that he is one of the better San Jose forwards at controlling the puck along the boards. On a team filled with the likes of Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe it's easy to get lost in the fold, but Winnik's ability to control the play and retain puck possession while getting hacked and slashed is a huge plus to San Jose's bottom six when it comes to puck possession.

Since we're focusing on the bottom six, another player that stood out by eye but looked like he may have gotten buried in the chances department was Dominic Moore. I thought he was explosive with and without the puck, and while the third line didn't have the kind of night I think they would have liked as a whole, he was quite good at creating space with his skating ability.

Antti Niemi had quite the game, specifically late in the first period when the Avalanche were still in reach. As my FTF cohort Matt Taylor said to me as we were watching the game, Colorado is one of those teams that can get buried in their own end for stretches, ride Varlamov out of that pressure, and come out to string together a multitude of scoring chances. That ability was on full display tonight when the Avalanche, after getting out of the gates slow, brought it on in the last half of the first period and tested Niemi with numerous opportunities.

Full marks to Niemi for getting them through that moment of the game-- if Colorado gets on the board first and capitalizes on a few of those opportunities, we could be looking at a very different result tonight.

With San Jose's win they move into first place in the Pacific Division, a spot they haven't held for nearly the entire second half of the season. Their road to capturing their fifth division title in a row won't be easy-- after all, with 5 of their remaining 6 games coming against opponents who are separated by a mere one point as of this posting, their is still a lot of hockey left to be played.

But after rebounding from a near disastrous back to back effort against Anaheim and Los Angeles a mere week ago, the Sharks are looking like they are coming together just at the right time.

One minute into the second period, the Phoenix Coyotes had a grand total of three scoring chances in this game. They also had three goals.

Fortunately, the Sharks were resilient enough to rebound from a pair of cripplingly ill-timed Phoenix tallies as Derek Morris tied the game 2-2 with six-tenths of a second remaining in the first and Lauri Korpikoski restored the Coyotes lead by converting a Ray Whitney centering pass 49 seconds into the middle frame. Although the teams largely traded chances for much of that period, a Daniel Winnik goal re-tied the game for San Jose who came on strong throughout the third period and into overtime.

The Coyotes initially got on the board six and a half minutes into the game as Michal Handzus blew his coverage of Daymond Langkow, allowing the veteran center to comfortably accept a pass from Gilbert Brule in the slot that he snapped past Antti Niemi. Patrick Marleau tied the game a little over a minute later as his dogged pressure of Korpikoski in the Phoenix zone forced a turnover onto the stick of Thornton who found Marleau to make it 1-1. The top line wreaked havoc in the 'Yotes end once again later in the period and it resulted in a Brent Burns marker that gave the Sharks their first lead of the night that was summarily squandered in a matter of less than a minute distributed across two periods.

Winnik evened the score four minutes after Korpikoski's goal with his second tally in as many nights. The deadline acquisition was an integral part of what was probably the Sharks' second-best line as he skated on the wing with Andrew Desjardins and Tommy Wingels. If Winnik can continue to provide offense in addition to his unmatched contributions on the forecheck and his uncanny ability to win the neutral zone, it would be an absolute boon to the Sharks during the home stretch.

Joe Pavelski, who's been the team MVP all season long in my estimation, had another outstanding night. He was a team-leading +7 in chances, +11 in Corsi, +2 in traditional plus-minus, a ridiculous 11-2 in the faceoff circle, picked up an assist and reunited four more lost dogs with their owners between periods to boot. It's been a treat to watch Pavelski evolve into one of the best two-way players in the NHL in front of our eyes this season (although, really, he's had a legitimate claim to that moniker for each of the past three years before this one as well) and his demonic possession skills and three-zone dominance generated several opportunities that could have ended the game well before the coin flip session.

It wasn't a perfect game by any means; allowing the Coyotes, a team the Sharks are in direct competition with for both the division lead and one of the final two playoff spots in the West, to gain a point in the standings is definitely not ideal. Blowing five power play opportunities (on which they generated just three chances combined) obviously stinks. Yielding that late Phoenix goal to close out the first courtesy a mental mistake by Marc-Edouard Vlasic is tough. The fact that Logan Couture and Martin Havlat were basically M.I.A. at even strength in this game also can't feel great. But the Sharks earned this victory, outchancing Phoenix 17-11 overall and 14-11 at evens (full chance summary after the jump) and, ROW implications aside, picking up two points in the standings was what they set out to do tonight and, well, mission accomplished.

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