After a brutal shut out loss, the San Jose Sharks are now fighting for their lives and will be guaranteed yet another Game 7 if they have any hope of keeping their Stanley Cup dreams alive.
Game 5 went from bad to ugly. The most exciting moment seemed to come from a shot off the post by Evander Kane ten seconds into the game. They led with 11 shots in the first period, but the wheels fell off quickly.
Aided by a lack of calls against them (including hits that took both Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl out of the game), the Blues took over after that. After just four shots in the first, they ended the game with 40 to the Sharks’ 21.
The Sharks didn’t have much of a chance after their bench shortened. Erik Karlsson was clearly not ready to come back for this game. On top of that, injuries to Pavelski, Hertl and Joonas Donskoi (who took a puck to the face), removed them mid-game. Then Micheal Haley and Evander Kane both took game misconduct penalties. It feels pretty classic Blues for half of their opponents bench to be in the locker room before the final horn.
Which leaves a big question: is this team healthy enough to keep going, or is this the end of the line?
Hello folks! Hope everyone is ready for some Sunday brunch hockey.
Programming note: This game will be broadcast on NBC, not NBCSN, as previously stated. If you’re a cord-cutter like I am and don’t get NBC through your streaming service, you can use the NBC Sports app and login with your provider. As long as you get NBCSN, it should still work!
Also Micheal Haley is in for Marcus Sorensen.
First Period
19:50: Evander Kane immediately hits the post. This bad luck better not be the whole night again.
16:11: Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz set up in font of Jones and get robbed.
15:50: Same duo get back in the zone and hit a post.
14:32: Erik Karlsson to Melker Karlsson, who gets a shot on net.
14:10: Erik Karlsson tries to make a pass to Brenden Dillon, puck goes between his legs and bounces off the boards to Oskar Sundqvist, who fires off a quick one-timer that gets past Jones. 1-0, Blues.
12:11: Sharks need to wake up. Blues are getting into the offensive zone and setting up too easily.
10:55: Sharks get a quick opportunity in front, but the Blues are quick to limit. The Blues are reminding me a lot of the Avalanche in how quickly they are regaining possession and getting back into their offensive zone.
9:50: Schwartz and Schenn again testing Jones. One of those two are going to score soon.
9:10: It looks like Tomas Hertl was hit in the face by Ivan Barbashev’s shoulder. No call.
Just to go back a bit, this was the Barbashev hit on Hertl from the first period. Hertl did play the rest of the period + the second. He did not returning for the third #SJSharks #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/uvz76dyrBF
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 19, 2019
6:20: Justin Braun with a shot on Binnington.
6:00: Gus Nyquist just spun himself around the puck looking for it. Not a particularly impactful moment, but it was goofy.
4:42: Jay Bouwmeester, who definitely deserves a Stanley Cup more than Joe Thornton, sends the puck over the glass. Sharks are heading to the power play.
3:54: Blues get the first clear of the power play. Logan Couture with a couple of good looks.
2:42: Burns with a great shot through traffic at the end of the power play, but no dice.
1:37: Marc-Edouard Vlasic stops a pass by Bouwmeester to Ryan O’Reilly, who had a nice two-on-one set up.
0:00: Not a particularly aggressive final minute of play.
END FIRST: Sharks 0, Blues 1
Second Period
19:16: Barbashev with a wraparound chance, then Schenn lines up the rebound, Jones makes the save.
17:38: Robert Bortuzzo blocks a shot from Kevin Labanc in the crease.
17:11: Vlasic hits the post. The Sharks are setting up good screens, but that’s about it.
16:55: Schwartz gets a wide open net to shoot a rebound from Vladimir Tarasenko. Brutal play from Jones. 2-0, Blues.
13:55: Jones with a good save on Tarasenko, but the Blues spent way too long in the zone before Haley finally clears it.
13:10: Tarasenko with a breakaway, gets tripped by Brent Burns. Blues get a penalty shot.
13:07: And he scores. 3-0, Blues.
9:18: Joonas Donskoi takes a stick to Alex Steen’s mouth and the Sharks are on the kill for four minutes. This is … not great.
8:37: … or Tyler Bozak is gonna hook Kane and it’ll be 4-on-4 for a while, which is … better.
6:37: Back to a Blues power play for over a minute.
5:18: Penalty killed.
:30.0: Seven shots for the Sharks this period. Just low effort.
END SECOND: Sharks 0, Blues 3
Third Period
19:45: Nyquist with a shot.
18:24: Joe Pavelski left the bench after he took a hit from Alex Pietrangelo.
Pavelski to the locker room after this hit #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/sabOojxJ1K
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 19, 2019
18:05: Jesus. Roughing by Barclay Goodrow and interference from Haley during the delayed penalty put the Shark at 5-on-3 for two minutes.
17:41: Schwartz with a deflection. 4-0, Blues. Still on the power play, too.
12:47: Haley trying to fight Pietrangelo. Very cool to send him to the locker room with a misconduct when the Sharks are down Karlsson, Pavelski, Hertl and Donskoi. Add Nyquist serving a penalty. Just stupid.
11:25: Timo Meier called for a trip. After the delayed call, there will be 39 seconds of 5-on-3, followed by a power play.
8:07: This game sucks.
6:48: Sharks get a power play, which feels wild given that they’ve been called for every single infraction while the Blues have taken out half of the roster.
4:48: Yawn. 5-on-5.
3:58: Schwatrz with a hat trick. 5-0, Blues.
2:26: Kane with goaltender interference, slashing and a game misconduct. Once again served by Nyquist. What a shit show.
FINAL SCORE: Sharks 0, Blues 5
Pregame
The San Jose Sharks are back at home for a pivotal Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues.
It’s been a long road through playoffs for the Sharks, who have gone a full seven games against both of their previous opponents. After a controversial win in Game 3, it felt already determined that Game 4 wouldn’t just have make-up calls, but would be a make-up game that would tie the series once again.
That said, the Sharks played well and despite allowing cough two or fewer cough goals, they just couldn’t get past Jordan Binnington more than once to get the win. If a tweak needs to be made, it’s the Sharks’ struggling power play, where they’ve only capitalized twice this series.
In other news, the Sharks’ roster is looking pretty banged up, including Erik Karlsson suffering from an injury in Game 4. He’ll be back in the line up tonight, but to what level he’ll be able to perform is yet to be determined.
Lines
Sharks
Projected lines for Game 5 for the #SJSharks. EK65 is in, some other game time decisions though. pic.twitter.com/dq5giHG6c2
— Fear the Fin (@fearthefin) May 19, 2019
Expected scratches: Micheal Haley, Lukas Radil, Tim Heed
Blues (via Jeremy Rutherford)
Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko
Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron
Patrick Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas
Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen
Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Expected scratches: Robby Fabbri, Vince Dunn
Where to Watch
Puck drop will be at 12 p.m. Pacific/3 p.m. Eastern from SAP Center in San Jose. The game will be broadcast nationally on NBC in the United States and on CBC and Sportsnet in Canada. You can also listen to the radio call on 98.5 KFOX in the Bay Area.
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