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Series at a glance: St. Louis vs. San Jose
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How they got here
St. Louis: St. Louis was decimated by injuries this season, losing more than 300 man-games and franchise defensemen Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis for long stretches. Still, they remained in first place in the Central Division until a near collapse in late February doomed their title hopes.
Aside from their injury problems, the biggest concern for the Blues this year was with their goaltending. Neither Roman Turek or rookie Brent Johnson demonstrated enough consistency to win the No. 1 job outright, and their inability to make big saves made the team's other deficiencies even more glaring.
St. Louis made the biggest trade at the deadline, acquiring power forward Keith Tkachuk from Phoenix in a blockbuster deal. The veteran played well for his new team, but St. Louis stumbled into the playoffs without having posted a win against a team over .500 since late February.
San Jose: The Sharks looked like a Stanley Cup contender until they lost veteran Vincent Damphousse to a shoulder injury and Owen Nolan to a long suspension in February. After that, the team fell out of first place in the Pacific Division and had to fight to the last weekend just to make the playoffs.
The Sharks re-asserted themselves to finish the season, winning three of their last four games. More important, Vince Damphousse returned to action.
Rookie goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was one of the stories of the year in the league, and youngsters Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm and Brad Stuart continued to improve. If they can put their last month behind them, the Sharks have the talent to do some damage this season.
| Head-to-head this season |
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Oct. 6
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StL. 4. S.J. 1
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Sharks 0-7 on PP.
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| Blues dominate offensively, build 3-goal lead heading into 3rd. |
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Jan. 11 |
S.J. 6, StL. 3 |
Matteau scores twice for Sharks. |
| Turek struggles in goal for Blues, makes only 19 saves. |
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Jan. 27 |
S.J. 4 @ StL. 3 |
Blues fail to hold one-goal lead in 3rd. |
| Turek struggles again against Sharks, makes only 10 saves. |
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Feb. 26 |
StL. 7, S.J. 2 |
Reasoner gets 2 G, 1A, Hecht adds 2 for Blues. |
| St. Louis shows offensive firepower with 3 goals in both 2nd and 3rd periods. |
Key players
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| Chris Pronger |
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| Teemu Selanne |
Pronger is the imposing presence on the St. Louis blueline and the man the Blues like to match up against key opponents. He's been hurt twice this season and is probably not fully recovered, but even at less than full strength, he has the tools to make a difference. St. Louis needs a big series from him to have any chance of winning.
Selanne had minor knee surgery immediately after being acquired from Anaheim, but has started to get his rhythm back lately, scoring seven goals and five assists in the last half dozen games. With Vincent Damphousse back in the lineup, the Sharks are counting on Selanne to add another strong weapon to what they believe can be a potent attack.
| KEY 2000-01 STATISTICS |
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St. Louis | San Jose |
| Record | 43-22-12-5 | 39-27-12-3 |
| Division finish | 2nd, Central | 2nd, Pacific |
| Home record | 28-5-5-3 | 22-14-4-1 |
| Road record | 15-17-7-2 | 18-13-8-2 |
| Record when scoring first | 31-5-4 | 24-7-5 |
| Record when leading after 2nd period | 32-3-3 | 22-0-1 |
| Record when trailing after 2nd period | 4-21-3 | 7-24-7 |
| Record when tied after 2nd period | 6-3-6 | 11-5-8 |
| Power play (overall) | 18.7% (8th) | 14.1% (24th) |
| Power play (home) | 21.4% (4th) | 14.6% (23rd) |
| Power play (road) | 15.9% (16th) | 13.4% (22nd) |
| Penalty killing (overall) | 85.3% (7th) | 86.1% (5th) |
| Penalty killing (home) | 86.6% (8th) | 82.7% (22nd) |
| Penalty killing (road) | 84/2% (7th) | 88.8% (1st) |
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| Coaches |
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| StL: Joel Quenneville |
| 5th year @StL, 5th in NHL |
| 17-19 (.472) in playoffs |
| SJ: Darryl Sutter |
| 4th year @SJ, 7th in NHL |
| 20-30 (.400) in playoffs |
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| Previous meetings |
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| 2000 CQF | SJ (4-3) |
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| Key injuries |
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| St. Louis |
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| LW Tyson Nash (knee ) season. |
| San Jose |
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| None. |
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| Unsung heroes |
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| STL: Scott Young, RW |
| A veteran who had a career year, Young's solid play was one of the few constants for the Blues this season. |
| SJ: Mike Ricci, C |
| One of the grittiest players in the league, Ricci chips in at both ends of the ice and makes sure that everyone keeps their heads up. |
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| Starting goaltenders |
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| STL.: Roman Turek |
| (24-18-10, 2.28 GAA, .901 SV%) |
| His numbers are better than his actual performance this season. Blues are hoping he can do the job in the playoffs, but don't have a lot of confidence in him. |
| SJ: Evgeni Nabokov |
| (32-21-7, 2.19 GAA, .915 SV%) |
| Nabokov stole the job from veteran Steve Shields and was the key to the Sharks early success. A great technical goalie with poise far beyond his years.. |
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