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One down, 15 to go. That's how many more wins the Blues will have to earn in order to win their first ever Stanley Cup, but win Number One was an exciting one, even though the Blues didn't play nearly as well as they are capable of.
Wednesday's 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals belonged not to veterans like Pierre Turgeon, Al MacInnis, or Stephane Richer, but to young stars like Jochen Hecht, Marty Reasoner, and Lubos Bartecko. Those three combined to score four of the Blues five goals on the night, and Reasoner even showed he was up to the increased playoff intensity by getting into a fight with follow pacifist Alexander Korolyuk of the Sharks.
Blues goalie Roman Turek, seeing his first ever playoff action, allowed a goal to former Blue Dave Lowry just 46 seconds into Game 1. Turek rebounded after that and allowed just two goals the rest of the game, one to Owen Nolan late in the 3rd period when the Blues already had the game locked up for the most part. There have been some hockey people that have questioned Turek's ability to backstop a team to a Stanley Cup since he has no prior playoff experience. But Turek has seen quite a bit of international competition and being along for the ride as Ed Belfour's backup last season when the Dallas Stars won the Cup will help him more than people think. Blues fans shouldn't worry about Turek.
Game 2 is set for Saturday afternoon at Kiel Center, and this is one the Sharks would like to win although it isn't a must-win situation. If they can go back home and take Games 3 and 4 they would be in pretty good shape. The problem from their standpoint is that the Blues are every bit as good on the road as they are at home so it doesn't figure to get any easier for them on the West Coast. It would be in their best interest to win Game 2, and then look to take their chances at the Shark Tank next week.
The Sharks will need to do several things better than they did on Wednesday to win Game 2. First, they will need better goaltending from unproven Steve Shields, whose play slipped a notch after the Sharks traded co-number 1 goalie Mike Vernon to the Florida Panthers earlier this season. The Sharks will also need better defensive zone coverage against the Blues skilled forwards. The Blues had too much room to operate and make plays in the offensive zone. You can expect the Sharks to continue to run Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, and the rest of the Blues defenseman with an aggressive forechecking scheme.
The most important aspect of Wednesday night's game was that it reminded hockey fans in St. Louis that the regular season is over. It's playoff time now.
And there is no time like hockey playoff time.
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