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Shark-bit Suddenly, San Jose is getting all the lucky bounces
Posted: Tuesday April 18, 2000 09:13 PM
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The St. Louis Blues, who led the NHL with 114 points during the regular season and never lost more than two games in a row, are struggling against eighth-seeded San Jose in the first round of the playoffs. After their second straight loss to the Sharks, the Blues were blaming bad luck and wondering how to break through against a suddenly revived San Jose defense. The Sharks' 2-1 victory Monday night gave San Jose a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is set for Wednesday night. Owen Nolan scored twice Monday for the Sharks, who broke a four-game home losing streak in the playoffs. The first of his goals deflected into the net off St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger and came while San Jose had a two-man advantage. "The first goal was off my thumb. It's just another bounce that went their way," Pronger said. "They had two 5-on-3s, it would be nice if we had a few breaks like that." In Game 2 Saturday at St. Louis, the Sharks scored two goals on Blues mistakes. Bryan Marchment scored the Sharks' second goal with a shot that went off the pad of Blues goalie Roman Turek, while Gary Suter was credited with a goal when defenseman Marc Bergevin inadvertently threw the puck into his own net. "I think they've scored one lucky goal a game," Turek said. "They were just more lucky than us. We had more shots and more scoring chances." St. Louis outshot the Sharks 32-22 on Monday, but San Jose goalie Steve Shields made several tough saves -- including a glove stop at close range against Scott Young while St. Louis was on a power play early in the third period. Young earlier scored the only goal of the game for St. Louis. "[Shields] was outstanding. He made great saves," teammate Mike Ricci said. "He's now settled into a groove. He's the whole package. He likes to learn, and what's that old saying, `How do you get experience? You play." Well, he's playing and he's playing great." The Sharks went 0-4-1 against St. Louis during the regular season, but have discovered in the playoffs they can capitalize on the fact that they are tied for the league lead with an average weight of 203 pounds per player. They rank third in the NHL with an average height of 6-foot-1. "They did lead the league in everything, but we do have a size advantage and we can use that," Nolan said. "We have to wear them down and wear them thin."
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