The Blues look to break out of their offensive funk while the Sharks hope to extend their first Western Conference Final lead in franchise history when the puck drops on Game 4 at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday.
After taking Game 1 by a 2-1 score on Jori Lehtera's goal 9:15 into the second period, St. Louis has been shutout twice. San Jose has blanked its adversary through seven periods in the Western Conference Final and took Game 2, 4-0, on Tuesday before winning Game 3, 3-0, on Thursday.
Tomas Hertl scored his fourth and fifth goals of the playoffs in Game 3 to lead San Jose and his tallies were sandwiched by a marker from Joonas Donskoi, who found the twine for the fourth time this spring.
In Game 3, Logan Couture notched his NHL-leading 13th assist to give him a league-best 20 points in the playoffs. Joe Pavelski had an assist and is tied for the NHL lead with nine goals this postseason.
"It's a long ways to go," Pavelski told NHL.com. "It really is. We'll worry about this next game and we'll take it from there."
The Blues will try and figure out a way to figure out their scoring woes, but they aren't throwing in the towel.
"You got to win four games," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said via NHL.com. "This is nothing. ... We're the first team of these two teams that's taken the bump now. Somebody had to be down 2-1."
Even Vladimir Tarasenko, who is tied for second in the league with seven goals and leads St. Louis with 13 points, has been held scoreless this series. Captain David Backes notched his second tally of the playoffs in Game 1, but has since been held off the scoresheet.
St. Louis will try to solve San Jose goaltender Martin Jones, who stopped all 22 shots he faced in Game 2 for his second consecutive shutout and third of the playoffs. Jones, who is 10-5 with a dazzling 1.89 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage this postseason, has stopped 69 of the 71 shots he's faced this series.
The Blues will counter with either Brian Elliott or Jake Allen in the blue paint. Elliott yielded three goals on 14 shots in Game 3 and was pulled in favor of Jake Allen, who saved both shots he faced. Elliott has had a great postseason to this point, going 9-8 with a 2.34 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
The Sharks look for a 3-1 lead, while the Blues hope to tie it up at 2-2 when the puck drops Saturday in San Jose.
Game Details & Live Stream
Matchup: Blues at Sharks Western Conference Final Game 4
Time: 7:15 p.m, ET (4:15 p.m. PT)
Venue: SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Radio: St. Louis (KMOX 1120); San Jose (KFOX 98.5)
Series: Sharks lead 2-1.
Predictions: Our predictions for this series can be viewed here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds for this series can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
