St. Louis at San Jose

St. Louis heads out on the road, coming off a pair of Game 7s, plus a 4-0 loss the last game, letting home ice advantage slip away. The Blues are not a great offensive team at #15 in goals scored. Despite the fact that they've gotten so close to the Stanley Cup Finals, St. Louis is just 9-7 in the postseason. San Jose opened this series on the road, but they outscored opponents by +31 goals during the regular season, better than St. Louis (+23). San Jose is talented, deep and balanced, fourth in the NHL in goals scored, third on the power play and #10 in goals allowed. The Sharks are 20-7 against a team with a winning record. San Jose had a losing home record during the regular season, but that was more of a fluke than any flaw, as they've won five straight postseason home contests. St. Louis is determined to play a physical game, but they run into a dynamite San Jose power play that has been a big edge. The Sharks struck twice on the power play in Game 2 following St. Louis penalties as Brent Burns had two power play goals. The Sharks lead the NHL with 15 power-play goals this postseason and their 30 percent success rate is tops among all teams that have played more than one round. San Jose is 13-for-32 on the power play in nine playoff wins. The defense, great all season, was superb the last game, too. They were short-handed five times in Game 2, but St. Louis went 0-for-6 on the power play. San Jose used 13 of its 18 skaters for more than a minute of penalty-killing time with top defensive pair Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun each spending more than five minutes on the ice with the Sharks short-handed. The Sharks are a sizzling 42-15 at home against a team with a road winning percentage of greater than .600. Take San Jose for my Round Three Game of the Year.