Now there’s an online betting proposition for you. The St. Louis Blues have failed to score a goal since the second period of game 1 their NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final series versus the San Jose Sharks – put in cold, hard numbers, that’s 150 minutes and 45 seconds. To put it in perspective, they have not scored for almost the entire running time of Apocalypse Now.
Last night, the Sharks shut out the Blues for the second time in a row, for a final score of 3-0 and 2-1 lead in the series. San Jose goalkeeper Martin Jones made 22 saves. Tomas Hertl scored goals in the first and third periods for the Sharks, assisted on both occasions by Joe Thornton. Joonas Donskoi contributed the remaining goal in the second period after a sharp pass from Logan Couture.
If St. Louis wants to improve their online betting on hockey odds and get back into the series, they need to score. It’s as simple as that, but it’s also easier said than done. Short of stuffing a pressurized scuba tank into Jones’s mouth and then shooting the tank with a rifle – and that would be a little too extreme – there isn’t an awful lot that the Blues can do to get past the Sharks goalie. Jones has had three shutouts in his last four games, and seems all but impenetrable. And that’s offensive-wise; as far as defense goes, the Sharks have smelt blood on the ice and have shot the puck out of poor Brian Elliot.
St. Louis were supposed to be ready to play their best game of the series – and that wouldn’t too much of a stretch, either, considering that what they’ve played so far can only be labeled as anti-hockey – but other of Brouwer hitting the post and a couple of decent chances early in the first period, the Blues did not threaten Martin Jones. So what do the Blues need to change? What do they need to improve to tie the series this Saturday 21st at the SAP Center?
In a word, everything. Absolutely everything. Mentality, attitude, offense, defense, gameplay, uniforms, arena, city, sports, identities, go into the witness protection program. In fact, it would help if they could turn back time, or even better, have the players be born again and re-live their lives in anticipation of this moment.
For what it’s worth, online betting on hockey fans can’t deny that this team is breaking records. The back-to-back shutout is the only time the Blues have been blanked in consecutive playoffs games in its nearly 50-year history. And their scoreless 7½ periods constitute another franchise record. Maybe they were trained wrong in purpose as a joke.