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St. Louis Blues Look to Continue Strong Second Half Start Against San Jose Sharks

By Patrick Karraker

Jan 8, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) reaches for the puck on St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund (21) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Blues defeat the San Jose Sharks 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 8, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) reaches for the puck on St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund (21) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Blues defeat the San Jose Sharks 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Blues hope to continue their strong second half start as they face the San Jose Sharks for the first time this season on Thursday.

The St. Louis Blues face the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at Scottrade Center, beginning a three-game homestand while facing San Jose for the first time this season. The Blues certainly need to step things up offensively–they’ve scored just four goals in their past four games–but if goalie Brian Elliott keeps playing like he has recently, they should be able to get some good things accomplished over this stretch, especially if Jaden Schwartz returns on Saturday against Minnesota. Elliott allowed just four goals over the Blues’ recent stretch of four road games, so if the offense can produce just a little bit, he should keep them in the game.

After a stretch of dominance during the month of November, the Sharks have been rather inconsistent for the past two months, save for a five-game winning streak in mid-January. Somewhat similarly to the Blues, however, they’ve been able to keep their heads above water (no pun intended) to an extent, as they currently sit in second place in the Pacific with a 26-19-4 record. Their accumulation of 56 points through 49 games isn’t as impressive as the 66 points that the Blues have collected through their first 53, but then again, it’s rather widely acknowledged that the Central is the best division in the Western Conference. That’s why the Blues sit in third place, still several games away from catching the Chicago Blackhawks or the Dallas Stars, while the Sharks have a rather comfortable hold on second place in the Pacific.

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The Blues held an optional morning skate on Thursday, so we won’t know for sure what the lineup looks like until warmups. But there’s little reason to think that the Blues will deviate from the group that gritted out a 1-0 win on Tuesday evening in Nashville.

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Here’s what the Blues’ lineup would look like if that scenario indeed plays out:

Magnus Paajarvi–Paul Stastny-Vladmir Tarasenko

Patrik Berglund-Alexander Steen-David Backes

Robby Fabbri–Jori Lehtera–Troy Brouwer

Scottie Upshall–Kyle Brodziak–Dmitrij Jaskin

Jay Bouwmeester–Alex Pietrangelo

Joel Edmundson–Kevin Shattenkirk

Carl Gunnarsson–Colton Parayko

Brian Elliott

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