Brian Elliott shuts down San Jose Sharks in Game 1 win

The St. Louis Blues weren’t flashy against the San Jose Sharks. They simply relied on their sound defensive structure, stout penalty kill and excellent goaltending from Brian Elliott in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.

They also got a couple timely goals in their 2-1 win that put them up 1-0 in the series.

Jori Lehtera’s game-winning goal at the 9:15 mark of the second period proved the difference in the game. Lehtera ripped a shot off the rush from the circle that simply found its way past San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. 

Jones made 21 saves on 23 shots on goal.

Elliott stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal while San Jose also fired 56 shot attempts to the Blues’ 41. 

"He was really good in the second period when we needed him. That's what happens. You're going to need him sometimes," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I thought he made big saves in the second and helped us." 

Said Blues captain David Backes to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "When you're goalie is your best player, it gives you a great chance of winning and that was the case tonight. It's been that way for the first two rounds and nothing has changed here in Game 1 of the third round."

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The Sharks entered the series hitting on 30.9 percent on the power play. They were 0-for-3 on Sunday.

San Jose zipped the puck around on their three times with the man-advantage against the Blues trying to get into position to score. Ultimately were denied by an aggressive St. Louis’ penalty kill backstopped by Elliott.

Our execution wasn't great. Some credit to them, for sure, for making it tough on us," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said about his team's power play. "But we've seen those nights before in the playoffs. We've always rebounded." 

Said Hitchcock, "Our special teams were excellent. Our power-play was excellent.  Our penalty killing was even better. They were both good. They were the reason for the victory."

San Jose pulled Jones for an extra attacker with over two minutes left and the Sharks held a lot of zonet ime to try to get a goal to tie the game, but couldn't get a puck past Elliott, who improved to 9-6 this postseason with a 2.20 goal-against average and .932 save percentage. The Sharks fired five shots on goal in the final three minutes and Elliott stopped all of them. 

The Blues struck first at the 15:04 mark of the first period on a power play deflection by Backes off a shot by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. 

The Sharks tied the game at 1-1, 34 seconds later on a double deflection by Joe Pavelski and then Tomas Hertl.  

This was the first Game 1 loss for the Sharks this postseason and the first time they’ve trailed in a series this playoff. San Jose had the best road record in the NHL during the regular season, but has lost four straight away from SAP Center this postseason.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper