The San Jose Sharks are going to need to play at the very top of their game if they hope to pull the big first round upset over the St. Louis Blues. While the No. 7 seeded Sharks will not go down without a fight this week, they will take any advantage they can get over their counterparts. That includes a potential injury to starting goalie Brian Elliot.
According to reports, Elliot, who ranked among the best goaltenders in the league this past season, left practice on Tuesday with an injury he has been dealing with for a week. Here is the latest report from CSN Bay Area:
It's still undetermined whether Brian Elliott or Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the Blues when they host the Sharks in Game 1 of their first round series on Thursday, but Todd McLellan doesn't seem overly concerned.
"Their team doesn't play any different. Their goalies are a little bit different size-wise and the ability to play the puck and that type of stuff," he said. "That's a situation that we're aware of, that they have the two, and they're capable of playing two."
It will be interesting to see how much Elliot is able to practice on Wednesday leading up to Game 1, but you can bet Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will not rest easily tonight with the uncertain future of his goalie. The injury is not believed to be all that serious, but you can imagine how an upper body injury could be very tough on a goalie.
The Sharks will likely prepare for both goalies during practice on Wednesday, but you can bet Elliot will do everything in his power to get ready for the first round. It'd be tough to keep a player of his caliber out of such an important opening game.
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