The San Jose Sharks have held strong against the No. 2 seed Blues up until this point in the quarterfinals. After stealing a road victory in overtime to begin the series, the club has taken back-to-back losses. With another home game coming on Wednesday evening, it is imperative for the Sharks to tie the series up if they hope to eventually advance to the semifinals.
Despite trailing in the series 2-1 and a recent history of dominance by the Blues, the Sharks are staying confident in what has worked well for them throughout the year. Kevin Kurz at CSN Bay Area has the latest report on team morale:
They've now lost six of seven games since the start of the 2011-12 season, but don't tell the San Jose Sharks that they don't match up well against the talented St. Louis Blues.
"If we're thinking that way, we might as well pack it in now. That's a pretty terrible mindset to have in the middle of a series to think it's a bad match up," Ryane Clowe said.
"We're more than confident. We went in there and played a great Game 1. Last night, we scored on the power play and they scored on the power play early, and then we give up a couple more power play goals. That's an area we've got to improve on. We know that."
Is there any doubt the Blues are going to be a very tough out in the playoffs? This team knows how to score in a hurry and has received strong play in goal for most of the season. The Sharks have not given up, though, and a win on Wednesday changes everything in the series. They don't necessarily need to dominate St. Louis for 60 minutes, but being the underdogs they'll need to take any advantage they can get. Maybe they don't end up winning the series, but you can never say the team gave up on themselves.
For more on the Sharks, head over to Fear The Fin.