St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott looses sight of the puck on a San Jose Sharks shot in the third period of Game One of the NHL Western Conference Finals at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on May 15, 2016. St. Louis won the game 2-1. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Tomas Hertl scored on a first-period deflection for the Sharks, who outshot the Blues 32-23, but once again the best player on the ice was goalie Brian Elliott.
St. Louis grabs a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Final.
The turning point in the game came in the second period when the Blues were outshot 15-5, but took the lead on a long shot from Jori Lehtera.
The goal was created off a turnover in the neutral zone and should have been handled by Sharks goalie Martin Jones.
Elliott and the Blues caught a break later in the period when the whistle blew despite Elliott not able to cover the puck.
He unsuccessfully tried to smother a long dump-in and it slowly slid between his pads and off his stick into the net, just after play had been ruled dead.
“The puck was spinning a lot and it probably just spun out,” Elliott said. “I haven’t really seen it yet, so I don’t know.”
He also stopped a furious late third period rally and robbed his college roommate at Wisconsin, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski.
“No, I have to find a way to put that in regardless of what goes on. I thought it was going in,” said Pavelski.
Once again Elliott left the opposition frustrated.
