SAN JOSE, Calif. — Since the Blues swapped the grim days of BC (Before Chief) for the sunshine of AD (After December), they have compiled an impressive collection of wins that, depending on the argument, could be named their best.
Stop the debate.
The team with the most wins since the calendar flipped to 2019 played its perfect game here Sunday in a 5-0 dismantling of the Sharks.
Consider the circumstances. Understand the nuance. Let the stage that it sets sink in.
“We will talk about it when we get there,” Alexander Steen answered when asked about moving within one win of clinching the Blues’ first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1970.
Fair enough, because there is so much to discuss from this domination.
Where to start?
How about at the start, when goalie Jordan Binnington responded to an early scare of Evander Kane’s ricochet off the post by saving the next five shots that arrived in rapid-fire fashion.
Or should we jump ahead to the end, when Blues owner Tom Stillman viewed a clip of the watch party at Enterprise Center, where more than 10,000 Blues fans celebrated a franchise-best 11th postseason win in one year.
“They threw their hats!” Stillman said.
You should have seen Jaden Schwartz’s grin when he heard his second hat trick of the postseason prompted a cleanup in the Lou. And to the fan at SAP Center who relayed a Blues hat to the ice despite the best efforts of Sharks fans to intervene, well done.
Schwartz now has more goals this postseason (12) than he had in the worst regular-season of his career (11). It should be hard to find a better microcosm of this team. But the thing is, it’s not hard. At all. You can’t throw a dart at this roster without hitting perseverance personified.
Each player has had his postseason moment. We have wondered what might happen if everyone clicked at once. No more wondering.
On Sunday, we saw it.
Binnington was as unbeatable as his San Jose counterpart Martin Jones and his suspect glove side were exploitable. The Sharks could have been up by five six minutes in. Instead San Jose trailed thanks to Oskar Sudqvist capitalizing on an Erik Karlsson turnover. There was that catalyst of a fourth line again. At times, it has been the Blues’ best. The same could be said for the third. Not Sunday.
We said the Blues’ biggest stars must ascend in this series. Check. Each member of the top line had a name card on the postgame media room stage Sunday.
Vladimir Tarasenko, who was publicly challenged by coach Craig Berube after a lackluster Game 1, was a tornado of physicality and assists and the most beautiful penalty shot you will see, a rocket that left Jones grasping at air. The top line produced four goals, three assists and one masterful work of bullying by Brayden Schenn, who late in the second period wrapped Brent Burns and Justin Braun in a headlock and held their heads together. The only thing missing was a swirly.
Remember that second-period lull that often has threatened the Blues since January and nearly derailed them in Game 4? It was nowhere to be found Sunday, replaced instead by the Blues out-shooting the Sharks 20-6 in a period that secured a three-goal lead. Bravo.
A quick check on special teams showed the Blues killed two penalties and scored on the only power play that really mattered, a five-on-three advantage that secured a four-goal lead.
The Sharks’ frustration increased by the period. San Jose’s anger is rising along with its welts. The bruising hits the Blues have deposited upon their opponents since Game 1 are paying dividends.
Karlsson no longer is cracking wise about the Blues caring more about hitting than hockey. He’s failing to hide his groin soreness to the point that San Jose coach Pete DeBoer admitted starting him Sunday was a mistake. Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo’s thunderous hit on Joe Pavelski knocked the Sharks captain out of the game. Tomas Hertl also exited early to ice his wounds.
DeBoer is complaining louder than ever before about the Blues’ physicality, which is humorous because he was the one who inserted forward Michael Haley into the game to start a fight.
And it was the Sharks, not the Blues, who were penalized for — deep breath here — tripping, high sticking, roughing, interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct, tripping (again), goalie interference, slashing and misconduct (again) in the third.
Which team was it again that cares more about hitting than hockey?
I would call DeBoer the most confused man in the building, but there were Sharks fans — before they headed for the exits with 13 minutes left — who had the nerve to chant disparaging remarks toward the on-ice officials. Apparently they forgot their team won Game 3 thanks to a non-call on Timo Meier’s hand pass. That’s the same Meier who is praised as the happiest player in the league, the one who spent Sunday’s final minutes chasing a cheap shot on Pietrangelo’s knee.
The Sharks are losing their cool, no matter how many tributes to Joe Thornton NBC shows. The Blues are at their best. The Bruins are waiting.
“We are very close right now,” Blues forward Pat Maroon said. “The guys know that. It’s in the back of their heads. But we know that’s a good hockey team over there, too. They’re not going to give up.”
One more game like this, and the Blues’ next flight will be to Boston.