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 Jones. 

The Sharks’ goaltender made 21 saves on 23 shots on goal.

Elliott stopped 32 of 33 shots on goal while San Jose fired 56 shot attempts to the Blues’ 41. 

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest today]

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.

San Jose pulled Jones with over two minutes left and San Jose held a lot of zonetime 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 Blues struck first at the 15:04 mark of the first period on a deflection by captain David 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.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY

– – – – – – –

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