Devoured - Blues became easy prey for the Sharks

ST. LOUIS -- After scrambling to make the playoffs with one game to spare in the regular season, the St. Louis Blues didn't last long once they got there.

The lowest-scoring team in the postseason lost in five games to the San Jose Sharks. It's the second straight first-round elimination for a high-priced team built to contend for a Stanley Cup, but one that managed only two goals in three road playoff games.

"You've got to score, and that's what we didn't do," forward Doug Weight said. "We had a lot of time and a lot of chances to get it done."

Last year, the Blues blew a 3-1 first-round series lead against the Vancouver Canucks. This spring, they couldn't climb out of the same hole.

In the end, they settled for extending their run of playoff berths to 25 in a row -- the longest current streak among the four major team sports. While remarkably consistent, the Blues have never won a Stanley Cup, and reached the conference finals only twice during the streak.

The season began ominously, with top defensemen Al MacInnis (eye) and Barret Jackman (separated shoulder) both being lost to season-ending injuries. In MacInnis' case, it could be career-ending.

Then, the offense went limp and the team slumped. In a 37-game span from Dec. 20 to March 4, the Blues won only nine games, costing coach Joel Quenneville his job.

Former Quenneville assistant Mike Kitchen got things rolling just in time for the Blues to extend their playoff run. They were 10-3-2 down the stretch to finish just ahead of Nashville and Edmonton for the seventh spot in the Western Conference.

They barely had time to celebrate before they were down again.

Except for a 4-1 outburst in Game 3 highlighted by late-season pickup Mike Sillinger's first career hat trick, they were unable to generate enough offense. Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov saved 93 percent of the Blues' shots.

"When you get to the playoffs, you don't remember the season," defenseman Bryce Salvador said. "The playoffs are a chance to show what you can do, and we fell short this year."

In particular, some of the Blues' biggest stars came up empty. Leading scorer Keith Tkachuk ended the postseason having gone without a goal in his last 12 playoff games. Pavol Demitra had a goal in Game 4, but was otherwise quiet.

Undisciplined play by Tkachuk and Chris Pronger helped hand the Sharks 13 power plays and an easy victory in Game 2. And goalie Chris Osgood was inconsistent.

"To be out this fast is difficult to swallow," Osgood said. "I don't feel like we were beaten that badly.

"We worked hard to get into the playoffs and to be out this fast kind of stuns me."

St. Louis' offensive struggles were magnified on the power play. The Blues were a feeble 1-for-22 with the man advantage and often had a tough time just getting set up in the offensive zone.

The power play was so bad, it prompted boos from the home crowd.

"It was the power play more than anything," Sillinger said. "Five on five, we outscored them. We have to look at our special teams."

Kitchen said the Blues also made too many poor decisions with the puck, hesitating and forcing passes into congested areas. He criticized his team for being too fancy on offense.

"Sometimes you just want to aim for the middle of the net and create rebounds," Kitchen said. "Nabokov played well, but I thought we could have put more pucks on the net in traffic to make it harder on him."

Instead, it'll be another long spring watching the rest of the playoffs for the Blues.