Agnew: Little Things Helping Sharks Come Up Big

ST. LOUIS — For additional insight into the Western Conference Final between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Gary Agnew to break down the action. Agnew will be checking in throughout the series.

Agnew, 55, was an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets. He also served as interim coach of the Blue Jackets for five games during the 2006-07 season, and has been coach of Syracuse of the American Hockey League and London and Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League.

Game 5 was a good game, a tight game, a game that came down to one goal, to a pair of power plays, a game that was as close as any so far in the Western Conference Final. That was why, for Agnew, it was hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for the Blues, or exactly what the Sharks did so well, in the 6-3 San Jose win on Monday at Scottrade Center.

“They both had, it seemed anyway, that sense of desperation,” Agnew said. “I thought both teams played well. I thought both teams generated. I thought both teams defended. They were leaving it on the ice, which was what they have to do in a Game 5.”

But, in watching Game 5, Agnew did pick up on a few key decisions by the teams, and a few plays that ultimately made the difference in putting the Sharks up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series.

“The power-play goals obviously were a big part of it,” Agnew said. “I thought San Jose’s power play really gave them momentum. Just before they scored, [Joe] Pavelski missed a shot – it went over the net or something – so it looked to me like that was a little bit of a swing, and then obviously his goal early in the third.”

That made it a one-goal game, with the Sharks leading 4-3 …

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