Brent Burns' Dominant 2-Way Play Shows Blues May Be Outgunned Heading West 1-1

It was a stunning two-way performance, one in which Brent Burns seemingly did something good in every square foot of the 200-foot-by-85-foot sheet of ice at Scottrade Center. Burns, as an appreciative coach would say, is a "200-foot player."

If the St. Louis Blues don't figure out a way to contain the San Jose Sharks' 31-year-old defenseman, hockey people can start humming that old Dionne Warwick tune right now in preparation for the Stanley Cup Final.

Burns' two goals led the way as the Sharks evened the best-of-seven Western Conference Final with a 4-0 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night. Game 3 is set for Thursday night in what should be a jumping SAP Center.

Burns made his only two shots on goal count in this game, scoring on both against Blues goalie Brian Elliott. Both of them, the first at 7:04 of the second period and the second at 11:58 of the third, came on the power play, which looked to be San Jose's clearest area of advantage over St. Louis entering the series but was shut down in Game 1.

"We felt we were doing good things in the first game but didn't capitalize on anything," Burns told NBC's Brian Boucher. "The power play is just about execution a lot of times, and not getting one the game before—that was a big difference in the game. So, we wanted to get one tonight."

The Blues do have good offensive defensemen on their roster, with Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk leading the way. But nobody wearing a Blue Note sweater can match the dynamism of Burns—the Norris Trophy finalist who scored 27 goals and notched 75 points in 82 regular-season games and whose 18 points (six goals) is second only to teammate Logan Couture's 19 for the NHL postseason lead.

Couture, by the way, set a new Sharks postseason record with his two points (both assists), breaking Igor Larionov's mark of 18 from 1994, according to Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea.com.

Burns is the potential difference-maker in this series—the guy San Jose's bearded forwards can throw the puck back to with no fear of a drop-off in skill. There is not much fear of a drop-off when he doesn't have the puck, either.

He handled things in his own end almost flawlessly in Game 2 and was a lead performer on a penalty-killing unit that stopped St. Louis on all six of its power plays—including a brief five-on-three advantage late in the third.

Burns played a team-high 24 minutes, 10 seconds, including 5:10 on the penalty kill and a team-leading 4:25 on the power play. His second goal of the night, a one-timer to the far post as he went to one knee in the left circle, was something to behold.

The Sharks, who broke a four-game playoff road losing streak, entered the third with a 2-0 edge. Their record in the postseason when leading after two was 5-0, per Kurz, and they were 28-0-2 in the regular season. A lead proved safe again, especially with goalie Martin Jones looking strong throughout.

The Blues had some excellent chances to make it a game, including point-blank shots for Jaden Schwartz and Troy Brouwer. Jones got some help from the right post on Brouwer's bid, but that, as a goalie will remind you, is part of the equipment.

St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock was right. The Blues, 9-7 in the playoffs, need to find ways to get better if they want to get to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1970. They were fortunate to win Game 1 after getting outshot 32-23, and they put only 26 shots on Jones in Game 2 despite their six power plays. They need to play with more discipline, too.

Steve Ott hurt his team with an interference minor on Joe Pavelski at 8:03 of the second period, while Brouwer was made to pay for his high-sticking penalty against Paul Martin at 11:34 of the third. Burns' second goal came 24 seconds later.

St. Louis can't keep putting San Jose's lethal power play on the ice like that. The Sharks have the highest power-play percentage (30) of any team left in the playoffs after a regular season in which they finished third (22.5).

The Blues have been resilient, though, and Hitchcock often gets his team to play smarter, simpler games on the road. This series still has all the makings of going seven.

But if Burns keeps playing like he did Tuesday, maybe it won't.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.