Logan Couture, Sharks Win Western Conference Final Game 1 6-3 vs. Blues

Logan Couture and Timo Meier each scored twice as the host San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final series Saturday.

Joe Pavelski and Kevin Labanc added goals for the Sharks, who lead the best-of-seven matchup 1-0.

Joel Edmundson, Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak scored for St. Louis.

Two themes characterized Game 1: the Meier-Couture-Gustav Nyquist line's performance and the Blues' costly turnovers.

In conjunction, those two factors led San Jose to victory, most notably when a tight 3-2 Sharks lead turned into a comfortable 5-2 edge in the second period.

A Blues giveaway thanks to a Couture poke-check led to Meier's first score at 10:24:

He added another after using Blues defenseman Vince Dunn to deflect the puck into the net at 17:34:

Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic summed up the Blues defense's subpar performance:

Only four teams allowed fewer regular-season goals than the Blues, so the night isn't symbolic of their 2018-19 campaign.

However, any defense has little breathing room versus San Jose, which tied the Calgary Flames for the NHL's second-most regular-season goals.

The Sharks have kept the pressure up in the playoffs, most notably Couture.

The 30-year-old center isn't a stranger to postseason success, as Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports tweeted:

He scored his NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason at 3:31 of the first period following a Blues turnover and a Meier pass:

Greg Wyshynski of ESPN praised the Couture-Meier-Nyquist line's postseason performance:

"Logan Couture, Timo Meier and Gustav Nyquist continue to dominate the postseason. The trio generated two goals at even strength through two periods in Game 1 of the Western Conference against St. Louis. They've now generated eight goals in the playoffs while surrendering just two at 5-on-5.

"Meier scored his second goal later in the game with Nyquist and center Barclay Goodrow on the ice. But the story hasn't just been their offense: Each of the three EV goals they've been involved in during Game 1 were scored off of turnovers. They entered the game getting 57.07 percent of shot attempts, and helped overpower the Nathan MacKinnon line in the previous round's win over Colorado."

To the Blues' credit, they hung tough despite the turnovers and the Sharks' offensive onslaught.

Edmundson answered Couture's goal with one of his own at 9:13 of the first period to tie the game at one:

A Pavelski five-on-three power play score and a Labanc even-strength goal from the slot gave the Sharks a 3-1 edge, but O'Reilly closed the gap to 3-2 at 8:58 of the second after sneaking one past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones:

Even the two Meier goals didn't send the Blues packing, as Bozak went top shelf with 6:59 left:

The Blues ramped up the pressure down the stretch and earned a couple of quality chances, but they could not find the net again.

The Sharks did, however, after Couture found the empty net for his 11th postseason goal with 2:21 remaining to close the scoring.

What's Next?

San Jose will host St. Louis for Game 2 on Monday at 9 p.m. ET. NBC Sports will televise the contest.