Sharks take aim at a split in St. Louis

Sharks take aim at a split in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — The Sharks will head back to San Jose late Tuesday night with either a big hole or a big opportunity.

If the Sharks lose Game 2, they return home down two games to none in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

[...] a win over the Blues gives the Sharks a split in St. Louis and home-ice advantage with three of the possible five remaining games at home.

Every win matters, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said following the Tuesday morning skate.

Pavelski said scoring the first goal would give the Sharks a confidence boost, but he expects his team to play better.

Defenseman Paul Martin said the Sharks didn’t manage the puck as well as they would have liked in Game 1, so that’s a point of emphasis going into Game 2.

Moving Marleau?: There’s been speculation the Sharks may move Patrick Marleau from second-line winger to third-line center, but coach Peter DeBoer downplayed that possibility on Tuesday.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was asked whether Marleau moving to the third line would change his team’s approach.

Injured Sharks forward Matt Nieto will miss his third consecutive game, according to DeBoer.

“He’s not playing today,” the coach said following the morning skate.

Nieto missed the final game of the Predators series with an undisclosed injury and now the first two games against the Blues.

Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko missed the team’s morning skate because he was at the hospital with wife, Yana, for the birth of his son, Aleksandr.

Tarasenko scored three goals and had seven points in the seven-game, second-round series against the Stars, but did not score in Game 1 against the Sharks.

The Russian winger recorded 74 points (40 goals, 34 assists) in 80 regular season games and has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 15 playoff games so far.