arial,sans-serif;font-size: 16px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 24px;margin-bottom: 3px;text-transform: uppercase;width: auto;}.img-fl {float: left; margin-left: -10px;}.img-fr {float: right;} Blues Seed: 2 • 49-22-11 • 109Pts. Sharks Seed: 7 • 43-29-10 • 96Pts. The San Jose Sharks bring a wealth of playoff experience into their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the St. Louis Blues. How will that serve them this season? The Blues dominated this season with air-tight defense and goaltending, and an opportunistic offense. The Sharks, however, feature three 30-goal scorers as well as Joe Thornton, among the elite set-up centers in the League. So can the Blues' youthful exuberance and loyalty to coach Ken Hitchcock's defense-first system carry them in the playoffs like it did in the regular season? Or will the knowledge and experience gained by the Sharks in back-to-back conference finals trips carry San Jose forward? Forwards The Blues aren't going to throw out forwards with eye-popping numbers. None of them are among the League leaders in any offensive categories, but all are effective and used in many different situations. Captain David Backes led the team in goals and points, and also should get plenty of consideration for the Selke Trophy. T.J. Oshie, Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and David Perron round out a cast that is consistent across the board. The Blues are balanced, which has been a primary weapon of attack on a game-by-game basis. They will be tough to defend for any team in the postseason. If McDonald and Steen find that extra gear that make them dangerous off the rush, it opens the ice for players like Perron and Oshie. Patrik Berglund, who once again is coming on strong at the end of the season, thrives when playing with McDonald. The big Swede seems to be regaining the form that saw him play the best hockey of his career at last summer's World Championship. Jamie Langenbrunner and Jason Arnott,Australia Nike Free Trainer 5.0 V4 Mens, who have won the Stanley Cup three times between them,Nike Free 5.0 Womens, provide that veteran stability the majority of these players on the Blues roster needed when they were swept by Vancouver in the first round in 2009. Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski cracked the 30-goal mark during the regular season,Australia Nike Huarache Free Run, but the Sharks are not as deep or high-powered offensively as they were the past two seasons,Nike Free Pure au, when they reached the Western Conference Finals. The Sharks lost a combined 48 goals and 105 points in offseason trades that sent Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to Minnesota. Martin Havlat,Australia Nike Flyknit Trainer Womens, who came to San Jose in the Heatley deal, was expected to fill some