from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,

The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues play Game 2 of the Western Conference Final at Scottrade Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports). The Blues lead the best-of-7 series 1-0.

Here are 5 keys for Game 2:

1. BATTLE HARDER

The Blues are a hard, heavy team. They played quick, speedy teams in the first two rounds in the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars but now need to adjust to an opponent like themselves. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock called Game 1 of the conference final the hardest his team had played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from a "compete-on-the-puck" standpoint, with lots of board play and battles. He used words like "exhausting," "demanding" and "draining."

"We're playing a mirror image of ourselves," Hitchcock said of the Sharks. "It's going to take some getting used to because we frustrated a lot of teams all year. They're able to do that too. Their game, they are committed. They are 100-percent, all-in committed. We're just going to have to learn to play through it to beat them."

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