Sharks’ defensemen are unsung heroes of postseason

Sharks’ defensemen are unsung heroes of postseason

Like referees and relief pitchers, that usually means they’re doing a good job.

With the notable exception of Brent Burns for his offensive prowess, the Sharks’ blue-liners are quietly in the background when it comes to Western Conference finals hype.

Yet they’re having a terrific run, with the team allowing just 30 goals in 15 playoff games and recording a league-best three shutouts.

“This is the best we’ve played as a D-corps, as a team, since I’ve been here, for sure,” said defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who is in his 10th season with the Sharks.

“All six of them, I think they’re the best group of six in the league,” forward Logan Couture said.

The talk, though, is about the Joe Thornton line, about Martin Jones’ work in goal, about Burns and his slap shot.

“We’re getting overlooked, but as long as we’re doing our job every night, that’s OK, as long as we’re getting wins,” defenseman Justin Braun said Friday at Sharks Ice.

Along with scoring 18 points this postseason, Burns is having a strong time of it defensively, as evidenced by his plus-minus of plus-5.

During the regular season, he was a minus-5, but as Braun noted, much of that was because Burns was on the ice for a lot of empty-net goals.

The real standout might be Vlasic, whose plus-minus is a team-best plus-9 this postseason and who has contributed a team-high 48 blocked shots, including five in the Sharks’ 3-0 win in Game 3 against St. Louis.

Paul Martin, a veteran, stabilizing presence, is at plus-8 and has 42 blocked shots, Roman Polak has 38 blocks and Braun 31.

Individual stats are extraneous to this group, though.

“We take a lot of extra pride in just shutting teams down,” Braun said.

[...] the Sharks boast the hot-hand goaltender in Jones, with his back-to-back shutouts in Games 2 and 3.

[...] the men in front of him don’t mind him getting all of the ink for holding St. Louis to two goals in three games.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.