San Jose Sharks Oust Blues, Advance To Cup Final

San Jose is moving on to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history after dispatching the Blues in Game 6.

Simply unbelievable.

After coming up short for so many seasons, the San Jose Sharks are moving on to the Stanley Cup Final after downing the St. Louis Blues in six games following their 5-2 victory in Game 6.

San Jose came out flying in the first period as team teal was feeding off the energy from the raucous crowd at SAP Center. Despite that fact, it was St. Louis who generated the best chance of the opening few minutes when Alexander Steen found himself alone in the slot but Martin Jones was there to deny the Blues forward.

The save would prove to be crtical as just seconds later Tomas Hertl would flip an innocent looking puck out of his zone that would spring Joe Thornton on a breakaway. Thornton wasn’t able to corral a rolling puck as he shot it wide of Brian Elliott, but San Jose was relentless in their pursuit of the puck.

It ended up on the stick of the captain who circled around the net and jammed the puck in past Elliott who couldn’t tell which way Pavelski was coming from.

It was Pavelski’s 13th goal of these playoffs and his 22nd point as he leads the NHL in both categories.

Obviously it was a huge goal just 3:57 into the opening frame as it kept the energy in the building cranked up, while the home team kept their surge going against the visitors.

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San Jose would do what they’ve done so successfully throughout this series in using their speed to get in on the forecheck and force turnovers as St. Louis tried to exit their own zone. It worked brilliantly in the first as team teal outshot the Blues 9-5 with the Steen chance the lone good look for the visitors in the period.

In the second, it was more of the same from the boys in teal who continued to win the neutral zone which allowed them more possession in the offensive zone.

Then, San Jose would double their lead in familiar fashion for followers of the Sharks. After some great work down low by the third line, they worked the puck up to Brent Burns at the point who fired a simple looking wrist shot towards the net that Joel Ward brilliantly tipped past Elliott for his fifth goal of the playoffs.

It was yet another big goal from Ward who always brings his best when the games matter the most.

With San Jose holding a two-goal advantage, the Sharks had a golden opportunity to put the Blues away as Scottie Upshall took a double-minor after high-sticking Tommy Wingels.

Unfortunately for the home team, the only thing that wasn’t sharp in this one was their power play which gave up just as many shots shorthanded as they were able to generate.

St. Louis was able to gain some momentum and really carried the play for the rest of the period following the kill.

But Jones stood tall after not seeing much action over the first half of the game including a highlight-reel pad save on Jori Lehtera to maintain the two-goal lead for the home team.

It was a big push from the Blues who outshot the Sharks 11-10 in the frame, but Jones was in the zone after looking shaky in the previous two contests.

After weathering the storm to an extent from the Blues at the end of the second, San Jose came out and re-established their game in the final period as they were 20 minutes away from franchise history.

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The Sharks would do just that as they broke the will of St. Louis early in the third, and there was Ward right in the middle of the action.

After doing a great job of keeping the puck in at the point, Ward fed a cross-ice pass to Logan Couture who returned the favor by hitting Ward for an easy tap-in goal as he snuck in behind two Blues defensemen.

It was the second of the night from Ward and his fourth goal in the last two contests as he played a huge role in getting these Sharks over the hump.

San Jose wasn’t done yet though as they would make it 4-0 more than five minutes later after a beautifully worked goal from the Sharks second line. Eventually, Couture would feed Joonas Donskoi who one-timed it past Elliott for his fifth of the playoffs as the Tank exploded into a frenzy.

In typical San Jose fashion, it would get closer than it needed to be as Vladimir Tarasenko finally woke up with his first two goals of this series to make all of Sharks nation sweat out the final few minutes.

However, Couture would ice things when he found the empty net, and the Shark Tank erupted in celebration as for the first time in franchise history San Jose is Stanley Cup bound.

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What a night for this franchise after so many heart breaks in so many previous season. The Sharks showed the heart of a champion tonight by taking the game to the Blues from the onset.

The result is a trip to the Stanley Cup finals as all of San Jose can finally celebrate and appreciate the work of this team. The Sharks are still four wins away, but they can enjoy this one as history was made on this night.