Sharks celebrate their 25th season with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals Sharks defeat Blues in Game 6; Western Conference Champions

Courtesy NHL: Joel Ward

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A pair of goals for the St. Louis Blues late in the third period were not enough for the hot San Jose Sharks. The San Jose Sharks will advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in history, with a final score of 5-2 in game six, sending the Blues home.

The Sharks worked the puck around the Blues for much of the game, but it was Martin Jones, in the net for the Sharks that really made a huge difference.  Jones stopped 23 shots in the win.

Following the game, Captain Joe Pavelski accepted the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Sharks denoting them as the Western Conference Champions. Joel Ward earned first star of the game honors.

In the first period, Joe Pavelski took the puck behind the net and wrapped around slipping it under the outstretched pad of Brian Elliott just under four minutes into the game.  Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl were credited with the assists on the goal. That was the only goal of the period, although there were some notable scoring opportunities for each team.

Joel Ward redirected a long Brent Burns slap shot from the corner at the blue line that went beat Elliott who was committed on the short side of the net.  Ward scored his second goal of the night three minutes into the third period, when Logan Couture wristed the shot towards the net, and Ward redirected it again just past Elliott’s outstretched leg.

Couture earned another assist on Joonas Donskoi’s goal, with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game.  Couture passed the puck from the right circle to Ward inside the left circle, who fired the shot beating Elliott’s outstretched leg on the right this time to put the Sharks up 4-0.

The Sharks had control until 11:39 of the third period, when Vladimir Tarasenko finally found the net, seeming the change the momentum of the game for a few minutes. Tarasenko’s goal came after several shots on the net, that were stopped by shear acrobatics by Jones in the Shark net, ultimately beating him as he laid sprawled on his back. The goal assists went to Jori Lehtera and Colton Parayko.

Tarasenko scored again at 16:25 to bring the Blues within two goals, before Logan Couture dropped an empty net goal at 19:40 to seal the Sharks 5-2 game win.  Elliott was pulled out of the net in favor of an extra skater with about four minutes remaining, but it would prove to be too late for the Blues.

Despite this season having so many firsts for the Sharks, including the distance into the playoffs, some of the side stories will be the number of seasons some of the key players have been on this team, including 18 for Patrick Marleau, 11 for Joe Thornton and ten for Joe Pavelski.

The San Jose Sharks definitely know how the St. Louis Blues team feels tonight, as they have been there before.  Since their inaugural season in 1991, they lost in the Conference Finals to the Flames, won the President’s Trophy in 2009, but lost in the opening round, lost the conference finals in 2010 (Blackhawks), and 2011 (Canucks), and then in 2014, lost to the Kings after leading the series 3-0. Last season, they did not even make it to the post-season.

The Sharks will play the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning, which will be decided in game 7 on Thursday evening.  Game one of the Stanley Cup Finals is Monday, May 31.