SAN JOSE, CA – San Jose defeated mighty Los Angeles and upstart Nashville to face the third best team in the NHL in the third round. After having St. Louis on the ropes after Game Three, the Sharks lost Game Four to bring the series tied. That was as close as St. Louis got to challenge San Jose as the Sharks dominated Game Five in St. Louis and clinched the series with a 5-2 victory in Game Six.
The victory propelled San Jose to their first Stanley Cup Final in their 25-year history. Joel Ward scored two goals, and Martin Jones made 23 saves for the Sharks. Captain Joe Pavelski, rookie Joonas Donskoi and Logan Couture also scored.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first two goals of the series, each in the third period, and Brian Elliott made 22 saves for the Blues, who lost in their third elimination game of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the first round and the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of the second.
Pavelski gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 3:57 of the first period with his NHL-high 13th goal of the playoffs. Joe Thornton shot high and wide left on a breakaway, but Pavelski got the puck behind the net and jammed it inside the right post on a wraparound past Elliott, who was looking the other way.
Elliott returned to the net after backing up Jake Allen in Games 4 and 5 and made his 18th start of the playoffs.
The Sharks made it 2-0 at 5:02 of the second when Ward deflected Brent Burns’ shot from the point past Elliott. Chris Tierney controlled the puck along the boards below the goal line and sent a long pass to Burns near the left boards. Burns sent the puck toward the crease, and Ward scored his fifth goal.
The Blues killed a double-minor penalty with Scottie Upshall in the box for high-sticking Tommy Wingels. Blues center Jori Lehtera almost scored, but Jones made a left-pad save of his shot from the low right circle with a little more than nine minutes left.
Jones, who gave up seven goals on 40 shots in the previous two games, made another left-pad save of Colton Parayko’s shot from the right circle with 5:30 to go.
Ward made it 3-0 at 3:01 of the third period with his second goal. Couture sent him a pass in front of the crease from the right circle, and Ward put the puck inside the right post.
Donskoi scored at 8:11 of the third, taking a pass from Couture and scoring from the slot on an odd-man rush.
Tarasenko took a pass in the left circle from Lehtera and beat Jones with a shot to the upper left corner of the net at 11:39. It was his eighth goal of the playoffs but first since Game 7 against Dallas. Tarasenko scored again with 3:35 left after the Blues pulled Elliott for an extra attacker. Tarasenko beat Jones with a sharp-angle shot inside the left post.
Couture scored into an empty net with 19.7 seconds left.
San Jose now awaits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game Seven of that series is in Pittsburgh Thursday night. If the Penguins win that series, they will host San Jose. If the Lightning win, the Sharks will host. The series begins Monday, May 30th.
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