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Finally!
Sharks advance to Stanley Cup Finals with 4-2 win
The San Jose Sharks are going to the Stanley Cup
Finals. Let that one soak in for a moment. It took 25 years, but the Sharks
improbable playoff run reached new heights on Wednesday night, as San Jose
eliminated the St Louis Blues with a dominating 5-2 win at SAP Center. It was a
60 minute affair that showcased four Sharks lines that contained the Blues from
the opening whistle. St Louis was forced to play catch up from the opening
period, but could never generate the spark necessary to match the Sharks.
It was a surreal position for the Sharks to be in, considering that it
was only a year ago that the team imploded in the regular season and failed to
even qualify for the playoffs. A season before that, the Sharks infamously
coughed up a 3-0 series lead to the Los Angeles Kings. All of that was a
distant memory as the clock ticked off the final seconds of San Jose's Game 6
triumph, fueled by the frenzy that was erupting in the stands.
It was
a moment of redemption for players like Patrick Marleau, who have endured years
of ridicule for San Jose's past playoff failures.
And this was only
the Western Conference Finals. If the Sharks can win four more games this
season, it will be bedlam on Santa Clara Street. On this night it was an
opportunity for Sharks fans to celebrate as a win. The biggest win in franchise
history to be more specific.
San Jose jumped out to a 4-0 lead, then
coasted to the finish line. The party started 3:57 into the game when Joe
Pavelski scored his league leading 13th goal of the playoffs. The Sharks
captain took advantage of a coverage miscue by the Blues after Joe Thornton
pushed a breakaway chance wide of the left post. Thornton's shot tucked against
the end boards as he went right of the goal while Pavelski went left. Jay
Bouwmeester followed Thornton while Alex Pietrangelo followed Pavelski, but
stopped expecting Bouwmeester to switch assignments. Pavelski grabbed the puck
then pivoted around the right post and tucked it under Blues goaltender Brian
Elliott for the 1-0 lead.
With all the focus on the offense, it's easy
to overlook a Sharks defensive corps that suppressed the Blues all night long.
St Louis was held to 5 shots on goal through the first 20 minutes of play and
generated a paltry 2 shots through the first half of the 2n period.
When Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson acquired Joel Ward, a key selling point
was Ward's history in the playoffs. The Sharks forward has delivered as
advertised through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Ward scored a pair
of goals in Game 5, and matched that output with another deuce on Wednesday
night.
Ward scored the first of this two goals in Game 6 with another
hand-eye masterpiece, deflecting a Brent Burns shot past Elliott at 5:02 of the
period. Burns unloaded on a blast from the right point, but when Ward got his
stick blade in front of the shot, the puck took a left turn that terminated at
the back of the St Louis goal.
The Blues still had a chance to make a
game of it, but Martin Jones created a wall in front of the Sharks net, denying
a Colton Parayko shot that seemed destined to find twine. Jones would finish
the night with 24 big saves to earn his 12th win of the playoffs.
St
Louis made a push in the second half of the middle period, stepping up their
pressure around the Sharks net, which started by getting the puck into the
Sharks zone. That wasn't something they mastered through first 30 minutes of
the game, which created their 2-0 hole.
Ward added his 2nd goal of the night 3:01 into the 3rd
period after Logan Couture set him up with a seeing eye pass from the left wing
boards. Couture caught Ward cutting to the net from the right circle, and only
a well placed pass would get past two Blues defenders that lurked between the
forward and his linemate. Couture put a 40-foot bullet on Ward's tape just as
the 1st year Shark skated up to the crease. All Ward had to do was tap the pass
past Elliott for the 3-0 lead.
Rookie forward Joonas Donskoi added his
5th goal of the playoffs 5 minutes later to push the Sharks lead to 4 goals.
Couture added his 2nd assist of the night by sliding a pass to his left where
Donskoi sent a shot that tucked inside the left post.
The Blues would
score a pair of goals late to make things semi-interesting, but the damage the
Sharks did was insurmountable.
Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock pulled
Elliott for the extra attacker with 4 minutes to play. Vladimr Tarasenko
finally made an appearance in the series, but it was too little, too late.
The Blues 40-goal scorer in the regular season scored both St Louis
goals, but his absence from the score sheet in the first 5 games was one of the
big reasons the Blues fell short in the series.
Jones lost his shutout
bid with 3:35 left in regulation when Tarasenko fired a shot from the high slot
after a wild scrum in front of the net.
Tarasenko jammed his second
goal of the game home from the left side as he threw a puck at Jones who was
tucked up against the left post. Tarasenko's shot found a seem under Jones
blocker to cut the Sharks lead to 4-2.
St Louis kept pressing with the
empty net, but time ran out on their season.
San Jose's story is much
different. The Sharks are going to the Stanley Cup Finals. Let that sink in for
a moment.
Game Notes:
* Brent Burns added an assist,
finished a +4 and led all skaters with three blocked shots.
* Dainius
Zubrus led all San Jose skaters with six hits.
* Joe Thornton tallied
his sixth assist of the series and now ranks second in the NHL with 15 assists
in these playoffs.
* Joe Pavelski potted his league-leading 13th goal
of the playoffs and led all skaters with five shots on net. Pavelski's 13 goals
are the most in a playoffs in franchise history.
* In a playoff
oddity, Blues goaltender Jake Allen actually played 13 seconds in the game.
Following a stoppage with Brian Elliott pulled, Hitchcock elected to insert
Allen because of his puck handling skills, which would have helped the Blues
move the puck out of their own end.
* Metallica front man James
Hatfield opened the Sharks locker room door, which has become a playoff
pre-game event in San Jose. The Sharks have featured a celebrity in each of
their playoff games this season.
* In what has become a common hockey
superstition, Joe Pavelski did not touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl, awarded to
the Western Conference Finals winner at the conclusion of the game. The trophy
is placed on a table and presented to the winning team's captain, but its
considered bad luck to touch the trophy leading up to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The entire Sharks team huddled around the trophy for a photo, but nobody in
teal touched it.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| STL |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 13 (Thornton, Hertl), 3:57. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ, Ward
5 (Burns, Tierney), 5:02. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ, Ward
6 (Couture), 3:01. 4, SJ, Donskoi 5 (Couture, Marleau), 8:11. 5, STL, Tarasenko
8 (Lehtera, Parayko), 11:39. 6, STL, Tarasenko 9 (Stastny), 16:25. 7, SJ,
Couture 8 (Vlasic), 19:40, (en). |
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| 2nd period - Brouwer,
STL (interference), 0:36; Upshall, STL (high sticking - double minor),
6:08. |
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| 3rd period -
Shattenkirk, STL (cross checking), 15:35; Wingels, SJ (slashing), 15:35. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| STL - Elliott |
26 |
22 |
| STL - Allen |
0 |
0 |
| STL - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Jones |
26 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| STL |
5 |
11 |
10 |
26 |
| SJ |
9 |
10 |
8 |
27 |
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| Referees: Watson,
O'Rourke. Linesmen: Murphy, Kovachik. |
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