NHL Playoffs, Sharks vs. Blues Game 6 recap: Full highlights

Defeating the Blues 5-2 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Sharks advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The St. Louis Blues lost to the San Jose Sharks from the first goal in the first period. The team who scored the first goal won all five games of this series so far, and Game 6 was no exception.

Less than four minutes into the first period, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski put the puck in the net for the Sharks. Rightwing Joel Ward is credited with two other Sharks goal of the game, coming in during the second and third periods. Joonas Donksoi and Logan Couture added two more goals for San Jose in the third period. In his first season as a starter, Sharks goaltender Martin Jones earned two consecutive shutouts and made 24 saves out of 26 shots on goal in Game 6 for a .923 save percentage.

Defensively, the Blues broke down during the game, leaving Brian Elliott to fend for himself in their zone from within the crease.  Offensively, their sole opportunities came at moments when the Sharks were on top of them. Though Vladimir Tarasenko managed to end his series point deficit with two goals on three shots on goal in the third period, his efforts—if you can call them that—were not enough to pull the Blues ahead in the game and thus force a Game 7 like in their last two rounds of the postseason.

The Blues ended their Conference Finals drought this season after failing to make it this far in 15 years, but were unable to clinch a Stanley Cup Finals stint—which they haven’t secured since 1970, their first season as a franchise. Certainly their long postseason is a tremendous sign of the team’s growth, but that development was not enough to give them their true prize.

Three Stars

LW Patrick Marleau (SHARKS)
Marleau added two assists during the game.

RW Joel Ward (SHARKS)
Ward scored two goals for San Jose.

RW Vladimir Tarasenko (BLUES)
Tarasenko saved the Blues from an embarrassing shutout with 2 goals.

Highlights

Pavelski opened scoring with a wraparound goal with 16:03 remaining in the first. After Joe Thornton missed the net on a breakaway, the captain took the second opportunity, successfully planting the puck passed Elliott’s boot.

Then, 36 seconds into the second period, Troy Brouwer got a thoughtless penalty for elbowing Donskoi in the face.

On a redirect, Brent Burns ripped a cannon of a shot, which went in the goal off a tip from Joel Ward.

Ward added yet another goal for the Sharks just three minutes into the fourth period with assists from Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau.

To add salt to St. Louis’ wounds, Joonas Donksoi scored for the Sharks at 8:11, also with assists from Couture and Marleau.

With 8:21 remaining, Vladimir Tarasenko scored is first goal of the series and also earned his first point of the series. Unfortunately his sizzle came too late for the Blues. Even his second goal of the game with less than four minutes remaining was more of a personal victory than a team one: Brian Elliott was removed from the net to be replaced by Jake Allen. Allen was replaced minutes later, leaving an empty net that Couture scored on with about twenty seconds remaining in regulation.

Next Game

The San Jose Sharks will face the yet-to-be-determined winner of the Eastern Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Finals beginning Monday, May 30. The contenders for the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins, will play in an all-or-nothing Game 7 on Thursday, May 26 at 8:00 PM ET. The game will be aired on NBC Sports Network.

For more NHL Playoffs coverage, check out our NHL hub page.