NHL playoffs 2018: Updated bracket after Golden Knights beat Sharks

SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 06: Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) spreads out in front of the goal to keep San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) from scoring during the 1st period during game 6 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, May 6, 2018 at the SAP Center, San Jose, CA. (Photo by Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Vegas Golden Knights advance to the Western Conference Final after a shutout of the San Jose Sharks in Game 6.

The Vegas Golden Knights care not for your record books.

Improbably, this team of misfits and spare parts keeps blasting past thresholds and shattering expectations, marking milestones many never would have deemed possible.

On Sunday night, the Golden Knights shut out the San Jose Sharks 3-0 to punch their ticket to the Western Conference Final, where they’ll face either the Winnipeg Jets or Nashville Predators. (The Jets lead that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Monday.)

With the Tampa Bay Lightning having eliminated the Boston Bruins earlier Sunday, here’s what the updated bracket looks like heading into Monday:

The Golden Knights are going to prove a challenge for the Nashville Predators and the Winnipeg Jets, no matter which team makes it into the other open slot in the West.

There aren’t many similarities between the upstart Golden Knights and the Jets, but both franchises found themselves with something in common this postseason when they each won their first playoff game. Of course, it took the Jets seven years to do so, and it took the Golden Knights about that many months.

Now, the Jets are soaring high coming off a 6-2 victory over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Predators on Saturday, and if they can keep that momentum going long enough to earn a Conference Final bid, they’ll push the Golden Knights to the brink of their capabilities.

But each of the Jets or the Predators would have a hell of a time getting past Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has been the star of the postseason and was at it again Sunday night, recording 28 saves for his second shutout of the series and fourth this postseason.

Vegas likes a winner, and boy, has it found one in the Golden Knights.

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