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St. Louis Blues beat San Jose Sharks, reach Stanley Cup Final

By Connor Grott
The St. Louis Blues will play the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The St. Louis Blues will play the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

May 22 (UPI) -- The St. Louis Blues ousted the San Jose Sharks with a dominant 5-1 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night.

The Blues won three straight contests to advance to the franchise's first Stanley Cup Final since 1970.

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"We always believed we could do this," Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. "But it's still an unbelievable feeling."

Brayden Schenn, Tyler Bozak and Tarasenko each scored for the Blues. David Perron had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Barbashev scored an empty-netter with 2:15 remaining in the third period to clinch the victory.

St. Louis rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington continued his solid play this postseason and picked up his franchise-record 12th playoff win. He had 25 saves on 26 shots.

The Sharks, playing without injured forwards Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl and defenseman Erik Karlsson, managed only one goal and lost for the first time in five elimination games this postseason. San Jose grabbed a 2-1 lead in the series, but were outscored 12-2 in the team's final three games.

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"When you lose this opportunity and it gets snatched away from you it's very hard to take," Sharks forward Logan Couture told reporters. "You've got to get over it."

San Jose goalie Martin Jones stopped 14 shots. Dylan Gambrell, who was slotted into the lineup due to the injuries, scored his first career NHL goal. He converted on a breakaway chance along the right wing 6:40 into the second period.

The Blues play the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.

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