ETC.: Blues on brink of Stanley Cup final berth

Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a penalty shot and Jaden Schwartz added the first of his three goals during a dominant second period that carried St. Louis to the brink of its first trip to the Stanley Cup final in nearly a half-century, sending the visiting Blues to a 5-0 victory over the Sharks in Game 5 of the Western Conference final. The victory gave the Blues a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 on Tuesday night in St. Louis.

Dylan Larkin scored midway through the third period to help the United States beat Germany 3-1 at the hockey world championships in Kosice, Slovakia. Alec Martinez had two assists for the U.S., and Cory Schneider stopped 24 shots. Jack Eichel made it 3-1 late in the third.

The U.S. has won five straight games in Group A since opening with a 4-1 loss to the host Slovaks.

In Rome, Rafael Nadal dominated for stretches against Novak Djokovic, in a 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win for a record-extending ninth Italian Open title. Karolina Pliskbeat Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s final. In Barcelona, Spain, Lionel Messi scored twice for Barcelona to hit the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his career. Messi scored his 49th and 50th goals in all competitions this season to give Barcelona a 2-2 draw at Eibar and finished as the league’s top scorer with 36 goals. In Indianapolis, two-time Formula One champion

Fernando Alonso missed the Indianapolis 500 after a 23-year-old American in a rebuilt race car snagged the final spot in the field. Kyle Kaiser bumped Alonso out of the Indianapolis 500 by .02 mph in the “Last Row Shootout” to set the 33-driver field.