Visiting Blues bully Sharks, take 3-2 lead
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The St. Louis Blues are a win away from their first Stanley Cup final since 1970 after a 5-0 win against the San Jose Sharks in Game 5 of the Western Conference final Sunday at SAP Center.
The Blues can seal the trip Tuesday at home at Enterprise Center.
“It’s always hard against a real good team like San Jose,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “We are going to be at our best for 60 minutes, for sure.”
Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his first postseason shutout. The Blues outshot San Jose, 40-21, with 36 shots in the second and third periods.
After Oskar Sundqvist opened a 1-0 lead in the first, the Blues outshot the Sharks in the second, 20-6. Jaden Schwartz
scored and Vladimir Tarasenko converted the first postseason penalty shot in team history for a 3-0 lead.
Tarasenko was tripped by Brent Burns about seven minutes into the second. On his penalty shot, he beat goalie Martin Jones’ glove side, where the Blues have been aiming all series.
It was the second postseason penalty shot for the Blues in team history, the other coming in 1968.
In the third period, Schwartz finished his second hat trick of the postseason with two goals assisted by Tarasenko. With 12, Schwartz trails Brett Hull’s 13 playoff goals for the franchise record. Schwartz has already topped his regularseason total of 11 goals.
“We’ve seen it before from [Schwartz],” Berube said. “It was an off year for him obviously in the regular season but he keeps working hard. Nothing changes with his attitude.”
The Sharks ended the game with four injured players and without Micheal Haley and Evander Kane, who left the ice for separate misconducts.
“We stuck to our game,” said Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson.
“We knew they were going to come out hard. They had a good first period, we weathered the storm.”
The Blues had a fourminute power play late in the second when Alexander Steen took a high stick, but it was cut in half when Tyler Bozak was called for hooking. The Blues survived the four-on-four, breaking a trend, as San Jose has dominated fouron-four play this series.
The Sharks swarmed in the first period but seemed lost when they couldn’t convert. San Jose had four shots in the first two minutes and outshot the Blues in the period, 11-4, before taking 36 penalty minutes throughout a sloppy effort.
Erik Karlsson, a gametime roster inclusion, played the puck behind his net in the first when his pass missed Brenden Dillon, leaving Sundqvist alone with Jones. The Blues’ fourth line has goals in four consecutive games.
After a road rout, history favors the Blues as they return to St. Louis for Game 6. When the conference finals or semifinals are tied at two games apiece, the winner of Game 5 owns an all-time series record of 19-8.