Written by Curtis Pashelka at San Jose Mercury News.com
On their fourth-ever appearance in a Western Conference final, the Sharks have entered new territory after beating the St. Louis Blues 3-0 Thursday night in Game 3.
San Jose now leads a conference final for the first time in the franchise’s 25-year history, and an appearance in a Stanley Cup final has never seemed so close.
Tomas Hertl scored twice, Joonas Donskoi added his first goal of the series and Martin Jones finished with 22 saves for his second straight shutout as the Sharks took a two-games-to-one lead in the NHL playoff series, which resumes Saturday at SAP Center with Game 4.
The Sharks have now won six straight on their home ice and can earn their first-ever Western Conference title without having to win another game on the road.
“With every round, the teams are getting better, everything is getting tighter, every shift is so important. It’s a lot of firsts for guys,” Donskoi said. “It’s pretty exciting and pretty easy to get excited for these games.”
One game after the Sharks scored twice on the power play, all three of their goals Thursday came at even strength. In the process, they chased Blues goalie Brian Elliott 6:09 into the third period on Hertl’s second goal. Elliott stopped just 11 of 14 shots.
Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski each had two assists as the Sharks finished with a playoff-low 16 shots on goal.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer also noted that the Blues changed their structure a bit to help create some space for their top forwards. They outshot the Sharks 5-2 in the first 10 minutes.
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