SUNDAY, MAY 19 SPORTS ROUNDUP
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL – GAME 5 (BEST-OF-SEVEN)
ST. LOUIS 5, SAN JOSE 0 (STL LEADS 3-2): Jaden Schwartz had his second hat trick of the playoffs, Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a second period penalty shot, and Jordan Binnington had 21 saves as the St. Louis Blues defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-0 in game five of the Western Conference Final at SAP Center of San Jose to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Blues are now one win away from going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970, which would be the franchise’s fourth time overall. St. Louis has never won a Stanley Cup, much less a game in the Final, having been swept in the team’s first three years of existence, by the Montreal Canadiens in 1968 and 1969, and by the Boston Bruins in 1970.
In many ways, it was a historic win for the Blues. Schwartz became the team’s first player to record multiple hat tricks in a playoff year, the first since Johan Franzen of the Detroit Red Wings in 2008, Tarasenko’s penalty shot goal was the first of its kind in team history, and the Blues set a franchise record for most wins in a playoff year with 11.
After Evander Kane hit the goal post with a shot just 10 seconds in, Brayden Schenn hit the post two minutes later in a bit of a frantic start to the game. San Jose seemed to have the better of the play in the opening minutes, but at 5:50 of the first period, the Blues fourth line struck again, when Oskar Sundqvist shot an errant pass first time behind Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
The Blues began to control the play after that, and their efforts paid off in the second period, when Schwartz scored his first of the game at 3:05, and then Tarasenko scored on his penalty shot, awarded after being pulled down on a breakaway, at 6:35 to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead.
It was only the second penalty shot ever taken by a Blues player in their playoff history, the first coming in 1968 when Jimmy Roberts missed in a game against the Minnesota North Stars in the league semifinals.
Schwartz scored his second goal on a two-man advantage after penalties to San Jose, getting the goal at 2:19 of the third period to make it 4-0, then completed his hat trick at 16:02, getting a nice pass from Tarasenko to make the final 5-0.
It was Binnington’s first career playoff shutout, while Jones had 35 saves for the Sharks. San Jose lost Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, and Tomas Hertl to injury in the third, and their statuses are unknown at this time.
The Blues can close out the series and win their first Western Conference championship with a win in game six Tuesday night at Enterprise Center, with the face-off coming at 7 p.m., and televised on NBCSN. Should San Jose win, the seventh and deciding game will be played Thursday night at SAP Center, with the face-off at 8 p.m, again televised on NBCSN.
STANLEY CUP FINAL SCHEDULE RELEASED: The schedule for the 2019 Stanley Cup Final was released by the NHL on Friday evening following St. Louis’ 2-1 win over San Jose in game four of the Western Conference Final.
The Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins will have home-ice advantage for the final, and game one and two are set for TD Garden on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) and Wednesday, May 29. The next two games will be played at the Western Conference champions arena, either Enterprise Center in St. Louis or SAP Center of San Jose, on Saturday, June 1 and Monday, June 3. Game five, if necessary. will be played in Boston on Thursday, June 6, game six, also if necessary, is at the Western Conference champion Sunday, June 9. If a seventh and deciding game is needed, it’ll be in Boston on Wednesday, June 12.
All games start at 7 p.m., with game one and games four through seven televised on NBC. Games two and three will be televised by NBCSN.
It’s the third time in the past nine seasons that the Bruins are in the final, having won in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, but losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. The Blues haven’t been to the final since 1970, being swept by the Bruins, and the Sharks were in the final in 2016, losing in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
SPORTS SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL – GAME 5 (BEST-OF-SEVEN)
St. Louis Blues 5, San Jose Sharks 0 (STL leads 3-2)
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Texas Rangers 5, St. Louis Cardinals 4 (10 innings)
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