text: Sharks headed to first Stanley Cup final after 25-year wait! – Times-Herald
  Sharks headed to first Stanley Cup final after…
  Sharks headed to first Stanley Cup final after 25-year wait!
  SAN JOSE — The roar started in the third period. The sold out home crowd, which had waited a generation for this moment, rose up in unison to begin the countdown on the biggest win in Sharks franchise history.
  Finally, after 25 years, it had arrived.
  Just one season after missing the playoffs, the Sharks on Wednesday took their most momentous step to date, beating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 to win the Western Conference finals in six games and punch their ticket to their first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup final.
  The Cup final will open Monday against Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay at a site to be determined Thursday night when the Penguins host the Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
  If the Pens win, the series will begin in Pittsburgh. If Tampa Bay wins, it will begin in San Jose.
  "I think history has proven that you want to finish these series as quickly as possible, get as much rest as possible," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "I think mission accomplished."
  Joel Ward scored twice, Logan Couture had a goal and two assists and Martin Jones made 24 saves in the Game 6 victory that clinched the series four-games-to-two.
  But the moment largely belonged to Sharks icons Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, who combined for three assists in what was the biggest game of their NHL careers.
  "The fans here have waited so long, 25 years," Thornton said. "We"ve waited 18 years or so. So it"s a great feeling."
  Only two active NHL players have played more games than Thornton without reaching the Cup final, and one is Marleau.
  "It"s two legends," Brent Burns said of Thornton and Marleau. "Those two are some of the best players to ever play the game. It"s huge to get them here. They"ve done pretty much everything else. They sometimes take a bad rap in the media, which is unnecessary. Anybody that"s played with them sees the way that they work and what kind of teammates they are, what kind of people they are. They"re two of the best."
  Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi also scored for the Sharks, who outscored the Blues 22-13 in the six games.
  After Pavelski and his teammates shook hands with the Blues players, the Sharks had their picture taken with the Clarence Campbell bowl, awarded each season to the winner of the Western Conference.
  As is hockey custom, Pavelski didn"t touch the trophy. After all, the Sharks haven"t reached their goal just yet.
  "It was fun out there tonight. It was exciting," Pavelski said "The building was great. The fans were great. But we realize there"s more out there. That"s what we"re going to turn our attention to."
  Pavelski, whose two goals in Game 5 had put the Sharks on the brink of history, opened the scoring just 3:57 into the first period. Tomas Hertl sent a long pass up the ice that Thornton caught up to as he went in on a breakaway on Blues goalie Brian Elliott.
  Thornton"s shot went wide, but Pavelski picked up the loose puck, came in front and jammed it past Elliott on a second effort. Thornton"s assist was his 100th career playoff point with the Sharks.
  The goal came moments after Jones made a huge stop on a shot by the Blues" Alex Steen to keep the game scoreless.
  Ward then scored his fifth goal of the playoffs in the second period, tipping in a shot from the point by Burns at 5:02 for a 2-0 Sharks lead.
  Ward"s second goal, his fourth in the last two games, came off an assist from Couture 3:01 into the third period and all but sealed the win. Couture then assisted on Donskoi"s fifth goal of the playoffs, a one-timer that got past Elliott.
  Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for his first two goals of the series, with his second coming with 3:35 to go in the third period to cut the Sharks" lead to 4-2.
  The Sharks, though, regrouped and Couture"s goal with 19.7 seconds left punctuated the win.
  Shortly after the game, Couture took a few seconds to soak in the moment.
  "Took a few quick looks around just to see everyone standing and cheering," Couture said. "You could hear "em. They"ve been through a lot. It"s been a long time that we"ve been the favorite. They"ve had a lot of high hopes and a lot of people have stuck with this franchise and supported it over the years.
  "So, a lot of credit to the people that have had season tickets and kept them through these last couple of years. They deserve this."