This year's Western Conference Final had been a back-and-forth battle between the Sharks and Blues until Sunday's Game 5, when the Blues became the first team to win back-to-back games in the series.

It was a a rather dominant second straight victory for the Blues too, as they throttled the Sharks 5-0 in San Jose. Jaden Schwartz recorded his second hat trick of the playoffs and goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped all 21 shots he faced to earn his first career playoff shutout. 

The Sharks came out strong at home and were able to hold the Blues to just four shots in the first period, but St. Louis outshot the Sharks by a 36-10 margin over the next 40 minutes of play. It was total dominance by the Blues and total embarrassment for the home team.

As a result, the series heads back to St. Louis with the Blues able to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final with a win on home ice in Game 6.  

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NHL Playoffs for Sunday, May 19

  • Game 5: FINAL - Blues 5, Sharks 0 | STL leads 3-2 | [Box score]

Blues keep their foot on the gas

Well, there were no signs of life for the Sharks in the third period. It was more of the same as the Blues continued to dominate and demoralize San Jose. Jaden Schwartz added two more goals in the third period to secure his second hat trick of the playoffs and increase the Blues' lead to 5-0 .

The Sharks also dealt with a number of injuries in the third period, as Erik Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi all missed some or all of the final frame. It's pretty safe to say that this game was a complete unmitigated disaster for the Sharks, who now have to travel back to St. Louis with their season on the line in Game 6. 

Wheels fall off for San Jose in second

Yikes, it was not a great period for the Sharks in the middle frame. They were a mess defensively and the Blues jumped all over them. St. Louis doubled its lead when a Vladimir Tarasenko shot was deflected and Martin Jones played the puck straight to Jaden Schwartz, who easily finished for the 2-0.

Then, Tarasenko was tripped on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot with a chance to make it 3-0. He did not let that opportunity go to waste. Get a load of the beautiful shot.

Shots were an astounding 20-6 in favor of the Blues in the second period, and the Sharks look like they're toast in this game. San Jose has been skating like someone poured cement in their skates and they've been totally disorganized all over the ice. Not a great showing through 40 minutes, but we'll see if they can show some signs of life in the third.

St. Louis takes lead into first intermission

The Sundqvist goal was the only tally of the first period, though there were several posts rung on both ends of the ice. It was a physical first period and, once again, the Blues were looking to dish out punishment wherever possible. 

After 20 minutes, the Sharks lead in shots (11-4) and scoring chances (8-5) but the Blues have a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.

Blues fourth line continues to thrive

The Blues' fourth line might be the best line in this series so far and they got on the board yet again on Sunday. It was Oskar Sundqvist who opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first period. Sundqvist was able to blast a loose puck past Martin Jones after an Erik Karlsson turnover in the Sharks' defensive zone.

That's a pretty poor pass by Karlsson right through Justin Braun's legs and, on top of that, it looked like Karlsson may have taken away Jones' eyes on the shot.