Predators vs. Sharks: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

The San Jose Sharks are moving on to the Western Conference Final for the fourth time in team history after defeating the Nashville Predators 5-0 in Game 7 of their second-round series on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose, California.

The Sharks will take on the St. Louis Blues with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line, and they celebrated accordingly after reaching this far for the first time since the 2010-11 season:

Nashville also reacted this way after the team, once again, came close but was still too far from reaching its first conference final in franchise history:

The tone of this series has been the same since Game 1. Whichever team controlled the shot department usually took control of the game.    

From the moment the puck dropped, that would be the Sharks, as they showed after the first 20 minutes, per the team's Twitter account:

That large discrepancy in shots led to an ample number of scoring opportunities. It also helped when San Jose had a man advantage just over nine minutes into the game, when Joe Pavelski finished a brilliant passing display from Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton for the game's first goal, as the NHL illustrated:

San Jose's shot advantage worked both ways for the Sharks. The defense played at its best, and that was on display late in the first. Joel Ward corralled a loose puck at center ice, made Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne miss at the crease and scored to give San Jose a 2-0 lead, as the NHL shows:

That score stayed the same heading into the first intermission, but it was all San Jose needed. The Sharks were much quicker to the loose pucks, were accurate in their own zone and took advantage of opportunities with those first two goals.

After winning two home games in overtime, it looked like Nashville's luck had run out early. Barrett Sallee of Bleacher Report noted, however, that it could be worse:

San Jose's defense remained quick and active heading into the second stanza. Sharks center Logan Couture scored after he caused a turnover in San Jose's zone, finding the net 36 seconds into the period, with video courtesy of the NHL:

It was a complete domination from beginning to end. The Predators looked like a team rattled in a Game 7 situation, whereas the Sharks proved their veteran leadership was battle-tested for this moment. San Jose goalie Martin Jones stopped all 20 shots for a Game 7 shutout.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun had the right strategy for Nashville if the Predators were to get back into the game: 

San Jose tacked on two more goals from Thornton and Marleau, respectively, and it was getting to the point where the Sharks would reach a new level of domination, per Adam Gretz of CBS Sports:

One day after the top-seeded Dallas Stars lost by five goals on their home ice in Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues, the Predators were eliminated in similar fashion. Nonetheless, Adam Vingan of the Tennessean thought it was a good way to go out for Nashville:

The Sharks outshot the Predators 27-20 and forced 21 Nashville giveaways. It was a dominant performance by a San Jose team that took advantage of a win-or-go-home game on its home ice, while Nashville is still yearning for that trip to the conference final.

San Jose will face a much stiffer test against St. Louis, which scored four goals or more four times in the last round against Dallas. San Jose's goaltending situation isn't as bad as Dallas', but the Sharks need to be wary of the Blues' scoring attack and stingy defense if they want to make the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history.

With the dangerous scoring trio of Pavelski, Marleau and Thornton, San Jose should be able to equal the Blues' offensive firepower.

Postgame Reaction

Couture knows until something is done about it, there will be those who think San Jose can't reach the Cup final, per Comcast Bay Area:

Thornton knew something was in the air when the game got underway.

"As soon as the puck dropped tonight, the guys were going," Thornton said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "It was nice to see. It was a huge game for us. I'm just glad we came [out] on the good side tonight."

Pavelski, who scored his ninth postseason goal Thursday, understands the magnitude of the situation San Jose is in, but he realizes there's more to do.

"It never gets easier," Pavelski said, per the AP. "These teams are all good right now, good goalies. It feels good, but we understand this was a second step. It feels good, but we have to keep going."

After making numerous comebacks throughout this series, the Predators' good fortune ran out.

“They were better than us tonight,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said, per Cam Tucker of NBC Sports. “They played a game, I thought, that had them on their toes. They were on the forecheck, they were hounding pucks. They were better than us. You’ve got to give them credit for the way they played. It’s disappointing for us.”

Nashville defenseman Shea Weber was also deflated after knowing his team came so far only to fall short.

"It feels like we’ve let each other down," Weber said, per Vingan. "I know personally I could’ve been better, and it’s hard. It’s tough right now."

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer knows it was only two years ago when the Sharks blew a 3-0 lead to the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs. While the core may be around, it's a different attitude in the locker room.

"The core guys are still the same, but the core guys here are great," DeBoer said, per the AP. "They have great habits, they've been well coached for a decade by the previous staff that was here. They're not the problem. It was filling in behind them. We've got those type of people here now, and I think the guys at the top feel that and are feeding off it."