Blues vs. Sharks: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

For the second game in a row, the San Jose Sharks pitched a shutout. The Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues, 3-0, on Thursday at the SAP Center to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Final thanks to two goals by Tomas Hertl and a second straight shutout by goalie Martin Jones.

The Sharks tweeted this after taking the lead in a Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history:

The Blues have not scored in the last 150 minutes, 45 seconds of the series, and Jones has recorded 58 consecutive saves, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press:

Coming off a stellar shutout victory in Game 2, it would've been understandable for the Sharks to suffer some sort of letdown in Game 3.

That wasn't the case. All the momentum San Jose had after its 4-0 win in St. Louis carried to the other side of the country Thursday. Although the Blues had more shots on goal in the first period, the Sharks grabbed more loose pucks and turned them into scoring opportunities.

After 15 minutes of action, that plan of attack worked for the Sharks as Hertl recorded his fourth goal of the postseason after San Jose forced a turnover at center ice:

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thought the Blues had played well up to that point but suddenly faced the daunting task of playing from behind again:

The Sharks noted the perfect timing of Hertl's goal:

San Jose's objective in the series has become clearer over the last two games. The Sharks don't want to beat the Blues with just their offense; their defense has turned into offense at the other end.

That was evident with 8:16 remaining in the second period. Joonas Donskoi extended his stick at center ice and deflected away a potential St. Louis scoring opportunity. Then Logan Couture rewarded the forward with a pass in the center of the zone, and Donskoi's fourth goal of the postseason gave the home team a two-score lead:

CSN Sharks News went into the movie realm to describe its thoughts on the goal:

Josh Cooper of Yahoo Sports felt the tide was turning for the Sharks:

The NHL found the best way to describe the fans' reaction to their team increasing its lead:

While the Sharks defense was containing St. Louis' high-octane offense, Jones was continuing his dominant stretch as San Jose's netminder. When the second period concluded, the Blues had only 15 shots, but his shutout streak reached 130:45 since he allowed Jori Lehtera to score a goal in the second period of Game 1.

That stretch has included saves like this one early in the first period Thursday:

Jones has made a difference in the series, but he's still far from the franchise record, which Evgeni Nabokov owns, per Ross McKeon of the San Francisco Chronicle:

The Sharks defense has also made it a priority to contain Blues superstar Vladimir Tarasenko on the offensive end. Coming into Game 3, Tarasenko had not recorded a point in the series on eight shots. Tarasenko had only one shot Thursday.

St. Louis' lack of offense has provided San Jose with more opportunities to attack. Hertl put the final nail in the coffin less than seven minutes into the final period with his second goal of the game, chasing St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott out of the contest.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun doesn't think Elliott should get the blame, though:

For the second game in a row, the Sharks looked like the more aggressive team. They're making more plays on loose pucks while also looking active and alert defensively. That component is a must against a dangerous offense like St. Louis, and San Jose has looked dominant in the last 120 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Blues are in trouble. They looked dejected in the third period and appear to be outmatched at every position on the ice. It'll be a must-win situation Saturday for St. Louis, which can't afford to head back home down 3-1 with the season on the line.

Postgame Reaction

After posting his second straight shutout and third in his last four games, Jones is becoming the most valuable asset for the Sharks.

"He's the backbone of our team," forward Joe Thornton said of Jones," per Dubow. "When he's on, we feel like we can't be beat. He's just such a big guy, such a calm goalie. We love playing in front of this guy. We honestly believe that he's the best goaltender in the league."

But even though Jones has played well as of late, the Blues understand the importance of starting to be more aggressive and getting their offense going.

"It's tough to win when you don't score. Can't leave our goalies out to dry like that," said Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, per Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's on us now to find a way to create more offense and to find a way to score more goals."

Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will also evaluate the goalie decision for Game 4, per Rutherford:

Despite what these last two games have resulted in, the Sharks know there's more hockey left to be played. 

"It's a long ways to go. It really is," captain Joe Pavelski said, per Dubow. "We'll worry about this next game and we'll take it from there. Got to have that same kind of energy."