Sharks vs. Blues: Game 5 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

The San Jose Sharks are one win away from their first-ever Stanley Cup Final appearance.

They defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-3 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on Monday night at Scottrade Center to take a 3-2 series lead.

Joe Pavelski scored two goals for the Sharks, including the game-winning goal 16 seconds into the third period. Sharks goalie Martin Jones rebounded from a tough performance in Game 4 to stop 18 shots on 21 attempts.  

The Sharks tweeted this after the game concluded:

St. Louis got off to a strong start in the first period, taking a 2-1 lead after Blues forward Troy Brouwer scored his eighth goal of the postseason with 4:52 remaining in the frame.

Back on their home ice, the Blues needed all the motivation they could get and had some help, per NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika:

It took only four minutes into the second period before the Sharks evened the game at two goals apiece on Joel Ward's equalizer. Robby Fabbri responded on behalf of the Blues, scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs to give St. Louis back the 3-2 lead.

That's when the game turned into the Joe Pavelski show. His 11th goal of the playoffs evened the game at 3-3 before his tip-in goal in the third period's early stages put the Sharks up for good. Here's the video, via NBCSN:

The Sharks went into the pun jar to celebrate:

Adam Vingan of the Tennessean was thinking the same way:

But while it looked like luck, the Sharks have spent extended time during practice working on plays like that, as ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun noted:

Despite Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock sticking with goalie Jake Allen (21 saves), it didn't matter because of the Sharks' stingy defense. Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thought the coach may have forgotten which St. Louis team he was with: 

San Jose added two empty-net goals in the final minutes to increase its lead and move one step closer to making franchise history. The Sharks got back to their bread and butter—turning defense into offense. For Jones to face only 21 shots is a major improvement from last game, and now the Sharks return home to SAP Center with a chance to close the series in Game 6 on Wednesday.

The Blues appear to have taken one step forward and two steps back. Saturday's Game 4 seemed like it was the wake-up call the offense needed, but St. Louis fell victim to San Jose's stingy defense once again Monday, which has been the norm this series.

Postgame Reaction

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer talked about the performance by his captain.

"You think back to some of the best scorers ever, his ability to get his stick on pucks in front of the net from different angles is as good as anybody I've ever seen," DeBoer said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "His biggest asset is he works at it."

Pavelski added his two cents.

"You play a good game like that, you want to ride that," Pavelski said, per the AP. "Everyone's played a key role so far and it's going to have to continue."

Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko was held without a point once again in this series, and Hitchcock addressed his superstar's struggles.

"He's struggled this series," Hitchcock said, per the AP. "He hasn't gotten the looks that he normally gets. But he's one shift away from breaking it open."

Still needing one more win, DeBoer isn't letting his team think too far ahead.

"I think we're reminding them we're not there yet," DeBoer said, per the AP. "There's a lot of heavy lifting yet."