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San Jose, Calif. • Captain Joe Pavelski scored an early goal, Joel Ward added two of his own and the San Jose Sharks advanced to their first Stanley Cup final in franchise history by beating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Wednesday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference final.

Joonas Donskoi also scored, Logan Couture had an empty-netter and Martin Jones made 24 saves as a Sharks team notorious for postseason letdowns will now play for the championship that has eluded stars like Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for so long.

Thornton assisted on Pavelski's goal to set the tone and Marleau had two assists in the third period that set off chants of "We Want The Cup! We Want The Cup!"

The Stanley Cup starts Monday night. NHL playoffs

Best-of-7 Conference finals,

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 3

Game 1 • Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1

Game 2 • Pittsburgh 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT

Game 3 • Pittsburgh 4, Tampa Bay 2

Game 4 • Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3

Game 5 • Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3. OT

Game 6 • Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 2

Thursday • at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

San Jose 4, St. Louis 2

Game 1 • St. Louis 2, San Jose 1

Game 2 • San Jose 4, St. Louis 0

Game 3 • San Jose 3, St. Louis 0

Game 4 • St. Louis 6, San Jose 3

Game 5 • San Jose 6, St. Louis 3

Game 6 • San Jose 5, St. Louis 2