By series’ end, one supportive yet unrewarded fan base will finally witness its team playing for the Stanley Cup.
Getting there for either San Jose or St. Louis figures to be a long and bruising process. The Sharks and Blues have exorcised recent playoff demons in the first two rounds and now meet in St. Louis in Sunday’s Game 1 of the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
“We’ve got a long road ahead here,” Sharks goalie Martin Jones said. “We know we’re only halfway. But we’re excited.”
Third-place finishers in the Pacific Division, the Sharks extended a streak of California-based teams reaching the Western Conference finals to seven years by beating the Los Angeles Kings in five games and the Nashville Predators in seven in the first two rounds.