Blues reach final for first time in 49 years

The St. Louis Blues were the NHL's worst team on January 2 at 15-18-4. On Saturday, the Blues will be playing in the Stanley Cup Final in Boston against the Bruins.

The Blues closed out the Western Conference final in Game 6 with a 5-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. David Perron had a goal and an assist to back rookie Jordan Binnington, who stopped 25 shots in his team-record 12th win. Perron opened the scoring 92 seconds into the game with help from Ryan O'Reilly, who set up three goals. Vladimir Tarasenko's power-play goal made it 2-0 later in the first period.

Brayden Schenn also had a power-play goal for the Blues, who broke it open when Tyler Bozak and Ivan Barbashev tallied in the final seven minutes.

Binnington blanked the Sharks after Dylan Gambrell got the Sharks within 2-1 early in the second period.

The Blues are in the Cup final for the first time since 1970, when they were swept by the Bruins. St. Louis went to the final in their first three series without winning a game.