Facing the Mirror in the Western Conference Final

It’s like looking in the mirror.

The Sharks look like the Blues. The Blues look like the Sharks. The two Western Conference Finalists, the styles they employ, the paths they’ve taken, even the franchise burdens each’s top players carry are nearly identical.

“They’re really, really good,” Joe Thornton said of the Blues. “It’s going to be a good test for us. They’ve knocked off some good teams so far. It’s going to be a great test for us.”

And likewise, the Sharks are going to be a great test for the Blues.

But more than this, this Western Conference Final, for one of these franchises, will be the ultimate exorcism of demons.

As the Sharks exorcised their first batch of demons by defeating the LA Kings, twice Stanley Cup champions since 2012 and their chief geographic antagonist, the Blues began their playoff march by dispatching the Chicago Blackhawks, three-time champions since 2010 and their longtime nemesis.

For both the Sharks and Blues, with a combined 10 100-point seasons in the past decade but nary a single appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, their opening-round victories against their top rivals were signs that this year was different. Both followed these exorcisms by taking their second-round series in similar fashion, surrendering 3-2 series leads and redeeming themselves with blowout wins in Game 7.

San Jose, with its 5-0 drubbing of Nashville, and St. Louis, with its 6-1 win over Dallas, became only the 10th and 11th teams in the past 77 years to win a Game 7 by five or more goals, doing so on consecutive days.

In Game 7, the Sharks were carried by their longtime core players, the Thorntons, Pavelskis and Marleaus, who despite All-Star and Hall of Fame credentials, have received criticism for their inability to win a championship. St. Louis’ leaders in these playoffs, the David Backeses, Alex Pietrangelos and Vladimir Tarsenkos, are all lifetime Blues with All-Star resumes …

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