Sharks Take Series Lead

The San Jose Sharks finally turned their home ice into an advantage.

Owen Nolan scored twice and the Sharks broke a four-game home losing streak in the playoffs, defeating the top-seeded St. Louis Blues 2-1 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.

The Sharks, who did not qualify for the playoffs until the final week of the season and who went 0-4-1 against St. Louis during the regular season, have won the last two games of the series.

Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday at San Jose.

"We're an underdog, we weren't picked to win this. So all we can do is impress people with our play and try to win this thing," Nolan said. "This series is far from over, we don't want to get our confidence too high but we just need two (more wins)."

"During the regular season, we played very well in the third period. We always found a way to win, whether we were tied or down a goal," St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger said. "In the last couple of games, we haven't found the net, we haven't gotten the bounce or the break we need."

Nolan scored the deciding goal 4:40 into the third period. Mike Rathje's shot frm the slot was stopped by goalie Roman Turek, but Nolan got to the loose puck and skated around the prone Turek before sliding the puck into the net.

"Rathje was by himself, but I stopped the shot. It just hit my shoulder, it's hard to cover when it's up there," Turek said.

Steve Shields, who made 31 saves for the Sharks, made three in the final minute including one of an Al MacInnis slap shot from just inside the blue line. Earlier in the third, he made a glove save from close range against Young while the Blues were on a power play.

"He made some great saves. He made some huge saves on MacInnis, and he was able to cover up the rebounds," Sharks coach Darryl Sutter said.

"We still know what we're up against. They didn't have the best record during the regular season by not meeting challenges."

The Sharks had not won at home in the playoffs since April 28, 1998. They lost all three of their home games in a first-round loss to Colorado last year, and dropped their final home game the previous year in a first-round loss to Dallas.

Both teams scored power-play goals in the first period.

Nolan opened the scoring 5:39 in when his centering pass deflected off Pronger and past Turek while the Sharks skated with a 5-on-3 advantage.

Pronger helped the Blues tie it with 4:46 remaining in the period. Pronger's shot rebounded to Young, whose drive from a sharp angle got past Shields.

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