Jamie Langenbrunner and David Perron scored 45 seconds apart in the third period as the St. Louis Blues ousted the San Jose Sharks from the NHL post-season with a 3-1 victory.
Veteran forward Andy McDonald added an empty net goal and defenceman Alex Pietrangelo finished with two assists for the Blues, who won the best-of-seven series 4-1 and reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
The Blues had to rally from a 1-0 deficit after Sharks forward Joe Thornton opened the scoring late in the second period.
St. Louis outshot the Sharks 7-3 in a tight-checking first period and added 11 more shots as they scored three unanswered goals in the third.
Blues goalie Brian Elliott stopped 26 of 27 shots in his third game since taking over from starting goalie Jaroslav Halak who was forced to leave game two of the best-of-seven series with an injury.
This is the first time San Jose has been eliminated in the first round since losing to the Anaheim Ducks three years ago. The Sharks had made it to the playoff semi-finals the last two years.
Source: AFP American Edition
