Sharks shut out Blues, level West finals
ST. LOUIS -- Brent Burns scored a pair of power-play goals, and Martin Jones recorded his second shutout of the playoffs to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
The Sharks tied the series at one game each as the teams head to San Jose for Game 3 on Thursday night.
San Jose lost all 10 of its previous playoff series when dropping the first two games, including all three of its previous trips to the conference final, but it avoided that scenario.
The Sharks had the jump on the Blues right from the beginning of the first period.
Tommy Wingels gave San Jose the lead 2:07 into the game with his second goal of the playoffs. His shot from the slot went off the shoulder of goalie Brian Elliott and into the net.
The Blues trailed 1-0 after the first period, only the second time in their 16 playoff games this season they were behind after 20 minutes.
Burns made it a 2-0 advantage with his first goal of the game 7:04 into the second period. With Troy Brouwer serving a slashing penalty, Burns converted a perfect setup from Joe Pavelski.
Burns scored again at 11:58 of the third period, his sixth goal of the playoffs, while the Brouwer was serving a high-sticking penalty. Dainius Zubrus added an empty-net goal with 19 seconds left in the game.
The Sharks were 0-for-3 on the power play in their 2-1 loss in Game 1.
Jones, who shut out the Nashville Predators in Game 7 of the conference semifinals, had to stop just 15 shots through the first two periods. A double minor penalty on Patrick Marleau for high-sticking 32 seconds into the third period gave the Blues a chance to cut into the lead, but Jones stopped all four of their shots on goal during the four-minute man advantage.
Jones finished with 26 saves, while Elliott stopped 20 shots.
The Blues also were 1-1 after the first two games of rounds 1 and 2 in this year's playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars.
NOTES: Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko did not participate in the team's morning skate Tuesday for a good reason -- his wife, Yana, was giving birth to the couple's first son, a boy. ... Neither team made any changes to their lineups from Game 1. For the Sharks, that meant Patrick Marleau remained at left wing on the second line instead of shifting back to the third-line center. ... LW Matt Nieto skated for the third day in a row, but Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said he is still day-to-day because of an undisclosed injury. Nieto is still expected to play at some point during the series.