Sharks Take Series Lead, Beat Blues

For a San Jose team whose playoff struggles have often come down to running into a streaky goaltender at the wrong time, it must be nice to have the goalie making all the stops.

Martin Jones made 22 saves in his second straight shutout and Tomas Hertl scored twice to give the Sharks a series lead for the first time in four trips to the Western Conference final with a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 on Thursday night.

"He's the backbone of our team," forward Joe Thornton said of Jones. "When he's on, we feel like we can't be beat. ... He's just such a big guy, such a calm goalie. We love playing in front of this guy. We honestly believe that he's the best goaltender in the league."

Joonas Donskoi also scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 series advantage and move them as close as they have ever been to reaching their first Stanley Cup final. San Jose had won just three games in its first three trips to the conference final, part of a long history of playoff disappointment that is showing signs of coming to an end this season.

San Jose has controlled the play for much of this series, limiting St. Louis' chances and taking advantage of miscues by the Blues to generate enough offense. St. Louis has gone 150:45 without scoring since Jori Lehtera's second-period goal in Game 1 led to a 2-1 victory.

Game 4 is Saturday in San Jose, where the Sharks have won six straight playoff games.

Thursday, May 19 Scoreboard

San Jose 3, St. Louis 0

Game 3 - Sharks lead 2-1

Friday, May 20 Schedule (Time Central)

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay

Game 4 - Series tied 1-1, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 21 Schedule (Time Central)

St. Louis at San Jose

Game 4 - Series tied 1-1, 6:15 p.m.

Sunday, May 22 Schedule (Time Central)

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh

Game 5 - Series tied 1-1, 7 p.m.