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BOX SCORE
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Improbable playoff comebacks are becoming a rite of spring for the St. Louis Blues.
Scott Young scored three times Sunday and the Blues, trying to match last year's feat of rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win a first-round series, defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-2 to even their series at three games apiece.
|  | | St. Louis' Scott Young beats San Jose goalie Steve Shields for one of his three goals. |
Game 7 is Tuesday night at St. Louis.
Young, who has five goals in the series, opened the scoring in the first period and added two more goals as the Blues took a 6-0 lead midway through the second.
"We played a great game, finally," Young said. "We were a little undisciplined in the beginning of the series, and that's very uncharacteristic of us.
"Now we've settled into the game and calmed down a bit. With our backs against the wall, we really responded."
Jochen Hecht had a goal and three assists for St. Louis, which had three goals on three shots in a 2:40 span of the second period and set a team record with five goals in one period. Chris Pronger and Tyson Nash also scored for the Blues, and Pierre Turgeon had three assists.
The Blues, the best road team in the NHL during the regular season, scored six times on their first 13 shots. They took 24 shots overall, while the Sharks fired 27 at goalie Roman Turek.
"It was do or die for us. We came in knowing that," Pronger said. "We played very solidly defensively in the first period and then had that big second period. The last few games, the second period was kind of our downfall."
Owen Nolan and Bryan Marchment scored for the Sharks, who have never won a series-clinching game on their home ice in San Jose. It was Nolan's fifth goal of the series, but his first since Game 3.
"It was a joke today. It was a puzzle. This takes us back to square one," San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said. "By the fourth and fifth goals, we were out of it. It was a game of mistakes by our guys."
The Blues are following a script similar to last year's first-round ouster of Phoenix, but with an important difference.
Just as in the 1999 postseason, St. Louis lost Games 2, 3, and 4 and rallied to win Games 5 and 6. Last year, the Blues had to win Game 7 at Phoenix. This time, the decisive game will be on their home ice.
St. Louis is trying to become the 16th team in NHL history to win after trailing 3-1 in a series. They also pulled off the feat in 1991, when they rallied to defeat Detroit in the first round. No team has done it in consecutive years.
Having rallied to beat Phoenix helped keep the Blues optimistic even after they fell behind 3-1 against the Sharks.
"I think the guys realized it could be done," Pronger said. "Nobody hung their head. We were still positive and focused on getting things done."
For the Sharks, trying to knock off the NHL's best team this season, the only positive element of Sunday's loss is that it did not leave them second-guessing one play.
"This was the best way for us to lose," forward Tony Granato said. "We don't agonize about it, we don't worry about it, we don't think about what we did wrong. It's far better to lose this way than in OT."
The Blues opened the scoring when Turgeon fought off a defender while bringing the puck up the ice and passed to Hecht, who slid a pass to a wide-open Young at the side of the net with 7:29 left in the first period.
Young made it 2-0 just 21 seconds into the second when he got a rebound and flicked a 25-foot shot over Shields' right shoulder. Hecht completed a give-and-go with Turgeon to make it 3-0 while the teams both skated a man down midway through the period.
Then the roof caved in for Shields and the Sharks. Pronger's shot trickled out of Shields' glove and into the net with 8:18 left in the period, Nash scored 69 seconds later on a shot that went off Shields' stick hand and Young completed his hat trick with a power-play goal with 5:38 remaining in the period.
Nolan scored a power-play goal for San Jose with 2:47 left in the second period and Marchment scored with four minutes left in the game.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
San Jose Clubhouse
RECAPS
St. Louis 6
San Jose 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Scott Young gets the feed from Jochen Hecht.
avi: 793 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Steve Shields stops the first shot, but can't stop the next one from Scott Young.
avi: 749 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Vincent Damphousse scores the power-play goal.
avi: 703 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Pierre Turgeon sets up Jochen Hecht for the goal.
avi: 700 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Scott Young says the Blues have finally settled into their game.
wav: 107 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Steve Shields says the Sharks have one chance to beat the best team in the league.
wav: 99 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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