Sharks bite off 3-1 lead

ST. LOUIS -- One day after letting the St. Louis Blues back into their first-round series, the San Jose Sharks put them on the brink of elimination.

Unsung Scott Thornton and Alexander Korolyuk each scored his first two goals of the playoffs in a 4-3 victory Tuesday night. San Jose, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, has a 3-1 series lead and can close it out in Game 5 Thursday night at home.

After losing the first two games, the Blues had a strong showing in Game 3, outshooting the Sharks 25-8 in the first two periods of a 4-1 victory. The Sharks regained control in the second period of Game 4, spending most of the period in the Blues' end and outshooting them 12-5 while scoring twice to snap a 1-1 tie.

Mike Danton, Pavol Demitra and Doug Weight scored for the Blues, who have rallied from a 3-1 series deficit only twice in 12 tries in franchise history -- the last time in 1999. In the third period of Game 4, the Blues got a little practice for what lies ahead, twice scoring with a two-goal deficit before falling short.

Ineffectiveness on the power play helped put them in their hole. The Sharks' penalty killers made it difficult for the Blues to even set up with the man advantage, running their streak to 18 straight stops before Weight's power-play goal with 4:53 left, four seconds after Kyle McLaren went off for interference. That cut San Jose's lead to 4-3.

The Blues trailed 3-1 after two periods and cut the deficit to one in the opening minute of the third. Demitra, a 23-goal scorer in the regular season, converted the second of two swipes at the puck on a rebound for his first of the playoffs.

But St. Louis missed a golden opportunity to tie it when Scott Mellanby, needing only to tap in a rebound shot, instead banged it off the goalpost and the puck bounced off goalie Evgeni Nabokov's back.

Korolyuk's second goal came on a power play and restored the two-goal gap. Korolyuk, who had 19 goals in the regular season, roofed a rebound shot past Chris Osgood at 11:19.

Thornton was scoreless in the first three games of the series and had only six goals, a career high, and 21 points in the regular season. He also had zero career playoff goals in 22 games before beating Osgood in the first and second periods.

He got the game's first goal off Mike Ricci's setup from the sideboards in the first period, scoring on a one-timer. He also broke a 1-1 tie on a tip-in early in the second period after Osgood's save of a high drive by Jonathan Cheechoo left the puck sitting in the crease.

Danton's first playoff goal had tied it midway through the first period, capitalizing on a nice move in the slot that paralyzed Vincent Damphousse. It was Danton's first goal since Feb. 10, ending a 17-game drought; during his time between scoring he also missed eight games with a shoulder injury and was a healthy scratch in five others.

Korolyuk's first goal, on a deflection of McLaren's point shot, gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead midway in the second period.

Notes: Blues F Ryan Johnson missed the game with an undisclosed lower body injury after being checked by Korolyuk in the first period of Game 3. ... Sharks C Alyn McCauley missed his third straight game with an apparent shoulder injury. ... The Sharks had lost eight of their last 12 road playoff games before beating the Blues.