NHL: St. Louis 3, San Jose 1

ST. LOUIS, April 21 (UPI) -- David Perron scored the go-ahead goal in the third period Saturday and St. Louis won its first-round playoff series with a 3-1 decision over San Jose.

Jamie Langenbrunner erased a 1-0 St. Louis deficit with a marker 11:16 into the final frame, then Perron followed only 45 seconds later with another tally, boosting the Blues into the lead.

Andy McDonald added an empty-netter to ice the victory and the Blues defeated the Sharks 3-games-to-1 in their Western Conference quarterfinal series, advancing to the second round of the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Brian Elliott turned aside 26-of-27 shots to earn the victory.

Joe Thornton scored and Antti Niemi made 24 saves for the seventh-seeded Sharks.