Young’s Hat Trick Helps Blues Stay Alive

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 3-3.

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.”

Jochen Hecht had a goal and three assists for St. Louis, which scored 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.

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.

“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 never have won a series-clinching game on their home ice in San Jose. It was Nolan’s fifth goal of the series.

“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.”

St. Louis is trying to become the 16th team in NHL history to win after trailing 3-1 in a series. The Blues also did it in 1991, when they rallied to defeat Detroit in the first round. No team has done it in consecutive years.

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NHL Playoff Comebacks

DOWN 3-0

1942:Stanley Cup Final, Toronto d. Detroit.

1975: Quarterfinal, N.Y. Islanders d. Pittsburgh.

*

DOWN 3-1

1987: Div. Semifinal, N.Y. Islanders d. Washington.

1987: Div. Final, Detroit d. Toronto.

1988: Div. Semifinal, Washington d. Philadelphia.

1989: Div. Semifinal, KINGS d. Edmonton.

1990: Div. Semifinal, Edmonton d. Winnipeg.

1991: Div. Semifinal, St. Louis d. Detroit.

1992: Div. Semifinal, Detroit d. Minnesota.

1992: Div. Semifinal, Vancouver d. Winnipeg.

1992: Div. Semifinal, Pittsburgh d. Washington.

1994: Western Conf. Quarterfinal, Vancouver d. Calgary.

1995: Eastern Conf. Quarterfinal, Pittsburgh d. Washington.

1998: Western Conf. Quarterfinal, Edmonton d. Colorado.

1999: Western Conf. Quarterfinal, St. Louis d. Phoenix.