There was no fist-pumping or bravado following the 2-1 victory, which gave the underdog Sharks a 2-1 series lead against the Blues, owners of the best regular-season record in the NHL. But two consecutive victories can do wonders for your self-esteem, especially when your goalie is stopping everything in sight.

"We weren't happy to sneak into the playoffs,'' said defenseman Jeff Norton. "This is a chance to redeem ourselves. I don't think anyone's surprised.''

That's not the case with the rest of the hockey world.

It's one thing to steal a win in St. Louis when the calls and bounces go your way, but it's another to knock off the best road team in the league, a desperate team at that, in a tight, pressure-packed playoff game. St. Louis gave San Jose its best shot Monday night and the Sharks didn't blink.

"We're not where we want to be at all,'' said coach Joel Quenneville.

After posting a 4-0-1 regular-season record against the Sharks, maybe the Blues underestimated them. Perhaps they pressed Monday night, a logical thought considering how heavily favored they were. No matter. Suddenly, St. Louis is on the hot seat and could find itself in the deep freeze if it loses again Wednesday night at San Jose Arena.

"The series is far from over,'' warned Sharks center Owen Nolan, who supplied both goals Monday and has four in the series. "We've got a big job ahead of us.''

True enough. But the Blues are doing the chasing.

Winless in its last four home playoff games, San Jose was the early aggressor. Dave Lowery and Nolan set the tone by rocking St. Louis players, but it was only a prelude.

After Tyson Nash made the mistake of hammering San Jose defenseman Mike Rathje, the latter returned the favor, pancaking him behind the Sharks' net. Then, teammate Bryan Marchment sent Lubos Bartecko sprawling with a wicked check and the already energized sellout crowd of 17,483 came out of its seats.

All of this occurred in the first two minutes of the game.

Clearly frustrated, the Blues retaliated and paid the price. First, Nash went to the penalty box for crosschecking Nolan, then center Michal Handzus had a brain spasm and flattened San Jose goalie Steve Shields with a vicious right shoulder to give the Sharks a two-man advantage for a minute.

San Jose was its usual deliberate self, finally cashing in with 13 seconds left on the Nash penalty. Nolan, still not 100 percent after a late-season shoulder injury, beat goalie Roman Turek with help from St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger, the shot caroming off Pronger's skate and through the legs of Turek.

That didn't sit well with Pronger, still steaming from Saturday's 4-2 home loss to the Sharks, a game that saw the Blues called for nine penalties to the visitor's five.

"We've had a lot of stuff not go our way,'' said Rathje, a force throughout the series. "We'll take whatever we can get.''

The Blues finally got the upper hand midway through the period when Rathje crosschecked -- who else -- Nash. As Nash skated past the San Jose bench to take a break, a Sharks player sprayed him with water and he wasn't amused, barking at everybody in sight.

In retrospect, it might have been a wakeup call for St. Louis. The Blues went on the offensive and tied the game on a power-play goal by Scott Young at 15:14, resembling the team that won a franchise-record 51 games.

Blues defenseman Todd Reirden gets the short end of the stick from Steve Shields.(AP)

Not that San Jose felt awful about earning a first-period deadlock. The Shark Tank hasn't exactly been the House of Pain for opponents. Sure, it rocks, but San Jose was only 21-17-2 at home this season and surrendered more goals (119) than it did on the road (106).

And, it's not like the Blues were intimidated. Not only did they post a 27-10-4 mark on enemy ice this season, tops in the league, they were 13-2-1 lifetime at San Jose Arena.

For the third consecutive game, the second period proved a black hole for San Jose, which has yet to score. The good news is that neither did St. Louis, lending more drama to the final 20 minutes.

San Jose coach Darryl Sutter hoped his scrappy bunch could keep the game within reach and got his wish. The question was: Could they finish?

Although the Sharks have reached the postseason each of the last three years, they also made early exits. Both times they were eliminated in overtime of Game 6, by top-seeded Dallas in 1997-98 and second-seeded Colorado in 1998-99.

Of San Jose's 37 regular-season losses, 16 (43 percent) came by one goal. In other words, it was put-up or shut-up time.

Shields made a huge statement by snagging a point-blank shot from Pronger a minute into the period. That jump-started the spectators and the Sharks, the latter getting a nice defensive play from Mike Ricci, who snuffed a two-on-one break.

Nolan punched in the eventual game-winner at 4:40 and San Jose went on the defensive. It was four-corners, hockey-style, and what few chances St. Louis had, Shields stopped. He finished with 31 saves, several of the spectacular variety, and kept his cool.

"We're working hard and creating opportunities,'' he said. "Nothing pretty. I think it's going to stay like that. I think we're comfortable playing this type of hockey.''

The Sharks expect an all-out assault Wednesday night.

"We turned the series around with our win on the road,'' said veteran forward Vincent Damphousse. "They can do the same thing. We respect them a lot. Right now, it's anybody's series.''