There is joy for St. Louis as Roman Turek and Chris Pronger celebrate the Blues' victory over the Sharks. (AP)

Cory Stillman and Pavol Demitra struck for quick scores late in the second, but the Blues owed the victory to team defense and to Turek, who finally erased the memories of his crash-and-burn performance against the Sharks in last season's playoffs.

"It got haywire in the dying seconds, (but) Roman was great. I was happy Roman got the win and won the series," St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville said. "He had to answer the critics all year long, and I think he had the best answer he could ever give."

A year ago, St. Louis had the league's best regular-season record but lost a seven-game series to San Jose, and most of the blame landed on Turek. Owen Nolan's goal from mid-ice in Game 7 was the series' enduring image, a symbol of a talented team let down by its goalie.

During a rocky regular season that included a brief demotion in favor of Brent Johnson, Turek took the criticism and didn't deflect the blame. He simply waited for the chance to prove everyone wrong.

A year after their shocking loss, with a less glossy regular-season record but much more playoff determination, the Blues earned payback with a 4-2 series victory.

"Whatever happened last year, it's over," Turek said. "It doesn't matter what happened back then. We're here now, and we're going to the second round."

The Sharks pulled to 2-1 when Brad Stuart one-timed Mike Ricci's pass from behind the net past Turek with 7:29 to play. The frantic final minute included two San Jose shots that skittered through the crease, as well as a point-blank chance blocked by center Mike Eastwood, but the Blues held on.

"We had six goalies out there," Pronger said. "Everybody was trying to stop everything."

St. Louis reached the second round for the third time in four seasons while sending the Sharks to an early summer. San Jose had the best regular season in franchise history and acquired high-scoring wing Teemu Selanne for the playoff push, but ran into an opponent even more determined.

"Their weaknesses were questions about Roman Turek, but he made the saves when he had to," Sharks defenseman Jeff Norton said.

Turek was in control through most of the series. He wasn't forced to make many big saves Saturday until the third period, when his sparkling stop of Patrick Marleau's point-blank chance with 16:30 left was the first of several gems.

"Everybody was questioning our goaltender," said Keith Tkachuk, who made the second round of the playoffs for the first time in his career. "Today, all those questions were answered. He got us this win."

Evgeni Nabokov, the prohibitive favorite for rookie of the year, returned to the Sharks' goal after a two-game injury absence. He played well, making 28 saves, but defensive mistakes by his teammates left Nabokov helpless on both of the Blues' goals.

Instead, San Jose's offense must take the blame. The Sharks managed just 11 goals in the six-game series, with Nolan scoring just one goal and Selanne none.

"I can't say those guys were better than us, but they won the series," said Selanne, who revealed he played most of the series with a broken thumb. "I felt useless the whole series. You don't feel the puck. I tried to do what I could do. It was tough."

The Sharks were shorthanded when they got a great scoring chance late in the second period. After Al MacInnis turned the puck over, Nolan's wraparound and Scott Hannan's rebound shot were stopped in the crease, with Hannan's chance blocked by MacInnis' skate.

Seconds later, the Blues scored the game's first goal. The Sharks' penalty-killers got confused when Jochen Hecht took the puck behind the net and passed in front to Stillman, who popped home his second goal of the series with 4:40 left in the period.

Less than a minute later, San Jose made another defensive blunder that allowed Demitra to walk in alone on Nabokov. Demitra, who had been silenced by San Jose's checkers in the series' first five games, fired a low shot that banked off a post and in for his first goal of the series.

Notes

• Selanne was limited to two assists in the six-game series. He had a scoring chance in the closing seconds, but couldn't get his shot over a prone Turek.
• Defenseman Bryan Marchment returned to the Sharks' lineup after missing Game 5, while defenseman Gary Suter missed the series' final five games with a concussion. Suter's absence was largely responsible for San Jose's 0-for-23 series mark on the power play.