The San Jose Sharks earned the ascendency in their NHL Western Conference final via a 3-0 shutout of the St Louis Blues.

Tomas Hertl inspired the Sharks with a brace as San Jose moved 2-1 ahead in the Stanley Cup play-off series on Thursday.

The Sharks blanked the Blues 4-0 in game two on Tuesday and they were at it again for back-to-back shut outs in San Jose.

Hertl set the tone with less than five minutes remaining in the first period, unleashing a powerful slap shot beyond Brian Elliot.

Joonas Donskoi got in on the action just over 11 minutes into the second period with a goal of his own.

And Hertl completed the scoring at 06:09 in the third and the final period, when he cut in front of the net and fired the puck past Elliot, leaving the Blues searching for their first goal since the nine-minute mark of the second period in game one.

Game four is back in San Jose on Saturday.