The Minnesota Wild cruised in their final tuneup before the playoffs, getting 24 saves from Niklas Backstrom in a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Wyatt Smith had two goals, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Branko Radivojevic and Wes Walz also scored for the Wild, who will meet Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs next week.
Backstrom was coming off consecutive shutouts of Edmonton, but the Blues broke Minnesota's franchise-record scoreless streak at 169 minutes, 20 seconds when Peter Sejna beat the Finnish goalie between the pads with a shallow angle shot in the second period.
Walz came right back on a breakaway, taking a pretty backhand feed from Marian Gaborik and deking Curtis Sanford for a 3-1 lead.
The Blues end the season with a record of 34-35-13, with a total of 81 points and finishing in 10th in the Western Conference standings.
David Legwand scored two goals, Paul Kariya notched his 500th NHL assist, and the Nashville Predators snapped a three-game skid Thursday night by beating the St. Louis Blues 4-1.
Nashville set franchise records with its 50th victory and 108 points. But the Predators had to wait and see how Detroit (110 points) fared against Chicago to know whether they had any hope of winning the Central Division.
Nashville wraps up its regular season Saturday night at Colorado, while Detroit hosts Chicago.
The Predators had been struggling with a three-game home skid that was the longest this season and in danger of losing a fourth consecutive game for the first time this season. They finally fixed some problems against St. Louis, beating the Blues for the 15th time in 16 games.
Rookie Alexander Radulov and Peter Forsberg also had goals for Nashville, which scored twice on the power play in its final home game of the regular season.
Christian Backman scored the only goal for St. Louis, which had won three of four.
The Note will play the final game of their regular season in Minnesota when they take on the Wild Saturday night. The game starts at 7:05 PM ET.
Doug Weight and Petr Cajanek had a goal and an assist and the St. Louis Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 Tuesday night.
D.J. King scored his first career goal, and Radek Dvorak and Barret Jackman also scored for the Blues, who have won three of their past four.
Daniel Carcillo and Jeremy Roenick scored for the Coyotes, who have lost 13 of their past 15 games.
Weight gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead 3:12 into the game when he pounced on a long rebound at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and fired the puck over goalie Curtis Joseph.
Cajanek was credited with a goal at 6:53 of the first period when his pass from the left wing was deflected into the net by Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek.
Carcillo cut the Blues lead to 2-1 when he redirected Keith Ballard's shot from the point past Jason Bacashihua. Jackman fired a shot from the top of the right circle over Joseph's glove to put St. Louis ahead 3-1.
Dvorak made it 4-1 at 9:12 when he tucked a shot just under the crossbar. Roenick pulled the Coyotes within 4-2 at 14:25 on a redirection off a Shane Doan shot from the high slot, but King added his goal a little more than two minutes later from the bottom of the left circle.
The Blues will continue the road stand when they play the Nashville Predators Thursday night. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM ET.
Glen Metropolit and Doug Weight scored in a 17-second span in the second period to help the St. Louis Blues stop the Dallas Stars' four-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory on Monday night.
With the game tied at 1, Metropolit put the Blues in front with his 14th goal from the right circle at 13:44 after a turnover by Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. Weight's deflection for his 15th of the season at 14:01 extended St. Louis' lead to 3-1.
Lee Stempniak scored two goals, including an empty-netter with 24 seconds left, and Curtis Sanford stopped 28 shots for the Blues, who won three of the four meetings this season.
The Bluenote will travel to Phoenix to take on the Coyotes Tuesday night. Gametime is 9:00 PM ET.
Andy McDonald swatted in a backhander 25 seconds into overtime for his second goal of the game, helping the Anaheim Ducks spoil the St. Louis Blues' home finale with a 3-2 victory Saturday night.
Scott Niedermayer had a goal and assisted on the winner for the Pacific Division leaders, who are in a race for the best overall record in the NHL with 106 points.
David Backes and Lee Stempniak scored for the Blues, who finished 18-20-3 at home in a rebuilding season after finishing last overall in 2005-06. The Blues finish with four games on the road, and the team got a standing ovation from a near-sellout crowd of 18,609 before leaving the ice.
McDonald has 26 goals for third-best on the team, but had been scoreless in his previous six games. On the winner, Niedermayer lofted a pass through the Blues' defense to the hard-charging McDonald, who poked it past Jason Bacashihua on the only shot for either team in the extra period.
The Blues Will end the season on the road, starting Monday night in Dallas to take on the Stars. The game starts at 7:00 PM ET.
Doug Weight had a goal and an assist and Barret Jackman added three assists, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Blues, who will not be in the playoffs for the second year in a row. St. Louis has won just three times in its last 10 games.
Edmonton, also out of the playoffs, is 1-9-1 in its last 11 games.
The Blues outshot the Oilers 42-18.
After losing a two-goal lead in the first period, The Blues regained their two-goal advantage in the second period.
St. Louis took a 3-2 lead at the 10:08 mark on a goal by Lee Stempniak. He scored his 24th goal after getting the puck at the blue line and snapping in a shot from the top of the slot. At 16:03, Jay McClement took a pass from Weight and knocked in the puck from the right side of the net.
The Note continue the home tilt when the Anaheim Ducks pay a visit to the Scottrade Center Saturday night. Gametime is 7:05 PM CT.
Petr Cajanek added an empty-net goal with 30 seconds.
Fredrik Modin scored twice and Fredrik Norrena stopped 19 shots, helping the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Rick Nash added his 24th goal and David Vyborny and Ron Hainsey each had two assists to help the Blue Jackets win their fourth in a row. Columbus has outscored its opponents 15-5 during the run, including an identical 4-1 victory over the Blues at home on Sunday.
Columbus finished 4-4 against the Blues, while taking three of four on the road. Three of St. Louis' victories in the season series came in shootouts.
The Blues have won only two of their last nine, going 2-5-2 in that span, and are two games below .500 at home. Eric Brewer scored in the second period for St. Louis.
Blues goalie Curtis Sanford, returning after missing two games with a lower body injury, was yanked after allowing three goals on 12 shots. Modin scored off his own rebound that deflected off the end boards at 11:30 of the second to put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-0 and chase Sanford in favor of Jason Bacashihua.
Modin has a pair of two-goal games in the last four games, and has scored five goals overall in that span. Nash roofed his shot on a two-man advantage in the third for a three-goal lead.
Alexander Svitov started the scoring on a deflection of Hainsey's shot from the point on a power play at 15:35 of the first, scoring his eighth goal and first in 16 games.
Modin made it 2-0 at 35 seconds of the second when he stole an outlet pass, skated in a semicircle and scored on a high drive when no one picked him up.
Norrena blanked the Blues until Brewer scored his sixth goal off a drop pass from David Backes at 15:28 of the second. He had allowed two goals in each of his last five games.
The Bluenote continue their homestand when the Edmonton Oilers come to town Thursday night. The puck drops at 7:05 PM ET.
Fredrik Modin scored his 20th goal of the season -- and 400th of his career -- in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.
Manny Malhotra added a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who have won three straight. Derrick Walser and Geoff Platt scored goals, while Jason Chimera had three assists. Fredrik Norrena made 25 saves for Columbus.
Doug Weight scored for St. Louis, which has lost three of four.
Modin scored 4:57 into the second period when he took a pass from David Vyborny and roofed the puck with a backhand shot to give Columbus a 3-1 lead.
Columbus is 3-1-3 against the Blues this season and moved within five points of St. Louis for third place in the Western Conference's Central Division. The teams meet again Tuesday night in St. Louis. The game starts at 7:05 PM CT.
Two shootout tries were decided by replay. Both calls went against the Detroit Red Wings.
Doug Weight scored the only goal of the tiebreaker - a shot overturned on a review - giving the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Saturday.
Weight's shot was originally ruled as a save, but then changed to a goal.
Dominik Hasek slid backward toward the goal line as he attempted to make the save. He tried to stop his momentum, and referee Dan Marouelli signaled no goal. But the puck found its way into the net. Weight was St. Louis' final shooter in the three-round tiebreaker.
Dan Cleary, on Detroit's last attempt, was stopped by Jason Bacashihua on a similar play. That save also was reviewed, but upheld.
Tomas Mojzis netted his first NHL goal and Brad Boyes also scored for St. Louis. Bacashihua made 40 saves in the winning effort.
It's the fourth time St. Louis has beaten Detroit this season. Three have been since Andy Murray took over as coach on Dec. 11, after Mike Kitchen was fired.
The Blues will end their roadtrip with a visit to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets. The game starts at 5:30 PM CT.
Marian Gaborik scored twice and linemate Pavol Demitra had a goal and two assists as the Minnesota Wild won their franshise-record eighth consecutive game, beating the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Thursday night.
Demitra set up both of Gaborik's goals and scored on an assist from Gaborik. The pair has combined for 66 points in Minnesota's last 24 games. The Wild moved back to within one point of idle Vancouver for the lead in the Northwest Division.
It was the fifth loss in six games for the Blues, who are 10th in the Western Conference.
Outshot 12-5 in the opening period, the Blues still emerged with a lead after Doug Weight converted a 2-on-1 break, snapping a hard wrist shot past goaltender Niklas Backstrom's glove.
It took Minnesota nearly eight minutes to register its first shot of the second period, but the Wild tied the game shortly thereafter. Demitra, who spent seven-plus seasons with the Blues, scored against his former team for the fourth time this season.
The Blues will Travel to Detroit to take on the hated rival Red Wings Saturday afternoon. The puck drops at 1:00 PM ET.
Antoine Vermette scored a short-handed goal to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
The winning goal came moments after the Blues thought they had taken the lead.
Brad Boyes put the puck in with 16:46 left and moments before play was stopped when Senators goalie Martin Gerber took possession of the puck. Replays showed that the puck went about a foot past the goal line before Gerber pulled it back with his stick and smothered it. The goal light wasn't turned on and the officials didn't look at replays until after play resumed.
According to Rule 78.6, once a game has restarted following a stoppage of play -- in this case when Gerber held onto the puck -- a replay can't award or disallow a goal.
The Blues lost another apparent goal with 2:18 left when officials said David Backes' shot was covered by players. Again, replays showed the puck went over the line and was pulled out by Gerber before the whistle blew.
Vermette's 19th of the season was the second short-handed goal of the game and it came just nine seconds after Mike Fisher was sent off for delay of game. Vermette took a pass deep in the Blues zone from Chris Kelly, and goalie Curtis Sanford failed to slide to his left fast enough to stop the shot.
Mike Fisher got the first short-handed score midway through the second period. Fisher settled the puck at mid-ice before fighting off Lee Stempniak as they entered the Blues zone. He slapped in his 19th goal to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.
Kelly tied it at 1 with a his 15th goal 6:29 into the second and added an empty-netter to seal the win.
The Blues, who have failed to win during regulation in their past five games, opened the scoring on Barret Jackman's second goal of the season.
Boyes tied the score at 2 with his 16th goal late in the second.
The Bluenote are back on the road again, this time to take on the Minnesota Wild Thursday night. Gametime is 7:05 PM CT.
Eric Brewer scored 2:04 into overtime and the St. Louis Blues extended Edmonton's losing streak to 10 games with a 3-2 victory over the Oilers on Saturday night.
Petr Cajanek and Jeff Woywitka also scored for the Blues.
Kyle Brodziak and Shawn Horcoff countered for Edmonton, which has been outscored 37-9 during their streak, which is one loss short of the club record. The Oilers' losing streak started one game before they traded Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders at the NHL trade deadline.
Cajanek opened the scoring with 2:20 left to go in the first period, blasting a shot past Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson for his 13th goal of the season.
Edmonton made it 1-1 just 40 seconds later when Brodziak picked up a loose puck in front of the Blues goal and beat goalie Curtis Sanford with a shot through his legs for first career NHL goal.
Woywitka's first career goal put the Blues back ahead 13 minutes into the second. Oiler rookie defenseman Brian Young's attempt to redirect a pass went right to a pinching Woywitka, who converted the miscue.
The Blues are back home Tuesday night to take on the high-powered Ottawa Senators. The puck drops at 7:05 PM CT.
Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 1:09 into overtime for the Vancouver Canucks, who recovered from squandering a two-goal lead in the third period and beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Thursday night.
St. Louis rallied with two goals in the final seven minutes to tie it, but Eric Brewer received a four-minute penalty for pounding on Canucks agitator Matt Cooke with 50 seconds left in regulation. After Sami Salo hit the post 25 seconds into the extra period, Sedin tapped in a cross-crease pass from twin brother Henrik.
Henrik Sedin opened the scoring, and Trevor Linden scored his first goal in 10 games midway through the third as the Canucks avoided their first three-game losing streak since before Christmas. Vancouver stayed one point ahead of Minnesota atop the Northwest Division.
Roberto Luongo made 20 saves to become the second NHL player this season -- and 20th ever -- to win 40 games.
The Note end their western Canadian roadtrip Saturday night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers. The game starts at 7:05 PM CT.
Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla scored in the shootout Monday night, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
After the team's exchanged misses, Tanguay's shot over Jason Bacashihua's glove gave Calgary the edge. Miikka Kiprusoff denied Doug Weight on a deke, giving Iginla the opportunity to clinch it. He whipped a shot into the corner over Bacashihua's blocker.
Kristian Huselius had a goal and three assists for Calgary. David Moss, Daymond Langkow, and Dion Phaneuf also scored for the eighth-place Flames, who pulled within one point of Minnesota, Dallas, and San Jose in the Western Conference playoff race.
Lee Stempniak scored twice, and Christian Backman and Peter Cajanek added goals for St. Louis.
The Blues head to Vancouver Thursday night to take on the Canucks. Gametime is 9:00 PM CT.
Alexei Kovalev scored with 1:25 left to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Kovalev's goal came just 43 seconds after the Blues tied it at 3. It also snapped a four-game losing streak for the Canadiens, who have lost five of six.
Montreal jumped out to a 3-0 lead and chased Blues goalie Curtis Sanford early in the second period. But St. Louis came back and tied it with 2:08 left on Glen Metropolit's power-play goal off a rebound.
Doug Weight scored his 11th goal midway through the second to get St. Louis on the board and David Backes made it 3-2 with a goal seven minutes into the third period. The Blues thought they had tied it at 3 a few minutes later when Lee Stempniak scored, only to have the referees wave it off for an offside call.
The Blues go on the road next to face off with the Calgary Flames. The puck drops Monday night at 8:30 P.M. CT.
Here are the highlights of the game (in French, sorry):
Doug Weight scored two goals to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
The Blues are 7-3-1 in last their 11 games and snapped a two-game skid. Dallas has scored just five goals in going 0-2-2 in its last four games.
The Blues opened the scoring 66 seconds into the game on defenseman Eric Brewer's wrist shot, his first goal since Jan. 30. It was the third straight game in which St. Louis has scored on its first shot. Lee Stempniak and Brad Boyes also scored for the Blues.
The Blues will ride the win into Saturday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Scott. Gametime is 7:05 P.M. CT.
Petr Cajanek and Radek Dvorak's goals gave the Blues a quick 2-0 lead, but The Flames scored four unanswered goals to defeat St. Louis 4-2 Tuesday night at the Scottrade Canter.
Cajanek's 10th goals of the season came at 3:22 of the first period to make it 1-0 Blues. Dvorak scored his 16th of the year six minutes later to give the Bluenote a 2-0 lead against the team holding the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blues fell apart late in the second period and in the third though. Alex Tanguay scored with less than a minute left in the second period while on the power play to cut the deficit to 2-1. Then Craig Conroy, Wayne Primeau, and Tanguay all added third period goals, deflating the crowd in St. Louis and giving the Flames the easy win.
The Blues take a two-game losing streak into Thursday night when the Dallas Stars come to town. The puck drops at 7:05 P.M. CT.
Brad Boyes and Radek Dvorak had goals for the Blues, but Michael Nylander, Jaromir Jagr, and Marcel Hossa scored in the shootout session, and backup goalie Stephen Valiquette stopped 35 shots in his first NHL start as the Note lost to the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The first shot on goal for the Blues, courtesy of Boyes, somehow snuck by Valiquette to give St. Louis an early 1-0 lead in the first period. With less than three minutes remaining in the first, Radek Dvorak scored his 15th goal of the season to make it 2-0 Blues. The Rangers managed to score two third period goals, one by Karel Rachunek and the other off the stick of Sean Avery, to tie the game at two. After no scoring in the overtime session, the game went to a shootout. Lee Stempniak and Doug Weight scored on their attempts for the Blues. The Rangers' Petr Prucha missed his attempt, but Nylander, Jagr, and Hossa all scored to give the Rangers a 3-2 shootout lead. Glen Metropolit was the final hope for the Blues, but his shot was stopped by Valiquette which gave New York the win.
The Blues will try to bounce back Tuesday night when they face off against the Calgary Flames at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Gametime is at 7:05 P.M. CT.
The Blues scored two goals in 38 seconds late in the third period, and Lee Stempniak scored in overtime on the power play as the Blues come back to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2 Thursday night in Long Island.
With the Islanders up 2-0 with less than three minutes remaining, it looked as if the Blues were going to suffer another debilitating loss. But Jay McClement gathered a rebound and stuck it past Islanders' goalie Rick DiPietro to cut the lead to 2-1. Then 38 seconds later, Doug Weight slapped a shot from the left point that Petr Cajanek deflected past DiPietro to tie the game at two. With 11 seconds left in regulation, DiPietro was called for holding the stick of Brad Boyes, which put the Blues on the power play going into overtime. 25 seconds into the overtime session, Lee Stempniak one-timed a shot past DiPietro to win it for the Blues. Stempniak's goal was his team-leading 20th goal of the season.
The Blues now will travel across town to Manhattan to take on the New York Rangers in a Saturday afternoon tilt. The puck drops at 12 P.M. CT.
Manny Legace and Martin Rucinsky both underwent surgery this week to repair nagging injuries and will be out for an extended amount of time.
Legace had arthroscopic surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his knee and will be out for at least two weeks. He has played in 45 games this season and has a record of 23-15-5. He has not played since last Tuesday when he defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in a shootout.
Rucinsky had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip and will be re-evaluated next week to see how much time he will miss. He has played in 52 games this season and has recorded 12 goals and 21 assists. He has not seen action since February 6th when the Blues lost 2-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Doug Weight scored two goals and David Backes added another as the Blues defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 Tuesday night at the Scottrade Center.
Backes started off the scoring at 11:55 of the second period on a beautiful cross-ice pass from Radek Dvorak to give the Blues the 1-0 lead. The goal was Backes' 8th of th year. Vancouver countered 1:05 later on a controversial goal by Daniel Sedin. Sedin tried a wraparound attempt and appeared to be stopped by Blues goalie Curtis Sanford as the play was whisteled dead. They went to video replay and concluded that while the puck could not be seen crossing the goal line when play stopped, when Sanford raised his body after the play was over the puck was clearly across the goal line. In the third period, Doug Weight scored his 7th of the season at 9:21 on a breakaway attempt. Weight added his 9th of the year late in the game on a power play. Sanford stopped 25 out of 26 shots to earn his 4th victory of the season.
The Blues are off until Thursday night when they travel to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders. The game starts at 6:30 P.M. CT.
The Blues announced Tuesday that they have re-signed winger Jamal Mayers to a three-year contract extension worth $1.3 million per season.
Mayers has played his entire career with the Blues, and is the longest-tenured Blue, being here since 1996. He has registered seven goals and nine assists with the Blues this season in 60 games. In his career, he has 58 goals and 67 assists for 125 points, along with 644 penalty minutes.
The Blues announced Tuesday that they have traded defenseman Dennis Wideman to the Boston Bruins for center Brad Boyes.
WIdeman has played 55 games for the Blues, registering five goals and 17 assists for a defensive-high 22 points. Wideman was third in ice time for defenseman as well, logging 20:12 on the ice per-game.
Boyes has played 62 games for Boston, scoring 13 goals and 21 assists this season. He has 39 goals and 64 assists in his career with the San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins.
The Blues announced Tuesday that they have traded winger Bill Guerin to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for winger Ville Nieminen, a conditional 2007 1st round draft pick, and prospect Jay Barribal.
Guerin had a team-high 28 goals this season and was one of the leaders on the squad. President John Davidson said that he wanted to trade Guerin to a Stanley Cup contender so that he would get the chance to win the cup.
Nieminen has played 30 games for the Sharks this season, recording one goal and one assist. Barribal is the leading scorer for the University of Minnesota as a freshman with 16 goals and 30 assists.
The Blackhawks scored three goals in the first period as they lambasted the Blues 5-1 Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago.
Backup goalie Curtis Sanford started for the Blues because Manny Legace was sidelined with a lower body injury. His day did not go so well. Duncan Keith, Adrian Aucoin, and Bryan Smolinski all scored for the Hawks in the first period, and Martin Havlat recorded a goal of his own before Sanford was pulled in favor of Jason Bacashihua at the start of the third period. The only goal for the Blues came off the stick of Lee Stempniak in the second. It was his 19th goal of the season.
The Blues are now one game under .500 with a record of 26-27-9 going into Tuesday night's game at home against the Vancouver Cenucks. The puck drops at 7:05 P.M.
The Blues announced today that they have traded LW/ Keith Tkachuk to the Atlanta Thrashers for a 1st and 3rd round pick in 2007, a 2nd round pick in 2008, and C/ Glen Metropolit.
Tkachuk spent six seasons in St. Louis, posting 143 goals and 145 assists. This season with the Blues he tallied 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points. If the Thrashers re-sign Tkachuk after this season, then the Blues would receive another 1st round pick in 2008.
Metropolit has played 57 games for the Thrashers this season. scoring 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points.
The Blues announced today that they have signed defenseman Eric Brewer to a four-year contract extension, and goaltender Manny Legace to a two-year contract extension.
Brewer's four-year contract is worth $17 million and includes a no-trade clause. This year, he has tallied 18 points (three goals, 15 assists), and leads the team in ice time with 24:09. In the last 20 games, Brewer has two goals and seven assists and has a plus/minus rating of +7.
Legace's two-year deal is worth $4.3 million. On the year he has a record of 23-15-5 with a .907 save percentage and a goals agianst average of 2.59. He is also tied for fourth in the NHL with five shutouts registered this season.
The St. Louis Blues continued their hot streak Tuesday night, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in a shootout at the Scottrade Center.
It was 4-3 Blues late in the third period until Columbus pulled their goaltender and Rick Nash blasted a shot from the point that beat Blues goalie Manny Legace glove side with 14 seconds left to tie the game at four. The goal was Nash's 16th of the season.
The game remained tied through the five-minute overtime session, so the game went to a shotout. Lee Stempniak and Doug Weight both scored for the Blues, and David Vyborny was stoned by Legace on Columbus' final chance to extend the game to preserve the victory. The win was the Blues' fifth-straight. They will try to continue on their torrid trend when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday afternoon at 2:00 CT.
David Backes had his second two-goal game this season, and Manny Legace stopped 33 of 36 shots to give the Bluesa 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild Sunday afternoon.
Backes put a rebound shot past goalie Nikas Backstrom in the first period on the power play to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. In the second, Backes scored on a rebound attempt to make it 4-2 Blues. Backes has four goals in two games, and has tallied six goals on the season.
The Bluenote had three second period goals, coming from Jay McClement and Keith Tkachuk along with Backes.
St. Louis has now won three in a row, and look to make it four when Columbus comes to town Tuesday night for a 7:05 P.M. start.
Bill Guerin had the only goal on an outstanding play and Manny Legace stopped all 19 shots faced as the Blues ended their 14-game losing streak to Nashville with a 1-0 win Friday night at the Scottrade Center.
Guerin's 27th goal of the season came with 53 seconds remaining in the second period when he received a pass from Doug Weight in Nashville's zone, put the puck in between his legs to get around the defender, and put the puck over goalie Chris Mason's right shoulder to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
Legace had a strong game, and some luck from the goal posts, to notch his 21st victory of the season. Vitali Vishnevski, Paul Kariya, and David Legwand all had their shots hit the post in the second period, which became Legace's best friend all night.
The Blues have won two in a row heading into Sunday afternoon's pivotal game with the Minnesota Wild, who hold the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The game starts at 5:00 P.M. CT.
David Backes had his first two-goal game in his career, and Bill Guerin and Dallas Drake each added goals as the Blues defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 Wednesday night in Columbus.
Backes' first goal came with 7:53 rtemaining in the second period, when we drove around the defense and put one in between the pads of Jackets' goalie Pascual LeClaire to tie the game at one. In the third period, the game was tied at two until Backes received a beautiful pass from Jay McClement on a two-on-one break and put the puck past LeClaire to give the Blues a 3-2 lead.
The Blues improved to 11-11-6 on the road this season with the victory. They are 12 points out of the final playoff spot coming into Friday night's game against the Nashville Predators at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The game starts at 7:05 P.M.
Bill Guerin had a hat trick and an assist, and the Blues put together a big rally, but the San Jose Sharks held off the onslaught and were able to defeat the Note 6-5 last night at the Scottrade Center.
The Blues fell behind in the second period 6-2, but Guerin's third goal of the game in the middle of the second made it 6-3. In the third, Keith Tkachuk scored his 13th of the season to make it 6-4. Chrstian Beckman added a goal with about six minutes left in the game to dwindle the lead down to 6-5.The Blues went on the power play with under two minutes to play, but were unable to capitalize, and the Sharks came out with the victory. The Blues travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night for a 6:05 showdown.
The Blues will welcome the San Jose Sharks to town for a 7:05 P.M. battle tonight at the Scottrade Center.
The Bluenote look to get back on the winning track after losing a tough one to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime last Saturday night. St. Louis stands 13 points out of a playoff spot with a record of 22-25-9. They can gain two points on Minnesota and possibly move up the ladder a bit if they win tonight, because Minnesota is off tonight.
San Jose owns the fifth playoff spot in the Western Conference at this point with a record of 35-19-1. They have 71 points, and are eight points out of first place.
Last Thursday night, the Blues shut out the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 in front of 11,000 fans at the Scottrade Center.
Bill Guerin scored the lone goal, his 22nd of the season, early in the second period to put the Blues ahead. Manny Legace stopped 13 shots, but was pulled from the game with 16:26 left in the second period after a vicious collision with Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom that left Legace woozy. Curtis Sanford came in to replace Legace and stopped 10 shots to preserve the victory. It was the first time in 178 games that the Red Wings have been shut out by an opponent.
Here are the highlights of this game:
Saturday night at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Simon Gagne scored 27 seconds into overtime and the Flyers upended the Blues 4-3.
Gagne had two goals in the game. The other came late in the third period off of a deflection to tie the game at three. The goals were Gagne's 27th and 28th of the season. With 2.4 seconds left in the third period, Petr Cajanek took a holding penalty, which put the Flyers on the power play going into overtime. Gagne was able to put one past backup goalie Curtis Sanford to end the game less than 30 seconds into the OT. The win snapped a 13-game home losing streak for the Flyers. David Backes, Keith Tkachuk, and Lee Stempniak all had goals for the Blues in the losing effort.
The Blues, coming off of a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday, will play host to the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings tonight at the Scottrade Center.
The Note come into the game with a mark of 21-25-8, 12th in the Western Conference standings. The Red Wings, who stand at 35-14-6, were able to defeat the Phoenix Coyotes last night 4-2, highlighted by Henrik Zetterberg's 100th career goal that put them ahead for good.
The last time these two teams met, the Wings beat the Blues 5-3 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Kris Draper scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, and an empty-netter was added with about 2 minutes left to play to give Detroit the win. This will be the third time the Wings and Blues have played in two weeks. The puck drops at 7:05 P.M. CT.
Alexi Ponikarovsky scored a power-play goal near the end of the first period, and Alex Steen broke a 1-1 tie in the third as the Blues were outlasted by the Maple Leafs 2-1 last night at the Scottrade Center.
Ponikarovsky scored his 14th of the season when he tapped in his own rebound past Blues goalie Manny Legace for a 1-0 lead. The Blues were able to put one past red-hot goalie Andrew Raycroft in the second, as Ryan Johnson broke in behind the Leafs' defense and tapped a shot in between Raycroft's pads, tying the score at one. The goal was Johnson's seventh of the season. Late in the second, Alex Steen put a bad angle on goal that deflected off Legace's pads for Steen's 11th of the year, making it 2-1 Leafs. Raycroft made the lead stand with a great third-period, including an incredible save on a rebound by Bill Guerin in the third period. Guerin appeared to have an open net chance after the original shot deflected to the right of Raycroft, but Raycroft dove across the goal and made a beautiful glove save to perserve the lead, and ultimately, the win.
The Blues fell to 21-25-8 on the season, and remain 12 points out of a playoff spot thanks to Minnesota's loss to Dallas Tuesday night. The Bluenote will host the Detroit Red Wings for the second time in a week on Thursday night at 7:05 P.M. CT.
After a convincing win over the visiting Dallas Stars 2-0 last Saturday night, the St. Louis Blues welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs into town Tuesday night at the Scottrade Center. The Blues come into the game with a record of 21-24-8, good for 11th in the Western Conference standings. The Bluenote stand 12 games out of the final playoff spot, which is occupied by the Minnesota Wild.
The Blues halted their three-game losing streak Saturday with the win over the Stars. Martin Rucinsky scored his 12th goal of the season six minutes into the game, and Keith Tkachuk added his 17th of the year on the power play midway through the third period for the only scoring of the game. Manny Legace was unstoppable in net, saving 22 Dallas shots to preserve the victory.
The Maple Leafs come into Tuesday's game with a 26-21-6 record and are ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, just one point out of the final playoff spot. The Leafs have won six out of their last seven games, including a 3-2 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators last Saturday night at home. Goaltender Andrew Raycroft has been stellar in net recently, which has helped turn around the somewhat lethargic first half of the season for Toronto. The puck drops at 7:05 P.M. CT.
In a nutshell, I am a huge hockey fan. I have been a fan of the St. Louis Blues since I was very little, so I decided to make a blog dedicated to news and information pertaining to the St. Louis Blues. This is to all the die-hard Blues fans out there who need their information constantly. GO BLUES!!!
