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   ST. LOUIS (AP) - The defending Stanley Cup champions looked the part while evening their series against the St. Louis Blues.

   The Los Angeles Kings dominated the second half of Game 4, powering past a pair of deficits behind fore-checking that put the Blues on their heels, and have all the momentum in a series that's tied at 2.

   The Kings' plan is simple for Game 5 tonight in St. Louis: Keep the pedal down and play physical but smart.

   So far, the home team has won all four games, and it's the only playoff series with every game decided by a single goal.

 

   ST. LOUIS (AP) - Defenseman Barret Jackman scored his first career playoff goal with 50.4 seconds remaining, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings for the second straight time Thursday night.

   Jackman, a stay-at-home type who totaled three goals and 12 points in the regular season, joined a rush and scored in transition against Jonathan Quick, last year's playoff MVP. He beat Quick from just inside the blue line for a 2-0 series lead heading to Los Angeles.

   The Blues capitalized on a stickhandling goof by Quick to win the opener on Alex Steen's short-handed goal in overtime.

   Patrik Berglund's deflection tied it early in the third period for St. Louis, which was swept by the Kings in the second round last season while getting outscored 15-6.

   Dustin Brown scored for the Kings, who'll try to rebound in Game 3 Saturday night.

   ST. LOUIS (AP) - Alex Steen stole the puck from goalie Jonathan Quick behind the net and scored a short-handed goal to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

   Steen scored unassisted on a backhander at 13:26 of overtime less than a minute after Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was whistled for a double-minor high sticking when he cut Dustin Penner.

   Steen also scored on a power play in the first period for the Blues, who ended an eight-game losing streak against the team that swept them in the second round last spring.

   Quick, last year's Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP, made 35 saves in regulation, keeping the Kings in it for Justin Williams' tying goal with 31.6 seconds left.

   ST. LOUIS (AP) - Chris Stewart reached career milestones of 100 goals and 100 assists and the St. Louis Blues clinched a playoff berth with two games to spare, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night.

   Brian Elliott had to make just 17 saves two nights after getting yanked in a 5-3 loss at Colorado that squandered the Blues' first chance at clinching. St. Louis, which entered the game needing a point to qualify, scored two power play goals for the first time in 32 games since Feb. 15 in the home-and-home rematch.

   Patrik Berglund and Andy McDonald beat Semyon Varlamov on consecutive shots in the second period to make it 3-0. Together, that duo had mustered two assists in 14 games.

   ST. LOUIS (AP) - Brian Elliott stopped all three chances in a shootout for the second straight game, bouncing back after a late goal denied him a fourth shutout this month, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 last night to step closer to a playoff berth.

   Radim Vrbata's power-play goal tied it with 1:07 to go. The Coyotes, who were blanked 4-0 on Monday by the Sharks, capitalized on a boarding penalty against Blues captain David Backes.

   Andy McDonald was the first to go in the shootout and got the only goal, beating Chad Johnson.

   David Perron scored his first goal in 17 games for the offensively challenged Blues, who have scored two or fewer goals in 12 of their last 16 games. They've won 10 of those games thanks to tight defense and strong play in goal. They are 5-1 in shootouts.

 

   ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Brian Elliott notched his third straight shutout, stretching his streak to 189 minutes, 31 seconds without a goal, and the St. Louis Blues won their sixth straight game by beating the Minnesota Wild 2-0 on Thursday night.

   Roman Polak ended a 120-game streak without a goal, and Andy McDonald also scored, sending the Wild to their sixth loss in eight games. They have been shut out in three of four, the only times they have been blanked all season.

   The Wild have six goals in six games, and their scoreless streak is at 121 minutes, 25 seconds.

   The last time the Blues won at least six straight was Oct. 22-Nov. 7, 2010, a seven-game streak. They have given up five goals during the run.

   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Brian Elliott made 15 saves and Alex Steen scored to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators last night.

   The Blues extended their winning streak to a season-long five games. The fading Predators have dropped four straight and seven of their last eight.

   After a scoreless first period, Steen got the game's first goal at 16:37 of the second. Carrying the puck along the boards on the left side, Steen pulled up at the top of the left circle and fired a slap shot that beat goaltender Pekka Rinne between the pads.

   Steen snapped a six-game goalless stretch.

   Elliott was relatively untested en route to his second consecutive shutout. He made four saves in the first, six in the second and five in the third.

 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Daniel Sedin had a goal and an assist, and Cory Schneider made 32 saves in the Vancouver Canucks' 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Jannik Hansen and Dale Weise also scored for Vancouver (14-9-6), which ended a two-game losing streak.

Jaden Schwartz and Patrik Berglund both scored in the third period for the Blues (16-11-2), who lost for only the second time in seven games. St. Louis had won three straight with rookie goalie Jake Allen. He stopped 16 Canucks shots.

The Blues outshot the Canucks 34-19. Vancouver managed only a total of five shots in the first and third periods.

After being badly outshot in the opening frame, the Canucks woke up in the second period and scored three unanswered goals.

Schneider started after watching the previous four games from the bench. He was kept busy in a scoreless first period as the Blues outshot the Canucks 15-3.

He made saves on David Perron from left wing and Alex Pietrangelo from the right point. After retrieving his own rebound, Perron sent the puck to Pietrangelo.

Later in the period, he robbed Pietrangelo from short range with his glove and foiled Andy McDonald, who returned to the Blues lineup after missing 10 games with a knee injury.

Hansen opened the scoring 2:30 into the second period when he took a cross-ice pass from Mason Raymond in the neutral zone, skated over the blue line and beat Allen with a slap shot.

The goal came on Vancouver's sixth shot of the game. Daniel Sedin gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead less than two minutes later when he fired in brother Henrik's angle pass from behind the goal line.

Daniel Sedin ended his scoring drought at eight games.

Weise, known for fisticuffs rather than scoring dexterity, extended Vancouver's lead to 3-0 midway through the second period on a nifty play. He took a spin-around forehand pass from Jordan Schroeder and then deked Allen while skating across the goal mouth.

It was Weise's second goal of the season and first in 11 games.

The Blues got on the scoreboard just over five minutes into the third period when Vladimir Tarasenko's shot bounced in off Schwartz, cutting their deficit to 3-1.

Berglund pulled St. Louis within a goal at 13:38 of the third as Kris Russell's shot bounced to him off the back of Canuck defenseman Chris Tanev's head.

The Canucks received a power play with 3:06 left in the third period as Vladimir Sobotka was called for holding. The whistle finally blew after the Canucks had a prolonged delayed penalty, struggled to get the puck up the ice with an extra attacker. Kevin Bieksa just missed the net as he tried to put in a pass from Raymond.

St. Louis was blanked on three power plays. The Canucks were unsuccessful on two.

NOTES: The Canucks lost forward Zack Kassian to an injury in the first period. He had returned to Vancouver's lineup after missing the previous two games with a sore back. He fought St. Louis forward Chris Stewart, the NHL's first star of the week, less than three minutes in. ... Vancouver forward Andrew Ebbett was scratched, and David Booth remains out indefinitely with a leg injury. ... Stewart played his 300th NHL game. ... Blues forward T.J. Oshie missed his third consecutive game with a rib injury. He is expected to return Saturday in Edmonton.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Patrik Berglund scored twice in a span of 2:12 and the St. Louis Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes 6-3 on Thursday night.

Chris Stewart got a goal and two assists, David Perron added four assists, and Scott Nichol, Vladimir Sobotka and Alex Pietrangelo also scored as the Blues won after two straight losses.

David Moss scored a short-handed goal, Keith Yandle had a power-play goal and Shane Doan added his second goal in three games for the Coyotes, who have lost two straight.

After Stewart gave the Blues a 1-0 lead on a long rebound to the bottom of the right circle, a series of defensive miscues led to four of the next five goals.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Antti Niemi made 25 saves and Tim Kennedy scored in the third period to help the San Jose Sharks end a seven-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues yesterday.

The Sharks' seven-game skid was their longest streak since a 10-game run Nov. 5-30, 2005.

Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose, which began the season with a franchise-record seven successive wins.

St. Louis has dropped five consecutive home games. The Blues also had a three-game winning streak halted. The Blues were coming off a 3-0 road trip with wins in Detroit, Calgary and Vancouver.

Kennedy scored the go-ahead goal at 13:02 on a shot from the left faceoff circle that eluded goalie Jake Allen, who had won the first three starts of his career.

Meanwhile, the Blues have traded defenseman Scott Ford to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Jani Lajunen.