ST. LOUIS (AP) – Brian Elliott made 20 saves and Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 36th goal to lift the St. Louis Blues over the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory.

David Backes and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Blues, who are tied with Dallas atop the Central Division after the Stars beat the Nashville Predators 5-2 Tuesday night.

Colorado has lost three of four and trails Minnesota by five points in the battle for the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Both teams have five games left.

St. Louis goalies Elliott and Jake Allen had combined for four successive shutouts coming into the contest.

Colorado center Mikhail Grigorenko ended the run by scoring late in the first period, snapping the franchise-record scoreless string at over 258 minutes.