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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.

 

   LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anze Kopitar tied it with 12:46 to play, Justin Williams tipped home the go-ahead goal 76 seconds later, and the Los Angeles Kings  evened their first-round series with the St. Louis Blues with a 4-3 victory Monday night.

   Jeff Carter and Dustin Penner also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions. They erased an early two-goal deficit and a third-period deficit to earn their ninth consecutive home victory since March 23. Jonathan Quick made 19 saves.

   T.J. Oshie scored his first two playoff goals for the Blues, who had the champs on the brink of serious trouble before Kopitar and Williams beat Brian Elliott, who stopped 25 shots.

   Game 5 is Wednesday in St. Louis, with Game 6 back at Staples Center on Friday.

   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) - Ryan Reaves scored twice and Brian Elliott earned his NHL-leading 10th win in April in the St. Louis Blues' 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

   Reaves scored the Blues 1st and 4th goals in the game. In between, Andy McDonald scored a power play goal and Alex Steen scored the goal that made it a 3-1 St. Louis lead.

   St. Louis, which has won five of six, moved into fourth place in the Western Conference. The Blues have 58 points, one ahead of Los Angeles and San Jose. They can clinch the No. 4 seed and home ice in the opening round of the playoffs with a victory over Chicago on Saturday.

   Los Angeles and San Jose will meet Saturday in the final regular-season game for both teams.

   Calgary, which will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year, has won five of eight but will end the season Friday at Chicago.

   Elliott made 18 saves in improving to 10-2 in April. He has three shutouts in the month and has allowed only 15 goals.

   

   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.

 

   Authorities are taking extra security precautions around St. Louis in light of the Boston bombings.  

   St. Louis Police and Metro Transit authorities say they'd added security measures downtown Tuesday during both the Mayor's inauguration and the Blues game.  But they say there have been no specific threats made.  The extra measures are precautionary.

   There was a stepped up police and security presence both inside and outside Scottrade Center Tuesday night.  Hockey fans endured long lines to get inside, passing through extra screenings that included metal detectors and bag searches.  

   Just before the Blues game against the Vancouver Canucks, the team paid tribute to the Boston victims with a moment of silence.

   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.

St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced the club has placed forward Andy McDonald on Injured Reserve today. McDonald is listed as week-to-week after suffering a left knee injury during practice yesterday at St. Louis Mills. In addition, the Blues have listed forward Alex Steen as day-to-day with an upper body injury. Steen was also injured during yesterday’s practice.

McDonald, 35, has appeared in all 18 of the Blues’ games this season tallying 11 points including three goals and eight assists. Overall, the 5’10, 175-pound forward has dressed in 666 National Hockey League (NHL) games accumulating 479 points including 178 goals and 301 assists.

Steen, 28, has appeared in all 18 of the Blues’ games this season and leads the team with 16 points including four goals and 12 assists. Overall, the 6’0, 212-pound forward has dressed in 515 NHL games totaling 292 points including 119 goals and 173 assists. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native was originally drafted by Toronto in the first round, 24th overall, of the 2002 Entry Draft.