Blues Down Avalanche, Blackhawks Fall

Brian Elliott could not believe his ears. The St. Louis goalie received a standing ovation after giving up a goal late in the first period of the Blues' 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

The goal snapped a franchise-record scoreless string of 258 minutes and 29 seconds.

"That's our fans," Elliott said. "They recognize that we played five hard games and they appreciate the work we put in."

Still, Elliott was not used to hearing cheers after giving up a goal at home.

"That doesn't happen often," he said.

Elliott made 20 saves and Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 36th goal to lift the Blues to 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. Both teams sport identical 46-22-9 records with five games left in the regular season.

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.

Wild 4, Blackhawks 1

Jared Spurgeon, Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter scored in the third period to lift surging Minnesota to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, stretching the Wild's season-long winning streak to six straight games.

Marian Hossa had the goal for Chicago, the 499th of his career. The Blackhawks played without their two top defensemen, because of an illness for Brent Seabrook and then a first-period match penalty on Duncan Keith for swinging his stick at Charlie Coyle.

Jarret Stoll scored with the first on-target shot of the night for the Wild, who swept the five-game season series from the Blackhawks.

Spurgeon's career-high 11th goal was set up by a slick lead pass from Mikko Koivu that the Minnesota captain maneuvered around Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Spurgeon caught up to the puck, made a quick move to his right and went left to tap in the winner between goalie Scott Darling's arm and leg.

Chicago's depleted defense faded down the stretch. Hjalmarsson and Trevor Van Riemsdyk converged on Niederreiter on the right wing, before the pass to the wide-open Haula streaking down the middle. Van Riemsdyk peeled off too late, and Haula backhanded the puck between Darling's pads for his fourth goal and ninth point in the last nine games.

Tuesday, March 29 Scoreboard

New Jersey 2, Boston 1

NY Islanders 2, Carolina 1 (SO)

Pittsburgh 5, Buffalo 4 (SO)

Montreal 4, Detroit 3

Toronto 5, Florida 2

Minnesota 4, Chicago 1

St. Louis 3, Colorado 1

Dallas 5, Nashville 2

San Jose 4, Vancouver 1

Wednesday, March 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Ottawa at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m.

Washington at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Calgary at Anaheim, 9 p.m.