{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
St. Louis 4, Minnesota 2
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 11, 2015
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees: Brad Watson, Dean Morton
Linesmen: Tony Sericolo, Bryan Pancich
Attendance: 19155

ST. LOUIS -- Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko celebrated his return to the St. Louis lineup with a goal and an assist Saturday to lead the Blues to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in the final game of the regular season.

Tarasenko played on a line with center Jori Lehtera, who scored two goals, and left winger Alexander Steen, who picked up two assists in his first game back after missing the last six games.

The loss by the Wild snapped their 12-game road winning streak, which tied the NHL record for most consecutive road wins set by the Detroit Red Wings in 2005-06. It was their first loss on the road since Feb. 16 at Vancouver.

The result also assured that the Blues will play either the Wild or the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs, depending on the outcome of Anaheim's game at Arizona on Saturday night. The Wild needed a win against the Blues to have a chance to catch the Chicago Blackhawks and finish in third place in the Central Division.

The Blues lead Anaheim by two points for the top seed in the Western Conference, 109 to 107, but would lose a tiebreaker to the Ducks if Anaheim wins in regulation or overtime against the Coyotes.

After right winger Dmitrij Jaskin broke a scoreless tie on a give-and-go pass from center Olli Jokinen at 13:27 of the second period, the line of Tarasenko, Steen and Lehtera went to work.

Tarasenko scored his team-leading 37th goal with two minutes left in the period off a feed from Steen, and with just 29 seconds left in the period, Steen set up a goal from Lehtera with another perfect pass to put the Blues in front 3-1. Tarasenko picked up the second assist on the play.

That goal came after Wild defenseman Marco Scandella's shot appeared to be deflected over the glove of goalie Brian Elliott with 1:09 to play in the period, cutting the Blues' lead to 2-1.

Minnesota started goalie Devan Dubnyk, but he was replaced by Darcy Kuemper at the start of the third period. He allowed an unassisted power-play goal from Lehtera 5:03 into the period. Minnesota left winger Zach Parise scored a power-play goal with 38 seconds left in the game for the final 4-2 margin.

Dubnyk allowed the first three St. Louis goals on just 14 shots. The Blues had a season-low one shot on goal, by Tarasenko, in the first period.

NOTES: The Blues won four of the five games they played with RW Vladimir Tarasenko and LW Alexander Steen out of the lineup. ... The Blues rested C David Backes, RW T.J. Oshie and D Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk. ... This is the second year in a row Pietrangelo had a chance to play in all 82 games but sat out the final game of the season. ... Scratches for the Wild included C Mikko Koivu, RW Justin Fontaine and D Ryan Suter. ... D Charlie Coyle and RW Jason Pominville played in their 82nd game for the Wild. No Blues played in every game this season.
Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   St. Louis
Zach Parise 1 Points Jori Lehtera 2
Zach Parise 1 Goals Jori Lehtera 2
Matt Cooke 1 Assists Alexander Steen 2
Zach Parise 1 Power Play Goals Jori Lehtera 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Darcy Kuemper .889 Save Percentage Brian Elliott .920
Devan Dubnyk 11 Saves Brian Elliott 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Minnesota 25 2 1-4 1-2 6 27
St. Louis 23 4 1-2 3-4 10 24