Elliot stops 21 shots as Blues beat Stars 2-1

[April 20, 2013]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Brian Elliott made 21 saves to help the St. Louis Blues win for the ninth time in their last 11 games with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Friday night.

Ryan Reaves and Chris Stewart scored for the Blues, who are in sixth in the Western Conference with 54 points -- one behind Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Jose, who are tied for third.

Antoine Roussel scored for Dallas, which came in with six victories in its last seven games. The Stars are tied with Detroit for ninth place in the West with 47 points, two behind Columbus, which holds the final playoff spot.

Elliott recorded his league-leading eighth win in April, won for the sixth time in his last seven games and improved to 8-1 since a two-game stint in the minors in late March.

The Blues scored only seven goals in their previous seven games but posted a 5-2 mark thanks to the play of Elliott, who stopped 74 of 77 shots in winning three games over the last four days. Elliott (11-7-1) has not allowed a goal in 17 of his last 22 periods.

Stewart broke a seven-game drought on the power play midway through the first period, flicking in the rebound of a shot by Alex Pietrangelo. St. Louis had failed in its previous 18 power-play attempts.

Reaves pushed the lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the season in the second period. He converted from close range off a rebound of a shot by Chris Porter. Reeves, who is primarily known for his physical play, has seven goals in 127 career games.

Roussel brought the Stars to 2-1 at 4:37 of the third period when he tipped in a shot by Stephane Robidas.

Elliott, who won five in a row earlier in the month, made a pair of key saves in the final eight minutes.

Kari Lehtonen, making his second starts since missing three games with a groin injury, stopped 18 shots for the Stars, who had scored 27 goals in their previous seven games.

NOTES: The news of the capture of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing drew one of the largest roars of the night from the sellout crowd. The information, announced midway through the second period, was followed by chants of "USA! USA!". ... Dallas RW Alex Chiasson and LW Lane MacDermid missed the game with upper-body injuries. Both are day-to-day. ... Blues coach Ken Hitchcock spent parts of seven seasons with the Stars, guiding them to five straight 100-point campaigns from 1996-2001. ... The Stars last reached the playoffs in 2007-2008. ... Blues G Jaroslav Halak missed the last 10 games with a groin injury.

[Associated Press; By STEVE OVERBEY]

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