Jake Allen made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Sunday to open a key six-game road trip.
Vladimir Tarasenko broke a scoreless tie 4:26 into the third period and Alexander Steen added a power-play goal later on as the Blues tied Nashville for first place in the Central Division and won for the fourth time in five games.
They matched Nashville at 93 points, bouncing back from a loss to Minnesota on Saturday.
“I was just trying to give the guys a chance tonight,” said Allen. “It was a tough game, a back-to-back and a quick turnaround, so it was a huge win.”
Allen made nine saves in the first period, seven in the second and turned aside 12 shots in the third for his fifth career shutout.
Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen had 12 saves over the first two periods, then gave up two goals on eight shots in the third.
“We played a good game,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. “We played the game we should have played, just missed on some plays.”
Tarasenko finally put one past Lehtonen after stickhandling the puck into the top of the slot and firing a shot past his glove side for his 34th goal of the season.
Dallas entered the game off three consecutive wins to finish a 4-1 road trip.
But the Stars couldn’t solve Allen and Steen gave the Blues some insurance on a late power play.
With Vernon Fiddler off for hooking, St. Louis moved the puck well and Steen scored on a one-timer off Alex Pietrangelo’s pass into the right circle with David Backes providing the screen in front.
T.J. Oshie scored into an open net with 1:46 remaining to seal the win.
