


St. Louis gets 4th shutout in a row

St. Louis won for the 10th time in 12 games and kept pace with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.
Kyle Brodziak, Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues, who have their sights on the division title and the top seed in the Western Conference. With six games left, they are tied with the Stars, who beat the Sharks in San Jose.
The Capitals would have clinched the Presidents' Trophy with a point but now must wait until at least Monday. Playing on back-to-back nights and with a substantial lead on the rest of the league, the Capitals started backup goalie Philipp Grubauer instead of Braden Holtby. Grubauer stopped 25 of the 29 shots he faced.
Missing defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and without Brian Elliott, who has stopped the past 71 shots he has faced, St. Louis was aggressive in the offensive zone. Brodziak scored his second goal in as many nights 6:08 into the second period, and Allen was there to make a handful of saves to help it stand up.
With the teams skating 4-on-4, Parayko scored on a seemingly harmless shot at 11:05 of the second period, his first goal in 19 games. Jori Lehtera found Tarasenko open on the doorstep at 12:45 of the second for his 34th goal of the season.
Allen was spectacular at times, notably when he stopped Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading goal scorer, from point-blank range with 11 minutes left in the third. Washington was shut out for the first time since Nov. 10.
Berglund scored on a backhand with 2:15 left after a nifty pass from Paul Stastny.