HOCKEY STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : St. Louis Finishes Off the Maple Leafs, 4-3

The St. Louis Blues lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs seven times in eight meetings during the regular season.

The Blues, however, made a mockery of that statistic Thursday night at St. Louis, defeating the Maple Leafs, 4-3, to wrap up their Norris Division semifinal series, four games to one.

“I was embarrassed at the regular season, but in a series like this the tight checking team wins,” said Blues’ checking winger Gino Cavallini. “We shut down their game.”

Brett Hull had two goals and Peter Zezel added a goal and two assists for the Blues. Kelly Chase also scored for the Blues, getting his second NHL goal.

Rookie goaltender Curtis Joseph, who started all five games, injured his left shoulder at 8:43 of the third period when he was slashed by Toronto’s Dave Hannan with the Blues leading, 4-2. He is scheduled to undergo tests Friday morning at a St. Louis hospital.

Chase scored at the four-minute mark of the first period on the rebound of a Harold Snepsts shot. The puck bounced out into the slot and Chase scored just inside the right post.

Hull scored 40 seconds later on a two-on-one break with Zezel, connecting on a wrist shot from the left circle.

Zezel scored on a power play to give the Blues a 3-1 lead at 4:14 of the second period. Hull scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the playoffs on a power play at 9:29.

Gary Leeman had two goals and Scott Pearson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who were unable to win one for owner Harold Ballard, who died at age 86 Wednesday.

Edmonton 4, Winnipeg 3--Mark Messier scored the winning goal early in the third period and goaltender Bill Ranford made a brilliant pad save on Jet forward Dale Hawerchuk with less than a minute left at Edmonton to preserve the victory.

The Jets lead the best-of-seven Smythe Division semifinal series, 3-2, as the clubs head back to Winnipeg for Game 6 Saturday night. The Oilers lost both previous games at the Winnipeg Arena.

After Craig Simpson and Mark Lamb scored for the Oilers in a 13-second span in the second period to tie the score, 3-3, Ranford made several stops to preserve the tie.

Messier, who had only three points in the first four games of the series after leading the Oilers with 129 points during the regular season, set up Simpson’s goal before scoring his own.

Chicago 5, Minnesota 1--Jeremy Roenick and Denis Savard scored first-period goals at Chicago, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 advantage in their Norris Division series.

The Blackhawks were in such command in the first period that they had a 14-2 edge in shots. The North Stars never seriously threatened.

Chicago wrapped it up on goals by Michel Goulet and Steve Thomas in the final four minutes.

The series shifts to Minnesota for Game 6 Saturday night.