Opportunistic Blues Begin Stretch Dive, er, Drive

St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger made like Greg Louganis midway through the third period, drawing a questionable high-sticking penalty against Duck center Tony Hrkac.

Defenseman Bryan Helmer scored on the ensuing power play to give St. Louis its first lead since early in the game. It also was Helmer’s first NHL goal.

The Blues then powered away with Pavol Demitra’s third goal of the game, his first NHL hat trick, and Jamal Mayers’ empty-net goal.

That’s the way it has gone lately for the surging Blues, the Western Conference leaders with 76 points. Give them an opening and they’ll break through.

Saturday’s victory was the Blues’ seventh in eight games and gave them a five-point lead over the idle Detroit Red Wings in the Central Division.

Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg sees a lot of the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars in the Blues, and he means that in a good way.

“They are very persistent and give hard, 60-minute efforts,” Hartsburg said. “Their players are all working very hard. There are no cheaters on that team. They play a mean type of game.”

Said Duck captain Paul Kariya: “It all starts with their defense. Pronger is one of the best in the league.”

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Predictably, the Ducks didn’t think much of the third-period penalty against Hrkac. He was closely pressuring Pronger, who had the puck in his own zone.

“I was tugging at his hand and I think his hand went up and my stick must have hit him in the face,” Hrkac explained. “He was turning and he just fell.”

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Teemu Selanne extended his points streak to 10 games with two assists.