Tkachuk Goals Power Blues, 5-1

The St. Louis Blues didn’t miss Chris Pronger one bit.

Keith Tkachuk had two goals and an assist as the St. Louis Blues, without their suspended captain, defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1, Friday night at St. Louis to gain some breathing room in a tight playoff race.

“That was a great two points,” Coach Joel Quenneville said. “Certainly, we did what we had to do and took care of business.”

Pavol Demitra scored twice for the Blues, who outshot the Blackhawks 20-5 in the first 20 minutes. St. Louis has 90 points and vaulted from seventh to fifth in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Kings and the Coyotes and only one point behind Chicago. The Blues have five games left, all but one at home, where they’re 24-11-1-1.

St. Louis outshot Chicago, 40-21, overall and won for the fourth time in five games without two of its top three defensemen. Pronger served the first game of a two-game suspension for cross-checking the Brenden Morrow of Dallas in a 2-1 overtime victory on Wednesday.

Vancouver 5, Minnesota 4--Brendan Morrison scored 2:23 into overtime as the Canucks came from behind twice to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Wild at Vancouver, Canada.

Morrison broke in on a two on one with Todd Bertuzzi, kept the puck, and snapped a wrist shot just past Dwayne Roloson’s glove on the short side.

Vancouver is unbeaten in its last five games and 9-2-1 in its last 12.

Dallas 3, Colorado 1--Jere Lehtinen, back in the lineup after missing eight games with an ankle problem, scored twice and Jason Arnott scored the 200th goal of his career as the Stars won at Dallas.

Lehtinen is still in pain but returned because Dallas is in desperation mode. The Stars are on the verge of missing the playoffs after five consecutive division titles.

Buffalo 3, Florida 1--Taylor Pyatt had a goal and an assist to keep the surging Sabres in the playoff hunt with a victory at Buffalo, N.Y.

With four games left, the Sabres jumped into 10th place--a point ahead of the New York Rangers--and moved within four points of eighth place in the East.

Ottawa 0, Washington 0--The Capitals, chasing Montreal and Carolina for a playoff berth, played the first home scoreless tie in the team’s 28-year history

New Jersey 3, Atlanta 1--Sergei Brylin scored his third goal in three games and Joe Nieuwendyk had his second goal for New Jersey to lift the Devils at Atlanta.

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Saku Koivu will not return to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Molson Centre, a team spokesman said. Koivu, who has missed the entire season recovering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, practiced with his teammates Friday, but did not speak with reporters. It is still possible Koivu will make his return in Tuesday night’s game against Ottawa.