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Second-period surge paces Blues

Dec 2, 2007 - 5:38 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Blues thoroughly dominated the second period to derail the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

D.J. King and Mike Johnson scored goals in the second session as the Blues, buoyed by a decisive shot advantage in the session, defeated the Blackhawks, 3-1.

It was the sixth straight home victory for St. Louis, which enjoyed a 14-3 advantage in shots in the middle period.

With the Blues already leading, 1-0, King doubled the advantage just 4:13 into the second. The 23-year-old scored his first goal of the season and second of his young career when his wrist shot from the right faceoff circle beat goaltender Patrick Lalime.

"It helped us keep rolling and put down the hammer a little bit," said King, who had just one goal but 85 penalty minutes in his first 45 career games.

"When they (the fourth line) were on the ice, the puck was in the other team's zone most of the time," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said.

Keith Tkachuk, who became the 28th American-born player to play in 1,000 NHL games on Saturday, set up the third goal by St. Louis. Tkachuk fed Johnson, who blasted the puck from just inside the blue line into the upper right corner of the net with 6:40 remaining, giving the Blues a 3-0 cushion.

"We were hoping Keith would get one," Murray said. "He's a real team player. He could have had one in the empty net and he tried to set up Doug (Weight).

"(Johnson) has been more involved and, physically, more assertive."

Robert Lang ended Hannu Toivonen's bid for his first shutout of the season midway through the third period. Lang raced up the right wing and wristed a shot over the Finnish goaltender's blocker for his seventh tally of the season.

"That was the only piece of the net we saw all night" Lang said. "(Toivonen) was very solid."

"The guys played so well, as they have all year," said Toivonen, who made 17 saves. "I didn't see many pucks until the end. A defense like ours makes a goalie's job easy. I know Manny (Legace) thinks so, too."

Chicago coach Denis Savard also did not think his team got very far against St. Louis' defensemen.

"They do not let you do very much, and we did not do very much," Savard said. "We didn't handle their physical play and their pressure on us."

Lee Stempniak opened the scoring just 3:07 into the contest.

Stempniak raced up the right wing and slipped the puck past Lalime to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. It was the third goal of the campaign for the 24-year-old, who has scored in back-to-back contests.

"When you score a goal early in the game, you get a little jump in your step and it makes you think that you can make some more plays," Stempniak said. "I felt like I had been playing good for three or four games, so I thought this would come."

Lalime finished with 23 saves for the Blackhawks, who fell to 2-2-0 against the Blues this season.