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Boyes, Kariya help Blues shoot down Stars

Jan 11, 2008 - 6:29 AM By Tom James PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Blues have been wondering what the team's top three scorers have done for them lately. They got an answer Thursday.

Brad Boyes scored two goals and Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk each added a tally to lead the Blues to their third straight victory, a 4-2 triumph over the Dallas Stars.

Kariya also recorded two assists for an offense that has come to life with 10 goals in the last two games after scoring just 11 in its previous seven contests.

Manny Legace, fresh off a franchise-record scoreless streak of 186 minutes, 15 seconds that clinched the 34-year-old's first career All-Star Game selection, made 25 saves in winning his fourth consecutive decision.

"I was very fired up. It's a childhood dream, watching it all my life, growing up in Toronto," Legace said of the news he learned late Thursday morning.

Boyes, without a goal in his previous eight games, netted his 22nd of the season eight minutes into this one with a big slap shot from the left point that sailed over the glove of goaltender Mike Smith.

"I'm not a big one-time guy. Normally, I'll try and go to the net," Boyes said. "When you're scoring a lot, it feels good. When you're losing one-goal games, it gets frustrating because you feel you could have done something about it. If we bear down on our chances, we can put it into the net."

The 25-year-old right wing did go to the net at 12:27 of the second, when he completed a 2-on-1 rush with a tap-in of David Perron's cross-ice pass after the rookie had carried it up the left wing.

"He's one of those scorers that has an innate ability around the net," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said of Boyes.

Boyes downplayed suggestions that he was snubbed from the All-Star roster and was pleased with the selection of his team's netminder.

"The guys that are there deserve to be, and there are only so many slots," Boyes said. "Manny has definitely been our All-Star."

Dallas defenseman Sergei Zubov also was pleased with his own All-Star Game selection even after a minus-3 night.

"This is a huge honor for me and I'm very excited to represent my team at the All-Star game," said the 37-year-old Russian, who will be making his fourth appearance in the midseason gala.

Kariya, whose third-period hat trick on December 29 in Dallas represented all of his points in the previous nine contests, earned an assist on Boyes' first tally before finding the net himself with 5:38 left in first. The veteran quickly wristed a feed from defenseman Jay McKee over Smith's glove from the left hash marks.

McKee, who had a goal and an assist in his first 27 games of the season, has four assists in his last five contests.

Mike Ribeiro put Dallas on the board with his 22nd goal of the season at 3:46 of the second period, firing a near-side shot over the stick of Legace. But Tkachuk recorded his 11th tally when he steered Kariya's pass from the right wing boards between Smith's pads at 9:35 in the second, giving St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Smith made 22 saves in a rare start for the Stars, who were playing their sixth game in nine nights and eighth during a stretch of nine contests in 15 days that concludes Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.

"We had some spurts where we were around it, but we couldn't get ahead in the game," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "We didn't have enough players on board pay the price to win tonight."

The Stars had a glimmer of hope late, when they were awarded a 5-on-3 power play with 2:10 remaining. Antti Miettinen cashed in with 91 seconds to go, but Dallas - which pulled Smith after a subsequent timeout - could not get any closer as Legace stood tall yet again.

"He played well," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. "He made himself big. He was square to the shots and they had some guys that were pushing us around and clearing the rebounds."

While happy with the night's events, Murray was far from enthusiastic.

"It was a battle right to the last minute. We would have just assumed not be shorthanded at the end," Murray said, referring to the night's major gaffe by the Blues, who have earned at least a point in six consecutive games.

Legace nonetheless was impressed with the Stars' effort.

"I saw a little more rubber tonight," Legace said. "Given they played last night, they could have mailed it in in the third period."