NHL-Blues batter Stars to take 2-1 series lead

May 3 (The Sports Xchange) - Alexander Steen and David Backes each scored twice and Vladimir Tarasenko scored one and assisted on two more to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 6-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series. The Blues scored six unanswered goals as they took a 2-1 lead over the Stars in the best-of-seven series. Two of the goals came on the power play, giving the Blues four power-play goals in 14 chances so far in the series. The Stars were 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-10 in the series with a man advantage. The Blues were outscored 12-3 in the second period in their first nine playoff games before Tuesday's game, but they got two goals in a span of 1:16 early in the second this time to turn a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 advantage. Troy Brouwer skated around defenseman Kris Russell and beat goalie Antti Niemi 2:34 into the period with his third goal of the playoffs and second in the series. The Stars pulled Niemi, who allowed the three goals on 12 St. Louis shots, and brought in Kari Lehtonen, who gave up a goal just over a minute later. Tarasenko took advantage of a Dallas turnover when his shot deflected off the skate of defenseman Alex Goligoski, past Lehtonen and into the net at 3:50. The goal was Tarasenko's fifth in the playoffs but first in four games. It was his 15th career playoff goal in 22 games. Steen then completed the three-goal period with his second goal of the night, on a power play at 18:03, just 10 seconds after Antoine Roussel was called for delay of game. The Blues had 16 shots on goal during the period. The Blues also scored twice in the first period after Dallas went in front 1-0 on Colton Sceviour's second goal of the playoffs, off a rebound at 4:44. Steen tied the game just 57 seconds later, off a pass from Peter Stastny, following a Dallas turnover. Backes, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 2 on a power play, got another power-play goal at 16:10 of the first period Tuesday. Vernon Fiddler was serving a penalty for slashing Jaden Schwartz. Backes collected his fourth goal of the playoffs. The Stars thought they tied the game with 1:19 left in the first on a shot by Jason Demers, but a video review showed the puck hit the crossbar and did not go in the net. Backes scored his second goal of the game with 1:54 to play in the third period to cap the Blues' biggest scoring outburst so far in the playoffs. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)