ST. LOUIS - Alexander Steen and David Backes had two goals apiece and the St. Louis Blues' defense put the clamps on the Dallas Stars in a 6-1 victory that put them up 2-1 in the second-round series Tuesday night.

Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists, Troy Brouwer had a goal and assist and Brian Elliott was strong when he needed to be for the Blues in their first lopsided triumph of the postseason. Their other five wins were decided by one goal.

The Blues finished two points behind Western Conference champion Dallas in the regular season and have control of the series heading into Game 4 Thursday night in St. Louis. Despite a late start - more than 1 1/2 hours past the usual puck drop - the vast majority of a standing-room crowd of 19,323 stuck around to the finish.

St. Louis scored six unanswered goals after Colton Sceviour gave Dallas the early advantage, three coming in a breakaway second period. Steen capped the big second period with a power-play goal, matching his postseason career high for goals in a game.

Antti Niemi was the lone major lineup change for Game 3, replacing Kari Lehtonen in the Stars' net after playing effectively the last two periods plus overtime in Game 2. That switch didn't last long, and it didn't matter.

Lehtonen was back early in the second after Niemi allowed three goals on 12 shots.

The third period turned nasty when Stephen Johns boarded Alex Pietrangelo with 3:01 to go, leading to a pummeling of Curtis McKenzie by Blues regulator Ryan Reaves. Backes scored his fifth of the postseason during the 4-on-4, giving the captain his first career multi-goal game.

Tarasenko also had a three-point game in the first round against Chicago. He's the first St. Louis player with multiple three-point games in the postseason since Doug Weight also had two in 2003. He has 15 goals in 23 career playoff games.

Sceviour tapped in his own rebound for the Stars' lone goal at 4:44 of the first. Just 1:07 later, Steen tied it on a play that developed off a turnover by Alex Goligoski.

Backes, who got the winning goal on an overtime power play in Game 2, put St. Louis ahead on another power play on a deflection at 16:10.

The Stars just missed a chance to tie it late in the period. Jason Demers' shot off the crossbar was ruled a goal on the ice but was waved off after video review.

The rest was all St. Louis.

Brouwer skated in alone for his third goal of the postseason, Tarasenko scored off Goligoski's skate and Steen scored on a power play.

NOTES: The Blues' margin of victory matched their largest in the playoffs since a 6-1 decision in Game 4 of the first round last season at Minnesota. ... Earlier in the day, Stars coach Lindy Ruff said F Patrick Eaves (lower body) could return for Game 4, and should be back by Game 5 at the latest. ... Counting the postseason, Blues D Kevin Shattenkirk has 25 points in 25 games against Dallas. ... Steen also had two goals against the Kings on April 30, 2013.

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Ryan Reaves just wants your extra time and your... kiss.

The St. Louis Blues agitator directed a show of affection toward the Dallas Stars bench after fighting Curtis McKenzie in the waning moments of Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Teammate Kevin Shattenkirk then imitated Reaves on the Blues bench, as the game operations crew at Scottrade Center played Prince's "Kiss".

Reaves fought McKenzie in response to Stars defenseman Stephen Johns' hit from behind on Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

You can watch the full sequence here.

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Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette wasn't interested in going into detail about his decision to scratch Mike Ribeiro for Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

"It's just a lineup decision that I made," Laviolette told reporters following the Predators' 4-1 win, according to Adam Vingan of The Tennessean.

Ribeiro recorded only one point in nine playoff games before sitting Tuesday, and managed only three combined shots on goal in the first two games of the second-round series.

Pontus Aberg made his NHL debut in Ribeiro's absence, logging 8:27 of ice time with no points or shots on goal.

The Predators defeated the Sharks 4-1 to cut San Jose's second-round series lead to 2-1.

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Frustration boiled over for the Dallas Stars late in a blowout loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Stars defenseman Stephen Johns drove Blues blue-liner Alex Pietrangelo into the boards from behind with about three minutes left.

When the dust settled, the Blues emerged with a 6-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Shea Weber scored the go-ahead goal and had an assist and the Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 Tuesday night to pull within 2-1 in their Western Conference second-round series.

James Neal and Filip Forsberg each scored on the power-play, Colin Wilson had a goal, and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves for Nashville.

Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, who lost for the first time away from San Jose this postseason and first since a loss at Arizona on March 17.

Game 4 is Thursday night.

The Predators not only lost the first two in San Jose, but were facing the NHL's best regular-season road team. The Sharks also went 4-2 in Nashville in winning first-round series in both 2006 and 2007.

Nashville has not lost a game in regulation on home ice to San Jose since Feb. 25, 2012, with the lone defeat in seven games a shootout loss April 2. This time, the Predators shut down the Sharks' power play, killing four penalties after San Jose went 3 of 5 in the first two games.

Predators coach Peter Laviolette switched up his lineup with Mike Ribeiro a healthy scratch in place of Pontus Aberg making his NHL debut. Ribeiro had only one assist in nine postseason games and a minus-3 rating. Laviolette also put Craig Smith, Forsberg and Ryan Johansen together on the top line and moved Neal with Mike Fisher and Wilson.

For a little extra mojo, the Predators brought Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota onto the ice before the puck dropped to rally the fans.

The Sharks scored first. Marleau got the puck and skated past the Nashville defense for an easy wrister into an open net, catching Rinne too far from the crease at 13:13. But San Jose failed to convert on two man-advantages in the period.

In the second, Sharks right wing Joonas Donskoi got a double-minor for high-sticking Neal at 2:19. Neal finally scored on the power play at 5:11 with a one-timer from the edge of the right circle off a pass from Mattias Ekholm. With Matt Nieto in the box for hooking Johansen, Smith joined him a minute later setting up 60 seconds of 4-on-4 play.

Weber gave the Predators their first lead since the opening goal of Game 1 with a blast from the slot that beat Martin Jones high to his glove side with 13 seconds left in 4-on-4. Then, Nashville killed off the ensuing power play.

Nashville forward Colton Sissons had to be helped off the ice at 6:09 of the third after his left knee crashed into the post while he was chasing down a loose puck. No penalty was called, and went to the locker room after coming off. He was back on the bench late in the game.

Wilson then padded the Predators' lead at 6:55, scoring off the rebound of Ryan Ellis' shot. Forsberg added his power-play goal and just second goal of the postseason at 15:49.

NOTES: Weber's goal tied him with David Legwand for most in Nashville postseason history with 13. Weber reached that mark in his 55th game, while Legwand did it in 47. ... The Sharks now are 5-4 in Game 3s when leading a series 2-0 and snapped a streak of three straight wins in such situations.

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