Blues end slide with 5-3 victory

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Martin Rucinsky scored twice as the St. Louis Blues snapped a three-game losing skid by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 Sunday afternoon.

Bryce Salvador, Rucinsky and Jay McClement also scored for St. Louis, which won for the second time in its last eight games. Back-up goalie Curtis Sanford made 31 saves for the Blues.

Rookie Brad Winchester scored twice for the Oilers. Fernando Pisani had the other Edmonton goal.

St. Louis led 3-2 early in the third period when Lee Stempniak gave the Blues some insurance. He took a pass from Keith Tkachuk, skated down left wing and lifted a backhander over Edmonton goalie Jussi Markkanen.

Pisani cut the advantage in half with a power-play goal with 3:32 remaining, but Rucinsky put the game away with an empty net goal with 4 seconds remaining.

The Blues briefly had a two-goal advantage in the second period. Rucinsky gave the Blues a 2-1 lead when he beat Markkanen with a wrist shot from the left circle at the 2-minute mark. McClement made it 3-1 when he swatted home the rebound of Eric Brewer's shot at 18:39 of the period.

But Winchester got the Oilers back in it before the period was over with his second goal. Winchester broke into the St. Louis zone and surprised Sanford, who was screened by Brewer, with a wrist shot from between the circles with 4.6 seconds left.