Blues put bodies on the line in Game 4

ST. LOUIS -- The Blues gained control of their first-round playoff series by putting themselves between the puck and their goalie.

Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford counted 59 shots his team took in Monday night's 3-1 loss, which gave the Blues a 2-1 series lead entering Game 4 tonight. Only 14 of those shots got through the St. Louis defenders, tying a team playoff record for fewest shots allowed.

The Blues are paying a physical price, but their efforts are helping knock down the shot volume for goalie Chris Osgood.

"I don't mind as long as it doesn't hurt," Doug Weight said with a laugh. "This time of the year, I think everyone's blocking shots. You've got to get in the lanes and make yourself big and make every pass for them hard, and so far we've done a good job."

Defenseman Bryce Salvador was particularly effective in Game 3. Rookie defenseman Barret Jackman already was an accomplished shot-blocker. Forwards Dallas Drake and Shjon Podein have the bruises to prove their mettle, and even stars like Keith Tkachuk and Weight have gotten involved.

"We've been suffocating at times," Osgood said. "They're in our end, moving the puck around and taking shots, but we're just blocking shots -- a heck of a lot of shots."

Unofficially, Crawford estimated the count in the 20s on Monday night.

"They're a very good team at blocking shots and getting in the lanes and knocking pucks down," Crawford said. "We've got to find a way to get shots through."

A defensive stand

It's more than just the shot-blocking, though, that has held the high-scoring Canucks to three goals in the series. After a series of wide-open games at the end of the regular season, the Blues are back to defense first, and they've stymied Vancouver with backchecking while at even strength.

"Our forwards are a big part of it. They're coming back hard and making it easy for the defense to step up," Jackman said. "They can't get any speed going into our zone, and when they can't, they're such a rush team that they're getting frustrated."

The Canucks' No. 1 line of Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison has been silent in the series, totaling two assists. In Game 3, the trio that combined for 272 points in the regular season was held to five shots.

On the power play, Vancouver is 3-for-24 in the series.

"It's just plain and simple: We're not getting enough shots," Bertuzzi said. "I don't care if it's what they're doing, we've got to just focus on getting shots."

The Blues save their best for the Canucks' No. 1 line, throwing out their top defensive pairing of Jackman and Chris Pronger, along with the second line of Weight, Martin Rucinsky and Drake.

Jackman, who thrived during the season playing alongside injured Blues captain Al MacInnis, has made a smooth transition to playing with Pronger. MacInnis hurt his right shoulder early in Game 2 and probably is out for the series.

"You move on from one Hall of Famer to potentially another one," Jackman said. "Anyone I've played with has played real well. It's easy to adjust."

Bertuzzi wasn't about to compliment the rookie's play, indicating he has dominated him physically.

"He's spending most of the time on the ice looking up at me," Bertuzzi said. "If he's confident in that, good for him. It shows his youth."

Neither team has been happy with tight officiating that created 17 power plays in Game 3, nine for the Blues. That continued a series-long trend that has hurt continuity in play.

"If the whistles were put away, we feel we'd be a pretty tough team to beat," Weight said. "Regardless of what the referees are doing, you have to react to it and realize that early in the game, and make wise and professional decisions."