Blues take 3-1 series lead on Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a pair of impressive wrist shots, Brian Elliott made 39 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Tuesday night to open a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Jaden Schwartz scored a tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period for the second straight game as St. Louis moved to the brink of its first appearance in the Western Conference semifinals since 2012. The Blues were eliminated in the opening round in each of the past three years.

Game 5 is Thursday night in St. Louis.

Duncan Keith had two goals for Chicago, which dropped consecutive home playoff games for the first time since 2012.

Andrew Shaw had a goal and two assists, and Corey Crawford finished with 16 saves after getting into a fight with Blues rookie Robby Fabbri during a wild second period.

With Keith in the box for holding Alexander Steen, Schwartz intercepted a clearing attempt by Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and beat Crawford low on his stick side at 1:36. Schwartz also had the game-winning goal in St. Louis' 3-2 victory in Game 3 on Sunday.

Steen then picked off a passing attempt by van Riemsdyk and went in all alone on Crawford for his first goal of the series at 4:46, stunning the sellout crowd of 22,212.

A fortunate bounce for Keith off Tarasenko's stick and over Elliott gave the Blackhawks some hope, but Elliott shut the door from there. He jumped on a loose puck during a Chicago rush with 4:10 remaining, and Shaw was penalized for interference with 2:04 left.

Before Schwartz and Steen broke through, it was the Tarasenko show once again for St. Louis. The winger has three goals and two assists in the series and 13 goals in 17 career playoff games.

The Blackhawks had a 2-1 lead and momentum before Andrew Ladd was whistled for interference at 17:09 of the second. Just 22 seconds later, Tarasenko whistled a shot under Crawford's glove for the tying score.