Blues tie Mighty Ducks as playoff hunt continues

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Keith Tkachuk and the St. Louis Blues feel as if the postseason has already begun.

"Every game seems like a playoff game, and it has to be that way the rest of the year because it's so tight in the Western Conference," Tkachuk said. "Every team controls their own destiny, and that's the same for us."

Ryan Johnson ended a personal 26-game goal drought in St. Louis' 1-1 tie with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night. The Blues took sole possession of seventh place in the conference and are within three points of fifth-place Dallas -- their next opponent Saturday.

St. Louis has only one game during the next seven days, getting four days' rest before hosting Anaheim on March 25. The Ducks, who are out of the playoff picture, are determined to make things uncomfortable for some of the teams that are in it.

Three of their final 10 games are against San Jose, trying to beat out Vancouver for the Pacific Division title. The Ducks also play Detroit and Colorado, who are dueling for home-ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs. Anaheim also has two more against Edmonton -- just four points out of a postseason berth.

"Obviously, playing the role of a spoiler is not what you want to be doing," said rookie Joffrey Lupul, who set up Martin Skoula's tying goal with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

"But that's basically what we have left here, so we're going to play hard the last eight games," Lupul said. "We had a meeting about this the other day. It's a good opportunity for a lot of guys to show they want to be here next year."

St. Louis' Reinhard Divis, starting for only the third time in 21 games, made 28 saves before Skoula spoiled his bid for his first NHL shutout.

"We feel like we should have won that game, but we'll take the point and run," Tkachuk said. "This was a very, very tough stretch for us -- four games in five nights with an older team -- but I like the energy we had tonight. We played better as the game went on, and we really dominated in the overtime."

Jean-Sebastien Giguere made five of his 30 saves in the extra period, one on Tkachuk's short backhander with 35 seconds to play.

"I was in so tight, I had to make a shot and unfortunately, I was on my backhand," Tkachuk said. "I still made a great shot -- I thought -- but Giguere's an unbelievable goalie and he made a big save."

Divis made an even bigger one on Skoula's solo effort just before the final horn sounded.

"I was a little surprised that I got the game tonight, because Chris Osgood's played super the whole time since Mike (Kitchen) has been the coach," Divis said. "But it's my job to play well when they give me the chance."

Sergei Fedorov won a faceoff from Mike Sillinger deep in the St. Louis zone before Skoula got the puck from Lupul and took a 50-foot slap shot through a screen that broke off Divis' glove and dribbled across the goal line.

"It was pretty awesome to score my first goal for this organization," said Skoula, playing his 13th game for Anaheim since coming over in a trade from Colorado on Feb. 21. "I'm happy that I'm getting more responsibility and more ice time. I'm getting more comfortable with the team, and it will pay off next year."

Notes: St. Louis D Chris Pronger returned after serving a one-game suspension from the NHL. ... Johnson converted his own rebound at 13:49 of the second period for his first goal since Dec. 23. ... Anaheim LW Vaclav Prospal has scored against every team except St. Louis during his eight-year career. He has played against the Blues 13 times and has two assists. ... St. Louis rookie C Mike Danton returned to the lineup earlier than expected after missing eight games with an injured shoulder.

St. Louis 0 1 0 0 -- 1

Anaheim 0 0 1 0 -- 1

First Period--None.

Second Period--1, St. Louis, Johnson 3 (Sillinger), 13:49.

Third Period--2, Anaheim, Skoula 3 (Lupul, Fedorov), 15:30.

Overtime--None.

Shots on goal--St. Louis 5-13-8-5--31. Anaheim 9-6-12-2--29.

Goalies--St. Louis, Divis. Anaheim, Giguere. A--12,861 (17,174). T--NA.