Blues trim Mighty Ducks in OT

ST. LOUIS -- Keith Tkachuk put the Blues in a bind. Then he put them over the top.

Tkachuk, who took a double minor for spearing in the third period, scored on a 3-on-1 break with 31 seconds left in overtime for a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Tuesday night. The Blues' defense helped by holding the Ducks to one shot, keeping the Ducks' lead at 1-0.

"I was praying they were going to kill it off," Tkachuk said. "You don't want to cost the team goals. It was big. We really didn't give them much at all."

Tkachuk had retaliated against Lance Ward, who cuffed him in front of the net after the whistle blew in the first period for a roughing call.

"It takes a lot out of you," forward Doug Weight said. "But we knew we had to kill that if we were going to have any chance."

The Blues, frustrated most of the game by Jean-Sebastian Giguere, were shut out before Weight scored on his own rebound with 5:19 to go in regulation. Weight's sixth goal of the season came 5 seconds after the end of a Blues' power play that didn't produce a shot.

Giguere, who led the Mighty Ducks to last season's Stanley Cup finals, had his best outing of a shaky start to the season with 30 saves. He entered with a 1-6 record and 3.02 goals-against average.

Sandis Ozolinsh scored his third goal of the season early in the second period for Anaheim. Giguere and the Mighty Ducks' defense almost made it stand up.

Tkachuk scored his sixth goal, beating Giguere with a slap shot that deflected off the goalie's skate. He never thought about passing.

"Nope," Tkachuk said. "You can't try to force a pass when a guy gives you a lane and a one-on-one opportunity."

Giguere said he guessed wrong on the shot.

"It's a lesson for me to learn," Giguere said. "The next game when I see the guy coming down like that I'll just react to the play instead of guessing what he's going to do."

The Blues peppered Giguere early, taking 25 shots in the first 1 1/2 periods. They got off only one in the last 10 minutes of the second period and got their first chance of the third period with 7:24 remaining.

Ozolinsh scored at 1:05 of the second, beating Brent Johnson with a shot from the left point. Johnson finished with 24 saves.