ST. LOUIS – Rookie David Backes scored twice and Jay McClement had a goal and an assist to help St. Louis win its third straight.

After Marian Gaborik tied the score at 2 with 1.8 seconds left in the opening period, St. Louis pulled away with three goals in the second.

Jamal Mayers opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the first period, Keith Tkachuk also scored and Manny Legace made 33 saves for the Blues.

Adam Hall and Pavol Demitra also scored for the Wild, who had won eight of their previous 10 road games.

Canadiens 3, Blue Jackets 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michael Ryder and Saku Koivu each had a goal and an assist as Montreal snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak.

Francis Bouillon also scored for the Canadiens, who moved into a tie with Toronto for the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie Jaroslav Halak was vying to become the fourth Montreal goalie to register a shutout in his first NHL start until Columbus scored twice in a 3:03 span late in the third period on goals by Nikolai Zherdev and Gilbert Brule.

The Blue Jackets have lost six of their last eight games.