NHL: St. Louis 4, Minnesota 1

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 1 (UPI) -- Jaden Schwartz opened the scoring with an unassisted goal Monday and the St. Louis Blues helped their playoff chances with a 4-1 victory over Minnesota.

Schwartz also added an assist on a Kevin Shattenkirk tally during a dominating second period that carried the Blues to their first win in four games.

Andy McDonald supplied a goal and an assist and Barret Jackman also found the net for St. Louis, which leapfrogged the idle Columbus Blue Jackets into the eighth and final Western Conference post-season slot.

The Blues' victory came with a price, however, as goaltender Jaroslav Halak left the game with an undisclosed injury in the first period after making five saves.

Brian Elliott relieved and stopped 19-of-20 shots the rest of the way.

Dany Heatley scored and Niklas Backstrom turned aside 20-of-24 shots for Northwest Division co-leader Minnesota, which fell for the second time in three games.