ST. LOUIS _ The Blues have been to the playoffs in six straight seasons, but have not led in a lopsided series in a long time.
They do now.
The Blues' 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild put them ahead three games to none in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal, marking the first time since 2001 they've led by three games.
The club will have a chance for a sweep Wednesday when it hosts Game 4 at Scottrade Center.
The Blues won Sunday with goals from Jaden Schwartz, who had the winner in Game 2 on Friday in Minnesota, Colton Parayko and Alexander Steen. Goalie Jake Allen made 40 saves for the win, as he's stopped 117 of 120 shots in the series.
The Blues led 2-1 entering the third period on a second-period goal by Schwartz and added an empty-net goal by Steen. Patrik Berglund assisted on the empty-netter, giving both Steen and Berglund two points Sunday.
The Blues have still yet to trail in the series.
Something happened in the first period Sunday that we had not witnessed in the first two games of the series _ a goal.
The Blues went ahead 1-0 just 3:25 into the game on defenseman Parayko's third-career postseason goal.
The play was made by forward Berglund, who waltzed up the ice into the offensive zone and then saucered a pass to Parayko.
At that point, the Blues had five goals in the series and three were scored by defensemen, including two from Joel Edmundson.
The Blues had 15 shots in first period and two posts, but led by the slim 1-0 margin.
The Blues' penalty-kill protected that lead in the second period, erasing back-to-back minors on Edmundson for cross-checking and roughing.
Allen was showing shades of Game 1, snapping two glove saves on Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin about 1 { apart in the period. Fans started chanting the goalie's name and rose to their feet.
But not long after the praise subsided, Minnesota got on the board and with an even-strength goal, no less.
A turnover by Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who opted for a lengthy pass up the middle of the ice on an exit, ended up on the stick of Suter.
Suter fed ahead to Zach Parise, who ripped off a shot that was denied by Allen. But Charlie Coyle flipped the rebound past him for a 1-1 score with 7:01 left in the period.
It was Minnesota's first goal scored by someone other than Parise _ who had one in game and another in Game 2 _ and it was the team's first 5-on-5 goal in the series.
The Wild caught the Blues, but had yet to lead in the series, a trend that would be kept intact.
After Minnesota got its first even-strength goal of the series but soon the Blues would pick up their first power-play goal of the series.
They failed on their first two tries Sunday, dropping them to zero for eight in the series. But Jaden Schwartz changed that, first being on the receiving end of the penalty that put the Blues on the power play and than scoring.
On a faceoff, Minnesota's Martin Hanzal got his stick up and caught Schwartz, sending him to the box. The Blues went on the man-advantage and kept the puck in the offensive zone the entire time, a stretch of 1:07, before Schwartz put the puck in.
Alexander Steen came around the net in wraparound fashion and then dished to Schwartz standing in front. In heavy traffic, he scored his second goal of the postseason, after picking up the clincher in Game 2.
The Blues led 2-1 with 4:41 remaining in the second period and that's all the scoring they would need. However, it took two more strong kills by the PK to preserve the lead, including one early in the third period.
The unit erased that holding penalty on Ivan Barbashev, improving to four for four Sunday and nine for nine on 5-on-4 power plays in the series. The Wild had a PP goal in Game 2, but it came 5-on-3.
Minnesota had one more chance to tie the score before it was over, but on a wraparound attempt, the Wild's Eric Staal stuffed the puck into the post himself. Allen hadn't made it across yet, so Staal would have knotted the game.
The Blues added the empty-netter from Steen and now have a chance to clinch on Wednesday.
