Blues 4, Devils 3: Vladimir Tarasenko scored another highlight-reel goal late in the first period and Jake Allen came within 3:25 of his third consecutive shutout as St. Louis won its seventh in a row by completing a sweep of its home-and-home series with visiting New Jersey.

Tarasenko's tally was his eighth in six games as he joined Jaden Schwartz with a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have won six of their last seven meetings with the Devils. Alex Steen and captain David Backes each recorded a power-play tally while Jori Lehtera notched an assist to extend his point streak to three games.

Allen, who made 13 of his 24 saves in the second period, saw his shutout streak end at 184 minutes, 5 seconds when Michael Ryder scored with 3:25 remaining in the third period. Backes answered 53 seconds later by deflecting defenseman Alex Pietrangelo's drive to restore the three-goal lead.

New Jersey wouldn't go quietly as defenseman Marek Zidlicky's turnaround shot from the point with 1:51 left trimmed St. Louis' lead to 4-2 and Ryder added his second tally exactly one minute later after receiving a brilliant feed from Jaromir Jagr. With the Devils pressing for the equalizer, Allen denied Travis Zajac's one-timer from the left faceoff circle in the waning moments.

Tarasenko continued his blistering stretch in scintillating fashion, weaving around New Jersey rookie defenseman Damon Severson before beating an outstretched Cory Schneider (22 saves) with five seconds remaining in the first period to open the scoring. After Schwartz doubled the advantage at 11:05 of the second, Steen redirected Lehtera's sharp centering feed at 7:10 of the third to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead and chase Schneider in favor of Keith Kinkaid, who made three saves but was saddled with the loss in his season debut.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Blues nearly drew first blood late in the first period, but officials disallowed D Ian Cole's potential goal and ruled that Lehtera made incidental contact with Schneider. ... St. Louis C Paul Stastny logged 15:37 of ice time in his return after an eight-game absence due to a shoulder injury. His father, Peter, was in attendance. ... New Jersey LW Ryane Clowe suffered an undisclosed injury in the first period and did not return. ... Devils C Adam Henrique sat out with a lower-body injury sustained during the 1-0 loss on Tuesday.