SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Needing a win -- any kind of win -- to avoid a deep hole in their first-round playoff series, the St. Louis Blues acted decisively Wednesday night.

St. Louis quieted the crowd with an early lead and survived the Minnesota Wild's brief rally, winning 6-1 and knotting the best-of-seven Western Conference series at 2-2.

Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice. Fellow right wingers Ryan Reaves and David Backes as well as centers Paul Stastny and Patrik Berglund all scored single goals for the Blues, who led 3-0 barely halfway through the first period.

St. Louis goalie Jake Allen had 17 saves as the Blues recaptured home ice advantage in the series. Game 5 will be played Friday night in St. Louis.

Defenseman Jared Spurgeon scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which looked tentative early and sustained its most lopsided playoff loss.

Uneven play by the home team, and some opportunistic play by the Blues, made it a rough night for Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk. He allowed four goals on the Blues' first dozen shots and finished with just 11 saves on 17 shots. Backup goalie Darcy Kuemper came on with 3:10 left in the second period, and he stopped all nine shots he faced.

The Blues snapped a streak of nine consecutive playoff road losses by earning their first postseason win away from home since 2012.

In Game 2, the Blues needed 20 minutes to get their first four shots on goal. They did that in four minutes Wednesday, and their fifth shot went in when Reaves took a hard shot on the ice from the blue line that fooled Dubnyk, giving St. Louis a quick 1-0 lead.

It was 2-0 just 85 seconds later when Tarasenko tipped a long shot by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk into the upper corner of the net, over Dubnyk's right shoulder. It was the first of Shattenkirk's three assists.

Minnesota killed off the game's first power play, only to see Backes make it 3-0 when the first period was barely half over. Another long-range shot by Shattenkirk was blocked by Dubnyk at the top of the crease. The goalie dropped to his knees in an attempt to smother the shot, but Backes crashed to the net and poked the puck free, slipping it over the goal line for his first goal of the series.

The Wild began the second period on a power play, and finally gave their crowd a reason to erupt when Spurgeon caught a pass from right winger Nino Niederreiter and hit the upper left corner of the net, making it 3-1.

But the home crowd's euphoria was short-lived, as Stastny scored his first goal of the playoffs less than two minutes later, beating Dubnyk between the skates and re-establishing a three-goal lead.

Tarasenko and Berglund both scored before the second period was done, chasing Dubnyk from the net. It was a rare off night for the Minnesota goalie, who turned the team's season around in mid-January when he was acquired in a trade with Arizona. He went 27-9-2 in 39 regular season starts for the Wild, and shut out the Blues in Game 3.

NOTES: Performing the traditional "Let's Play Hockey" announcement prior to Wednesday's game was Minnesota State University, Mankato, head coach Mike Hastings. His team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for several weeks during the regular season, before being upset in the NCAA playoffs. ... The 12 minutes of penalties assessed to Blues C Steve Ott in Game 2 tied his playoff career high. ... This is the ninth playoff series in Wild history, but only the second time they have held a 2-1 series lead. In 2008 Minnesota won two of the first three in a first-round series with Colorado, but the Avalanche won the series' final three games. ... Blues coach Ken Hitchcock dressed LW Chris Porter for Wednesday's game after Porter was a healthy scratch in the first three games of the series. "Speed, hard on the forecheck, good puck-protection guy," Hitchcock said of Porter after Wednesday's team skate. "