Pittsburgh,  PA  (SportsNetwork.com) -  Brian Elliott stopped  all 33 shots he 
faced  and  St. Louis turned  in a textbook defensive  effort in a 1-0 victory 
over Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Center. 

Elliott's  whitewash was  the  fourth of  the  season and  his  16th with  the 
franchise,  tying him with Hall of Fame netminder Glenn Hall for second on the 
club's all-time list. 

"I  saw a lot [of shots]. Obviously, the ones I didn't, the guys were blocking 
and made big sacrifices in front of me," Elliott said. "When you're in a tight 
game  like that against a good team, the guys kind of rose up to the challenge 
and  I tried  to make a couple saves  and get the rebounds out of the zone and 
they did the rest." 

David  Backes recorded  the  lone score  of  the contest  for  the Blues,  who 
recovered from losses in Chicago and Philadelphia to win for the ninth time in 
12 March outings. 

St.  Louis also  moved into a tie with  idle Boston for the most points in the 
NHL at 103. 

Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for the Penguins, who were blanked on home ice 
for the first time since a similar result against Colorado on Oct. 21. 

"We  had the  right mentality," noted Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen. "We 
knew  how  they were going to  play. We were ready  for it. I thought we did a 
pretty good job of doing what we wanted to. That's how it's going to be in the 
postseason.  Things are  going to be tight  and I thought we did a pretty good 
job today except for finding a goal." 

Shortly  after letting  a power-play  chance fall  by the  wayside, the Blues 
picked up the game's first goal. 

Evgeni  Malkin was in the box for a high stick, and had exited when Alex Steen 
fired  a rolling  puck from the point  which sailed through a screen set up by 
T.J. Oshie in the slot. The puck was tipped by Backes in front and caromed off 
Fleury's glove before settling into the net at 11:20 of the third period. 

"I  don't want  to  give you  all of  my  secrets, but  if  I was  in a  skill 
competition  with  those two  guys I'm  going to  lose 100  times out of 100," 
Backes said of besting Sidney Crosby and Malkin. 

Blues  defenseman Jay Bouwmeester tripped Malkin and was banished with 4:44 to 
play,  but Fleury needed  to make two stops and the Blues formed a wall around 
Elliott for the duration. 

Fleury  went to the bench for an extra skater with 1:20 left, but James Neal's 
shot from the right side with 16.3 seconds left was Pittsburgh's best and last 
chance. 

Despite  a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Penguins enjoyed 1:38 of a 5-on-3 
advantage bridging the first and second periods after Oshie and Jaden Schwartz 
were whistled for infractions 22 seconds apart. 

"It  would have  been nice to get  one on the power play," Pens captain Crosby 
said  of his  club going 0-for-5 one day after converting 3-of-6 against Tampa 
Bay.  "Obviously that's  the big  story  here. We  battled and  didn't find  a 
way to score." 

St. Louis closed ranks, though, and allowed a few shots on goal which were not 
quality chances. 

The  hosts failed to click on two more power plays and the Blues on their lone 
advantage to maintain the deadlock. 

Elliott halted 23 shots and Fleury was good on 18 chances heading to the final 
period. 

                                   Game Notes 

St.  Louis has  won four of its  last six games in Pittsburgh since January of 
2002,  and  has taken  both meetings against  the Pens in  their new arena ... 
Blues  forward Derek Roy was scratched with a lower-body injury ... Fleury has 
been  stuck on  34 wins since blanking  the Capitals on March 11 ... St. Louis 
upped its record against Eastern Conference foes to 20-5-1 ... Backes recorded 
his 156th goal for the Blues, tying him with Brendan Shanahan for ninth on the 
club's all-time list.