ST. LOUIS -- All it took for Brian Elliott to regain his form was a simple two-game trip to the minors in late March. Elliott continued to sizzle in the nets on Friday night, making 21 saves to help the St. Louis Blues to their ninth win in the last 11 games with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Ryan Reaves and Chris Stewart scored for the Blues, who are in sixth in the Western Conference with 54 points -- one behind Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Jose, who are tied for third. Antoine Roussel scored for Dallas, which came in with six victories in its last seven games. The Stars are tied with Detroit for ninth place in the West with 47 points, two behind Columbus, which holds the final playoff spot. Elliott, who recorded his league-leading eighth triumph in April, won for the sixth time in his last seven games and improved to 8-1 with a 1.01 goals against average and a .960 save percentage since a two-game stint with Peoria of the AHL. "That seems so in the past," Elliott said. "Right now, Im just happy to look forward." Elliott has been virtually unbeatable since the short conditioning trip, which came after he sat out 10 consecutive games following a rough stretch. "Its not really about me, but the guys in front of me," Elliott said. "Theyre the ones doing a great job. Theyre blocking shots and doing what it takes to get the Ws." The Blues scored only seven goals in their previous seven games but posted a 5-2 mark thanks to the play of Elliott, who stopped 74 of 77 shots in winning three 2-1 games over the last four days. Elliott (11-7-1) has not allowed a goal in 17 of his last 22 periods. Elliott struggled in early March giving up a total of five goals on 35 shots in games against Dallas and Los Angeles. But he has bounced back at the right time. "I had confidence in him all year," Reaves said. "He hit a rough part, but every hockey player goes through that. Hes bounced back unbelievably for us and hes going to keep doing it." St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock eventually knew that Elliott would regain his form of last season, when he led the NHL in goals against average (1.56) and save percentage (.940). "For someone to swallow their pride and go down and get your game organized, thats a great story," Hitchcock said. "To me, its like a baseball pitcher going down to Triple-A, finding it, and then returning to have a heck of a season." St. Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first two periods and then rode Elliott down the stretch. He stopped nine of 10 shots in the final period. Stewart broke a seven-game drought on the power play midway through the first period, flicking in the rebound of a shot by Alex Pietrangelo. St. Louis had failed in its previous 18 power-play attempts. Reaves pushed the lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the season in the second period. He converted from close range off a rebound of a shot by Chris Porter. Reeves, who is primarily known for his aggressive play, has seven goals in 127 career games. "Usually Im into the physical aspect trying to get the crowd and the boys into it." Reaves said. "When I can get a goal and do something like this, its a great feeling." Roussel brought the Stars to 2-1 at 4:37 of the third period when he tipped in a shot by Stephane Robidas. Elliott, who won five in a row earlier in the month, made a pair of key saves in the final eight minutes. Kari Lehtonen, making his second start since missing three games with a groin injury, stopped 18 shots for the Stars, who had scored 27 goals in their previous seven games. The Stars remain in the playoff chase with four games left. "We just have to keep battling and play well the next game," Lehtonen said. "Were still in this - we just have to play a little better." The Stars put pressure on in the third period after six shots each in the first two periods. "I thought we played hard," Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We made a big push in the third to get some offence against a stingy team. We just fell a little short." The highlight of the night for both teams may have come in the second period when news of the capture of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing was announced to the sellout crowd. The bulletin was followed by chants of "USA! USA!" "I was almost going to cheer, too," Roussel said. "That was great from the crowd. It was tough for Boston. And we dont want that to happen to anybody." Notes: Dallas RW Alex Chiasson and LW Lane MacDermid missed the game with upper-body injuries. Both are day-to-day. ... Blues coach Ken Hitchcock spent parts of seven seasons with the Stars, guiding them to five straight 100-point campaigns from 1996-2001. ... The Stars last reached the playoffs in 2007-2008. ... Blues G Jaroslav Halak missed the last 10 games with a groin injury. cheap nfl jerseys .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have signed two free-agent forwards, Mark Mancari and Kevin Porter, and re-signed minor league goalie David Leggio each to one-year contracts. wholesale nfl jerseys . Quebecor president Pierre Karl Peladeau stressed at a wide-ranging news conference that he will continue trying to bring an NHL team back to the city, once home to the Quebec Nordiques. He promised Tuesday to develop amicable ties with the league and lobby discreetly -- an oblique reference, perhaps, to the leagues long-running feud with billionaire businessman Jim Balsillie, who has loudly campaigned for another Canadian team. http://www.jerseysnflwholesale.us.com/ . The Nets got in some practice time and Johnsons staff looked over recent game film, adding some new plays to an offence that has struggled this season. jerseys from china . The right-hander was traded from Milwaukee to New York for cash on Wednesday, two days after the Brewers designated him for assignment. nfl jerseys china . Home opener. Packed park. New managers Coors Field debut. Francis wanted this day to be memorable. So, he made sure it was.DETROIT -- George Postolos is leaving the Houston Astros, despite what he insists are better days ahead for the struggling team. "I know its going to be successful," he said. "Thats tough to step away from that." Postolos resigned as president and CEO of the Astros on Monday, returning to sports consulting work in the midst of what looks like it could be the teams third consecutive season of at least 100 losses. Postolos worked for seven years with Houston businessman Jim Crane to buy a sports franchise and it wound up being the Astros. He had been Astros president and CEO since November 2011. "I am very proud of what Jim accomplished with my help -- acquiring a major league franchise with a strong and diverse ownership group, developing and implementing a good plan for the teams future, and assembling a first-rate management team," Postolos said in a statement. "I look forward to helping other investors pursue their objectives in sports knowing that Jim and the Astros organization are off to a great start and well positioned for future success." In a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press, he said the decision to leave was his. "Its one of those things, where theres no perfect time to leave," he said. "But its a good time because a lot of the key pieces are in place." The successes have been rare of late for Houston. The Astros entered Monday nights game in Detroit at 10-28, the worst record in the major leagues, and Houston batters had struck out a big league-high 381 times. The Astros lost 107 games last year and 106 in 2011. Houston is trying to avoid becoming the first team since the expansion New York Mets in the 1960s to lose 106 or more games in three straight seasons. The Astros are making the transition from the National League to the AL West, one of the toughest divisions in baseball. Houstons attendance plummeted to an NL-worst 1.6 million last season, and the lack of major moves didnt create much preseason buzz.dddddddddddd Houstons opening-day payroll was a big league-low $27.2 million, including $21.6 million for active players and those on the disabled list. Alex Rodriguez will make more than that this year ($29 million) all by himself, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press. The Astros reached the World Series for the first time in franchise history not long ago, in 2005, but it was late in the careers of stars like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. With management rebuilding with youth and a new manager in Bo Porter, there will be no quick fixes. Even for a team in transition, the timing of Postolos departure caught Porter off guard. "I was shocked, just because I found out the same time everybody else found out," Porter said. "I got to the ballpark, and the information was dropped on me. Obviously its completely out of my jurisdiction. I dont even know what happened and what led to his resignation." Postolos will be returning to his consulting practice advising investors on acquisitions and strategy in major league sports. "I look at the sports-acquisition marketplace. Its very robust," Postolos said. "For someone like me, who has experience in that marketplace, its an interesting time." The team credited him with leading several changes within the organization, including an overall rebranding of the team with new uniforms, colours and logos, and tweaks to the marketing and foundation departments. He also emphasized the importance of engaging with fans. "We appreciate Georges hard work in the acquisition of the Astros and his commitment to the organization," Crane said. "Id also like to personally thank him for the assistance that he has provided to me over the last several years and wish him the best of luck." cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '