PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Flyers have gone from a team fighting for a playoff spot to one of the NHLs most dangerous contenders. Scott Hartnell and Brayden Schenn both scored in the second period, and the Flyers rallied to beat the Western Conference-leading St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday for their fifth straight win. Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds added goals in the third period, and Steve Mason made 32 saves to help Philadelphia improve to 12-2-1 in its last 15 games and maintain its hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. "I think we showed the league we can play with everyone and we can beat everybody," Voracek said. "Its going to give us some more confidence." The Blues clinched a playoff berth despite the loss, the first Western Conference team to do so, as a result of Phoenixs 4-2 loss to Boston later Saturday. St. Louis Jaden Schwartz opened the scoring 6:23 into the game, finishing a 2-on-1, short-handed opportunity after taking a feed from Kevin Shattenkirk. Schwartzs wrist shot from close range went under Masons glove. The Blues again missed a chance to secure a playoff spot. One point would have made St. Louis the first Western club to qualify for the post-season. Ryan Miller made only 15 saves and lost for the second time since being acquired by the Blues from Buffalo on Feb. 28. Miller was beaten 4-0 by Chicago on Wednesday in a game in which he was pulled after allowing four goals on 27 shots. He is 7-2-1 with St. Louis. The Blues went 0-for-7 on the power play. "Our level of determination in the offensive zone isnt what its going to need to be to beat great goaltending," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Were going to have to find a way to get to a much higher level of compete in the offensive zone." The Flyers dominated the second period when they erased a 1-0 deficit. Hartnell tied it 57 seconds in when he finished from right in front of the crease after a cross-ice pass from Voracek. Miller appeared to try to stop the pass and was caught slightly out of position. Hartnell fired a wrister high into the open side of the net. Schenn put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 when he scored off a rebound with 6:36 left in the period. Simmonds took the initial shot after receiving a pass from Schenn. The rebound went right to Schenn, who put a backhander high over the sprawling goalie. "(Simmonds) hit me in a good spot trying to go through my arm, and it pops up (to Schenn)," Miller said. Mason preserved Philadelphias one-goal lead with a pair of strong saves on Derek Roy with nine minutes remaining during a power play. Schwartz took the initial shot, and the rebound went to Roy, who was stopped by Masons pads on his first attempt and the goalies glove on the second. "I was able to reach back and keep swatting at it," Mason said. "Saves that needed to be made." Voracek provided a cushion when he beat Miller high to the stick side with 4:19 left. Hartnell stole the puck along the boards, fed it into the right circle to Claude Giroux, who passed it the open Voracek. "Were really playing like a team right now and thats why were successful. It really is," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Were coming. Our team is getting to where we need to get to to be successful." Simmonds sealed Philadelphias latest win when he scored into an empty net with 2:54 remaining. "Were proving were a good hockey team," Mason said. "Were beating the teams that, come playoff time, youre going to have go through to get to the ultimate goal." Flyers winger Steve Downie was lost for the game with an upper-body injury after a collision with St. Louis Patrik Berglund early in the game. Downie had his head turned when he skated into Berglund near the boards at centre ice. Downie missed four games this season after sustaining a concussion during a fight on Nov. 2. The Flyers said he would be re-evaluated on Sunday. Giroux had four of Philadelphias 10 penalties. His eight penalty minutes matched one-quarter of the total (32) he had this season before Saturday. NOTES: St. Louis LW Magnus Paajarvi returned after missing three games because of an upper-body injury. The Blues remained without D Jordan Leopold (ankle) and RW Vladimir Tarasenko (hand). ... It was the first meeting between the teams since Oct. 22, 2011, when the Blues won 4-2 in Philadelphia. They will meet again on April 1 in St. Louis. ... After playing with a plain white mask in his first nine games with St. Louis, Miller unveiled a music-themed mask on Saturday. ... Blues RW T.J. Oshie, who entered with a team-best 54 points, went to the locker room with 11 minutes remaining after blocking a slap shot from Simmonds but later returned. . The Flyers announced after the game that LW Michael Raffl signed a multiyear contract extension. Stan Smith España Baratas . On the eve of the 2013-14 NBA season, he can finally take a step back and allow his team to do the talking. Stan Smith Baratas Online . Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke. http://www.stansmithbaratas.es/. Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Stan Smith Rebajas .C. -- Ryan Sproul scored the winner late in double overtime to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Friday in Game 1 of their American Hockey League playoff series. Comprar Stan Smith Baratas . The Oilers have been shut out in three straight home games and are in last place in the Western Conference with a 4-14-2 record. "Things have obviously not gone as well as I would have thought probable.ST. LOUIS - It didnt take Tony Cruz long to consider all of his home runs and rank his latest. Hes only had three in his 100-game career and the first two came on the road. Cruz hit a three-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals connected three times, beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 on Saturday night and moving closer to their fourth straight playoff berth. "It was a really good feeling," said Cruz, who also had the first curtain call of his career. "The first one of the year is always a really good feeling and my first one at home. You know you hear the crowd. Its amazing." Milwaukee beat second-place Pittsburgh 1-0 on Saturday to give the St. Louis a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals cut their magic number to one for clinching a post-season berth, and five for their second NL Central title in a row. Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk also homered as St. Louis won for the seventh time in eight games. The Cardinals have hit five homers in the past two games, but have just 104 for the season — among the lowest total in the majors. Their lack of power has provided an ongoing issue manager Mike Matheny has had to address. "I like the home runs," Matheny said in his postgame interview. "You guys always accuse me of not liking them, but especially those three-runners that Tony did. We know we have the kind of team that can do that and its nice to see them." Cincinnatis four runs were as many as it scored in the previous five games. The Reds have lost six in row and has been outscored 30-8 in that stretch. They are 20-40 since the All-Star break. "Youre seeing us having to go out there and really struggle so mightily to try to find a way to win a ball game," manager Bryan Price said. "Certainly nobodys enjoying this current portion of our schedule. The way weve played for the last 60 games has been miserable." Jason Motte (1-0) needed just three pitches and one out to earn the win. He came in relief of starter Michael Wacha and got Todd Frazier to foul out to right. Wacha didnt qualify forr the win because he lasted just 4 2-3 innings.dddddddddddd He was seeking his first win since June 17 before going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Wacha gave up two runs and six hits on 78 pitches, the most since returning at the start of the month. "I felt a lot better, today," he said. "More secondary stuff was working for me. My command was a little bit better. I felt it was a step in the right direction." Mike Leake (11-13) allowed six runs in five innings. He also walked two and hit a batter, all of whom scored. He gave up two homers and has surrendered 22 this season. Cruz hit his first homer in more than a year, connecting in the second. His last home run was Aug. 4, 2013, at Cincinnati. Wong hit his 12th, a two-run shot in the third. Grichuck added a pinch-hit homer in the sixth — it was his third of the season and his second in two nights. Grichuck later added an RBI bloop double. Zack Cozart homered for the Reds and Kris Negron doubled twice. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams and 3B Matt Carpenter both were out of the starting lineup with a stomach virus. Matheny said they were "quarantined," though it wasnt clear if they were at Busch Stadium and available or sent home. ... Star C Yadier Molina got his first start of the season. Reds: C Devin Mesoraco was pulled in the sixth inning because of a stomach bug. Price said Mesoraco could have continued but the manager didnt think it was worth it. UP NEXT Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon (14-10, 3.35) has given up five hits in seven innings during each of his past two starts, including in a 4-2 win against St. Louis on Sept. 10. The Cardinals have batted .228 in 101 at-bats against Simon over 22 2-3 innings. Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (15-9, 2.68) has given up two runs over his past 15 innings and went 0-1 in those games, including a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 11. He has a 2.00 ERA this month over four starts and goes after his fourth win against the Reds. He is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four games against them division rivals this season. ' ' '