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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma wants his high-powered team to get used to playing tight-checking playoff hockey before the post-season begins next month. St. Louis doesnt need the lure of the playoffs as an excuse to get stingy. The space-eating Blues have been doing it all year, and it showed in a taut 1-0 road win on Sunday. Frustrating the NHLs best power play during a pivotal two-man disadvantage at the start of the second period, the Blues continued their mastery of the Eastern Conference by beating the Penguins the way theyve beaten so many teams this season. The room to manoeuvr that Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin usually enjoy disappeared as St. Louis clogged passing lanes and dictated play defensively. David Backes deflected a slap shot by Alexander Steen past Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the third period for the games only goal and Brian Elliott stopped 33 shots to pick up his fourth shutout of the season as the Blues moved three points clear of Chicago in the race for the best record in the Western Conference. "When youre 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," Elliott said. Fleury made 26 saves for the Penguins but watched Backes deflection carom off his glove and into the net just after a penalty against Malkin expired. "I just saw the guy raise his stick for the shot," Fleury said. "There were a bunch of people in front. I tried to cover some net but I didnt see it go in. St. Louis bounced back from a one-sided loss at Philadelphia on Saturday to improve the leagues best road record to 23-11-3. Pittsburghs top-ranked power play went 0-for-5 a day after scoring three times in a win over Tampa Bay. When Elliott wasnt getting a pad on the puck, his teammates were. The Blues blocked 25 shots, with the Penguins frustration growing at every turn as the Blues improved to 20-5-2 against the Eastern Conference, the best interconference record in the league. Pittsburgh had a 5-on-3 power play at the beginning of the second period for more than 90 seconds without being able to sneak something by Elliott. Most of the time the Penguins struggled generating a shot as the Blues effectively disrupted Pittsburghs rhythm. "We just kind of cleared lanes and I was able to see the ones they took," Elliott said. "Whenever guys are moving big guys out of the way, it just helps and you saw guys get in front of shots, block them and clear them down." Malkin was called for high-sticking 9:17 into the third and he was barely out of the box and back on the ice when Backes gave St. Louis the lead. The puck cycled to the point and Alexander Steen fired a slap shot that Backes found a way to nick as it sailed by. His 24th goal of the year proved more than enough. Elliott wobbled several times — including at least two saves where it appeared the puck was creeping to the goal line when the whistle blew — but didnt collapse. When the clock expired after one last clear up the zone, the game ended with the unusual sight of Malkin trying to mix it up with Alex Pietrangelo. Bylsma said coming into an important weekend he wanted his team to get used to playing tightly contested, low-scoring games. Pittsburgh survived one on Saturday, rallying for a 4-3 overtime win against the streaking Lightning that featured 40 minutes of clamp-down hockey and 22 minutes of frantic play. The Blues, who have positioned themselves into contenders in the West by sealing off the net, would not be lulled into the kind of end-to-end stretches that allow the Penguins to run free. "We still want to do a better job in these games and win them," Crosby said. "We have done a pretty good job of being patient when weve been in these kinds of games." At times, Bylsma wonders if his club was too patient, particularly in the first period. "The first 20 minutes we backed them off with speed," he said. "We had some opportunities and needed to have more of a drive and shoot mentality." NOTES: The Penguins played with seven defencemen instead of six, a move Bylsma said was needed in a game where he knew open ice would be at a premium. ... St. Louis plays in Toronto on Tuesday while the Penguins host Phoenix on Tuesday. Wholesale Adidas Superstar Cheap . "There are a lot of things that are going very well in this organization. Im not coming in here to rip things apart," Nicholson told reporters Friday. "I know what Hockey Canada was when I started, and I know where this (Oilers) organization is today. Cheap Adidas Superstar China . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. http://www.cheapadidassuperstar.us/ . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. Adidas Superstar Wholesale China . Yet heading to New York, the Habs remain positive as it all comes down to the one main ingredient that the organization has built its team on - character. Cheap Adidas Superstar . He had spent 16 days on the disabled list before being activated Thursday. He was batting just .203 when he came to bat in the 11th inning on Sunday. MIAMI -- LeBron James is dealing with a few aches and pains, which obviously is not the best news for the Miami Heat with two weeks left in the regular season. Come game time, though, nothing seems to be ailing him. Bringing the crowd out of its seats with a pair of highlight-reel dunks in the first half, then drilling a deep 3-pointer to end the third quarter, James was his typical effective self on Wednesday night. He led Miami with 17 points, and the Heat stayed atop the Eastern Conference with a wire-to-wire 96-77 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. "If I feel like I can give something, Ive got to be out there for my teammates," James said. "Its my obligation to be out there for them. Im dealing with a few things, but for me to sit out, I have to be dealing with a lot more." Chris Bosh scored 15 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat. "I like our effort," Bosh said. "We just have to take care of business and do what were supposed to do." Ramon Sessions scored 19 points for Milwaukee, which got 14 from Jeff Adrien, 11 from Brandon Knight and 10 from John Henson. Zaza Pachulia grabbed 16 rebounds in 26 minutes for the NBA-worst Bucks, who have now had 11 games this season in which they never led. "Getting down against a team like that is definitely tough because they continue to play hard," Knight said. "They dont let up and they dont make many mistakes. ... Credit to them but we didnt execute defensively and we didnt play hard enough." The Bucks fell to 14-61 with seven games remaining and are now only one loss away from tying the franchise record for most defeats in a season. "As we wind this thing down with seven games to go, the thing I want is see them compete," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "Were dealing with adverse times. This is really a good time to see what guys are truly made of." James said he doesnt currently plan on sitting out any of Miamis final eight games, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he probably wouldnt even think about any strategy to get him some rest for at least anotherr week -- a stance that cant come as a surprise, considering the East No.dddddddddddd. 1 seed is hardly secure. With the win, Miami (52-22, .703) remained percentage points ahead of Indiana (53-23, .697) in the East race. The Pacers beat Detroit 101-94 earlier Wednesday. "Its tempting to start to look ahead. Were only two weeks away," Spoelstra said. "But theres so much basketball left in these two weeks. And it is very compelling at this time of year, and we are trying to accomplish some things. So as guys start to get back into the lineup we want to take a step forward as a group. And theres a process to that." At some point, that process will presumably include getting Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Greg Oden back into the lineup. Wade missed his 23rd game of the season, his fourth straight with a hamstring problem. The Heat are 11-1 in the last 12 games that Wade has missed. Allen has been sidelined by a flu bug that struck his entire family, though hes nearing a return. Oden has been sidelined by back spasms, with Spoelstra saying hes also close to getting back. "Were sharpening our swords," Spoelstra said. Milwaukee opened the fourth quarter with six straight points, cutting Miamis lead to 14 and getting the Heat to call time-out. Whatever doubt existed at that point, if any, didnt last long. Norris Cole snapped Miamis scoreless drought with a beat-the-shot-clock 3-pointer as he was leaning to his right with 8:35 left, Rashard Lewis swished another 3 on the next Heat possession to restore the 20-point cushion, and that basically ensured James would remain in his warmups for the rest of the evening. NOTES: The Bucks led the Heat for a total of 2 minutes, 21 seconds this season -- in three games. ... Miamis Udonis Haslem earned a technical late in the half after a bit too much physicality with Adrien under the basket. Haslem also got his 1,500th career offensive rebound. ... The Heat moved to 30-6 at home, the seventh time in franchise history theyve won that many in Miami. ... Milwaukees O.J. Mayo missed the game with an ankle injury. 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