ST. LOUIS -- Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk remembers where he was at this time last year.

"I was the C squad goalie in Montreal," he said.

He's now the prime reason that Minnesota is one win from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.

Stopping 36 shots, including all 19 he faced in the third period, Dubnyk helped Minnesota take a 3-2 lead in its quarterfinal series with a 4-1 decision over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at the sold-out Scottrade Center.

After a disastrous Game 4, in which he yielded six goals on 17 shots in St. Louis' 6-1 rout, Dubnyk was back to playing the role of a 6-foot-6 wall. Other than right winger Vladimir Tarasenko's power-play goal at 8:04 of the first period, Dubnyk was unbeatable.

That included two stops on prime scoring chances in the second period by left winger Alexander Steen, and three rapid-fire saves during the Blues' desperate power play late in the third period.

"I knew he would respond," Wild center Charlie Coyle said of Dubnyk. "This is nothing new for us. Seeing him play like that gets us going. You want to help him out."

It took about 10 minutes for Dubnyk's teammates to offer a bit of aid. Continuing its Game 4 domination, St. Louis fired the first eight shots on net and Minnesota had problems even gaining its offensive zone.

"We needed him to give us a chance to settle into the game a bit," Wild coach Mike Yeo said of Dubnyk.

Minnesota started turning momentum on its first shot. Streaking down the left wing, defenseman Marco Scandella blistered a slapper that clanked off the glove of goalie Jake Allen and flopped into the net at 11:06 to tie the score.

It was the beginning of Allen's least effective game in the series. The rookie, who entered with a .935 save percentage, allowed four goals on 19 shots, although he got little help from his defense when the Wild seized control late in the second period.

Right winger Nino Niederreiter had all kinds of time to set up in the high slot and tee up a snapper at 14:56, breaking a 1-1 tie. Center Mikko Koivu made it 3-1 86 seconds later on the power play as his shot from a bad angle appeared to strike the skate of defenseman Jay Bouwmeester before finding the net's backside.

That basically decided the game, even though the Blues spent most of the third period in their offensive zone. One of Minnesota's few counterattacks resulted in Coyle's insurance goal at 14:50, sending most of the audience of 19,653 for the exits.

"We did so many good things today," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I thought our first period, until they scored, was the best we've played this entire series. But we hit a bit of a lull. I felt like we've played really well the last two games."

But the Blues have to do more than play really well Sunday in St. Paul if they're to force Game 7 on Wednesday night. A third straight first-round exit looms otherwise, which could spell major changes for a franchise that has won 103 games the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Dubnyk and the Wild would rather not make another trip to St. Louis until next season.

"We have to treat that game like it's our Game 7," Dubnyk said of Sunday's encounter.

NOTES: St. Louis C Jori Lehtera was sidelined for Game 5 after being struck by a shot from D Jay Bouwmeester in the third period of Wednesday night's 6-1 win. ... Minnesota scratched LW Sean Bergenheim, a late February acquisition from Florida, and replaced him with veteran LW Matt Cooke. ... Wild G Devan Dubnyk Friday was named as one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, given to the NHL's top goalie. Other finalists are Montreal's Carey Price, considered the favorite, and Nashville's Pekka Rinne. ... Blues G Jake Allen on Wednesday became the franchise's first rookie netminder to win a road playoff game since Curtis Joseph beat Toronto on April 8,