RALEIGH, N.C. -- The St. Louis Blues want to go into the postseason the right way and they took another step toward that Saturday night.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the fourth round of the shootout as the Blues defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 at PNC Arena.

"It has been playoff hockey for quite a while here," Blues right winger Ryan Reaves said. "You want to fight as hard as you can to get as high as you can."

By advancing to overtime, the Blues clinched third place in the Central Division and after one more game in the regular season open the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild.

"That was something we set our sights on, and it's really pretty impressive of our group," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "The last couple of months has been quite a run."

Carolina's Lee Stempniak began the shootout by converting before Patrik Berglund evened the count for the Blues.

It was an emotional home finale for the Hurricanes, who play Sunday at Philadelphia in the last game before left winger Bryan Bickell retires. He's battling multiple sclerosis.

"They were playing with a whole lot of emotion," St. Louis right winger Scott Upshall said.

Ivan Barbashev, Alexander Steen, Reaves and Upshall scored in regulation for the Blues, who have points in 11 of their last 12 games.

Jeff Skinner posted two goals, while Klas Dahlbeck and Joakim Nordstrom also scored for Carolina, which lost its fifth game in a row.

Carolina goaltender Cam Ward stopped 35 shots while St. Louis's Carter Hutton made 34 saves.

Bickell played his third game of the week since returning to the NHL for the first time since the end of October. He said his playing career will end this weekend.

"For me to be back here was a huge step," he said.

The Hurricanes paid tribute to Bickell's situation and played their best game of the past week.

"I thought it was a good game," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "It was good to return to our identity. I'd love to go out and play the right way."

Upshall put the Blues ahead with a short-handed goal 2:03 into the third period.

Skinner answered with his second goal of the game with 10:46 remaining.

"We've caught a lot of teams hungry to prove something," Reaves said.

The Blues pulled even at 3-3 when Reaves was credited with a goal in transition with 54 seconds to play in the second period.

Barbashev scored for the third time in the past month to open the scoring 26 seconds into the game. Dahlbeck answered 8:44 later with his second goal of the season and first since Nov. 8 at New Jersey.

Skinner's team-leading 36th goal of the season came with 29 seconds left in the first period.

Steen's tying goal came at 5:19 of the second period. His blast from inside the blue line came with seven seconds remaining on a power play.

Nordstrom's go-ahead goal came with 5:49 remaining in the second period. Victor Rask's pass went to Sergey Tolchinsky, who delivered a pass to Nordstrom. He scored for the second time in the last 14 games.

NOTES: With special permission from the NHL, Carolina players wore "29" on their helmets to honor LW Bryan Bickell, who returned earlier in the week as he battles multiple sclerosis. ... Despite rejoining the St. Louis organization again this week, C Vladimir Sobotka was a healthy scratch Saturday, which was when he would have been eligible to play for the first time this season. ... The Hurricanes finished 23-12-6 on home ice, though they were shut out in each of the past two home games. Carolina reached the 50-point mark at home for the first time since the 2008-09 season. ... The Hurricanes called up LW Sergey Tolchinsky for his first NHL game of the season. ... St. Louis closes the regular season Sunday at home against Colorado. ... The Hurricanes end the season Sunday at Philadelphia.