Round 1 goes to the Blues

It had the nasty edge everyone has come to expect from any turf war between two gangs in the National Hockey League's toughest neighbourhood.

There were the usual stick jabs and pushing and shoving before and after every whistle, followed by the expected string of insults not suitable for a family publication. Give round 1 in this Central Division slugfest to the St. Louis Blues, who crashed and banged and were more efficient around the net in a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in front of 15,294 in a Sunday matinee at the MTS Centre.