NHL-Highlights of Thursday's NHL playoff games

(Adds late games) April 17 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Thursday's National Hockey League playoff games - - Blues 4, Blackhawks 3 (3OT) Left winger Alexander Steen scored 26 seconds into the third overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in game one of their first-round playoff series. The Blues won the face off to start the period and sent the puck into the Chicago zone, where Steen was able to knock it past Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford. The game was the longest played by the Blues, breaking their previous mark of 37:07 in overtime set at Detroit in 1984. The Blues sent the game to overtime by rallying from a 3-2 deficit on left winger Jaden Schwartz's first career playoff goal with 1:45 left in the third period when he slipped a backhand shot past Crawford. - - Rangers 4, Flyers 1 The New York Rangers scored three third-period goals, to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in the opening game of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series at Madison Square Garden. Brad Richards, Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin scored in the third-period, with Richards scoring on a snap shot at 8:22 to snap a 1-1 tie and was followed just 47 seconds later when Stepan struck for a 3-1 Rangers lead. Both goals were scored on the same power play after Flyers' right winger Jason Akeson received a double-minor penalty for high sticking Hagelin. Right winger Martin St. Louis assisted on both goals, giving him 70 career playoff points. - - Avalanche 5, Wild 4 (OT) Center Paul Stastny scored at 7:27 in overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in Game One of their Western Conference quarter-final series. Stastny took a pass from rookie center Nathan Mackinnon and beat goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead in the series. The Avalanche trailed 4-3 in the closing stages of regulation but snatched an equalizer with 13.4 seconds remaining through Stastny after pulling goaltender Semyon Varlamov for an extra skater with 3:01 on the clock. Defenseman Tyson Barrie's shot bounced to Stastny on the right side and he beat goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to tie it up. - - - Sharks 6, Kings 3 The San Jose Sharks scored five times during a blistering first two periods to beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 in the opener of their first-round playoff series. Forwards Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Raffi Torres and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns scored, chasing Los Angeles goalie and playoff nemesis Jonathan Quick in the process. The Kings scored twice in the first seven minutes of the final period and once more late to make the final score respectable. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 31 shots during the win. (Compiled by Ben Everill)