Backes scores 4 goals, Blues beat Red Wings

David Backes scored a career-high four goals, including the go-ahead score with 4:07 left, in the surging St. Louis Blues' 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

Andy McDonald also scored, and Chris Mason made 34 saves to help the Blues jump from ninth to seventh in the Western Conference playoff race. The Blues are a point ahead of Nashville and Anaheim, with Anaheim facing Vancouver later Thursday night.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall each had a goal and two assists, and Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen added a goal and an assist apiece for Detroit, which lost its third straight and fourth in five games. Ty Conklin stopped 28 shots.