ST. LOUIS -- Vladimir Tarasenko was never worried.The right wing simply took the St. Louis Blues early season offensive woes in stride.I heard the words that everyone was saying our offense was not so good, Tarasenko said. But, we believed in each other and we believed in our game.That patience has paid off of late.Tarasenko scored three goals and Kevin Shattenkirk added two to lead the Blues to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.The Blues have won three in a row and six straight at home.Tampa Bay lost its season-high fourth consecutive game.Jake Allen made 22 saves in improving to 12-3-3.St. Louis has scored three goals or more in each of its last nine games after an earlier string of six successive games with one goal or less.Weve been simplifying things and getting a lot of chances, Shattenkirk said. Everything is just kind of going our way.Tarasenko, who leads the team with 13 goals, recorded his fourth career hat trick. He scored twice in the games opening 9:37 to stake his team to a 2-0 lead.His early game outburst set the tone for the rest of the contest.We shot the puck at the right times, people were in position, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. It was great to see.Tarasenko, known for his speed and puck-handling skills, scored his second goal on a rare one-timer off a perfect pass from Alexander Steen, who added three assists in his return after missing six games with a shoulder injury.The soft-spoken, Russian-born Tarasenko has nine goals and eight assists in his last 13 games.Its good to see him playing like this, Steen said. Hes been lethal for us. His hat trick goal was big, a timely goal.Shattenkirk, who also had two assists, added two power-play goals, the second coming just 1:44 into second period for a 4-1 lead.Cedric Paquette scored twice for the Lightning, who have been outscored 19-9 during the four-game skid.Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson also scored for Tampa Bay. Paquettes second goal trimmed the deficit to 5-4 with 8:02 remaining in the third period.I thought we deserved points, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. Im not going to sit here and say we deserved to win the game. But we definitely deserved points.St. Louis has won its last five at home against the Lightning, who last won in St. Louis on Dec. 18, 2009.The Blues are 9-0-2 in their last 11 home games.Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 16 shots and was replaced by St. Louis native Ben Bishop early in the second period.I thought we gave it an honest effort, Paquette said. It was a pretty good game. But (to lose), its disappointing.Game notes The Lightning recalled RW Joel Vermin and LW Michael Bournival from Syracuse of the AHL. ... St. Louis leads the overall series with Tampa Bay 21-11-3. ... Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman returned to the lineup after missing nine games due to an upper body injury. ... Blues LW David Perron had a career-best eight-game point streak snapped. ... Bishop did not start in back-to-back games for the first time this season. ... St. Louis C Paul Stastny played in his 700th NHL game.UP NEXT:Lightning: Return home after three-game trip to host Washington on Saturday.Blues: Host Winnipeg on Saturday in the fourth of five straight games at home. Cheap Football Jerseys . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Wholesale Cheap Jerseys . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. http://www.wholesalejerseyschinanflcheap.com/ . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Wholesale Basketbal Jerseys 2018 . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- In case it wasnt clear three years ago, its obvious now: Florida State essentially played with an NFL team en route to the 2013 national championship.Nineteen of the teams 24 starters, including punter and place-kicker, are currently on NFL rosters.Five of those 19, including Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston and Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey, spent the past two days sharing the same practice field. So it was a reunion of sorts for the former Seminoles.Its kind of like a dream come true, Winston said Thursday. When youre playing against guys in college, you never know if youre going to get an opportunity to play against them in the league, especially to have another practice with them.The Seminoles went 14-0 that season, culminating with a 34-31 victory against Auburn in the Rose Bowl.Winston, who completed 67 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards and 40 touchdowns as a sophomore that season, was the star. His supporting cast was somewhat overshadowed, although Ramsey, guard Cameron Erving (Cleveland) and receiver Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina) became first-round draft picks.Defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. (Oakland), defensive tackle Eddie Goldman (Chicago), safety Lamarcus Joyner (Los Angeles), defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan (Baltimore), cornerback Ronald Darby (Buffalo) and kicker Roberto Aguayo (Tampa Bay) were second-rounders.Maybe the biggest testament to Florida States talent and depth that season: Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith, Jaguars receiver Rashad Greene and Bills running back Karlos Williams were fifth-rounders and key contributors as rookies. Same goes for fourth-round picks Devonta Freeman (Atlanta), Bryan Stork (New England) and Tre Jackson (New EEngland).ddddddddddddguayo, Smith and Greene were part of the makeshift FSU homecoming in Jacksonville.Us being here and seeing each other on different sides of the ball or on the sidelines, it just shows that hard work pays off, Smith said. All that work that we put in in college days, it transferred over to now. I love those guys. Obviously, I spent four years with them and college changes you. We grew up together so those are going to be my brothers for life.Its impossible to truly compare rosters from team to team, era to era, but theres little doubt that Florida States 2013 team belongs in the same conversation as somewhat recent heavyweights and fellow national champions Nebraska (1995), Miami (2001) and USC (2005). All three of those juggernauts had big-time talent that had success at the next level.We raised the standard, Smith said. Thats what the standard is now. Its not all about having the players. You definitely got to have the discipline. Youve got to have the will to want to do it.And then youve got to have that work ethic behind it. You put those things together and youre going to get a championship. ... We definitely had a heck of a team out there. Blessed to be on the field with a lot of those guys.And they remain close off the field, evidenced by all the hugs they shared before, during and after the two joint practices Wednesday and Thursday.Were a family, Winston said. It doesnt matter where they are, Im gonna be there for them and theyre gonna be there for me.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '