The AssociatedPress

ST. LOUIS -- Blues forward Keith Tkachuk will be sidelined at least one game, with hopes the severity of a wrist injury won't keep the team's leading goal scorer off the ice longer.

Tkachuk, with 30 goals this season, left Thursday's road game at Vancouver with the injury after a big open-ice hit from the Canucks' Brad May. X-rays later showed no fracture on the right wrist, which was swollen.

Tkachuk, 30, was to accompany the team Friday to Nashville, where the Blues play the Predators tonight, but returned immediately to St. Louis to have the wrist re-examined by team doctors, Blues spokesman Frank Buonomo said.

Tkachuk was to have another X-ray and an MRI late Friday night or today, after which his playing status would become clearer and be announced, Buonomo said.

Tkachuk scored his 30th goal this season Thursday night against the Canucks before leaving the game -- holding his right arm close to his body -- after the hit by May, who was playing his first game with Vancouver since being reacquired Tuesday from Phoenix.

May came flying up the ice in the first period and caught Tkachuk shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the net. Tkachuk had passed the puck one stride earlier and still had his head down.

No penalty was called, but St. Louis' Bryce Salvador came in immediately to fight May.

After both teams skated to a 4-4 tie, Blues coach Joel Quenneville accused May of "a late hit, it was a high hit and Tkachuk didn't have the puck, so it was a dangerous hit."

"I wasn't looking for anything," countered May, who played a season with Tkachuk in Phoenix. "It just presented itself, and I just want to say it again, you never want to hurt a guy. You want to hit; you want to be physical; you want to knock guys down. You don't want to hurt anybody, but that's part of the game."

After the game, Tkachuk was spotted in the Blues' locker room wearing a bandage, but he refused comment.

"It's puffy and swollen, but the X-rays were negative in his wrist," Quenneville said then. "We're encouraged there's no fracture, but obviously there's some issue with wrist injuries, so we'll have to see. It's too premature to give you any indication as to the extent."

Playoff atmosphere

In Friday's late game, Pavol Demitra scored his 30th goal and added an assist for the Blues. Cory Stillman and Eric Boguniecki also scored for St. Louis.

"It was old-time hockey," said Blues center Doug Weight. "It was a great hockey game, physical, every guy was hitting and great chances. We'd love to have won i."

Brendan Morrison had a goal and an assist for the Canucks.

Mats Lindgren, Daniel Sedin and Marek Malik also scored for Vancouver, which lost ground to Colorado in the Northwest Division. The Canucks are just four points up on the Avalanche.

"It was a playoff style game," said Canucks coach Marc Crawford, who watched the final two periods from his office after being ejected.

Lindgren opened the scoring on Vancouver's first shot, but Tkachuk tied it and Stillman converted a 2-on-1 break 21 seconds later to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

The Blues lost Tkachuk at 12:08 and the lead less than four minutes later when Morrison tied it on Vancouver's second shot of the game.

Things then turned ugly on May's next shift. Blues tough guy Reed Low tracked him down and started another fight with less than a minute left in the first period.

In addition to a fighting major, Low received a 10-minute misconduct and challenged the Vancouver bench as he was escorted to the locker room. But Low didn't receive an instigator penalty, which Crawford fuming and led to his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the period.

The Blues, who close out their four-game, nine-day road swing at Nashville, are in fifth place in the Western Conference with 87 points, five behind Central-leading Detroit.

The Blues open a three-game homestand Tuesday against May and the Canucks.