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Blues conclude grueling road trip in Chicago

Sun 23rd, March 2008

(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues close out a long and forgettable nine- game road trip with this afternoon's tussle against the Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks from the United Center.

St. Louis has lost seven times in eight outings (1-6-1) during its season-long away stretch, and that lack of success has essentially killed the club's already slim playoff chances. The Blues also tied a franchise record with 10 consecutive road losses before pulling out a shootout win in Montreal on Tuesday, but couldn't sustain that momentum when they traveled to Ottawa two nights later.

Jason Spezza scored the tie-breaking goal midway through the second period and Martin Gerber made the lead stand by making 24 saves as the Senators edged St. Louis, 3-2, Thursday at Scotiabank Place.

Jamal Mayers and Jeff Woywitka each netted first-period goals for St. Louis, but the Blues failed to solve Gerber over the game's final 40 minutes and mustered just six shots in the third period. Hannu Toivonen stopped 21-of-24 shots in a losing cause.

St. Louis, now a poor 11-20-6 on the road this season, has also lost in five of its last six visits to the United Center and was dealt a lopsided 6-1 defeat by the Blackhawks during its most recent appearance at the arena back on January 16.

Chicago has also hurt its postseason hopes with a rough recent stretch. The Blackhawks lost for the sixth time in eight games with Saturday's shootout setback at Nashville and trail Colorado by six points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin turned aside 33-of-34 shots against the Predators last night, but the veteran failed to stop both skaters he faced in the shootout as Chicago suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Khabibulin's performance did help the Blackhawks earn a point and move closer to the Avalanche, who lost at Edmonton on Saturday, in the conference standings. Chicago has seven games remaining in the regular season.

The Blackhawks own a 19-16-2 record at the United Center this year but have dropped four of their last five on home ice. Chicago will play two straight on the road following this afternoon's tilt, concluding the brief trip with a visit to St. Louis on Saturday.

These longtime foes have split six 2007-08 meetings thus far, but Chicago has won eight of the last 12 encounters in the series.

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