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Khabibulin, Eberle lead way as Oilers blank Blues

Mar 27, 2013 - 3:44 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Nikolai Khabibulin posted 43 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Edmonton Oilers took a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist, while Taylor Hall added a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who had dropped three straight and four of five coming into the game.

"Tonight I think we came out pretty hard," said Eberle. "We definitely had moments where we were behind the eight-ball and they were out-battling us, but for the most part, I thought we played decent. Habby was there to shut the door every time."

Jake Allen allowed three goals on seven shots before being pulled early in the second period for the Blues, who have lost three of their last four. Jaroslav Halak stopped all 12 shots he faced in relief.

"We're not happy to lose a couple of games in a row, but we've still got time left to make it up," said Allen. "It's not the end of the world, but we're going to have to get back on our horse quick."

Edmonton scored 11:29 into the first period on a 2-on-1 break as Hall skated down the left wing and passed over to the right where Eberle had an open net for a 1-0 lead.

The Oilers took a 2-0 lead at the 3:26 mark of the second when Ryan Nugent- Hopkins sent a short pass from the slot over to the right and Eberle snapped it in for his ninth of the year.

Less than two minutes later it was a 3-0 game as Eberle skated in on a breakaway that saw Allen make the save, but Hall was there to clean up the rebound.

Khabibulin did his best work in the second period as he stopped 21 shots in the frame and finished off the shutout with 14 saves in the third period.

Game Notes

St. Louis had won the previous two meetings between the clubs this season ... Khabibulin has 46 shutouts in his career.