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Blues try to stretch win streak to eight vs. Blue Jackets

Nov 10, 2010 - 4:12 PM (Sports Network) - The scorching St. Louis Blues will aim for an eighth straight victory when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets for tonight's Central Division battle at Nationwide Arena.

The Blues are the hottest team in the NHL and have just one regulation loss in 12 games (9-1-2) this season. The club has also won seven straight for the first time since winning nine games in a row from October 15-November 5, 2002.

St. Louis picked up its most recent victory Sunday in New York City as the Blues picked up a 2-0 win over the Rangers. Ty Conklin stopped 27 shots for his first shutout of the season and Alex Steen scored both goals for the Blues.

Conklin was excellent in his first start since October 16, but he will likely revert to his backup role tonight in favor of Jaroslav Halak, who is 8-1-1 with a 1.46 goals-against average this season.

"Defensively we've been playing really good as a team," said Conklin. "That's been the big story of our team during this winning streak. We just want to keep it going for as long as possible."

David Perron has missed the last two games for St. Louis with concussion-like symptoms and is questionable for tonight. Perron has five goals and two assists in 10 games this year.

The Blues are closing out a three-game road trip tonight and are 3-1-2 as the visiting team this year.

Columbus had a two-game winning streak halted its last time out against visiting Minnesota. Cal Clutterbuck scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period to lift the Wild to the 3-2 victory.

Kyle Wilson and Rick Nash scored for the Blue Jackets, who had won two straight and five of six heading into Saturday's game. Derick Brassard added an assist in the loss and has recorded a point in five straight games. He has five goals and three assists over the stretch.

Mathieu Garon entered the game with a scoreless streak of 133:54, but that came to a halt in the first period. He stopped 21-of-24 shots in all to suffer his first loss of the season.

"I thought our effort was very good. I didn't have a problem with our effort, but our execution was off," Columbus head coach Scott Arniel said. "First 10 minutes of the first period our passing was ugly. Those that did get passes, they were bouncing off our sticks. We certainly created enough changes and they hung around with their power play. It's all about finding that (third) goal before they get it."

The Blue Jackets are playing the middle test of a three-game homestand tonight and are 4-4-0 in the Buckeye State this year.

Columbus and the Blues split six meetings last season, but St. Louis has taken six of nine and 11 of the last 15 encounters overall. The Blues have also won four out of seven in Ohio.