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Blues and Blackhawks clash in St. Louis

Feb 21, 2011 - 4:01 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues will aim for a fourth straight victory when they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks for today's Central Division clash at Scottrade Center.

The Blues have recorded three straight wins and are coming off an impressive blowout victory over the visiting Anaheim Ducks. St. Louis received two goals each from Andy McDonald, T.J. Oshie and new addition Chris Stewart in Saturday's 9-3 pasting of the Ducks.

Stewart was making his Blues debut against the Ducks after he came to St. Louis in a blockbuster trade with Colorado on Saturday.

Hours after earning a win Friday night in Buffalo, the Blues dealt former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson, center Jay McClement and a conditional 2011 or 2012 first-round draft choice to Colorado in exchange for Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirk and a conditional 2011 or 2012 second-round draft choice.

"It's a perfect start," Stewart said. "That's my game. I like going hard at the net and creating space."

David Backes and Alexander Steen both had a goal and two assists for the Blues and Shattenkirk assisted on Stewart's second goal.

Anaheim scored the first two goals of the game and Blues goaltender Ty Conklin was pulled after stopping just 3-of-5 shots. Ben Bishop made 20 saves the rest of the way to earn the win.

Today's contest marks the end of a three-game homestand for the Blues. St. Louis has won two straight on home ice and is 18-8-4 at Scottrade Center this season.

The Blues and Blackhawks have split four games against each other this season and neither team has been able to win on the road in the 2010-11 series. Chicago has taken three of five and seven out of 11 overall against St. Louis, but the Blackhawks have dropped three straight and five of eight in the Gateway City.

Chicago and the Blues are very close in the standings, as the Blackhawks are tied for 11th in the West with 64 points and St. Louis is just one point behind them. The Blackhawks are two points in back of the final playoff spot in the West.

The Blackhawks have won two of their last three games and are coming off Sunday's shootout win over visiting Pittsburgh. Patrick Kane scored the only goal of the deciding phase to lift Chicago to a 3-2 win over the Penguins at United Center.

In the third round of the shootout, Kane skated in and deked to the forehand before stuffing the puck in past the outstretched right pad of Marc-Andre Fleury. Tyler Kennedy was the last hope for Pittsburgh, but Corey Crawford made a stop on the lifted backhand for the win.

Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell each had a goal while Crawford stopped 24 shots for the Blackhawks.

Chicago has lost four of its last five road games and is 12-9-6 as the visiting team this season.