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Halak, Blues host sliding Sabres

Jan 21, 2012 - 4:19 PM (Sports Network) - The red-hot St. Louis Blues will try for a third straight shutout and a fourth consecutive victory when they host the struggling Buffalo Sabres tonight at Scottrade Center.

The Blues have put together a terrific January so far, going 7-0-1 this month after closing December on a three-game slide. St. Louis is also 3-0-1 on a five-game homestand that ends today and the Blues won the previous two tilts on the residency by identical 1-0 scores.

Jaroslav Halak has been in net for St. Louis in all three games during its current winning streak and he notched shutouts Nos. 3 and 4 of the season against Dallas and Edmonton. Halak, who is 6-0 this month, made 22 saves to beat the Stars on Monday and needed to stop just 15 shots in Thursday's win over the Oilers.

Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock is expected to go with the hot goaltender again tonight and Halak is 3-2 with a 3.16 goals-against average in five career games against Buffalo.

Alex Pietrangelo notched the lone goal of the game for the Blues on Thursday, as the defenseman broke the scoreless game with just 5:14 left in regulation.

"It was a big relief to score there because we had so many chances in the game," said Halak. "Nice to keep things rolling here, especially for the fans."

Pietrangelo enters tonight riding an eight-game point streak and he has three goals and eight assists during the run. He now has 22 points on the season.

The Blues, who are seeded fifth in the West, are 20-3-3 as the host this year and have recorded a point in 14 straight home games to set a single-season club mark.

The Sabres, who are nine points out of a playoff spot in the East, have lost four straight and seven of their last eight games. Buffalo is 0-4 so far on a seven-game road trip, extending its club-record away skid to 11 straight games. The Sabres are just 8-14-0 as the visiting team this season.

Buffalo was dealt a 4-1 setback Thursday in Winnipeg. Drew Stafford scored the lone goal for the Sabres, while Ryan Miller was tagged for all four goals on 33 shots.

Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta suffered a foot injury against the Jets and is questionable for tonight. Centerman Paul Gaustad sat out Thursday's game with an upper-body issue and is also questionable this evening.

The Blues posted a 3-0 win last year in Buffalo, giving them wins in 11 of the last 13 games in this series. The Sabres last visited St. Louis on Dec. 27, 2009, when they ended four-game road skid in the Gateway City.