Tarasenko's two goals aren't enough as Blues fall 4-2 to Blackhawks

By foxsports
Published

ST. LOUIS -- Patrick Kane scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period to extend his points streak to 12 games and lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Andrew Shaw, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Artem Anisimov also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford stopped 29 shots. The Blackhawks, who had lost three of their last four and five of seven, snapped a five-game road losing streak.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for the Blues, who had won three of four and six of their last eighth. Jake Allen finished with 23 saves.

Kane 12th goal of the season gave him nine goals and 11 assists during his streak -- the longest in the league this season.

The Blues beat the Blackhawks 6-5 in overtime in Chicago on Nov. 4. Chicago got some reinforcements for the rematch with the return of defensemen Duncan Keith and Michal Rozsival from injuries.

Keith missed 10 games after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Rozsival made his season debut after fracturing his left ankle in Chicago's playoff series against the Minnesota Wild last spring.

The Blackhawks opened the scoring when Shaw tipped in a long shot from Keith at the 4:10 mark of the first period.

Tarasenko scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season in a 2-minute stretch during the second period to put St. Louis ahead. He tied it when he put home the rebound of his own shot at 6:32. After Marko Dano was called for boarding, Tarasenko beat Crawford with a wrister at 8:16 for the Blues' first power-play goal in 23 chances.

Chicago answered with two goals late in the second period.

First, van Riemsdyk scored with 4:43 left after St. Louis failed to clear the puck out of the defensive zone. Then Kane scored on the go-ahead goal on a power play with 1:05 left after slipping behind the Blues' defense.

Anisimov added an empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining in the third.

NOTES: F Ryan Reaves returned to the Blues' lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. ... F Steve Ott (upper body injury) missed his fourth straight game. ... Referee Tim Peel officiated his 1,000th game and was honored in a pregame ceremony with his family. ... The attendance of 19,808 was the fourth sellout in seven games for St. Louis this season.