Blues end 3-game skid with victory against Blackhawks

ST. LOUIS --The St. Louis Blues handed the Chicago Blackhawks their 18th loss in 20 games with a 3-1 win at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Josh Leivo, Calle Rosen and Brandon Saad scored, and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for the Blues (17-16-3), who had lost three straight (0-1-2). They will host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
"I think every point is important where we are right now," Rosen said. "It was two big points for us today and we've got to work to get another two points in two days here."

Patrick Kane scored, and Alex Stalock made 26 saves for the Blackhawks (8-22-4), who are 1-10-0 in their past 11 games and 2-17-1 in the past 20.
"We've got to keep working at it," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "The work ethic was great tonight. Keeping them to four or five shots in the third period and still generating a lot in the other end is a good sign. But the guys have to keep their heads up and not get frustrated, otherwise it'll get harder. We've got to push through and one of these days we'll get a good bounce and it leads to a win."
Leivo put the Blues ahead 1-0 at 3:12 of the first period when he converted from an open slot after Blackhawks defenseman Jack Johnson's reverse attempt to move the puck from the corner hit referee Marc Joannette.
St. Louis' fourth line of Alexey Toropchenko, Nathan Walker and Leivo created the good fortune with its forecheck.
"I'm a big believer in that, and you pretty much hit the nail on the head," Walker said. "I just kind of scooped up the puck and I would have had to turn my hips to try and get a shot off. So, I'm standing right there and figured it'd be a good play to hand the puck over to [Leivo]."
Kane's power-play goal at 9:13 tied it 1-1 when he was able to skate into the left face-off circle and beat Binnington with a wrist shot through traffic.
"Special teams were pretty good. For the most part, I thought we did a decent job," Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones said. "[But] we're not scoring 5-on-5 a lot. It's on us. We're only putting one or two in in a game. Mistakes are more magnified when we don't put the puck in the net."

Rosen made it 2-1 at 8:40 of the second period when he intercepted a Boris Katchouk backhand pass from the corner and beat Stalock inside the near post with a wrist shot. It all came after a pinch by defenseman Robert Bortuzzo that forced Katchouk into the turnover.
"It was a little gift to me. I'll take that," Rosen said. "I was just trying to stay up in the play and see what happens. I saw [Bortuzzo] was about to make that play, and I kind of sneaked up a little bit. It was right on the stick. It was flat and good."

Saad scored into an empty net with 11 seconds remaining in the third period for the 3-1 final.
St. Louis has a point in eight of nine games (5-1-3) and is 9-0-2 in its past 11 games against Chicago.
"In our division especially, we want to always get those two points," Binnington said. "That's it. Take it and keep moving.
"We need all the points we can get. We're working through it, and we're going to keep going and playing tighter and playing together. This is the fun part."
NOTES:Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko was a late scratch due to illness. ... St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn had an NHL career-high 11 shots on goal on 15 attempts in 17:26. ... Binnington is 6-0-1 against the Blackhawks. … Rosen has scored in consecutive games for the first time in the NHL. … St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou had his four-game goal streak and five-game point streak end (seven goals, four assists). … Kane has 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 71 games against the Blues. ... St. Louis has outscored Chicago 39-18 the past 11 games. ... The Blackhawks have scored two or fewer goals in nine of the past 11 games.