Blues lose to Blackhawks in shootout, fail to tie for Central lead

CHICAGO --The St. Louis Blues failed to move into a three-way tie for the Central Division lead, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at United Center on Wednesday.

The Blues (43-28-9) are one point back of the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators, who are tied in points for the division lead. They each have two games remaining.
"It's a big point," St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "We didn't play the way we needed to play but to find a way to get a point, that's big."
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Tyler Bozak tied it at 3-3 with 39 seconds remaining in the third period for the Blues, who are 7-1-2 in their past 10 games.
"[It's] always good to get a point you didn't think you'd have 10 minutes before that," Blues forward David Perron said. "Our energy wasn't the greatest, but we found it in the third and pushed pretty good."

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist to set an NHL career high with 107 points, and Jonathan Toews scored his NHL career-high 35th goal for Chicago (35-33-12), which was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention on Tuesday. Cam Ward made 37 saves.
"Well, they're great players, but I probably knew that," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "They compete hard. They love to play, they love to win, they want to be the guys counted on in big situations, and those are the kinds of guys you want to coach. Obviously every night there's countless plays that you feel pretty happy to have them on your bench."

Vladimir Tarasenko and Perron scored, and Jake Allen made 35 saves for St. Louis.
Toews gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 16:26 of the first period, scoring from in front of the net off a backhand pass from Kane. Toews had 34 goals in 2008-09.
Tarasenko tied it 1-1 26 seconds into the second period, scoring glove side from the left face-off circle.
Artem Anisimov gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 13:20, deflecting Dominik Kahun's shot from the low slot.
Kane extended the lead to 3-1 at 11:37 of the third period, backhanding the puck in on a breakaway. It was Kane's 107th point of the season, one more than he had in 2015-16.

Perron cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 12:23, scoring from the right circle.
"We haven't had too many power plays recently," Perron said. "It was nice to get out and feel the puck a little bit. I pulled it around the D, put it on net, it went in, so it's good."
Blackhawks defenseman Dennis Gilbert had six hits in 12:46 in his NHL debut.
"I think it set in," Gilbert said. "It wasn't really nervousness. It was just anxiousness for me. It was a pretty real experience. I felt like I was in the game real early and just tried to make simple plays and be effective and help any way I could."

They said it

"There's a lot at stake, but we have a playoff spot wrapped up and it's tough to play these games. You're playing a team that really has nothing to play for and they can be hard games. It takes a lot of mental approach to get yourself ready to play." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"Just to be able to put on the Blackhawks jersey is something special, just knowing the rich history and to get the opportunity to be here. I've had an unbelievable experience. Obviously we would have liked to have been in the playoffs and ultimately we fell short of that goal. It's such a great organization and as a player you're very fortunate to be a part of it. Who knows what the future holds but we'll take care of that once the season's over." -- Blackhawks goalie Cam Ward

Need to know

Perron has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in his past 23 games. … Ward played his first game since March 3 and won for the first time since Feb. 20. … Kane has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past 16 games. He became the fourth player in Blackhawks history with more than 106 points in a season and the first since Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94.

What's next

Blues: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW+, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Dallas Stars on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)