Blackhawks seeking to bounce back in visit to St. Louis

Hockey Betting Lines

03/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off of back-to-back losses to one of the Western Conference's bottom teams, the Chicago Blackhawks will try to right the ship when they begin a three-game road trip this evening against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

The Blackhawks still lead the Central Division by five points over Nashville with eight games to play and hold three games in hand, but the club has begun to lose ground in the race for the West's top seed. Having lost six of its last eight games, Chicago now trails San Jose by five points for that spot, but have played two fewer games.

The 'Hawks recent tumble includes consecutive setbacks to the 14th-place Columbus Blue Jackets. After getting routed, 8-3, last Thursday in Columbus, Chicago suffered a 4-2 home defeat to the club on Sunday.

Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp scored and Antti Niemi made 16 saves for the Blackhawks, who hit the road having lost five of their last six as the guest.

"Things definitely aren't going our way, that's for sure," Blackhawks forward John Madden said. "We had a few bounces go against us [Sunday] and that made a difference in the game. We created a lot of chances, but we just can't seem to bury teams or put them away when we have the opportunities."

Chicago is averaging 3.15 goals per game this season, but has scored more than three goals just once in its last nine contests.

Niemi is expected to get the start again for Chicago tonight. He won his only other career start versus the Blues, a 2-1 triumph at Scottrade Center on Feb. 6 in which he stopped 34-of-35 shots faced. That victory was the Blackhawks' third in four meetings with the Blues this season and their second in as many games at Scottrade Center.

The Blues have won the first two tests of a three-game homestand, as well as five of their last seven in the Gateway City overall. Still, they are just 14-18-5 as the host this season and trail eighth-place Colorado by eight points in the Western Conference with only seven games left to play.

Blues forward Keith Tkachuk celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday with the game-winning goal in a 2-1 triumph over Edmonton, his first tally in 15 games. Erik Johnson also scored and Chris Mason made 23 saves for St. Louis.

"It was a great shot and a great high screen by [Brad] Winchester," Tkachuk said. "It was a critical part of the game."

Mason has split his two starts versus the Blackhawks this year, posting a 2.02 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. Ty Conklin has lost the other two meetings, allowing nine goals on 68 shots.

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