BLUESFor the first time in their 53-year history, the St. Louis swept a season series with the Chicago Blackhawks thanks to a 2-0 shutout win on Sunday night at United Center.
Robert Bortuzzo and Alex Pietrangelo scored, and Jake Allen made 29 saves in his second shutout in Chicago this season.
"We were pretty solid defensively tonight," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said. "I thought our guys did a real good job of gapping up on them, not giving them enough time. Our forwards were reloading hard and getting back."
The Blues improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and maintained first place in the Central Division ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Sunday night to keep pace.
PANTHERS The Florida Panthers are just 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, but a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday still moved them to within three points of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Let's use this momentum swing here and change the direction here in a real positive way," Panthers Head Coach Joel Quenneville said. "We have a great opportunity ahead of us and let's take advantage of it."
The Panthers (34-26-8, 76 points) are chasing a Wild Card spot and are just three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes (79 points), who currently hold the final playoff spot in the East. The Panthers are in a tight race with the New York Islanders (79 points) and the New York Rangers (76 points) for the spot.
All-Star Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers this season with 78 points (23 goals, 55 assists), while Aleksander Barkov ranks second with 62. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky signed a long-term contract with Florida and has played 50 games this season, posting a 23-19-6 record with a 3.23 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
