Blues, Chicago play to 2-2 tie

CHICAGO -- Keith Tkachuk scored the only goal of the third period to help the St. Louis Blues tie the Chicago Blackhawks 2-2 Wednesday night.

The Blackhawks' lead over rival St. Louis for second place in the Central Division remained at three points as Chicago ended a four-game homestand 2-1-1.

Tkachuk's 14th goal tied the game early in the third. Pavol Demitra carried the puck across the blue line and left a drop pass for Tkachuk, who slid a shot underneath a screened Steve Passmore at 3:10.

Eric Daze's tip of Alexander Karpovtsev wrist shot opened the scoring at 1:12 in the first period. With Daze and Michael Nylander in the slot, Karpovtsev fired a rising slap shot toward the net, and Daze deflected the puck through Fred Brathwaite's pads for his team-leading 18th goal.

Jamal Mayers evened the score at 13:55 in the first. Chicago defenseman Chris McAlpine got his stick on Cory Stillman's pass to Mayers but could not stop the puck, and Mayers banked a wrist shot off the near post past Passmore.

Steve Sullivan gave the Blackhawks the lead at 6:23 of the second. Sullivan stole the puck from Mike Eastwood at the St. Louis blue line and passed to Daze, who returned the puck to Sullivan for the easy score.

Passmore, Chicago's backup goaltender, stopped 19 shots in his third start, but remained winless this season (0-1-2).

Braithwaite allowed 2 goals on 28 shots for his fourth tie (5-5-4) for the Blues.

Kyle Calder had an opportunity to win the game with 40 seconds remaining, but could not handle a quick pass in the slot from Alex Zhamnov.

Chicago's penalty kill unit, which is the worst in the NHL, stopped four St. Louis power plays. The Blues returned the favor by stopping all four of the Blackhawks power play chances.