Blues go on scoring splurge against short-handed 'Hawks

CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Blues' five-on-three power-play unit is working just fine.

Keith Tkachuk, Petr Cajanek and Brian Savage each had goals while St. Louis had a two-man advantage in the first period, leading the Blues to a 3-1 victory Sunday over the Chicago Blackhawks.

"When you have five-on-threes, the odds are you're going to score," Savage said. "We've got a lot of snipers on this team. We moved the puck around well. We got a lot of shots from the slot."

St. Louis remained in seventh place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Nashville and Edmonton, which played Phoenix later Sunday.

Doug Weight and Scott Mellanby had two assists for St. Louis, which also beat the Blackhawks on Saturday at home.

Chicago drew six consecutive penalties in the first period, giving the Blues 10:48 of power-play time. St. Louis had a man-advantage for 7:26 straight -- including 3:25 when they skated five-on-three.

Chicago coach Brian Sutter didn't think his team deserved all the penalties.

"The referees had a determining factor in the outcome of the game. We play good in physical games," Sutter said. "It's frustrating to our players when other people are involved in the outcome of the game besides the people who are playing it."

The Blues took exception to the five stick-related fouls the Blackhawks committed in the period.

"It happens when you take stick infractions," Tkachuk said.

Down 3-1 after one period, Chicago came out firing in the second period, with Scott Thornton scoring at 1:52.

The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 18-5 in the second period and 13-5 in the third.

"You sit back and that is what is going to happen," Blues defenseman Chris Pronger said. "You give them confidence. We should be trying to finish them."

Tkachuk capitalized 11 seconds into the first two-man advantage, taking a pass in the slot from Doug Weight and lifting a shot above the left arm of goalie Adam Munro.

Cajanek made it 2-0 at 10:05. Brian Savage fanned on a shot from the slot, and Cajanek gained control of the puck at the side of the net and scored.

"It was another whiff," Savage said. "I got the second one, though."

Savage scored the final five-on-three goal at 11:41 of the first when he one-timed a pass from Scott Mellanby under Munro.

Thornton, recalled from Norfolk of the AHL earlier Sunday, scored at 1:52 of the second. He kicked the rebound of Mikhail Yakubov's shot to his forehand and beat Chris Osgood on his second attempt.

Munro, who stopped 22 shots for Chicago, played well after giving up eight goals in a home loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

Notes: Matt Keith earned his first NHL assist on Thornton's goal. ... Chicago rookie D Michal Barinka was reassigned to the Norfolk. ... Tkachuk extended his point streak to four games (3 goals, 2 assists). ... St. Louis had scored four previous times this season while skating with a five-on-three advantage. ... Savage scored his second goal since joining St. Louis on March 9. ... The last time St. Louis won in Chicago was on Dec. 10, 2000. ... Cajanek left with 8:47 left in the third after he was hit in the face by Osgood's clearing attempt.