Blues rally from 3-0 deficit, tie Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Dallas Drake scored St. Louis' third goal in a 16-minute span of the third period as the Blues rallied from a three-goal deficit to tie the Chicago Blackhawks 3-3 Thursday night.

Eric Daze scored to give Chicago a three-goal cushion early in the final period, but the Blues showed why they are the NHL's most potent third-period team. They have outscored opponents 72-40 this season in the final period.

Chicago's Theo Fleury played but was not sharp. Fleury, who missed the first 25 games of the season after violating the NHL substance abuse aftercare program, avoided a second suspension even though Columbus, Ohio, police said he was intoxicated and involved in a fight at a strip club earlier this week.

After a Blues turnover at center ice, Daze fired a slap shot past Brent Johnson just 38 seconds into the third period for a 3-0 Chicago lead.

But just 37 seconds later, the Blues' Alexander Khavanov scored from the left point and the Blues then peppered goalie Jocelyn Thibault.

The Blues made it 3-2 with 9:18 to go in regulation when Al MacInnis fired a shot past Thibault from the right circle on the power play.

St. Louis tied it with 2:46 left in the third when Drake took a pass from Scott Mellanby from behind the net and beat Thibault.

In the final minute of overtime, the Blues had a 4-on-3 advantage after the Blackhawks were called for too many men on the ice, but Thibault made a sprawling save on Doug Weight as time expired.

Andrei Nikolishin and Sergei Berezin also scored for the Blackhawks, who appeared on the way to ending a three-game losing streak with a win.

Steve Sullivan made a nice pass around the goal and through the crease to Berezin, who beat Johnson and gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead late in the second.

Chicago scored in the first when Nikolishin redirected Jon Klemm's rising shot and it went through Johnson's legs.

Notes: Klemm's assist was his first point since Dec. 17, a span in which he missed 12 games with a hand injury. ... Joel Quenneville coached his 500th NHL game, the first Blues coach to ever reach that plateau. ... MacInnis' goal was his 12th of the season. He leads NHL defenseman with 41 points. ... Thibault finished with 30 saves.