Chicago,  IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Corey Crawford stopped 23 shots to post his 
second  shutout of the  season, and four different players lit the lamp as the 
Chicago Blackhawks  shut down  the St. Louis  Blues by a  4-0 count at United 
Center. 

"Tonight we knew it was going to be a tough matchup," Crawford said. "It seems 
like  it's always  physical against these guys. The first 10 minutes, everyone 
was  just running  around trying to hit  somebody to trying to avoid a hit. It 
felt like a playoff game, a playoff-type atmosphere. Our crowd was into it and 
we played really solidly." 

Duncan  Keith, Marcus  Kruger,  Andrew  Shaw and  Ben  Smith  tallied for  the 
Blackhawks,  who rallied  from a late overtime loss in Philadelphia on Tuesday 
to  post their  second win in three  outings and move into second place in the 
Central Division, one point up on Colorado. 

The Avalanche lost, 5-4 in overtime at Winnipeg. 

Patrick  Sharp and Nick  Leddy added a pair of assists for Chicago, which lost 
Patrick  Kane to an undisclosed leg injury in the second period. Following the 
contest, the club announced Kane is expected to miss three weeks. 

"Certainly  he's a  special player and we'll  have to work our way through it, 
knowing  what  he  brings  to  our team,"  said Blackhawks  head  coach  Joel 
Quenneville, of the misfortune that punctuated his 700th career victory. "It's 
definitely  a huge loss for us, but we've been fortunate as far as not getting 
hit too hard. You're going to get tested at some point." 

Ryan Miller allowed four scores on 27 shots in almost 48 minutes of action for 
the  Blues,  who lost for  just the second  time in the  last 10 and saw their 
lead in the Central shrink to six points over their bitter rivals. 

St.  Louis  picked up its first  intra-division loss in 23 games (20-1-2) this 
season. 

Keith  opened the scoring on his point blast that ticked off the left post and 
in  during a  Chicago power  play  with 54.4  seconds remaining  in the  first 
period. 

Chicago  went  up 2-0 as 4:25  remained on the second-period clock, when Leddy 
fired away from near the blue line and Shaw redirected the puck with the shaft 
of his stick past a stunned Miller. 

Peter  Regin and Kruger worked a give-and-go in close, with the latter pushing 
a  rolling puck  home from the right side  at 5:20 of the third period to give 
the hosts a three-goal margin. 

On  the  following shift,  St. Louis  forward Dmitrij Jaskin  was sent off for 
hooking  and the Blackhawks increased their lead by one when Smith deposited a 
loose puck on the doorstep at 7:35. 

"They're  the  Stanley Cup champions for  a reason," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock 
said.  "They know when to turn the temperature up. It's our responsibility, no 
matter  what happens in the regular season, if you're going to give them a go, 
you're  going to have  to dial it up. They're getting ready. And it's up to us 
to get ready. That's the task." 

                                   Game Notes 

Quenneville  earned his 262nd win as Chicago bench boss, joining Scotty Bowman 
(1,244)  and Al  Arbour (782) as the only  members of the 700 club as NHL head 
coach  ...  Miller, who suffered  his first loss as  a Blue, allowed more than 
three  goals in  one appearance  for  the first  time since  being dealt  from 
Buffalo  on  Feb. 28  ... Brandon  Saad was scratched  for the second straight 
game  ... Prior  to the  game,  the Blues  agreed  to terms  on a  three-year, 
entry-level  contract with  forward Zach Pochiro ... Blackhawks forward Michal 
Handzus  participated in  his 1,000th NHL contest and was honored in a pregame 
ceremony. He began his career playing for Quenneville in St. Louis.