Blackhawks Swept By Blues; Chicago Drops 7th Straight Game

Before the Chicago Blackhawks kicked off a road tilt with the St. Louis Blues, Patrick Maroon announced that he was retiring from the NHL after this season. 

That took over as the big story as Maroon, a St. Louis Native, was now confirmed to be playing in his hometown for the final time. 

Unsurprisingly, that didn't give the Blackhawks much of a boost as they have now lost their seventh straight game. 

After a scoreless first period, the Blues took a 2-0 lead in the second thanks to goals by Robert Thomas and Alexey Topochenko. 

In the final minute of the second period, Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks some life with a short-handed goal. Mikheyev has been great for Chicago lately and has given himself a chance to be a part of the team going into next season. 

In the third period, the Blues scored two more goals (Nathan Walker and Zack Bolduc) to put the Blackhawks away. The 4-1 score was the final in favor of the Blues. This is now the fifth straight win for the Blues who are trying to hang onto their playoff spot. 

This is a disappointing result for the Blackhawks who were looking to end a losing streak and end the momentum from their biggest rival. 

Pat Maroon didn't score but his final game in St. Louis ended with some fireworks as he had a third-period fight with Tyler Tucker to get the crowd going.

The Blues honored him with a video tribute once the story started to travel and he was named to be the first star of the game. Despite the loss, Maroon will have a fond memory of this game for a long time. 

It's now a quick turnaround for the Blackhawks as they will head home to play the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon. Will they avoid their 8th straight loss or can they finally find that gritty win to break the bad streak?

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