Blues 2, Rangers 0: St. Louis 'Won All The Battles'

New York, NY (Sports Network) – Ty Conklin stopped 27 shots for his first shutout of the season and lifted the St. Louis Blues to their seventh straight win, a 2-0 defeat of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Alex Steen scored both goals for the Blues, who have a seven-game winning streak for the first time since posting nine straight from October 15-November 5, 2002.

“Defensively we’ve been playing really good as a team,” said Conklin. “That’s been the big story of our team during this winning streak. We just want to keep it going for as long as possible.”

Martin Biron stopped 20-of-21 shots for the Rangers, who came into the game having won three of four.

“We had a couple of chances, but not enough and they were really aggressive all night,” said New York forward Ryan Callahan. “We wanted to get more pucks on the net, but we didn’t do that tonight. They won all the battles.”

After a scoreless first period that saw Conklin make eight saves and Biron 14, the Blues took the lead 5:16 into the second.

Brad Boyes skated the puck out of his own end and went down the right wing. In the New York zone, he fired a pass to the slot where Steen gathered the puck and fired a wrister that beat Biron to the stick side for his second goal of the year.

Conklin made 12 saves in the third as he helped to kill off two power plays, while Steen sealed the win in the final moments with his empty-net goal.

The Rangers host the Capitals on Tuesday…Conklin has 15 shutouts in his career…The Blues wrap up their three-game road trip in Columbus on Wednesday…St. Louis has won four straight over the Rangers…Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.

Rangers Schedule: Rangers Look For Second Consecutive Win Against Blues

The New York Rangers -- who are coming off a 3-0 dismantling of the New Jersey Devils -- look to make it two in a row tonight against the St. Louis Blues. 

Henrik Lundqvist, who recorded his second shutout of the season against the Devils, looks like he is back in mid-season form; and just in time for the Rangers, who are still without Marian Gaborik tonight. 

The Blues, who are an eye-popping 8-1-2, have gotten some fantastic goaltending themselves. 

Outstanding goaltender by Jaroslav Halak has the Blues on the verge of their longest winning streak since 2002. St. Louis seeks a seventh consecutive victory this evening as it visits the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden.

Halak has started all six games of St. Louis' current win streak, posting a 0.97 goals-against average and three shutouts. Picked up in a trade with Montreal this offseason, the 25-year-old is 8-1-1 with a 1.46 GAA.

Brian Boyle scored the other goal and Artem Anisimov notched two assists for the Rangers, who have won six of their last nine and are 2-3-1 at home this season.

New York picked up the victory without Ryan Callahan, who is second on the club with 13 points, after the forward was scratched due to soreness sustained when he crashed face-first into the boards on Thursday. He is questionable to return tonight.