Traveling Blues festival

St. Louis' road show closing in on record-setting numbers

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Posted: Saturday March 04, 2000 10:47 PM

Roman Turek leads all NHL goaltenders with 16 road wins. Allsport

By Ryan Hunt, CNNSI.com

The St. Louis Blues' first trip to Atlanta's Philips Arena was historic in more ways than one.

The Blues won their 10th straight road game Thursday, beating the expansion Atlanta Thrashers 5-2 to match the NHL record held by the 1983-84 Buffalo Sabres.

They'll have to be content sharing the mark, however, because on Saturday the Blues had to settle for a 1-1 tie at Florida. Michal Handzus scored 2:16 left to force overtime, but the Blues could not get another goal past Mike Vernon.

Despite the tie, St. Louis still hasn't lost on the road since Jan. 19.

A win over the Panthers would not only have set the NHL mark, but it also would have matched St. Louis' franchise record for road wins in a season (set in 1990-91) -- with more than a month left to go.

Road Warriors Longest road win streaks in NHL history Team  No.  Dates  Sabres  10  12/10/83-1/23/84  Blues  10  1/21/00-3/4/00  Bruins  8  3/15/93-4/14/93  Oilers  8  12/9/86-1/17/87  Jets*  8  2/25/85-4/6/85  Flyers  8  12/22/82-1/16/83  Canadiens  8  1/21/82-2/21/82  Islanders  8  2/27/81-3/31/81  Canadiens  8  12/18/77-1/18/78  Kings  8  12/18/74-1/16/75  Bruins  8  2/17/72-3/8/72  * Now the Phoenix Coyotes

This is how good St. Louis has been away from the Kiel Center. The Blues have more wins (21) and points (47) on the road as they do at home (20 wins, 44 points), the only NHL team that can make those claims.

Historically, though, winning more on the road would not be a first. Last season, New Jersey won 28 road games, but only won 19 at home.

In fact, the Devils' 28 wins away from home broke the NHL record, which was previously held by the 1976-77 and 77-78 Montreal Canadiens.

St. Louis has a shot to eclipse that mark as well. The Blues are 22-8-3 on the road, meaning they will need to win seven of their final eight road games for the record.

Before their latest run, the Blues' franchise-best road winning streak was six games -- set last season.

 

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