Blues 3, Sabres 0: Jake Allen turned aside 23 shots en route to his third shutout of the season as visiting St. Louis posted its seventh consecutive victory.

Allen's fourth career blanking helped the Blues move into a tie with the Nashville Predators for the top spot in the Central Division. Dmitrij Jaskin, All-Star Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz scored while Allen added an assist for good measure.

Jhonas Enroth made 27 saves for the Sabres, who have lost 15 of their last 16 games. Buffalo has been shut out a league-high nine times.

After a scoreless first period in which the Sabres outshot the Blues 7-6, St. Louis opened the scoring with 1:56 to play in the middle session. Jaskin pounced on a loose puck behind the net and slid a wraparound shot past Enroth for his second goal in three games.

Tarasenko provided the Blues with some valuable insurance with 5:38 left in the third, converting captain David Backes' feed from in close for his third tally in as many contests. Allen kept Buffalo at bay the rest of the way and Schwartz iced things with an empty-netter with 1:17 remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Buffalo has outshot its opponent just four times all season. ... St. Louis has recorded at least one point in a franchise-record 13 straight games (12-0-1). ... The Blues, who came into the night second in the NHL with a 24.3 percent power-play success rate, misfired on their only man-advantage opportunity.