(My Sportsbook) - The St. Louis Blues play the first part of their two-game Sunshine State trip tonight, when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum.

The Blues, who will also visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday, had won a season-high tying three straight games prior to Tuesday's 5-0 setback versus Detroit.

Chris Mason had yielded just one goal per game in each of his previous five starts (4-0-1) before allowing all five goals on 36 shots faced versus the Red Wings. With the loss, the Blues are now four points back of a playoff spot.

St. Louis, which is 12-15-3 on the road this year and has won three straight as the guest, had outscored its opponents by an 8-3 margin over its three- game win streak, but was shut out for the fifth time this season.

Leading-goal scorer Brad Boyes failed to light the lamp for an eighth straight game. Boyes leads the Blues with 25 goals and 51 points, but has just one assist over his scoring drought. He does have five goals and seven assists in nine career games versus Tampa Bay.

St. Louis has three losses and a tie in its last four trips to Tampa, where it hasn't won since March 24, 2000. The Blues have also lost two straight overall in the series, including a 5-4 home loss on February 5 of last season.

Tampa Bay, which has lost seven of its last nine, will take the ice for the first time since Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh with a bit of a new look.

One day after the loss to the Penguins, a contest in which Vaclav Prospal scored the lone goal and Karri Ramo made 30 saves, the Lightning were involved in three trades prior to Wednesday's deadline. The biggest deal sent veteran winger Mark Recchi to Boston along with a 2010 second-round pick for defenseman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums.

Recchi turned 41 years old last month, but was having a solid season with 13 goals and 45 points in 62 games with the Lightning.

The Lightning also dealt netminder Olaf Kolzig, defensemen Jamie Heward and Andy Rodgers and a 2009 fourth-round pick to Toronto for defenseman Richard Petiot. The 26-year-old Petiot had three goals and 14 points in 45 games this season for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Kolzig wasn't expected to play again this season after having surgery to repair a torn distal biceps tendon in his left arm. Heward has been out since January 2 due to a concussion.

Finally, the Lightning dealt defenseman Steve Eminger to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Noah Welch and a third-round pick in the 2009 draft.

Tampa Bay plays the middle portion of a three-game homestand tonight and is 11-13-8 as the host this year. The club has dropped four of its last five at St. Pete Times Forum.