By Jon Fromi
The Chicago Blackhawks got up early Sunday morning to close out their road trip. The early bird gets the worm, but Chicago was happy with two points over the St. Louis Blues.
The Hawks took advantage of a power play goal in the third period to break a tie game against St. Louis. Marian Hossa wound up the hero as Chicago prevailed 4-2.
First Period-The Blues made hay in the Chicago zone early, with a busy Corey Crawford sending several attempts to the corners.
The Hawks drew first blood on their first real opportunity in the fifth minute. Daniel Carcillo got the puck to Marcus Kruger coming out of the defensive zone. Kruger led Carcillo on an odd man rush, scoring when his shot from the right circle got the best of Brian Elliot. Chicago took a 1-0 advantage at the 4:38 mark.
The goal seemed to get the Blackhawks off their heels and they began spending a bit more time in St. Louis territory. Ryan Reeves tripped up Teuvo Teravainen as the rookie was skating to the bench. Reeves got a mouthful of skate for the stupid penalty and the Blackhawks went on the power play. There were a few strong chances but the Blues killed the penalty.
Teravainen led a 3-on-1 after the Hawks broke up a centering pass at the other end in the 13th minute but the shot was off the mark. Crawford stopped a big shot from the blue line by Carl Gunnarsson. Elliot knocked away a chance by Jonathan Toews from the right post as the teams went up and down the ice with the puck.
The pace continued until Toews was whistled for delay of game with 1:45 to play in the period. Chicago’s PK unit prevented an equalizer and the Hawks skated into the locker room up a goal.
Second Period-Chicago killed the rest of the Toews penalty before Crawford made a great stop of a Vladimir Tarasenko blast on an odd-man rush in the opening minute.
Brad Richards sent Patrick Sharp on a breakaway with a nice pass out of the defensive zone in the fifth minute. Sharp couldn’t get the puck to settle on the ice and the shot attempt was high to Elliot’s stick side.
T.J. Oshie got the puck on the net and the Blues had a chance or two at the loose puck in front before Crawford covered for a stoppage. Moments later, Jaden Schwartz found Tarasenko in open ice after Johnny Oduya brought the puck behind the St. Louis net. No one covered for Oduya when he took the puck in deep and once the Blues took possession it was breakaway time. Tarasenko waltzed to the net and outmaneuvered Crawford to tie the game 1-1 6:52 of the second period.
Chicago regained the lead after Elliot gave up a juicy rebound off a David Rundblad shot from the top of the right circle. Bryan Bickell skated into the slot to collect the loose puck and slung it over Elliot’s glove 11:25 into the middle frame.
Back came the Blues after a media timeout. David Backes fed Oshie in front of the net in the 13th minute. The shot went off Crawford’s shoulder and bounced into the crease. Backes, who had come around the net after making the pass, pounced on the rebound at the left post and flipped the puck over the Hawks goalie for the goal. St. Louis had evened it up at two 12:53 into the period. Both squads had chances but the period ended with the score knotted 2-2.
Third Period-Neither team got much in the way of offense in the first six minutes. Carcillo engaged Steve Ott after Ott slammed Kruger into the half boards at the red line. Both players were sent to the box for five as the teams looked for the chance to take the lead. That chance came when Richards outhustled the Blues to a loose puck in the neutral zone and was hooked by Jay Bouwmeester to give the Blackhawks a man up with 9:54 remaining.
In the second minute of the power play, Brandon Saad took a pass from Bickell to gain entry into the Blues zone. Skating to the left dot, Saad slid the puck to Marian Hossa coming down the slot. The puck was on edge but Hossa still buried it into the twine over Elliot’s glove. The goal gave the Hawks a 3-2 left with 11:19 gone in the period.
Chicago kept the pressure on as the period began to wane. Saad got a backhand attempt off a turnover that Elliot stopped. Patrick Kane found Sharp near the left post but the shot didn’t get through.
Crawford came up with another big stop after Oshie hit Steen in the slot with 2:36 to play, after which a timeout was called by Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. A strong offensive shift on the part of the Hawks kept St. Louis pinned in their own zone into the final minute. Elliot left the crease with 42 seconds left but the Blues never threatened. Hossa took a pass from Saad in the neutral zone and got his second goal of the game. The empty-netter with 14 seconds remaining made the final score 4-2.
Three Stars-Schwartz (third), Hossa (second), Tarasenko (first).
Thoughts
-This was a nice way to end the road trip, for sure. The Blues have been one of the leagues hottest teams and to come into St. Louis and come out with two points in regulation is huge.
-Reaves lost himself a couple of toofers as a result of a pretty classless play. Teravainen was skating to the bench and had his back turned to Reaves. Just desserts, if you ask me.
-Crawford wasn’t terribly busy most of the game but made 25 saves on 27 shots.
-The Blackhawks were out-hit (of course) 30-11, but they won the faceoff battle (32-24) and took the action St. Louis once they took the lead.
-Who heads down to Rockford once Kris Versteeg returns, presumably sometime this week? I thought Carcillo played a pretty decent game Sunday. Teravainen got over 12 minutes of action. I think Joakim Nordstrom will be the one reassigned.
-The Blackhawks get an eight-game home stand underway Monday night when they host Arizona. It’s time to build on this two-game win streak with a schedule that is quite favorable. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Lines
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Sharp-Richards-Kane
Bickell-Shaw-Teravainen
Carcillo-Kruger-Smith
Hjalmarsson-Seabrook
Oduya-Rozsival
Keith-Rundblad
Crawford
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Jon Fromi
