By Jon Fromi
The Chicago Blackhawks scored first in a big game at the United Center against the St. Louis Blues Sunday night. However, they weren’t able to survive a pair of St. Louis goals in the second period and Jake Allen and the Blues defense came away with the win. The Blackhawks wound up on the short end of a 2-1 decision.
The Blues move to the top of the Central Division with the victory. Chicago sits in third behind St. Louis and Nashville.
First Period-Crawford had to make a couple of stops early in the third minute on consecutive shots by Jori Lehtera and Olli Jokinen. In the fifth minute, Crawford denied T.J. Oshie. Jake Allen, in goal for St. Louis, had Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell coming at him shortly after. Allen sent away Bickell’s shot attempt at the right post.
Crawford sent a clearing attempt over the glass ten minutes in to hand the Blues a power play for delay of game. St. Louis peppered the goal in the resulting two minutes but the Hawks net-minder kept the Blues from converting on his miscue.
The Hawks were on the defensive for the next few minutes following the return to even strength. The momentum was turned back in favor of Chicago when Jonathan Toews forced Oshie to turn the puck over to Marian Hossa in the St. Louis zone. Hossa skated to the left circle and found Kris Versteeg waiting in the crease. The wrist shot by Versteeg got past Allen to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 advantage at the14:12 mark.
Though that was it for the scoring in the first, the action was back and forth in the rest of the period. Allen had to stop a Teuvo Teravainen shot that was redirected by Marcus Kruger as well as another shot by Versteeg. Crawford knocked aside several shots by St. Louis in a lengthy stay in the Hawks zone, including two by Ty Rattie and Jokinen.
Second Period-Toews was sprung by a nice pass by Johnny Oduya and streaked across the crease with the puck. Allen stopped the shot but the captain was slashed by Alex Pietrangelo to give the Hawks their first power play at 1:14 of the middle stanza.
It was a short-lived advantage; Shaw plowed into Barrett Jackman behind the Chicago net a minute in and was sent to the box for charging. Brent Seabrook lost the handle on the puck in his own zone as the Shaw penalty expired but nothing came of the turnover.
The physical action picked up in the second period. Michal Rozsival boarded Pietrangelo to give the Blues another shot at the power play. This time, St. Louis took advantage, with David Backes getting separation from Duncan Keith at the doorstep and knocking in a rebound of a Jaden Schwatrz shot. The goal knotted the game at a goal apiece at the 6:07 mark.
Brandon Saad nearly scored to answer the Backes goal with a hard drive to the net that was foiled by Allen. Crawford denied a breakaway chance by Paul Statsny then made a great stick save to prevent the rebound from going into the net. He also snuffed out a Schwartz slap shot near the 14 minute mark.
The tie was broken by the Blues after a clean faceoff win in the Chicago zone. Pietrangelo won control of the puck and sent it to the net. The shot glanced off Rattie’s stick and in front of the net for Jokinen, who drove it home to make it 2-1 St. Louis with 4:48 left in the period.
Hossa very nearly tied it up in the16th minute on a drive on Allen but the puck struck the left post and stayed out of the goal. Patrick Sharp made a similar beeline for the net and was hooked by Jay Bouwmeester with 2:39 remaining. There were chances on the power play but a few passes failed to connect and the Blues retained the lead through 40 minutes.
Third Period-Allen had a little trouble with a shot by Saad that Sharp redirected to start the final period but was able to cover the puck. He also sent away an attempt by Bickell on an odd-man rush in the second minute. Rozsival fired from the right circle three minutes into the third but Allen came way out to glove the attempt.
Crawford kept Chicago in the game, stopping a rising shot by Pietrangelo in the fifth minute. As the period wore on, neither team was able to find the back of the net. With few stoppages, time quickly began to be a factor for the Blackhawks.
Chicago held the puck for large stretches of the period and outshot the Blues 12-5 but wasn’t able to create the opportunity to hit the equalizer. Crawford came out with 1:15 remaining. Oshie’s backhand attempt at the empty net was just wide and Chicago had a faceoff in the offensive zone with 44 seconds to go.
Coach Joel Quenneville called his timeout to try and get something set up. St. Louis won the draw but didn’t clear the zone. Allen covered a loose puck and Blues coach Ken Hitchcock called his timeout with 35 seconds to play.
The Hawks lost the faceoff again. St. Louis cleared the puck and prevented any last-minute heroics as the clock ran out on Chicago.
Three Stars-Crawford (third), Backes (second), Allen (first).
Thoughts
-Ryan Reeves rang a few bells in the opening period, sending Timonen hard into the half boards and also taking a run at Brad Richards. Timonen left for the locker room midway through the first after his shift was over and did not return to action. Quenneville said after the game that Timonen was day to day.
-Reeves, in turn, was hit hard by Seabrook in the second period and was slow to get off the ice. He managed to get back to the St. Louis bench in time to pull out one of his teeth in a way that suggested that it wasn’t the first time he has done so.
-Robert Bortuzzo of St. Louis was also injured in the first period, so both teams skated most of the night with just five defensemen.
-The Blues stopped a bunch of Chicago shot attempts from reaching Allen, who still stopped 38 of 39 shots on goal. St. Louis blocked 24 shots on the night. Crawford had several carnival-worthy shots in stopping 33 of 35 but he was one save short on this night despite a solid performance.
-Versteeg had several attempts blocked in the final period but still got six shots on goal for the game to lead the Hawks. Saad had five, as did Jokinen to lead St. Louis.
-Toews was 60 percent at the dot to lead the Hawks but came out on the losing end of the final two draws with Statsny. Overall, the Blues bested Chicago 29-26 on faceoffs. Marcus Kruger had a rough night in this area, losing nine of his 11 draws.
-The Hawks host Minnesota Tuesday night before heading to St. Louis for a rematch Thursday. Puck drop with the Wild commences at 7:30 p.m.
Lines
Versteeg-Toews-Hossa
Sharp-Richards-Vermette
Bickell-Shaw-Saad
Desjardins-Kruger-Teravainen
Keith-Rozsival
Timomen-Seabrook
Oduya-Hjalmarsson
Crawford
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Jon Fromi
