The Red Wings scored twice in the second period and allowed just 16 shots in a 2-0 victory over Tampa Bay.
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The Blackhawks got out to a sizzling start. Shaw has three goals and five points in the playoffs. The Blues obviously need to score and get a lead early in the game, but they will need Moose to be at his absolute best as well since the Blues have been outshot 88-56 in Chicago.
The chaos seemed to take the wind out of the Blackhawks’ sails.
Then the forecheck got to work, keeping the pressure on as Chicago frantically searched for an equalizer. After the team’s Friday practice before heading to Chicago, Hitchcock had his own version of “we need to weather the storm”.
It would be fair to call the Blackhawks the “masters of Game 6”. But Kane swooped around the net and swept the rebound in on the backhand for his 49th career playoff goal.
St. Louis had the chance to win on the road when they produced a strong first period performance.
Instead they got four, with the first coming four minutes into the period. Chicago Blackhawks will be on Monday, April 25, in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center. “They went to intermission and came back with steam”.
But Saturday’s second period was a devastating blow.
This is a franchise that has been patiently building a very good team for more than a decade, a franchise that is the poster child for how long it takes to create a quality hockey club, but also how all that patience, possibly, may never result in anything.
But Chicago wasn’t done. Then, the crowd exploded.
So the Blues began the power play with their second unit, and that group kept the puck in the Blackhawks’ zone for 1:52 before the first unit with Tarasenko finally came on the ice. The Blackhawks got on the board first, as Marcus Kruger’s aggressive forechecking put the puck directly on Andrew Ladd’s stick and the forward buried a shot to put Chicago ahead by a 1-0 margin. “My ears were buzzing”.
The sky is falling in St. Louis.
If not, another first-round exit could be on the radar. The difference this time was the quality of the chances, mixed with a few lucky bounces.
Nearly immediately, the period went south for the Hawks. Leading the series 3-1, the Blues had their opportunity to end the series at home in Game 5. “We just didn’t do the simple things, and they jumped on us”.
St. Louis dominated the first period. Something would have to give in the third. Anisimov, van Riemsdyk and Weise scored in a 12:05 span to transform a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. By comparison, Chicago’s Patrick Kane played 26 shifts for a total of 22:02, an average of 50 seconds per shift. Chicago’s Andrew Ladd scored the opening tally, but the Blues quickly followed suit. Meanwhile, a St. Louis squad that looked invincible has shown some notable wrinkles over the past two nights. Brian Elliott is back to human.
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Via Elias, four different goaltenders younger than Murray (21 years, 334 days) have won a series-clinching game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 1988 (and two in the past 22 years).
