Vladimir Tarasenko scored 3:54 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night at United Center.
Tarasenko’s goal was the four unanswered for the Blues as they handed the Hawks its first loss at home since Oct. 7. It’s the first time since 1981 the Blues have comeback from a three-goal deficit against the Hawks.
The Hawks started out with a 5-2 lead after the first period behind scoring depth. The Rockford all-rookie gave the Hawks’ its first goal, as Ryan Hartman forced a turnover that landed on Marko Dano’s stick for his first goal with Chicago. Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane each added a tally in the period.
Alexander Steen answered for the Blues 54 seconds after Dano’s tally to even it 1-1.
Shaw gave the Hawks the lead back with his first goal of the season on a penalty shot at 4:37. Teravainen added another with a backhanded feed off a rebound to briefly chase Brian Elliott. Allen entered as Blues’ head coach Ken Hitchcock had a few choice words with Elliot, who allowed three goals just 4:27 into the game.
Blues’ rookie Robby Fabbri sent a wrister through traffic to cut the Hawks’ lead to 3-2 at 15:12.
Seabrook gave the Hawks a two-gal lead again on slap shot near the blue line less than two minutes later. Jonathan Toews got a breakaway and went for a rebound, but Backes pushed him into Elliot, who left the game for the second time only to return after being checked out by medical personnel. Eight seconds later Kane scored on the man advantage with a shot pass a Shaw screen for a 5-2 lead. Kane’s goal and assist increase his point streak to eight games.
It was the first time since 2010 the Hawks scored five goals in the first period.
St. Louis scored three goals in the second period behind Jake Allen in net to tie it 5-5 after two periods.
Steen redirected a shot off his left skate, for his second goal of the game to cut the deficit to 5-3. Jay Bouwmeester added a power-play goal at 17:12 off a Troy Bouwer feed before Backes tied the game up with 34 seconds remaining in the period.
This led to, of course, 20 minutes of scoreless play, forcing the game to overtime.
The Hawks earn one point on the night. They head east to play the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center, while the Blues get two days off before playing the second game of their road trip against Nashville.
ONE, TWO, TREE THOUGHTS
Fast starts are fun
Normally, the Blackhawks get out to a slow start, but that was certainly not the case against the Blues. Chicago scored three goals 4:27 into the game — all by Rockford IceHogs alumni, including homegrown talent Shaw and Teravainen. Both teams followed their shots and got to the front of the net for screens and rebounds.
Playing defensively is bad
The Blues scored three goals in the second thanks in large part to the Hawks not playing the way they did to start the game. This was evident again in the third period when both teams didn’t create a lot of scoring chances.
Crawford
Some nights goaltenders have it and some nights they don’t, Wednesday night was the later for Crawford. Entering the matchup, he was 5-0 at home with a 1.00 goals-against average and .963 save percentage since banner-raising night. After Steen’s second goal the frustration on Crawford’s face was evident. He didn’t have it and he knew it. The loss isn’t on him, it’s the defense in front of him having a few lapses and the offensive not going for the dagger to start the second.