Chicago remains without a win this preseason after the St. Louis Blues rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 overtime win over the Blackhawks on Saturday night in St. Louis.
Philipp Kurashev got the Hawks on the board first following sustained puck possession in the offensive zone initially established by Ilya Mikheyev. But it was a brilliant cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall that ultimately led directly to the goal:
A couple of minutes later, Pat Maroon poked home a loose puck during a Chicago power play to double the Blackhawks advantage:
St. Louis scored twice in the third period and added the winner in overtime.
Time for some notes.
Notes
That Hall-Kurashev-Mikheyev line was by far the Hawks’ best on this game. In its 10:31 together at 5-on-5 play, it owned advantages of 15-8 in shot attempts, 9-1 in shots on goal, 8-3 in scoring chances and 2-0 in high-danger chances, all adding up to a whopping 89.08 expected goal share. It also owned a 1-0 goal advantage. Wouldn’t be a shock to see that trio together again in this preseason and maybe even in the regular season — especially if it’s Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo skating alongside Bedard instead of Hall.
Speaking of Hall, a clean bill of health would do wonders for him and this entire team because moments like that cross-ice pass to Hall offer reminders that he’s still got a healthy amount of quality hockey left in the tank.
On the other end of things, Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier were the D pairing on the ice for both of the Blues’ goals in the third period. The first Blues goal all started because Phillips was beaten badly to the outside just in side the blue line and the puck later bounced into the net off of Crevier. Feels like both of those guys are destined for Rockford.
Petr Mrazek looked good and the next time he gets on the ice in a hockey game can probably be the regular season opener on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
The Blackhawks ice time leader in this game was Kevin Korchinski, who skated 26:24 overall, coming in ahead of Alex Vlasic at 23:40. With 19:24 of that play at 5-on-5, with the possession numbers all hovering around an even 50-50 split during that even-strength play. We’ll see what happens with Korchinski between now and the start of the regular season but the Blackhawks are certainly giving him a long, long look this preseason — as they should.
No injuries to report, which remains priority number one in all of these games. Already getting that small inkling that the appetizers of the preseason are more than enough already and it’s time to get to the main course that is the regular season.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Philipp Kurashev (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist
- Dylan Holloway (STL) — 2 goals
- Taylor Hall (CHI) — 2 assists
What’s Next
The Blackhawks continue the preseason on Tuesday night on the road against the Minnesota Wild with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.