St. Louis Blues defeat Blackhawks, Referees
In front of a sellout crowd that was already ecstatic with news of the Winter Classic, the St. Louis Blues pulled out a dramatic shootout victory over the Hawks, the referees and themselves.
With a crowd consisting of the common 60% Blues fans, 40% red bandwagon cancer, the Blues found themselves facing early adversity and not from the guys wearing red; rather, the Blues fought their early battles against the men wearing black and white.
After staving off the league’s best power play during penalties to Backes and Stastny, Ryan Reaves demolished Christian Ehrhoff with a clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit, which sent the Chicago defenseman careening like a whirligig.
In a call which everyone will be talking about tomorrow, the linesmen deemed this hit worthy of a charging penalty worthy of a five-minute major and game misconduct for Reaves, throwing the Blues down a skater for two-thirds of the game. Even the NBC (National Blackhawk Cheerleaders) announcers went out on a limb to deem the call egregious.
The Blues survived for almost four minutes, but went down one after Andrew Ladd tipped in a Teuvo Teravainen shot from the right circle. Scottrade hushed over the next twenty minutes of play, in which Corey Crawford extended his shutout streak against the Blues to over 100 minutes.
In the final minute of the third, cheap shot artist and public enemy #1 Brent Seabrook once again showed his true colors. This time it came during a dangerous hit on Jori Lehtera, which…you guessed it….the refs conveniently missed.
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In the third, just when the frustration started to mount at Scottrade, Chicago finally committed a penalty (at least one the refs could see) when Trevor Van Riemsdyk hooked Troy Brouwer. The Blues capitalized on the power play, with David Backes redirecting a howitzer from the stick of Kevin Shattenkirk.
Less than three minutes later, on another power play, Paul Stastny fed a wide-open Troy Brouwer in the slot and the right-winger didn’t miss. Scottrade was rocking.
Unfortunately, the Blues remained the typical Blues at the end of a tight game. For all of the last three minutes, Chicago was pushing and the Blues relenting. Finally, after a botched clear, Toews set up Panarin…and, yeah, the Blues gave up another goal with an empty-net staring at them from across the rink. Shock.
In overtime, the teams traded chances fairly evenly, though Andrew Ladd had a goal waved off after he attempted the ‘Falcon Kick’ strategy to smash Jake Allen (and the puck) into the net.
During the shootout, Patrik Berglund made Corey Crawford look atrocious in the first round, but the Hawks just wouldn’t go away. It took a lucky post in the eighth round of the shootout for the Blues to pack it away, claim two points and climb closer to that division lead.
Negatives:
- What in God’s green earth is wrong with our play during empty net situations?? Get the puck in the air. Flip it out. Take an icing. WHATEVER. The Blues have given up seven goals this year with empty nets across the ice. Seven points that could deny another team a playoff berth or better positioning. Seven games in which OT could have been avoided, decreasing the fatigue on an already exhausted lineup. Heaven help us if, come round one, we’re up one goal with a minute left in regulation.
- These Refs: I swear – was there some sort of collusion here? At the end of the second period, Jori Lehtera was boarded so hard by Brent Seabrook that I’m surprised there weren’t Finnish teeth lodged in the dasher. No call. Yet Reaves gives Ehrhoff a shoulder check and he’s done for the game? Then Schwartz checks Toews, and yes, that door happened to be open, but that gives Ladd credence to attack Carl Gunnarsson on the way to the bench in the second? I’m calling bull. That game featured piss-poor officiating and there’s no excuse. That crew was supposed to be professional and they were bush-league tonight.
Next: Blues Can Win Without Division Crown
Positives:
- Jake Allen looks like he’s ready to take on the world. This man can steal us playoff games. Ride the hot hand, Hitch.
- Our power play is phenomenal. Great looks all around with the man advantage, especially with Brouwer and Backes. Those are big men who need to get in front of the net, screen the goalie and cause commotion. They did so tonight with aplomb, and…wouldn’t ya know…two power play goals.
- Our penalty kill is sick. I mean sick. Second only to Anaheim and there’s something to be said for a team that can commit a penalty in a dire situation (like with Stastny’s slash during the first period), knowing their teammates have their back.
- Oh yeah…that was our second win over Chicago in front of the whole country. That’s nice.
- Umm…guys…did you hear that the Winter Classic is at Busch next year?