Normally I do these St. Louis Blues and NHL Central reviews on Mondays, but I figured it wouldn’t make much sense to not include a couple of important game 7’s for an entire week. So, we are a few days later than normal but the wait was worth it.
As all of you know by now, the St. Louis Blues took down the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games. It was absolutely glorious. While we all would have liked to just finish them off in five games, maybe it means more to do it in seven. Maybe it’s that final learning curve the Blues had to endure.
Anyway, the week started off very well for the Blues. They opened up on Tuesday with an inspired 4-3 win in Chicago. It saw the Blues score two third period goals to get the win, overcome more questionable officiating and take both initial games in the Windy City.
At that point it had been mostly smooth sailing. The Blues were coming home with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to close it all out.
It did not go well from there. The Blues played a gutsy performance at home, but allowing three second period goals to Chicago would prove too much. The Blues tied it up, but spent so much energy doing so that they had little left to fend off Patrick Kane’s game winning effort. The Hawks took it in two OT’s, 4-3.
No sweat. The Blues would just take all the games in Chicago and end it in six…or so we hoped. The end result would be quite different.
After giving up the initial goal, St. Louis scored three unanswered to end the first period of game 6 up 3-1. Then the second period came. Much like the previous game St. Louis looked lost. Chicago rattled off three of their own in the second and two more in the third for a troubling 6-3 win.
That forced the do-or-die game 7. St. Louis scored one minute in and doubled their advantage not long after. The ‘Hawks cut the lead in half late in the first and tied it in the second. Former Blackhawk, Troy Brouwer ended up scoring the game winning goal sending the Scottrade Center and Blues fans everywhere into a frenzy.
The defending champs and perennial nemesis had been sent home. The Blues won 3-2, took a game seven for the first time in 17 years and won in the opening round for the first time in four years.
Blues’ Weekly Stats
David Backes – 1G 0A 1P
Vladimir Tarasenko – 3G 1A 4P
Patrik Berglund – 0G 1A 1P
Jaden Schwartz – 2G 3A 5P
Jori Lehtera – 1G 2A 3P
Robby Fabbri – 1G 2A 3P
Alexander Steen – 1G 2A 3P
Troy Brouwer – 1G 1A 2P
Steve Ott – 0G 1A 1P
Scottie Upshall – 1G 0A 1P
Paul Stastny – 0G 2A 2P
Kevin Shattenkirk – 0G 2A 2P
Colton Parayko – 1G 1A 2P
Alex Pietrangelo – 1G 3A 4P
Jay Bouwmeester – 0G 1A 1P
View from the Midwest Weekly Division Recap
Looking Forward
The St. Louis Blues open up against the Dallas Stars on the road this Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 will be on Sunday at 3 p.m. They took the season series over the Stars, but it wasn’t completely convincing.
The St. Louis Blues won four games and lost one, but three of their wins came in overtime/shootout. Two games finished with a 3-0 decision, the last of which went to the Stars but was on the back end of a back to back.
The Blues obviously got a huge monkey off their back by beating Chicago and finally exiting the first round, but they cannot rest on their laurels and think they are on easy street now.
One thing the Blues do have on their side is a confidence they likely have not had in the past. If they can keep their confidence in check and not let their egos get inflated, then very few teams can match up to their game.
When the Blues are on their game and don’t try to match what their opponent too much, they are likely to win. It’s just down to them to get it rolling.