The St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks always manage to put on a show for one fan base or another over the years. They both had something special in 2014.
On April 17, 2014, the St. Louis Blues began their first playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks in 12 years. Depending on where you lived, the game did not end that same day.
The Blues and Blackhawks played a three-overtime thriller in St. Louis on that day. It would prove to be the longest game in franchise history.
While the Blues are known as a stout defensive team, even then, they were open and loose in the first period of this game. Maybe it was the nerves or the atmosphere.
Maybe it’s just the Blues. Even during the magical run of 2019, the Blues often let the opponent score first and even saw a total of four goals go in during their first ever Stanley Cup game win (two for, two against).
In this game, the Blues got off on the right foot. They scored just shy of five minutes into the game, igniting the home crowd.
Back then, the Blackhawks fans were in higher number and, at times, it felt like a 50/50 split, even though it was probably closer to 75/25 for Blues. Nevertheless, it was good to score first against the defending champions.
Unfortunately, the lead was short lived. The Blackhawks would score the next two, scoring just over three minutes apart.
Chicago took the lead. They took the momentum as well.
Vladimir Tarasenko showed a flair for the heroics though. He tied the game just over a minute after Chicago had grabbed the lead.
Blues killer, Patrick Kane, saw to it that Chicago would end the first period ahead.
St. Louis could not muster a goal in the second period. Fans were biting their nails almost the entirety of the third period as well.
Just when it seemed hope was lost, Jaden Schwartz scored. It was not quite as dramatic as the goal that won Game 5 against Winnipeg in 2019, but it had that extra spice of being against the Blackhawks and denying them a win.
After that, almost an entire game went by. The two teams locked in an epic battle of the immortals and could not solve either goaltender for two more periods.
Then, Alex Steen came to the rescue. Steen scored just 26 seconds into the third overtime and ended the team’s longest game ever.
It’s always funny how these types of games end. Of course, it’s not true across the board, but it feels like more times than not, it’s an early goal just when you think the game could literally go all night.
The other thing that makes looking back on these types of games is seeing how much has changed. Unless you’re a teenager that thinks anything past 19 is old, 2014 does not seem that long ago.
However, in this context, it was ages ago. Ah, the good ol’ days of 2014 when gas was a nickle and you could get gum for a penny. Ok, none of that is true, but the roster looked quite a bit different.
You had your guys that are still around, of course. Tarasenko, Steen and Schwartz are still here. Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester were on the ice as well.
How about these names though? David Backes is not that far removed, but he was roughly halfway through his tenure as captain.
Ryan Miller was the goaltender, if that dates things a little better. The Blues also had names like Jordan Leopold, Maxim Lapierre, Brendan Morrow and Derek Roy.
Of all people, Adam Cracknell scored the opening goal of the game. That’s the lone playoff goal of his career.
How he even made the postseason roster is somewhat puzzling given he only played in 20 games all year. The Blues missing Vladimir Sobotka, Chris Stewart, T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund probably had something to do with it.
2014 was such an interesting time too. While I was not on board with the Ryan Miller trade – I was a Jaroslav Halak fan – it still provided the Blues a bit of a spark down the stretch.
Looking back, they were not ready to be Cup contenders, but we did not know that at the time. We did not know that Miller’s best years were behind him after being ground into the dust in Buffalo.
We all had hope and this triple OT winner only stoked that fire. The Blues won Game 2 as well, oddly by the same score of 4-3 and also in overtime, though only one the second time around.
Sadly, the Blackhawks were not ready to give up their throne. They beat St. Louis in four straight, winning the series 4-2.
Nevertheless, it was an exciting game and an exciting end. If only the end of the series could have ended as well. At least the Blues got their revenge in 2016.