The St. Louis Blues have an interesting history with the Winter Classic. It initially felt like the team would never be in one and, now, they've featured in three of them.
The Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks in Busch Stadium back in 2017. They also took down the Minnesota Wild in 2022.
St. Louis started well in the first-ever rematch in the Winter Classic. They buzzed on the offensive end on their very first shift and drew a delay of game penalty.
The first shift on the power play was decent, but easy saves. However, the top unit came out, won a faceoff, and found Cam Fowler in the slot for a glove-side shot that made it 1-0.
About four minutes in, St. Louis got two quick shots again, forcing saves from Blackhawk goaltender Petr Mrazek. However, the Blues would double their lead about eight minutes in.
The Blues earned another power play. It seemed like it would go by the wayside, but St. Louis held the zone, got the puck around quickly, and hit Jordan Kyrou on the back door one-timer to make it 2-0.
St. Louis nearly made it three about 14 minutes in. The Blues generated a two-on-one, but unfortunately, Robert Thomas rang one off the post.
Chicago would make the Blues pay for that miss. On that same power play, Nathan Walker fanned on a clearance, the Blackhawks took a low shot from the point that banged off Jordan Binnington's left pad and Taylor Hall deposited the rebound to make it 2-1.
That goal woke up the Hawks. They quickly flipped the shot total battle, forcing a few quality saves from Binnington to preserve the lead. A lot of them were nervy saves due to scrambles in front, but it stayed a one-goal game into intermission.
The Blues got another power play just moments into the second period. Their best chance was another Thomas post-shot.
Binnington stopped a partial break shortly after that. Then the Blues were denied by a bouncing puck and some Mrazek saves on an odd-man charge the other way.
Later in the second, the Blues continued to prove faceoff wins are important for them. St. Louis won an offensive zone draw back to Philip Broberg who set up a one-timer for Justin Faulk to make it 3-1.
Special teams continued to play a role in the game. St. Louis killed off an important penalty to keep it 3-1 with about seven minutes left in the frame.
The Blues tried to hand Chicago a goal when Fowler coughed it up to Hall, giving him a breakaway in the slot. Binnington came up huge with a right-toe save.
That proved huge, as the Blues scored shortly after that. St. Louis hit another post, but this time, Dylan Holloway found the puck and slotted it into an empty net to make it 4-1.
The final three minutes were pretty adventurous too. The Blues went up 5-1 when Fowler had a seeing-eye shot go through a screen. Then the captains of both teams got in a fight off the ensuing faceoff with Brayden Schenn getting several jabs, but Nick Foligno probably hitting the harder of the punches.
The first half of the third period was mostly uneventful. Each team had a flurry or two, but nothing overly dangerous.
The Blues gave Chicago another power play and the Hawks got on the board this time. It was a little lucky since the Blackhawks had a man slip near the nearside wall, but get a cross-ice pass away and Tyler Bertuzzi made use of the space snapping it in for a 5-2 score.
The Blues snuffed out the hope though. Alexandre Texier scored with about four minutes left to push it to 6-2.
That would end up being the final. I don't expect it to, but this would be a nice way for the Blues to catapult themselves to a string of wins in 2025.
Pro: Power play
While the team's power play had improved overall when Jim Montgomery arrived, the Blues had gone 1-20 before this outdoor game. That's not a great recipe for wins when special teams play such a big part.
The fact the Blues not only got two power-play goals in this game, but the first two goals of the game came on the man advantage was a gigantic boost. Each of those power plays had ups and downs, but when they end in a goal, it doesn't matter.
You open the game with your newly acquired defenseman going to the slot and getting rewarded. Then you get another goal by your leading goal scorer on a great setup to the back door.
The Blues needed both in this game, but even if you could just get one in most games where you're given several chances, you'd be all alright.
Con: Letting the Hawks back in
The reality is that no matter how bad any NHL team is, they all have enough talent to beat any team on any night. The Blues have proven time and time again they can beat the very best and also lose to the very worst.
The last part there was the worry. The Blues absolutely dominated the first nine minutes of the game and could have been up three goals if not for a post.
Instead, the Blackhawks came down and scored, and that changed the complexion of the period overall. Chicago created a lot of chances and Binnington had to get active quickly after only facing one shot through about nine or 10 minutes.
Although you never truly felt like Chicago was really coming, it still came down to Binner having to bail them out enough times that it made a large impact on the game.
Fortunately, the Blues never let them come back into the game too much since they pushed the lead as high as four twice. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to step on the throat in the first period.
Pro: Fowler
Two goals on this night and 1000 games in his career. Most of those games did not come with the Note, but he made an impact on this one.
You open the game with a goal. You score a goal late in the second, which ends up being bigger than we thought because when Chicago scores in the third, 4-2 and 5-2 are quite different. Fowler also had his two goals on two shots.
He's proving to be a quality player too. He has fit in very well with Colton Parayko.
Pro: WIN-ter Classic
The way things have gone, if the Blues could play in these every year, we'd almost be guaranteed a victory. St. Louis is now 3-0 in the league's premier outdoor showcase game.
The interesting thing about it is the Blues have not provided a ton of highlight-reel hockey. Their 2017 win was regarded as one of the least interesting Winter Classics by those outside of St. Louis or Chicago.
Their win in Minnesota was very entertaining for Blues fans, but perhaps not the public at large. I'm sure this game will get a similar national reception unless the anti-Chicago fans join on the Blues side.
Ultimately, who cares? St. Louis won, they scored six goals and showed they're still the better team for right now despite all the hype around Connor Bedard.
Overview:
As alluded to, I'm not sure this was a great game for the casual fan. Somewhat due to the teams and somewhat due to the weather, there wasn't a ton of dangles or pretty plays.
There were, however, some great scrambles, a fight, and some hints at what the Blues/Blackhawks rivalry used to be. That's enough for me.
Top it off with a Blues win and I'm satisfied. Sure, it's great for the Blues to be prominently featured nationally, but we are what we are, which is a mid-market team in the middle of the country.
We draw great ratings because the fans of this team care. The ratings on the coasts probably didn't move the needle that much.
Again, who cares unless you're in a New York office? The Blues won.
Kyrou scored, the defense continued to contribute and Binnington played much more like himself and contributed to the W. That's a pretty good way to end 2024.
I hope you all had a great holiday season and hopefully the Blues pick up some steam in 2025.