The Chicago Blackhawks rebounded from two brutal losses out west last weekend with a convincing 3-0 shutout of the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at the United Center. On Friday night, they looked to build upon that victory in St. Louis against the arch-rival St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Spencer Knight started in net for the visitors against the Blues’ Joel Hofer.
First period
On a delayed penalty call, the Blues struck first when Logan Mailloux skated up the right wing boards and snapped a wrist shot past Knight. The goal was his first as a member of the Blues at 3:41 to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Another first goal of the season and this time it was Matt Luff who gave the Blues a 2-0 advantage. After a good scoring chance by Connor Bedard, the Blues quickly skated up the ice and Robby Fabbri set up Luff, who was wide open in the slot and fired a wrist shot past Knight at 11:48.
The Hawks got one back thanks to Wyatt Kaiser, who scored his second of the season. Bedard rushed up the ice and fed Andre Burakovsky, who skated up the left wing boards and found Kaiser in the slot, who skated in and fired a wrist shot past Hofer at 15:50 to cut the Blues’ lead to 2-1, which they would take into the locker room after 20 minutes.
Second period
The Blues took a 3-1 lead on Justin Faulk’s seventh of the season. Faulk was pinching in down low and his defensive partner Tyler Tucker made a cross-ice feed to Faulk, who skated in to the left of Knight and snuck one in at the 8:57 mark. The Blues took the two-goal lead into the locker room after two periods.
Third period
The Blackhawks cut the deficit to 3-2 on Burakovsky’s eighth of the season. Bedard lost a an offensive-zone faceoff but he aggressively forechecked and forced a turnover and took a shot that was stopped by Hofer but the rebound went right to Burakovsky, who tapped it in at 14:08. The Hawks could not get the equalizer and fell 3-2 to the Blues. A bigger loss may have occurred in the final second, as Bedard took an offensive-zone draw against Brayden Schenn and injured his shoulder. Bedard left the ice in significant pain holding his right shoulder.
Analysis
Coming off an embarrassing 7-2 loss in Nashville, the Blues, who entered the game with the second-worst goals against average in the NHL, played a sound defensive game and really did not give Chicago much room to use their speed or generate second-chance opportunities. The Blues also played very disciplined, as the Hawks did not get any power play opportunities. The big story out of this one is the health of Bedard.
The Hawks head home for a quick turnaround as they host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CST on CHSN with the radio call on 720 AM WGN.