Blues Vs. Blackhawks Final Score: Blues Play Exhausted Game, Lose 4-3 In Shootout

Two streaks ended tonight: the Blues’ penalty kill streak ended at 51, and the Blues undefeated when scoring 3 goals streak ended as well. The Blues, though, did not deserve to win this game. Despite a good first period as far as shooting percentage goes, the Blues only exploited a shaky Ray Emery; the three goals weren’t a testament to how they were planning on playing this game.

The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 44-24. When you allow yourself to be outshot that much, you really don’t deserve a point let alone to win the game. The Blues at least came away with one of those; they’re up to 98 points on the season and still hold the top spot in the league. Blues fans shouldn’t worry about the game — every team has a terrible game here and there, and God knows that this was one of the clunkers for the Blues — but just because they lost doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. For whatever reason they looked tired and disorganized. Ken Hitchcock should have them back in decent form to take on the Eastern Conference second-worst Carolina Hurricanes Thursday.

It’s silly to have a meltdown when you’re team’s leading the league. Stuff happens. Take a deep breath, learn from it, and come back Thursday night ready to win.

Blues Vs. Blackhawks Second Period Score: Ray Emery Out, Blackhawks Inch Back 3-2

Of course, as a Blues/Blackhawks game progresses, it gets a little bit rougher around the edges. The focus goes from scoring to making life miserable for the opposition, and both teams are doing a great job working towards that goal tonight.

The shots on net this period got a bit closer, with the Hawks outshooting the Blues 11-8. The Blackhawks were the only team to score a goal, though. They replaced Ray Emery with Corey Crawford, and so far Crawford’s looked good although the amount of traffic has been low in front of him.

Viktor Stalberg scored his 17th of the year. The goal is a textbook example as to why it helps to clear the puck all the way out of your own zone:

The Blues’ penalty kill streak now stands at 50. While it would be nice to see them set the NHL record (they can tie in three), it would be exceptional if they could hit that milestone in a different game.

Blues Vs. Blackhawks First Period Score: Blues Exploit Sluggish Emery, Lead 3-1

There needs to be a mercy rule involving the Blues’ opposition: if St. Louis scores three goals, the opposition is allowed to throw in the towel. They haven’t lost in regulation yet when scoring three, and already in the first period they’re up 3-1.

The game didn’t start out amazingly well. Andrew Burnette netted the Blackhawks first (and only) goal so far just 2:51 into the period, roofing it over Jaroslav Halak. The speed and assist from Hossa should serve as a reminder just how dangerous the Blackhawks can be.

Luckily for the Blues, they’ve caught goaltender Ray Emery on a very bad night. Just a minute later, Jamie Langenbrunner slapped one right by Emery to tie the game right up.

That’s something that good teams do — allowing an early goal isn’t an occasion to panic or to be sloppy. You simply get that goal back from your opposition and keep plugging on, and that’s what the Blues did. Three minutes after Langenbrunner’s goal, Andy McDonald zipped the puck into a wide open net. The passing between Patrik Berglund, David Perron, and McDonald was perfect, and Emery couldn’t get back to his left nearly in enough time to block McDonald’s shot:

Not to be outdone, Patrik Berglund decided to get into the scoring race as well. There was a bit of a gap between these goals, with Berglund waiting nine minutes to do this:

Factor in a couple huge hits — the hit from Ryan Reaves on Jamal Mayers was absolutely explosive — and two fights, and one could say that these two teams aren’t fond of each other. Reaves’ hit caused Brandon Bollig to toss down the gloves and go instigate a fight in defense of a clean hit; Bollig got two for instigation, five for fighting, and a ten minute misconduct.

The Hawks outshot the Blues 13-6, which is something that the Blues really do need to tighten up on. The defense has been sloppier than it needs to be.

Blues Vs. Blackhawks: First Place Blues Travel To The Windy City

The Blackhawks sit a comfortable fifteen points behind the Blues in the Central Division standings, and are only five points away from falling out of playoff contention. A big losing streak could do that to them this close to the end of the season, and the Blues'd love to see their arch rivals on the outside looking in.