The Blackhawks traveled to St. Louis last night in a game where they had nothing to lose—or to win—while the Blues’ playoff hopes would be bolstered, or hurt, by the game’s outcome.
The Hawks’ lines and pairings were:
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Jurco-Anisimov-Martinsen
Sharp-Kampf-Hinostroza
Sikura-Ejdsell-Debrincat
Keith-Seabrook
Gustafsson-Rutta
Hillman-Murphy
The name pulled from the hat to play goalie for Chicago in this game was none other than JF Berube—he of the 3.94 GAA and .891 save%.
First period.
St. Louis registered the first five shots on goal in the game and got the first tally at 15:44 of the first, when Connor Murphy committed a horrible turnover and Blues’ defenseman Robert Bortuzzo proceeded to beat Berube on a fairly stoppable shot. A minute or two earlier, St. Louis had narrowly missed beating Berube, however the play was ruled no-goal.
At 11:03, after some lengthy offensive zone pressure, Andreas Martinsen beat Jake Allen from the slot, off assists from Artem Anisimov and Dylan Sikura, for his first Hawk goal. 1-1.
Murphy compounded a difficult first period by taking a high-sticking penalty at 1:34. The Hawks went into intermission with :26 seconds left on the minor to Murphy. Shots in the period were 14-8 St. Louis.
Second period.
Just after Murphy’s penalty expired, the Hawks got caught flat-footed and Brayden Schenn put a puck past a screened Berube. At 18:43, it was 2-1 Blues.
A bad change and the Hawks’ now customarily awful defensive play led to a Vladimir Tarasenko breakaway and an easy goal past the hapless Berube at 15:16.
At that point, it appeared the Blues would blow the game wide open. A badly beaten Duncan Keith took a hooking penalty, and the Hawks found themselves fighting for their lives in their end, bailed out more than once by Berube. After a quick breakout led by Nick Schmaltz, Blake Hillman blasted a puck from the right point past Allen for his first NHL goal, a short-hander, making the score 3-2.
That was how the period would end, with St. Louis outshooting the Hawks 29-15 for the first two frames.
Third period.
The two teams played relatively evenly, trading chances until Alex DeBrincat beat Allen cleanly from the left circle at 11:30, tying the game at 3.
The Hawks outshot the Blues 11-5 in the third, but it was the last Hawk shot that decided the game. Duncan Keith’s second goal of the season came at 19:51, when he fired an absolute laser over Allen’s left shoulder, from the top of the left circle. It was a power play goal, but more importantly, did serious damage to the Blues’ playoff hopes.
The good.
Martinsen played like a man possessed, generating several chances, and showed real chemistry with Anisimov. At his size and speed, adding in the willingness to go hard to the net with defenders draped all over him, Martinsen can be a load.
Giving credit where it’s due: I am not a fan of either Tomas “6 Weeks” Jurco or Berube. However, Jurco was an integral part of the Anisimov-Martinsen line that was beastly on the forecheck and kept the Blues pinned in their end for long stretches. Berube played better in the latter 30 minutes of last night’s game and well enough to win.
The bad.
The Hawk defense was yet again generally awful at times in this game. Turnovers, bad pinches, losing 50-50 pucks. Murphy and Jan Rutta had especially poor outings. Ugh.
The ugly.
As bad as the Hawks backup and would-be backup goalies have been all year, St. Louis’ number one goalie, Jake Allen, was exposed last night, giving up 3 Charmin soft goals—in a big game—on the first 21 shots he faced. The Blues overall had no excuse for getting outplayed in the third period of a must-win game on home ice.
Summary.
The stars aligned for the Hawks last night, after a bit of a rocky start. But if Allen plays a halfway decent game last night, the Hawks lose.
There continue to be flashes of hope with this team as it winds out the season. The Hawks appear to have something to develop with the crafty, opportunistic Sikura. Debrincat continues to fill the net with pucks. Martinsen brings a much-needed edge and force to the lower lines.
But Chicago was absolutely destroyed in the faceoff dot (yet again) last night, and if they weren’t playing one of the two worse power play teams than themselves, they might have paid dearly for that.
Not only does this team miss Jonathan Toews, in spite of the W last night, it really needs another competent NHL center. And at least one more legitimate top 4 defenseman. And, maybe, 1-2 goalies.
I heard from a source yesterday that we should an expect an offseason like last year’s—there will be some changes, no jobs are safe, although GM Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville are probably safe right now for one more year. More as we hear it. Please comment below.
Follow: @jaeckel