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Rozner: Blackhawks not ready to go home yet

The psychology of an NHL postseason series is fascinating.

With every win there is an overreaction. With every defeat there is an equal and emotional reaction that overstates the importance.

But it is not just the fan base that does it. Coaches do it, players do it and the media jumps right in with it.

Few games are similar and each one has its own personality, and with each result the series shifts dramatically.

Witness Thursday night's game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis between the Blackhawks and Blues, which saw the home team come out and completely dominate almost all of Game 5.

But it was the Hawks who stormed back late in the second period to take a 2-goal lead, gave it up in the third and then won 4-3 in double overtime and sent the series back to Chicago for Game 6.

A Hawks defeat and they would have been making tee times today, while St. Louis would have emerged in the national narrative as a Stanley Cup favorite.

A Hawks win and all of sudden the pressure is on the Blues, who have to win Game 6 in Chicago or face Game 7 at home with their season on the line.

It can change that quickly.

Same goes for confidence, which the Hawks were clearly lacking after Game 4, while the Blues were flying high.

The first half of Thursday's game was all St. Louis, until Artem Anisimov took a penalty behind the Blues' net that sent St. Louis to the power play, but it was Marian Hossa scoring short-handed to give the Hawks the lead with 8:28 remaining in the second.

Only a minute later, Jaden Schwartz beat Corey Crawford with a slap shot far side and the Blues had come back again to tie the score.

The Hawks were barely hanging onto a tie a few minutes later when Teuvo Teravainen won a faceoff and Artemi Panarin fired past Brian Elliott and hit the post, but Anisimov was there to pound it home and give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

The Hawks were pushing hard to get the third and were getting frustrated when Patrick Kane found Panarin in front and he roofed it with less than a second remaining in the second period to give the Hawks a 2-goal lead and some breathing room for the first time since late in Game 2.

But the third period was a fire drill and the Hawks were trying to stem the tide when a bad line change by Panarin led to a Robby Fabbri goal and the Blues were back within a shot of tying the game.

That inevitable tie came after a Brent Seabrook giveaway in the neutral zone. The Blues got a great tip from David Backes and the score was 3-3 with 5:10 left in the third period, and the two teams went to overtime for the second time in the series.

St. Louis dominated the first extra period, with the Hawks mostly desperate to protect Crawford, who was brilliant while facing 46 shots Thursday night.

And 3:07 into the second overtime, Kane got his own rebound of a shot and tucked it home for the game-winner, his first goal of the series and the biggest goal he's scored since last June.

With Kane and Hossa finally getting on the board Thursday, it should bode well for Game 6 in Chicago on Saturday.

The Hawks have been looking for life since this series began and they found a glimmer of hope with a victory Thursday night.

Maybe, just maybe, it's the spark they needed. Either way, they face sudden death again in Game 6.

In a season that has been so difficult, it couldn't happen any other way.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.

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