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Troy Murray: Blackhawks must clean up mistakes to take Game 5

Troy Murray answers questions about what fans can expect as the Blackhawks get set to take on the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

Q: Are the Blues exposing the lack of depth along the Blackhawks' blue line?

A: They've been relentless, and they put a lot of pressure on everybody to make the right plays.

You see that the Blackhawks are controlling puck possession and controlling the zones sometimes in the game.

But their pressure makes the Blackhawks make mistakes. They've been very few, but they've been able to capitalize on it.

There's a lot to be said about how St. Louis as a whole group - from goaltending to defense to forwards - has been very impressive. I wouldn't say they're exposing anything that the Blackhawks have. It's just a great team game that they're playing overall.

Q: Do the Blackhawks have to make any major changes or just keep playing the way they are in what has been a tight series thus far?

A: Anytime that you're not getting results, you have to look at adjustments. You have to look at the possibility of trying other lines.

If you look at how Andrew Shaw has been effective in the series and why he has scored goals, paint a picture of how he works and what he does.

Everybody's got to dig deeper and see what has been successful for Andrew Shaw. It's been very apparent because he's involved in most of the plays that are going on - whether it's scoring, whether it's scrums, whether it's taking a beating in front of the net, which he did Tuesday.

But obviously Joel Quenneville and the coaching staff have to … figure out what's going to work in the next game. I'm not saying that they have to make line changes. I'm just saying they have to look at what combinations they think might have the opportunity to keep this series alive.

• Troy Murray is in his 16th year as a member of the Blackhawks broadcast team and his ninth as the color analyst for the team's radio broadcasts. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20-goal scorer who played 15 years in the NHL. Follow him on Twitter@muzz19.

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