Blackhawks steal Game 2 from Blues
ST. LOUIS - If the NHL allowed for coaches to be included in the stars of the game, Joel Quenneville and his staff would have earned all three slots Friday night.
Moments after Vladimir Tarasenko appeared to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead with 7:46 remaining in Game 2 of this opening-round playoff series, Quenneville decided to use his coach's challenge, believing that Jori Lehtera was offsides.
After a long delay, the referees finally agreed and the scoreboard reverted to read "Blues 1, Blackhawks 1."
Moments later, Andrew Shaw scored a power-play goal, Artemi Panarin added an empty-netter, and the Hawks ran out of St. Louis like thieves in the night after a 3-2 victory that evened this opening-round series 1-1.
Kevin Shattenkirk scored a meaningless second goal with 1.1 seconds left to account for the final score. Game 3 is at the United Center on Sunday.
Quenneville said a player on the bench screamed that Lehtera was offsides, and his coaches concurred.
"I was screaming like a crazy man and just got it (the challenge) in time," Quenneville said.
Said Hawks goalie Corey Crawford: "Good play by Q to jump up on the boards. Good thing he didn't fall over."
The Blues admitted the call deflated them, with defenseman Carl Gunnarsson saying "it changes the feeling on the bench."
That was apparent when Tarasenko, who gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with 4:40 remaining in the second period, took a terrible penalty when he slashed Shaw just 84 seconds after the Hawks won their challenge. It ended up costing his team the game as Shaw scored by jamming the puck past Brian Elliott with 4:19 remaining.
Ken Hitchcock used his coach's challenge on that goal, arguing goalie interference, but the referees allowed Shaw's goal to stand.
"We're going to have to fight," Hitchcock said. "When you play the defending Cup champions you're going to have to fight through a lot of stuff. Calls aren't going to go your way. It's always going to seem one-sided… Big deal. Fight through it."
The other big storyline of this game was the triumphant return of Duncan Keith. The Blackhawks' defenseman tied the game with five seconds left in the second period on a rising shot from just inside the blue line that sailed over Elliott's left shoulder. It came just two seconds after Jonathan Toews won an offensive-zone faceoff after the Blues had iced the puck.
Keith also made perhaps the stop of the night by cutting off Alex Pietrangelo, who looked like he was going to walk right in on Crawford with just more than 13 minutes remaining.
"Tried to get back quick and lucky I ended up cutting a chance off," Keith said.
Keith played a game-high 30:59 and took 4 shots on goal. No one on either team saw more than 27 minutes of ice time.
"It was just kind of nice to shake a little rust off there; get my legs back underneath me," Keith said. "It's different when you're skating in practice or training … to jumping into a game, especially when it's fast-paced like that."
The Hawks basically sleptwalked through the first period, managing just 2 shots on goal, with 1 coming from 85 feet away by defenseman Viktor Svedberg.
Then the second period got underway, and it was like a lightning bolt hit the Scottrade Center.
Scoring chance after scoring chance by both teams went by the boards, but the fans were jumping and screaming with each close call.
Kane had a breakaway chance, but lost the puck; Shaw couldn't bang home an Andrew Ladd pass as he stood just three feet in front of Elliott; Panarin hit a post with a wicked blast; and Tomas Fleischmann was turned away on a shot in close on Elliott.
And those were just the Hawks' chances.
Now a series that's already impressed Quenneville for its intensity and pace shifts to Chicago.
"The pace is unbelievable and the respect factor for what the other team's capable of off the rush and in zone is in the right place," Quenneville said. "But I thought for two games this has been a pretty amazing series."
THREE STARS:
1 Duncan Keith, Blackhawks. Defenseman does it all in return, scoring with five seconds left in second period and thwarting Alex Pietrangelo on a potential breakaway in the third period.
2 Corey Crawford, Blackhawks. Netminder up to the task all night, making 29 saves.
3 Andrew Shaw, Blackhawks. Scored game-winning goal on the power play and also set perfect screen on Duncan Keith's second-period score.