Hawks Smoke Rival Blues 5-2 in St. Louis

The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Blues in St. Louis on Saturday night for the 277^th meeting all time.  The Central Division rivals faced off with just two points separating them in the standings for the second of six meetings on the 2011-12 season.  The game was physical early in the most relevant Blues/Hawks game in years as the Blues came in playing for a three way tie atop the Central.  Career Blackhawks killer David Perron, making his return from a concussion, scored the first goal of the game at 6:21 to give the Blues a 1-0 advantage.  Things got even more physical after the Blues goal with both teams throwing their weight around everywhere on the ice in a game that resembled more of a playoff tilt than an early December affair.  And the roughing after the whistle continued with Carcillo and Polak going off for roughing at 14:35.  Neither team could take advantage of the extra ice and 4 on 4 hockey despite one great chance for each team.  The Hawks outshot the Blues 13-8 in the first period of play.  Hits were 12-10 St. Louis in the physical period.

The Hawks tied the game early in the second period as a Niklas Hjalmarsson blast was redirected by Jonathan Toews and in less than a minute into the period to tie the game 1-1.  It was the Blackhawks leading 15^th goal of the year for the Captain 51 seconds into the period.  It was also the first Blackhawks goal in 80:51 of play this season against the Blues.  Toews was stoned by Brian Elliott minutes later on a 2-1 off a Toews steal and the game remained tied at 1 goal apiece.  Chris Stewart gave the Blues the lead after Andrew Brunette was hauled down in what should have been a penalty scoring his 4^th goal of the year for a 2-1 Blues advantage.  The goal came at a time when the Hawks had all of the momentum but put the Hawks on their heels a bit.  The ref found his whistle when Jonathan Toews slashed David Perron at 10:32 of the second sending the Blues to the power play.  The Hawks got lucky on the power play with T.J. Oshie missing a wide open net.  The Hawks luck continued as Marian Hossa tied the game on a shorthanded goal off a steal.  It was the second shorty for the Hawks in as many games.  The Hawks killed the remaining penalty time and the game remained tied 2-2.  The shorthanded goal appeared to give the Hawks the momentum back that they lost with the Stewart goal.  The Hawks got a power play of their own shortly after in a golden opportunity as Patrik Berglund went off for interference.  The Hawks made the Blues pay and took the lead as Patrick Sharp beat Elliott with assists to Ducan Keith and Jonathan Toews. 

Shortly after David Backes took a run at Jonathan Toews and Dan Carcillo said hello.  Carcillo and Backes both went off for roughing.  Carcillo got a double minor and the Blues went back to the power play.  The Hawks killed the penalty.  David Backes and Dave Bolland had a little pushing match before the end of the period and T.J. Oshie went off for slashining to give the Hawks a 4 on 3 power play to start the third.  Chicago outshot St. Louis 14-9 for the period that saw 16 penalty minutes as the Hawks and Blues remembered that they really don’t like each other. 

On some pretty passing to start the third the Hawks made the Blues pay on a 4-3 power play as Marian Hossa buried the biscuit to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead early in the third.  It was big Hoss’s second of the game and the Hawks second power play goal of the contest.  Halfway through the third the Blues went to the power play when Duncan Keith shot the puck into the crowd and was whistled for delay of game.  Chris Stewart went off for hooking on the power play and the Hawks got a power play of their own after 12 seconds of 4 on 4 hockey.  Patrick Sharp was stopped on a clean breakaway on the man advantage.  The Blues killed the penalty to remain in the game.  The Blues went back to the power play after Dave Bolland was whistled for high sticking.  The Hawks killed the penalty and the league’s worst penalty killing unit was 4-4 on the night.  Michael Frolik added an empty netter to give the Hawks a 5-2 victory over the rival Blues.  Chicago outshot the Blues 9-8 for the third period.

The Hawks evened the season series with the Blues 1-1-0 and moved 4 points ahead of St. Louis in the standings.  With the victory the Hawks moved 2 points ahead of the idle Red Wings for first place in the Central Division.  Chicago improved to 16-8-3 on the season.  The Hawks will return home to face the Coyotes on Monday night.  The Hawks are 1-1-0 against Phoenix this season.