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 Eighteen hours later, the fog -- and the Blues' mood -- lifted.
Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored in overtime, giving St. Louis
a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tarasenko's goal capped a huge comeback for St. Louis. The Blues
allowed five goals in the first period and trailed 5-2 before
rallying for their fourth win in the past five games.
"It's a real courageous win, with the day or night or whatever you
want to call it that we had," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said with a
chuckle.
Tarasenko's wrist shot with 1:06 remaining in the extra session
capped the marathon day. Left winger Alexander Steen scored twice,
and center Robby Fabbri, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and right winger
David Backes each netted one goal for St. Louis (9-3-1).
Blues goaltender Jake Allen stopped 27 of 28 shots after relieving
starter Brian Elliott early in the game. Elliott allowed four goals
on 15 shots before he was replaced with 2:16 remaining in the first
period.
"I just wanted to give the guys a chance to get back in the game,"
said Allen, who stopped 31 of 33 shots one night earlier against the
Los Angeles Kings. "(I knew we could) slowly claw our way back in
the game, and they took advantage of it."
Left winger Marko Dano, right winger Andrew Shaw, left winger Teuvo
Teravainen, defenseman Brent Seabrook and right winger Patrick Kane
each scored for Chicago (7-5-1).
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 23 of 29 shots.
"Looking at our overall game, it wasn't so bad," Blackhawks center
Jonathan Toews said. "I just think that we had those lapses where we
gave up chances against that ended up in our net. Obviously, the
players they had on the ice, they were getting those bounces and
they made us pay."
Backes said the Blues faced a turning point after falling behind by
three goals late in the first period.
"That was the switch that came on and said, either we get our stuff
together or they're going to embarrass us here," Backes said. "After
that, we just kept getting better and better. That scared us into
playing well. There are a ton of excuses out there we could have
used and said, it's not our night, but that wasn't us. That shows a
lot of character in this room."
Dano opened the scoring 2:08 into the first period. Blues defenseman
Carl Gunnarsson lost the puck in the defensive zone, and Dano
capitalized with a one-timer for his first goal with the Blackhawks.
Fifty-four seconds later, Steen evened the score at 1 on a
deflection that fluttered over Crawford's shoulder.
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Chicago regained a 2-1 lead on a penalty shot by Shaw with 15:23
left in the first period. Referees awarded the penalty shot after
Shaw was hauled down on a breakaway by Blues defenseman Joel
Edmundson.
Teravainen punched in a rebound to increase Chicago's lead to 3-1
with 13:25 remaining in the first period.
St. Louis sliced the deficit to 3-2 on a wrist shot by Fabbri with
4:48 to go in the first period.
Seabrook put the Blackhawks up 4-2 with a slap shot with 2:51 left
in the first period, and Kane added to the margin 33 seconds later
with a rising wrist shot from the left circle for his eighth goal of
the season.
St. Louis evened the score at 5 with goals by Steen, Bouwmeester and
Backes in the second period.
"I never have to worry about offense," Blackhawks coach Joel
Quenneville said. "We'll measure our performance by how well we play
without the puck, knowing that there are enough ways we can score."
NOTES: Blues C Steve Ott left the game during the second period
because of an upper-body injury and did not return. ... Blues LW
Magnus Paajarvi made his season debut on Wednesday night after being
recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
Paajarvi, 24, appeared in 65 games for St. Louis during the previous
two seasons. ... Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa missed his second
consecutive game because of a lower-body injury. His status is
uncertain for Friday's game against New Jersey. ... Blues RW Ryan
Reaves received a $3,024.19 fine from the NHL on Wednesday for a
high hit against Los Angeles Kings C Anze Kopitar on Tuesday night.
The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining
agreement. ... Blackhawks RW Viktor Tikhonov was a healthy scratch.
... Blues D Kevin Shattenkirk missed his 10th consecutive game
because of a lower-body injury.
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