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 With almost every one of the 22,112 fans in the stands wearing
red jerseys to support their favorite team, Chicago's home crowd
definitely helped fuel the Blackhawks to a 2-0 win over the Blues.
"It's nice to get on board," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said
of the win. "We needed it tonight obviously. It would've been a huge
hole going down 3-0. We're back in the series."
While it indeed is a big step in the right direction for the
Blackhawks, who lost both of the first two games in overtime, St.
Louis still holds a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series.
Even with the loss, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock praised his team's
play.
"Best game (of the series) by far," Hitchcock said. "We did a lot of
things really that you want to. It was one of the best road games
I've ever seen us play. They're a good team. We knew this was going
to be a long series. But we really played hard, we really played
well."
Game 4, again in Chicago, will be a nationally televised contest
starting at 9:30 pm ET on Wednesday night. Game 5 will be in St.
Louis on Friday night. Game 6, if necessary, will be in Chicago on
Sunday afternoon.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville praised winning goalie Corey
Crawford's performance, stopping all 34 of St. Louis' shots.
"I thought it was a great response and a tremendous effort by him,"
Quenneville said. "He was square, he was solid, in control. I think
his rebound effectiveness today was as good as we've seen. It was a
real solid game for him."
As for the overall game, Quenneville added, "Tight one throughout,
three games in a row. It's been a very intense series and extremely
close."
An early goal by Blackhawks center and team captain Jonathan Toews
was more than enough for the win, while an empty-net insurance score
with 20 seconds left by center Marcus Kruger sealed the win.
Toews, who missed the last two weeks of the regular season with an
upper-body injury, had been relatively quiet upon his return for the
first two games of the series.
But he wasted little time making his presence known Monday, scoring
at just 4:10 of the opening period.
Keith fed Toews just before the blue line, and even though he was
off-balance and shooting from the left side, Toews was able to push
a fluttering shot — not a rocket by any means, but more of a
knuckleball, so to speak — past St. Louis goalie Ryan Miller.
Although St. Louis outshot Chicago 15-7 in the first period, it was
the Blackhawks who held the lead going into the second period.
While the tables turned in the middle stanza — Chicago outshot St.
Louis 11-8 — the Blues still had a 23-18 edge after the first two
periods.
But again, St. Louis still wound up with nothing to show for all
that effort.
It was the same song for the Blues in the third period. They outshot
the Blackhawks 11-7 (for a total of 34-25), yet again came up empty.
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Kruger scored on a wraparound goal into the empty St. Louis net to
put the win on ice for the Blackhawks.
"We had a good game, lots of chances, but both goalies played well,
so we have to find a way to outwork (Crawford)," Blues center Jaden
Schwartz said. "We had a lot of chances, especially in the third
period, we had a really good push. For whatever reason, it wouldn't
go in. We couldn't get the second chances."
One of the biggest keys for Chicago was on the penalty kill.
Successfully stopping St. Louis on all three of the Blues' power
plays, the Blackhawks are now 15-for-16 on the penalty kill through
the first three games of the series.
It was the 89th career playoff win for Quenneville, most among
active coaches in the NHL.
Quenneville, who had 307 overall wins when he previously coached the
Blues, is also the only active coach to have two Stanley Cup
championships (2010 and 2013, both with the Blackhawks).
This series is the 11th time both teams have faced each other in the
playoffs but the first time since the 2002 conference quarterfinals.
One thing the Blackhawks will likely have on their mind in that
game: Of the 10 prior postseason series between the two teams, only
three have gone to six games or more.
NOTES: Monday marked the first game of a three-game suspension for
Chicago D Brent Seabrook after his hard hit on St. Louis RW David
Backes in Game 2. It will be a big loss for the Blackhawks. Seabrook
was leading the team in both points (four) and goals (two) in the
series coming into Game 3. He will not be eligible to return until
Game 6, if there is one. As for Backes, it's uncertain whether he'll
be able to play in Game 4. ... Just before the Blackhawks took the
ice, a video montage on the scoreboard showed Seabrook, which drew a
huge roar from the partisan Chicago crowd. ... Attendance was
22,112. ... Joel Quenneville now has a 47-31 playoff record as
Blackhawks coach, with a franchise-best .597 winning percentage. ...
The Blues' 2-0 series edge coming into Monday's game is the 12th
time they have won the first two games in a playoff series in club
history. They have emerged 10-1 in the previous 11 series. ... The
Blackhawks called up 13 players from their Rockford (Ill.) farm club
in the AHL before the game. ... After overtime wins in the first two
games of the series, St. Louis is now 6-1 in OT playoff games all
time against Chicago.
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