Blues rally to beat Blackhawks, lead series 3-1

[April 20, 2016]  (The Sports Xchange) - Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues rallied for a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues, who erased a 2-1 deficit with three consecutive goals. St. Louis seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal.

Defenseman Duncan Keith scored two goals and Andrew Shaw had a goal and two assists for Chicago, which dropped back-to-back games on home ice.

St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 39 of 42 shots to earn the victory and Chicago goalie Corey Crawford turned aside 16 of 20 shots.

The Blues seized a 3-2 lead on a power-play goal by Schwartz with 18:24 remaining in the third period. Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk tried to sweep the puck away from the crease but inadvertently passed it to Schwartz, who beat Crawford stick-side for his second goal in as many games.

A defensive turnover by the Blackhawks allowed St. Louis to increase its lead to 4-2 less than four minutes later. Steen intercepted a pass attempt by van Riemsdyk and raced into the offensive zone for a breakaway goal.

Chicago cut the deficit to 4-3 on Keith's second goal of the game with 5:20 remaining in the third period.

St. Louis opened the scoring on a wrist shot by Tarasenko with 5:58 left in the first period. Center Jori Lehtera flipped a pass from behind the net to Tarasenko, who beat Crawford with a rapid release from the right circle.

Chicago evened the score at 1 on a deflection by Shaw with 10:48 to go in the second period. Marian Hossa flipped a high shot from the top of the right circle. The puck hit Shaw and bounced over Elliott's glove.

Keith scored a power-play goal to give Chicago a 2-1 lead with 6:51 remaining in the second period. After Elliott denied Shaw from point-blank range, Keith chased down the loose puck and punched it into the net.

Tarasenko scored again to even the score at 2 with 2:29 remaining in the second period. On the power play, he fired a wrist shot from the right circle for his third goal of the series and his 13th goal in 17 career playoff games.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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