While the final score was 5–2 in favor of the St. Louis Blues, Wednesday night’s game was never that close. The Chicago Blackhawks went down 4–0 very early in the game and never recovered. This was a rare bad start from Petr Mrazek, who tied his career high with his 54th start this season.
First period
In the first period, nothing went right for the Blackhawks. Jordan Kyrou scored two goals in less than three minutes to go up 2–0. Two minutes later, Torey Krug added this fourth goal of the season and the Blues’ third goal of the game. Zachary Bolduc scored the fourth goal of the period. The first period mercifully ended with the Blues leading 4–0.
Second period
In the second period, Philipp Kurashev banged home a Kevin Korchinski rebound for the goal. The Hawks ended the second period trailing 4–1. The Kurashev goal was his 17th of the season and a new career high.
Third period
In the third period, Robert Thomas potted his 25th goal to give the Blues a 5–1 lead. Despite the game being out of reach, the snake-bitten Landon Slaggert finally netted his first NHL goal.
Slaggert has had several near misses, including hitting the post earlier in the game. Slaggert joined the Blackhawks after finishing his senior season at Notre Dame. He has appeared in 12 NHL games with one goal and two assists.
The final score was 5–2 in favor the Blues.
Analysis
As everyone looks toward the offseason, it was released that Connor Bedard, Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic are expected to play for their respective countries in the World Championships.
In other Blackhawks-related news, Paul Ludwinski and Nick Lardis signed amateur tryouts to practice with the Rockford IceHogs as they gear up for their playoff run. While both players will hopefully be a part of the Blackhawks’ future, we need to have realistic expectations.
Lastly, on Thursday, Connor Murphy was activated off the injured list and Ethan Del Mastro was recalled from Rockford as a reward for a stellar season.
The Blackhawks’ next game is Friday against the Nashville Predators. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. CDT.
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