Blackhawks Light Up Blues 7-3 in Chicago

Unfortunatley about midway through the first at 9:26, the Blackhawks responded as Nick Lardis scored on the power play after a backdoor pass from Oliver Moore. All the Blues players tried to get a stick in the lane to stop the puck, but none could reach it.

Otto Stenberg Scores First Career NHL Goal

At 8:22 into the second period, Otto Stenberg had the only highlight of the period, scoring his first career NHL goal, and it was a beauty, tying the game 2-2. He tucked it shortside corner, putting it right over Knight’s right shoulder. He had pretty much no room at all to put the puck, but he placed it perfectly. While there wasn’t much more to celebrate after, it was a great moment for him and his family, especially after his brother Ivar Stenberg won gold with Sweden at the World Junior Championship.

Another Awful Second Period

The Blackhawks scored four goals to the Blues one in the second period, ending with a 5-2 lead. At 7:41, Oliver Moore put Chicago ahead 2-1 when he wired a shot from the top of the circle. Both Wingers got caught on the same side, which allowed Moore to have lots of room to shoot.

At 8:57, Connor Murphy gave Chicago the lead once again, 35 seconds after Stenberg’s goal. Sundqvist attempted to make a pass through the middle of the ice to Toropchenko, but it was out of reach and went directly to Murphy on the point. He walked in and ripped a slap shot that looked like Binnington made the save, but rolled in after it hit his pad.

Not long after, Landon Slaggert gave the Blackhawks a two-goal lead, 4-2. Colton Dach ripped one from the point, and it looked like it went straight in. In the replay, Slaggert was able to get a deflection on it, and he was awarded the goal.

Then, to end the period at 17:24, Jason Dickinson made it 5-2 after the Blues allowed another deflection in front of the net after a shot from the point.

Special Teams Were a No-Show

Both sides of the special teams unit were a joke, failure after failure. The Blues were given so many chances on the power play to turn this game around but did absolutely nothing. In the first period alone, they had three power plays for a total of five shots, none of them high-quality chances. They then had two more power plays later, totaling six more shots. With this many opportunities, you need results, and there are no excuses.

The penalty kill was just as bad. The Blackhawks scored three of their four goals on the power play, firing 10 shots and constantly pressuring the Blues’ defenders, leaving them with almost nothing they could do.

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Nathan Walker Scored in His Return

While he couldn’t show too much excitement being down 7-3, Nathan Walker scored his first goal back after missing 16 games due to injury. Tropchenko forced a pass to the front of the net, which got tipped into the air. Somehow, Walker tracked it through the air and batted it in without being called for a high stick. A weird but cool first goal back, even if it didn’t come under the circumstances he would have wanted.

Jordan Binnington Had a Rough Night

Binnington faced a total of 35 shots and only saved 28 of them, finishing with an .800 save percentage. In his defense, a good proportion of these goals came from deflections in front of the net. However, it doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t have his best game. He also received a penalty after slapping the puck out of the air and into the stands, from which Chicago ended up scoring.

Near the end of the third, Montgomery tried to waive Binnington in to pull him from the game, but he just turned his head and stayed in net. On top of Binnington staying on the ice, the staff couldn’t even find Joel Hofer, who was later seen behind a wall in the tunnel