Blackhawks Lose 4-1 Against the Blues as Pat Maroon Plays His Final NHL Game in St. Louis

The Chicago Blackhawks lost 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues on March 22, which was also Pat Maroon's final game in his hometown. Before the game, Maroon officially announced that he plans to retire at the end of this season in an emotional interview with Darren Pang. Maroon was later honored as the number star of the game.

Be sure to check out On Tap Sports Network's look at Pat Maroon's career.

First Period

Despite a 4-1 score, this was a closer game than it looked. The Blackhawks started the game with some sloppiness. Missed passes and dangerous turnovers led to some early scoring chances by the Blues, including a Jordan Kyrou shot that rang off the post. Arvid Soderblom nearly gave the Blues a wide-open goal after fumbling the puck behind his net.

Alec Martinez took an awkward hit from Jake Neighbors along the boards and went down. Jason Dickinson immediately stepped up to Martinez's defense and fought Neighbors. Dickinson may have gotten hurt in the fight, as he did not play the rest of the game. 

The first period wasn't good for the Blackhawks in the neutral zone (NZ). The Blues picked off missed passes and turnovers. The Hawks had a 50% Corsi and a 43% expected goals share (xG%) as the Blues tried to make every shot count. 

Second Period

The Blues turned up the heat in the second period and increased the volume of shots on goal. Ryan Donato briefly joined the first line with Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar and had an excellent shift. This gave the Hawks life as they began to take control of the game but couldn't finish on their chances. The Blackhawks finished with a 51% Corsi and a 62 xG%. 

The Blues scored the first goal of the game after some weird "puck acrobatics." Somehow, they managed to avoid a high stick as three players juggled the puck past Soderblom. It was a strange goal, but there was some literal puck-watching on the Hawks' part. Artyom Levshunov lets Robert Thomas have no issue batting the puck into the net.

Momentum shifted towards the Blues, and they pressured the Blackhawks towards the end of the period. Ethan Del Mastro made a terrible read and skated outside the dot-line to pressure the puck carrier. Nathan Walker sucked Alex Vlasic out of position, and Alexey Toropchenko buried home a cross-ice pass.

But hey, Tyler Bertuzzi was penalized for tripping and it led to the only goal for the Blackhawks. Ilya Mikheyev scored his second short-handed goal of the season, and Frank Nazar and Landon Slaggert created a scoring chance shortly after.