Monday night saw the culmination of one of the best first round NHL playoff series in recent memory with the Blues besting the Blackhawks 3-2 on a 3rd period goal from former Blackhawk Troy Brouwer. The highlights can be seen
here. The series saw the teams match each other almost goal for goal, with over 91% of the games being played either with the score tied or one team leading by one.
The Blues opened the scoring a minute into the game shortly after Corey Crawford made a strong save on Vladimir Tarasenko who let a one timer go from close quarters off a feed from Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz got the rebound and fed it to the point to Jay Bouwmeester. Bouwmeester’s shot from the left point was redirected into the net by Jori Lehtera. The Blues added to their lead with about 6 minutes left in the period on Colton Parayko’s blast from the Blues, ringing off the post and in. Crawford had no chance on this goal, either due to Alexander Steen’s net front presence and the placement and speed of the shot.
The Blackhawks then seemed to turn the momentum with less than 2 minutes left in the first period. Jori Lehtera made an ill-advised pass at the offensive blue line as Jaden Schwartz caught an edge, allowing the Blackhawks to break out on a harmlessly seeming 3 on 4. The puck was moved to the right wing where Marian Hossa shot through Carl Gunnarsson’s legs to beat Brian Elliott high glove side. Gunnarsson failed to close any game on Hossa even though it wasn’t an odd man rush and provided the screen on Elliott. A better play there by him likely preserves the two goal lead out of the first period.
Early in the second period, Kevin Shattenkirk was whistled for a hooking penalty, one that the replay showed was very weak. Andrew Shaw scored the equalizer on the power play by banking a shot off a down Jay Bouwmeester. Bouwmeester violated a simple defensive rule, going down in front of the middle of the net in that situation. You can’t go down like that unless you are at least at the posts if not outside them. Bouwmeester even comment on his mistake after the game. The Hawks dominated the first half of the period, at one point outshooting the Blues 6-0. The Blues on the other hand seemed to control the last 5 minutes of the period with the Blackhawks looking tired. Could it have something to do with Duncan Keith playing 56% of the first 15:30 of the second period and 54% of the first period? Compare that to Alex Pietrangelo who played only 40% of the second period and 48% of the first period. Could it have something to with Patrick Kane playing 42% of the first 15:30 in the second period? Whatever the reason, the Blues seemed to turn the momentum going into the third period.
Around midway through the third period, the Blues scoring again originated from high in the offensive zone. While high in the zone along the right wall, Paul Stastny brilliantly hit Robby Fabbri with a pass in the left slot. Instead of shooting, Fabbri deftly slid the puck to a wide open Brouwer at the far post. In what seemed like an eternity for Blues fans, Brouwer swung and missed and flailed around until finally putting the puck in the net. Fabbri had his arm in the air celebrating for about 2 seconds before Brouwer finally put the puck in the net. As Brouwer said, the pass was so good he “might have quit hockey” if he missed it.
The Blues were able to hang on for the 3-2 victory and escaped a double post shot by Brent Seabrook that was cleared by Pietrangelo. Much overlooked on this narrow escape was the best non-save, save of the game which was made by Elliott. Watch closely on the first linked video at around 3:54 of the video. As the puck is coming back across the crease, Richard Panik tries to get to the puck to knock it in. Brian Elliott uses his trapper to prevent Panik’s stick from getting to the puck, allowing Pietrangelo to get to the puck and clear it to safety. Subtle plays like this are often missed but can be game changers.
Throughout the game, both teams had excellent changes with Pietrangelo missing an empty net, Fabbri getting stoned by Crawford, Kane getting robbed by Elliott and Seabrook blocking Alexander Steen’s shot on a mostly empty net.
Jammer’s Keys
1.
Take advantage of the Hawks bottom D Pairings - Given the limited number of minutes that David Runblad, Viktor Svedberg, Erik Gustaffson and Michal Rozsival played, the Blues were able to accomplish this. The group was -4 over the series with only 1 assist. More importantly, the Blues were able to chase Rozsival from ther series, removing his 16 minutes of ice time average and replacing him with someone who would play between 8:00 and 11:30 per game. This forced extra minutes onto the Blackhawks big 3 and TVR who was -3 in the series.
2.
Timely goaltending - The Blues have to be extremely pleased with Brian Elliott in this series. Both he and Crawford often provided timely goaltending but it’s hard to argue that Elliott didn’t outperform Crawford as he bested him in GAA, save percentage, shutouts and most importantly wins.
3.
Coaching adjustments - This key is hard to judge. Coach Hitchcock clearly had a different strategy with shorter shifts and different resource allocation. He also wasn’t afraid to throw rookie Joel Edmundson back into the lineup in game seven.
4.
Injuries - Luckily both teams seemed to avoid any significant injuries though I am sure Hammer is black and blue from all of his blocked shots.
5.
Roookies - Like with the goaltending, the Blues have to be extremely pleased by their rookies. Robby Fabbri contributed a goal and 4 assist and was tied for the team lead in plus minus while averaging over 15:30 per game. Colton Parayko scored 2 goals and added an assist while averaging almost 21 minutes per game. Even though the coaching staff is on record as saying they want him to shoot more, he was third on the team with 17 shots in the series. Joel Edmundson played in five games, averaging just under 11 minutes and added some physicality without many defensive lapses.
Overall, I think the Blues definitely get credit for passing 4 of the 5 keys with one passing grade being given for not sustaining or being hampered by any serious injuries. Given that, I am not surprised they were able to win the series even if it took seven games.
Other Series Notes
- Parayko had as many goals as Artemi Panarin and more than Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews combined.
- Duncan Keith played more than half the series, averaging 31:27 per game.
- Pietrangelo was only a minute behind Keith at 30:33 per game.
- Stastny average 21:41 a game, partially due to him being on the ice for key face-offs (56%).
- Speaking of face-offs, Steen was at 19% during the series. TT was slightly better at 35%.
- Toews won 110 draws and was 59% for the series.
- Hammer was a series best +5 and had 7 blocked shots on the penalty kill.
A couple of good Hitchcock quote to leave you with: 1) “I got back to the condo (after Game 7) and there was signage everywhere. It wasn’t ‘get rid of Hitch’, so that’s a nice sign." 2) On Parayko’s shot – “We need that thing coming hard and fast, and quite frankly, I don’t really care where it goes as long as it makes a big noise because it scares the [expletive] out of people.”
It’s a great day for hockey.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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