Riding a three goal outburst in the second period, and the brilliance of Corey Crawford in overtime, the Blackhawks pulled off what appeared to be an unlikely upset in Game 5 of their first round series in St. Louis last night.
They live to play again tomorrow in Chicago.
The Hawks reversed the narrative of the series a bit, getting vastly outshot by the Blues, yet getting key goals from their top players at key times.
The Blues were saying all the right things after the game—how the series is still there for them to win in Chicago. And while that's true, you also got the sense last night (and this morning) that a little bit of their mojo had slipped away. Corey Crawford gave up one possibly questionable goal on an absolute bomb from Jaden Schwartz, but otherwise he was the better of the two goalies last night, and Brian Elliott was not great.
Another thing for St. Louis to think about now: although Chicago's defense struggled at times, as it has all series, the Hawks got goals from each of their newly cobbled top 3 lines.
And Number 88 got going a bit last night, as usual, in Game 5. One last thing that has to be in the back of the minds of the Blues: Chicago is 13-1 in Game 6's since 2009.
The Blackhawks still have a long, tough slog ahead if they are to pull of the still unlikely comeback in this series. But they took a big and dramatic first step last night.
I will preview Game 6 tomorrow.
JJ
FOB (good peeps, good reads)
Chris Block Al Cimaglia http://www.thethirdmanin.com
Frank Nova http://www.hockeenight.com
Greg Boysen http://www.letsgohawks.net
Puckin’ Hostile Crew http://www.puckinhostile.com