The Blues are coming off a HUGE triple overtime victory against the Blackhawks in game one, and are looking to take a two game lead in the series with today's nationally televised game.
The Blues got goals from Adam Cracknell, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, and Alexander Steen (GWG) in game one. The Blackhawks saw goals from Johnny Oduya, Brent Seabrook, and Patrick Kane.
Many say the veterans are the ones to lead a team, but all three of Cracknell, Tarasenko, and Schwartz scored their first career playoff goals in game one.
Ryan Miller and Corey Crawford both were star performers in game on as well. Corey Crawford stopped 48-of-52, including a ridiculous amount of outstanding saves. His diving blocker save on a Vladimir Tarasenko rebound was his best of the game.
Miller stopped 39-of-42 shots, including 35 straight to end the game. After a difficult first period of allowing three goals on seven shots, Miller shut the door for the rest of the game. Certainly a big boost for his confidence, as he has struggled through the end of the season with his ability to shut games down.
We must remember, that this is a completely different game than game one and things can change fast. So the Blues must keep skating hard, getting pucks deep in the offensive zone, and sending bodies to crash the net. That is when they are successful.
They also need to keep shutting down the rush offense of Chicago. It's no secret that Chicago is at it's best when they are on the rush offense. The Blues did a good job of shutting that down for the majority of game one and if they want to continue to be successful in this series
Game one spoiled the fans with the thrills of a triple overtime, and we all can hope that game two has just as much excitement.
The Blues are expected to be without T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund again tonight. It's looking more likely that they wont be back until at least game four. When they do return, Ken Hitchcock will have a difficult decision on who to take out of the line up.
Who's ready to drop this puck?