St. Louis Doesn’t Sing the Blues with a Round 1, Game 1, Triple OT
The St. Louis Blues powered through three overtimes to topple the Chicago Blackhawks 4 to 3 on Thursday, welcoming us to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the first round, and first game of the series was the first game this season to go to triple OT. This is the beauty of the playoffs, and the agony, as you keep your eyes glued to the TV while standing up and begging your team to win.
If you were a St. Louis Blues fan you got your wish, and you only had to endure 26 seconds of the third overtime before Alexander Steen became your new hero. This was the first game in Blues history that went onto triple OT. The Blues almost did not get to overtime though if not for Jaden Schwartz, who tied the game up with 1:45 left in the third period. Schwartz forechecked and forced a turnover in the corner and let teammate Derek Roy pick up the puck and passed it to Schawrtz, who was ready in the slot to hammer the puck into the back of the net.
The Blackhawks could not get past Ryan Miler after 18:24 in the first period when Patrick Kane went five hole on a breakaway. Miller made 39 saves, including 35 in a row after the first period.
The Blues were the first on the scoreboard when Adam Cracknell beat Corey Crawford during the high scoring first period. The Blackhawks quickly responded when Johnny Oduya tipped the puck past Miller. The Hawks added a power play goal to take the lead 2 to 1, as Brent Seabrook’s snapshot soared past Miller. Vladimir Tarasenko would not let the Blackhawks keep the lead and tied the game up at 2 at 15:52 into the first period. Patrick Kane would give the Blackhawks the lead, beating Miller five hole. The score remained at a one goal differential up until Jaden Schwartz would tie the game up for the Blues late in the third period.
Fans can expect this series to continue to go into overtime, and be back in fourth. These are two incredibly talented teams that are inter-division rivals and having been gearing up for this match up all season long. The Blues took game one, and are leading the series 1 to 0 over the Blackhawks. This series continues in St. Louis, and the next game takes place on Saturday, April 19th, at 3PM ET.
