Blackhawks Have the Blues, Lose 4-3 in Shootout

By Kelsie Plesac

The Blackhawks fell to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Thursday night at the United Center. The loss gives the Blackhawks a 27-5-4 record, while the Blues improve to 19-14-2 on the season with the win.

After a mostly quiet first period, the Blues struck first with Adam Cracknell scoring his first goal of the season at 16:03. The goal was assisted by Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves.

The Blackhawks would tie the score in the 2nd period, however, behind a Jonathan Toews goal at 3:18 (his 18th of the season), assisted by Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane. After 5:45 Brandon Saad registered his 8th goal of the season, creating a three-game scoring streak. The goal was assisted by Toews. The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 16-5 in the period.

After 3:30 in the 2nd period Cracknell scored his 2nd goal of the night and the season, tying up the game. The Blues would take the lead back from the Blackhawks at 7:06 when David Backes scored his 4th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen. But, the Blackhawks would tie the score back up at 15:29 with Viktor Stalberg’s first goal in 14 games (7th of season). Michal Rozsival and Bryan Bickell were credited with assists.

The tie remained through regulation and overtime forcing a shootout. The shootout saw successful attempts from Toews, Chris Stewart, Kane, and Andy McDonald. Next you, Andrew Shaw and David Perron both failed to get the puck in the net. Marian Hossa and Steen would score before misses by Brandon Saad and Vladimir Tarasenko. New Blackhawk Michal Handzus would get the call next, although he did not register a goal, allowing Kevin Shattenkirk to take the game with the final shootout goal in the sixth round.

The Blackhawks’s next match-up will be against the Predators Saturday in Nashville.