ame 4: BLUES at BLACKHAWKS
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND
St. Louis leads best-of-7 series 2-1
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, FS-MW, CSN-CH
CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Blues can take a two-game lead in the Western Conference First Round series, but will have to match the defending Stanley Cup champions' effort to do it.
The Chicago Blackhawks have made a habit out of coming back to win series under coach Joel Quenneville and plan to do it again. Since Quenneville took over in 2008-09, the Blackhawks are 7-3 in playoff series they've trailed after three games.
One of those triumphs was against the Blues in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Chicago climbed out of a 2-0 hole to win four straight. St. Louis has matured since then, adding veterans including Paul Stastny and former Blackhawks forward Troy Brouwer, and the Blues hope that's the key to winning this series.
"One of the things you learn from watching teams play that are championship teams, they move on very quickly," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said at United Center on Monday. "We needed to move on and show the maturity that we're capable of doing that stuff. That's what guys like Stastny and Brouwer were brought in for, to move the dial forward as quickly as possible, and they've done a great job all year."
The Blackhawks plan to do what they usually do in these situations, which is raise their play another notch higher when it's needed. Hoping to avoid a 3-1 deficit going back to Scottrade Center for Game 5 on Thursday, they're intent on tying the series at 2-2.
"You always want to draw on that experience that we've had in the past, where we've been in situations before, when we've been trailing and we've been able to find a way," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Anytime you can draw on that experience, I think it's a good thing and we're going to try to do that again in this series."
Chicago has outshot St. Louis 110-85 in the first three games, but only has one goal during 5-on-5 play. The Blackhawks' top line of Andrew Ladd, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa have generated a lot of scoring chances, but no goals. Patrick Kane hasn't scored a goal either.
"We're going to have to score to win, and those guys are getting the quality and quantity [chances]," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Eventually, they'll get their turn."
Blues team scope: St. Louis opted not to practice and likely will stick with the same lineup as Game 3. Brian Elliott, who has a .963 save percentage in the first three games, likely will make his fourth straight start in net. Forward Steve Ott, who returned in Game 3 from a long injury absence stemming from hamstring surgery and colitis, is expected to remain in the lineup. He played 6:29 and had four hits playing on the fourth line. Ott also won 2-of-3 faceoffs. "I think where he's really good for us is on the wall," Hitchcock said. "He's very underrated as a player that makes composed plays with the puck. At the end of the day, he's playing more and more. He's going to be double-digit minutes coming up pretty quick, and that's going to help." The Blues recalled forward Ty Rattie from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League on Monday.
Blackhawks team scope: Chicago, which didn't practice, may have some lineup changes. The Blackhawks' bottom two lines could change, specifically the third line centered by Teuvo Teravainen, and it wouldn't be surprising for Quenneville to make a defensive switch. Teravainen doesn't have a point in the first three games and his ice time has been limited. Chicago wants him to have the puck on his stick more often, but Teravainen has struggled on faceoffs. It's possible he might switch to wing. "With Teuvo, that versatility is always handy in games and in a series, like a lot of guys are [versatile]," Quenneville said. "We could look at a lot of those options." Dale Weise played in Game 3, but could be scratched. Brandon Mashinter and Andrew Desjardins are also candidates to rejoin the lineup. Corey Crawford is expected to start in net.
Your pregame musicA mistake from the league's points leader led to a rare late collapse from the Chicago Blackhawks, costing them home-ice advantage.
Now the St. Louis Blues can all but bury the reigning Stanley Cup champions on the road.
With the Blackhawks frustrated following another wild third period - this time not in their favor - the Blues will try to grab a commanding lead in Tuesday night's Game 4 of a Western Conference quarterfinal series that has been tight since the opening faceoff.
St. Louis gained a 2-1 series edge with Sunday's 3-2 win in Chicago, offsetting the Blackhawks' 3-2 victory Friday that briefly swapped home-ice advantage into their favor.
The Blues trailed 2-1 entering the third but rallied with goals from Patrik Berglund and Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz scored on a power play following a costly four-minute penalty from Patrick Kane after he was caught high-sticking defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
Two days after a pair of coach's challenges went against St. Louis, it rallied to hand Chicago its first regulation loss when leading after two periods since Game 2 of the 2014 West finals against Los Angeles. The Blackhawks were 70-0-4 since the start of last season when leading at the start of the third.
''That was a tough loss,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Let's get back into it. But it was a pretty competitive game, kind of comparable to what we saw in the first two.''
The separation between these teams continues to be razor thin as each of the last five games have been decided by one goal, four of them St. Louis wins.
While Corey Crawford was sharp again for Chicago with 33 saves in Game 3, Brian Elliott was yet again the difference with a postseason career-high 44. Elliott has pushed aside 105 of 109 shots in this series and has a .956 save percentage in his last five starts against Chicago.
The Blackhawks fired 24 shots at Elliott in Sunday's second period - Artem Anisimov tallying the only one that reached the back of the net - but that total was sliced in half in the third.
''We've got home ice back again,'' Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. ''To me, that's the whole thing. We've got to find a way to keep it now.''
The Blues will still hold it for Thursday's game in St. Louis, but their fifth win in six tries at the United Center would create a massive uphill climb for the Blackhawks. Two of the final three games are in St. Louis as the Blues will go for their first playoff series win since 2012.
St. Louis has won its last six road games and is riding a 14-3-0 stretch away from home. To regain momentum, Chicago will need to win for just the third time in its last nine games at the United Center.
The Blues won Game 1 on David Backes' overtime goal that caromed off Chicago defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk's skate, and they tied Sunday's contest when Berglund's shot bounced off defenseman Michal Rozsival's right leg and past Crawford.
Chicago forward Andrew Ladd hit both goal posts on a single shot Sunday.
"I think all three games could have gone each way ... that's how close it's been," Quenneville said. "The margin of error is very limited or very minimal. I just think we've got to keep persevering and find a way to get that momentum back here at home next game and turn it around."
Your pregame inspirational speech
