Blackhawks force Game 7 with 6-3 victory over Blues
CHICAGO — Dale Weise struggled after he was traded to Chicago in February. Then he was a healthy scratch for the playoff opener.
On Saturday night, when the Blackhawks needed him the most, he was in the right place at the right time — continuing a postseason tradition for the rugged winger.
Weise capped Chicago's dominant second period with the winning goal in the Blackhawks' 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues, sending their first-round playoff series to Game 7.
''Weiser scoring, you know it took a while, but nothing bigger than the one he got tonight,'' coach Joel Quenneville said.
Artem Anisimov and Trevor van Riemsdyk also scored in the second, and Andrew Shaw added a third-period goal in his return from a one-game suspension for using a gay slur during Chicago's 4-3 loss in Game 4. Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks improved to 15-1 in their past 16 Game 6s in the playoffs, according to STATS.
Chicago trailed 3-1 in the series, but stayed alive with a 4-3 double-overtime victory in St. Louis on Thursday. Then the defending Stanley Cup champions trailed 3-1 after one period in Game 6 — and found a way again.
Game 7 is Monday night.
''They raised the bar for a period, OK? So now it's our turn to answer,'' St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. ''We've worked hard all year to get to this. We've got an opportunity in front of us. I really want to see us take advantage of it, but we're going to need people to play better.''
Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo and Scottie Upshall scored for St. Louis, which lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Brian Elliott made 30 saves.
''They played great, but we were hesitant in our game,'' Upshall said. ''We didn't do the simple things and they jumped on us.''
Facing the possible end of their title defense, the Blackhawks roared back with perhaps their best period of the season.
With St. Louis center Kyle Brodziak in the box for hooking, Anisimov got Chicago within one when he poked home a rebound opportunity for his third goal of the series. That seemed to spark the Blackhawks, and Elliott made a couple of nice stops on Richard Panik and Marian Hossa to keep the Blues in front.
But Chicago only turned up the pressure from there.
Panik left the puck for a streaking Jonathan Toews, and the captain slid it over to van Reimsdyk for the tying goal at 12:21. Spurred on by a raucous crowd of 22,260, which stood and applauded for a whole TV timeout at one point, Chicago went ahead to stay when Artemi Panarin passed from behind the net to Weise for a one-timer at 16:18.
It was Weise's first goal since the trade with Montreal on Feb. 26. It also was his sixth career playoff score, including a pair of overtime winners during his time with the Canadiens.
''We haven't really done anything yet,'' Weise said. ''We'll enjoy this for about another 10 minutes. I thought it was a big game for us, but we haven't done much yet.''
Shaw's third goal of the series, a power-play tally off a slick pass from Patrick Kane, made it 5-3 at 16:53 of the third, and Hossa added an empty-netter.
It was a memorable night for Shaw, who made an emotional apology the day after his embarrassing display in Game 4. While sitting in the penalty box Tuesday night, the forward directed a gay slur toward the ice, and the NHL responded with a one-game suspension and a $5,000 fine.
''That snowball effect of momentum just keeps building and building,'' Shaw said. ''It created confidence through all four lines and we had some big goals.''
Fresh off Kane's dazzling overtime winner Thursday night, the Blackhawks got off to a fast start. Ladd jumped on a turnover by Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and beat Elliott on the glove side at 3:47 of the first.
Weise then set up Andrew Desjardins for an open net, but his shot was wide and St. Louis responded with three goals in a span of 4:42.
Desjardins' miss turned into Upshall's first goal of the series. Pietrangelo sent a big rising drive past a screened Corey Crawford on the stick side at 8:51, and Tarasenko made it 3-1 with another screeching wrist shot, stunning the sellout crowd with his fourth of the playoffs.
NOTES: Hossa also had an assist in his 200th career playoff appearance. ... Toews finished with two assists. He has yet to score in the series. ... Tarasenko has 14 goals in 19 career playoffs games.
