Blues fall 6-4 in intense battle with Blackhawks
ST. LOUIS -- Vinnie Hinostroza picked a great time for his second NHL goal.
Hinostroza scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:25 left in regulation to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Patrick Kane broke out of a 10-game goal-scoring drought as the Blackhawks won their fourth straight.
"Any time we can come in here and beat them in their own barn, it's huge," said Hinostroza, who was born in Chicago and is well aware of the rivalry between the teams. "It's a great win."
Dennis Rasmussen, Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Blackhawks, and Scott Darling made 23 saves to improve to 9-2-2.
Patrik Berglund scored twice for the Blues, who had recorded at least one point in each of their last 14 home games. Alex Pietrangelo and Kyle Brodziak also scored for the Blues, who fell to 13-2-3 at home.
Hjalmarsson started the comeback by scoring in the first minute of third period to tie the score at 4-4.
Hinostroza backhanded the go-ahead goal past Jake Allen for his second goal in 31 NHL games. Hinostroza had created several opportunities since his first goal on Nov. 19.
"It's been a while, but I feel like I've been getting a lot of chances," Hinostroza said. "It was great to see it hit the back of the net."
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was happy to see Hinostroza rewarded for his hard work.
"Vinnie has great timing at the net," Quenneville said. "(He's) a good finisher too."
Panarin then added an empty-netter.
Kane tied it 2-2 midway through the second period with his first goal since Nov. 26.
"Just to be positive, that's what I've been telling myself," Kane said. "Play the game, not worry about games previously or anything like that. Just focus on the next game and be ready for that."
Chicago leads the Western Conference and has an NHL-best 46 points.
The Blues held four one-goal leads, but were unable to stop the third-period blitz.
"If we want to play with the top dogs, we're going to have to play at a higher level," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They were better than we were in critical ice. They dialed it up."
Berglund recorded his first two-goal game since Jan. 12 -- a stretch of 68 games.
"This is very disappointing," Berglund said. "Obviously, they're a very good team. But we made a lot of mistakes."
Allen had won eight in a row at home and lost for the first time in regulation at home this season.
Chicago center Artem Anisimov left in the first period and did not return.
The two teams will next meet in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 at Busch Stadium.
NOTES: Chicago G Corey Crawford missed his eighth straight game after undergoing an appendectomy on Dec. 3. He skated for the first time on Thursday. ... Chicago, St. Louis and Buffalo are the only teams in the NHL yet to score a short-handed goal this season. ... St. Louis D Brad Hunt, a healthy scratch, has four points in four games since being recalled on Dec. 8.
UP NEXT:
Blackhawks: Host San Jose on Sunday in the first of four straight home games.
Blues: Host Edmonton on Monday in the finale of a three-game homestand.
