St. Louis 1, Chicago 0
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees:
Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Steve Miller
Attendance:
19241
By The Sports Xchange
ST. LOUIS -- David Backes scored 9:04 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Backes scored his sixth career playoff goal from the side of the net after his shot deflected off the skate of defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and through the legs of goalie Corey Crawford.
Brian Elliott earned his first career playoff shutout, making 35 saves for the Blues.
The Blackhawks went on a power play just seven seconds into overtime when Colton Parayko was called for delay of game when he shot the puck over the boards but could not get the puck past Elliott.
It was not a surprise the game went to overtime. Three of the five games this season between the two teams went to overtime and all were won by the Blues, one in a shootout. When the two teams met in the first round in 2014, four of the six games went to overtime.
This is also the fifth year in a row the Blackhawks' opening game of the playoffs went to overtime.
A third penalty against the Blues in the opening period gave the Blackhawks a 5-on-3 advantage for 36 seconds, but they could not capitalize. The Blackhawks had almost five consecutive minutes on the power-play but could not take advantage of those chances, even though they outshot the Blues 11-4 in the period.
The Blues out-shot the Blackhawks 10-9 in the second period as the game turned into a battle of the goalies, Elliott making his first playoff start since 2013 -- and Crawford, who missed 11 games late in the season because of an upper-body injury before returning for the final game of the regular season.
The Blues had only two shots on goal in the third period, while Elliott stopped the eight shots by Chicago.
Each team finished regulation 0-for-4 on the power play.
Game 2 of the series will be Friday night in St. Louis before the series moves to Chicago for games three and four.
NOTES: LW Andrew Ladd was in the Blackhawks' lineup after a quick trip back to Chicago during the day Wednesday, where his wife went into labor with the couple's third child. He arrived at Scottrade Center about an hour before game time. ... The Blackhawks were without D Duncan Keith, who served the final game of a six-game suspension for a high-sticking incident against Minnesota on March 29. ... RW David Backes returned to the Blues' lineup after missing the last three games of the regular season because of a lower-body injury, meaning Wednesday night was the first time this season the Blues had their entire lineup on the ice. ... The Blues scratched LW Steve Ott, RW Dmitrij Jaskin, LF Magnus Paajarvi and D Robert Bortuzzo. ... Scratched for the Blackhawks were D David Rundblad, RW Dale Weise, RW Richard Panik and D Christian Ehrhoff.
Top Game Performances
| Chicago |
|
St. Louis |
|
N/A |
Points |
David Backes 1 |
|
N/A |
Goals |
David Backes 1 |
|
N/A |
Assists |
Jay Bouwmeester 1 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Corey Crawford .944 |
Save Percentage |
Brian Elliott 1.000 |
|
Corey Crawford 17 |
Saves |
Brian Elliott 35 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Chicago
|
35 |
0 |
0-5 |
4-4 |
8 |
27 |
| St. Louis
|
18 |
1 |
0-4 |
5-5 |
10 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
St. Louis will play their next game at home against Chicago. The Blues have a W/L % of .580 after a win and .625 after a loss.
-
Chicago will play their next game on the road against St. Louis. The Blackhawks have a W/L % of .604 after a win and .529 after a loss.
For more information, contact us