The St. Louis Blues had no Game 7 predictions late Saturday night.
They were too busy fending off questions about their impending
collapse.
Who could blame reporters for asking?
While the Chicago Blackhawks are doing what they always seem to do,
the Blues are suddenly facing a familiar first-round flop, one they
will try to avoid when they head back to St. Louis for tonight's series finale.
"It's going to be fun here to win it in Chicago."
That Game 6 prophecy of sorts from Blues defenseman Alex
Pietrangelo suddenly sounds more like a Chicago rallying call.
It tanked hard Saturday night when the defending Stanley Cup
champions scored five unanswered goals for a 6-3 win at United
Center to force a winner-take-all finish.
Dale Weise capped a three-goal second period with the eventual
winner, and Andrew Shaw scored in his return from a one-game
suspension for hurling a gay slur at officials in Game 4. Those
tallies helped the Blackhawks rally from a 3-1 deficit - just like
they could in this series with one more victory.
Chicago improved to 45-15 in Games 4-7 and 15-1 in Game 6s in eight
seasons under coach Joel Quenneville. The Blackhawks are 2-2 in
Game 7s in that time, including a win and loss on the road.
"It's a testament again to our experience and the guys who haven't
been here ... to really buy in and play the right way when we've
been in this do-or-die position we've been in the last couple
games," captain Jonathan Toews said. "You see what can happen when
we all buy in, we all play the right way."
Toews is still yet to score in this series, but he had two assists
Saturday. A Chicago attack that totaled eight goals through the
first four games has 10 in the last two - starting with Thursday's
4-3 double-overtime win in Game 5.
St. Louis seemed to have the Blackhawks' number, winning three of
five regular-season meetings and outplaying them early in this
series.
However, a massive hit advantage shrank to just 40-38 on Saturday,
the narrowest margin yet. The physical play, which resulted in a
fight from Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford and Shaw's outburst in
Game 4, has amounted to a 249-187 St. Louis advantage through six
games.
While St. Louis has bested Chicago in the first and third periods,
the middle 20 minutes has resulted in a 10-3 Blackhawks scoring
edge.
Goaltender Brian Elliott was great the opening four games but has
surrendered nine goals the last two with an .871 save percentage
and 3.79 goals-against average. He was beaten three times on 19
Chicago shots in Saturday's second period.
"They raised the bar for a period, OK? So now it's our turn to
answer," 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."
If not, another first-round exit could be on the radar.
The Blues have been knocked out in the opening round in each of the
last three seasons, including a 2014 six-game series against the
Blackhawks that they led 2-0.
A reporter asked Alexander Steen following Saturday's loss, "Does
doubt ever creep in your mind, like, 'What do you have to do to
beat these guys?'"
"We've got to win Game 7," Steen answered sharply.
The reporter asked again, "Is there any doubt in your mind?"
"No."
