The Hamilton Spectator

Blues beat Blackhawks 4-1 in Busch Stadium Winter Classic

- WARREN MAYES ST. LOUIS —

Vladimir Tarasenko looked quite comfortabl­e at Busch Stadium. It turns out his wicked wrist shot works outside, too.

Tarasenko scored two goals in the third period, Jake Allen stopped 22 shots and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in the Winter Classic on Monday at the longtime home of baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals.

Tarasenko is “a hungry offensive player. He sniffs out coverage issues and he jumps on it,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “When he’s engaged like he was today and like he’s been for the most part this year, he’s dangerous. He’s always one shift away from breaking the thing wide open.”

As usual, Tarasenko deflected the attention away from himself.

“It’s not about my goals. We have a great team and a great goalie,” Tarasenko said. “It was a great win for us and everyone played their best.”

It was 46 degrees when play began before a sellout crowd of 46,556, the sixth largest for a Winter Classic. It was the 21st regular-season outdoor NHL game.

Bobby Hull and son Brett dropped the ceremonial first puck. Bobby wore a Blackhawks jersey and Brett wore the Blues sweater.

The Blues went ahead 2-1 when Tarasenko made a backhand pass that hit the skate of Blackhawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsso­n and slipped by Corey Crawford at 12:05 of the third.

“That’s one of those few guys in the league that has a shot that’s more than above average and he doesn’t have to wind up to get a big shot away,” Hjalmarsso­n said. “So he can shoot it from anywhere and that’s what makes him so dangerous.”

Tarasenko then scored on a wrist shot over Crawford’s shoulder at 13:58, giving him 18 goals this season. Robbi Fabbri assisted on both goals.

“It’s no secret. He’s got probably one of the best wristers in the league and everyone knows when he’s out there,” Crawford said. “Everyone knows what he can do.”

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