Tarasenko puts on a show in Winter Classic
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,” he said. “It was a great win for us and everyone played their best.”
It was 7 C 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 that when he’s out there,” Crawford said.
The Blues added an empty-net goal by Alexander Steen at 18:46 to seal the victory.
“I thought we played a great game,” Hitchcock said. “I thought we played a smart, sound hockey game and quite frankly, deserved to win.”
NOTES: St. Louis improved to 2-1-1 this season against Chicago. Anigboro ... The slumping Blackhawks have lost five of their last six games . ... The Blues are the 11th team to play in the annual Winter Classic. The Blackhawks are 0-30 in the Winter Classic after previous appearances in 2009 and 2015. ... The Winter Classic at Busch Stadium was the fifth outdoor game for the Blackhawks since 2009. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook each played in the previous four, and Crawford started the last three in goal . ... Chicago RW Marian Hossa is on the injured list with an upperbody injury and was not activated . ...