The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Late power-play goal lifts Blues to 2-1 series lead
Red Wings blank Lightning, trim series deficit to 2-1.
CHICAGO — Jaden Schwartz scored with 6:38 remaining in the game with Patrick Kane in the penalty box for high-sticking, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in their firstround playoff series.
Patrik Berglund also scored in the third period as St. Louis rallied for the win after a 3-2 loss in Game 2 that included two key coach’s challenges that went against the Blues.
Brian Elliott made 44 saves, keeping St. Louis in the game during Chicago’s strong second period.
“No one said it was going to be a short series and even with them getting the win in Game 2, that didn’t affect us,” Schwartz said. “We came out and executed again today and we did a good job of that.”
It was Chicago’s first regulation loss when leading after two periods since Game 2 of the 2014 Western Conference finals against the Kings. The Blues 3, (at) Blackhawks 2 (At) Red Wings 2, Lightning 0 Panthers at Islanders, late Predators at Ducks, late Capitals at Flyers, NBCSN Stars at Wild, CNBC Kings at Sharks, NBCSN Blackhawks had been 70-0-4 since the start of last season when they had the lead at the beginning of the third.
“That was a tough loss,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Let’s get back into it. But it was a pretty competitive game, kind of comparable to what we saw in the first two.”
Kane, the NHL’s leading scorer this season and one of the favorites for league MVP, got four minutes for a high stick on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and St. Louis made the most of the chance to go in front when Schwartz, from the slot, beat Corey Crawford low on the glove side for his third career playoff goal at 13:22.
■ (At) Red Wings 2, Lightning 0: Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, and Petr Mrazek made 16 saves as Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 in the firstround series.
Game 4 is Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5 will be at Tampa Bay.
After brawling late in the last game, gloves were dropped, fists flew and there were piles of players on the ice when Game 3 ended.
Ben Bishop made 28 saves for the Lightning, who had their top line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn shut down after the trio combined for six points in the first two games of the series.
Late Saturday
■ Sharks 2, (at) Kings 1: Joe Pavelski scored his third goal in two games, and Martin Jones made 27 saves as San Jose took a 2-0 series lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
■ (At) Stars 2, Wild 1: Antoine Roussel scored from behind the net without the puck touching a stick, and Jamie Benn had an unassisted goal as Dallas took a 2-0 lead in its Western Conference playoff series.