Blackhawks down: Blues oust champs

st. louis» Troy Brouwer tapped in his own rebound to snap a third-period tie and the Blues advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 7 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series Monday night.

Brouwer, who played for the Blackhawks’ Cup winner in 2010 and was among the veteran additions to a team trying to break through, swiped in a backhander. The goal at 8:31 was his first in 24 postseason games since 2013.

“That was the ugliest goal I’ve ever scored,” said Brouwer, who has eight career playoff goals. “And probably the most timeliest goal I’ve ever scored.”

Chicago just missed a chance to tie it when Brent Seabrook’s shot went off both posts with about 3:30 left.

It is the first time the Blues advanced past the first round since 2012, when they beat San Jose in five games but then lost four straight to Los Angeles. They advance to play Western Conference champion Dallas in the second round.

“We’re still not where we want to be,” Brouwer said. “We want to be playing in a month and a half, still.”

Jori Lehtera scored his first career playoff goal and rookie defenseman Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues, who avoided another inglorious finish. They led 2-0 early before the Blackhawks tied it in the second period.

Marian Hossa scored his third goal of the series and Andrew Shaw got his fourth on a power play for the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane was dangerous all night but was scoreless.

“It just doesn’t really feel right,” Kane said. “Pretty quick right after to put everything right after into words. Obviously not the outcome we were looking for.”

The Blackhawks have won three of the last five Cups — but when they don’t win it all, the postseason can be a short one, with three first-round eliminations the last six seasons.

“You get the feeling that it’ll be one of those things again and we feel from the get-go we’ve got the team to do it again,” Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said.

Brouwer, playing in his seventh career Game 7, scored from close range off a feed from Robby Fabbri. The first shot went off the right post and he nudged the second past Corey Crawford.

Predators 3, Ducks 1

B nashville, tenn.»James Neal scored the winning goal late in the second period, and the Predators held on to beat the Ducks and force the first Game 7 in franchise history.

The Predators had lost the previous five Game 6s when needing a win to stay alive in the playoffs, and they snapped a three-game skid to the Ducks to force this series back to Anaheim for the deciding game Wednesday night.