Blackhawks dominate power plays and PKs to smash Blues
Louis Crevier, Oliver Moore, Connor Murphy and Landon Slaggert each had a goal and assist while Spencer Knight made 27 saves in the Chicago Blackhawks' 7-3 victory against the visiting St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks went 3-for-4 on the power play to stretch their winning streak to a season-high four games.
St. Louis struggled in the opener of a three-game road trip and has lost three of five.
Chicago seized control in the second period, scoring four goals on 17 shots which included a sequence of three goals over a 4:46 span.
Blues rookie Otto Stenberg interrupted the barrage with his first career goal at 8:22 of the second, gathering a loose puck in the Chicago zone and sneaking a snap shot past Knight from the low left circle.
Otherwise, the Blackhawks bamboozled the Blues and goaltender Jordan Binnington with an ability to guide shots through traffic, setting Chicago up for deflections in front.
Chicago struck for two of its second-period tallies in that manner, with Slaggert redirecting a Colton Dach shot and Jason Dickinson tipping Crevier's drive from the point.
Murphy registered his first goal of the season at 8:57 of the second, beating Binnington on a slap shot after an Oskar Sundqvist turnover to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.
Moore gave Chicago its first advantage just 76 seconds earlier, scoring on a long wrist shot on the power play.
St. Louis grabbed a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the game. The Blues knocked the Blackhawks off the puck below the goal line and Tyler Tucker capitalized off a feed from Brayden Schenn.
Special teams steadied the Blackhawks, who killed three Blues penalties in the first period and five in the game. Chicago's Nick Lardis scored the tying goal on the power play at 9:26 of the first period.
Andre Burakovsky continued the scoring at 5:11 of the third as Chicago capitalized on a 5-on-3 advantage.
Tyler Bertuzzi appeared to score earlier in the power play, but referees disallowed the goal due to a quick whistle. Bertuzzi later received a 10-minute misconduct penalty for arguing the play.
Nathan Walker's goal at 13:19 of the third brought the Blues within the final margin.
Matt Grzelcyk earned two assists for the Blackhawks.
Binnington stopped 28 shots. He has yielded at least five goals seven times this season.