The Chicago Blackhawks edged past the St. Louis Blues Monday night as they took a lead of 3-2 that earned them a much-needed victory.
The Hawks did not perform well from the start and their fans, which were aplenty as they were playing at their home field, were not happy with the game. The Blues took a lead right from the start and did not allow the Hawks to re-surge.
Blues took a 2-0 lead in the third period thanks mainly to the excellent game of David Perron. Disaster struck with 8:25 left in the third when Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak was whistled for holding the stick of Patrick Sharp and was handed down a penalty.
Marian Hossa of the Hawks did not miss the opportunity and scored a power play goal on a rebound with 6:47 remaining in third. He scored again, at approximately 2½ minutes later, when he scored by dodging a shot through the legs of T.J. Oshie thus scoring his seventh goal of the season.
Both teams struggled during the rest of the game and both missed many opportunities to score. The game was decided in overtime when Patrick Sharp took the puck to the net with just 1 minute, 10 seconds remaining in the overtime, and earned his team a 3-2 victory. This is despite the fact that the Blues outshot the Hawks 7-2 in OT.
Blues, who are 2-1-2 overall, have poor records this season when it comes to protecting their leads as they also lost to Dallas on a shootout after taking a 2-0 lead.
