The Blackhawks finally got the first one out of the way.
In their home opener Tuesday night at the United Center, Chicago beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 to pick up its first win of the season and snap the opening skid before it could linger any longer.
The night had a little bit of everything: an early St. Louis strike, a couple of Chicago response goals in the second period, a nervous finish, and then a pair of empty-netters to put it away.
The Blues drew first blood after a mostly quiet opening period, when Mason McTavish finished a counterattack off a turnover by Lardis. Chicago answered in the second, though, and did it right after St.
Louis had a goal waved off for offsides following video review. Sam Rinzel cleaned up a rebound after a Frank Nazar rush created the chance, tying the game on the power play.
Not long after that, Artyom Levshunov put on the kind of solo sequence that jumps off the screen. He carried the play himself and left Anton Frondell with a clean look for a one-timer, and Frondell buried it to give Chicago the lead.
St. Louis pushed hard in the third period, and for long stretches it looked like the Blues were the team controlling the game.
Chicago still managed to extend the lead when Cole Smith scored an empty-net shorthanded goal with just over a minute left. The Blues made it interesting again 31 seconds later when Connor McMichael scored on the power play to cut the margin to one, but Frank Nazar answered with another Chicago empty-net goal with four seconds remaining to seal it.
There was plenty to like in the stretch that decided the game, starting with Levshunov’s play on the Frondell goal. It was the kind of sequence that showed why he went No. 2 overall, and Chicago will be hoping to see that version of him more often this season.
Rinzel also gave the Blackhawks something encouraging to build on. After what sounded like a rough first three games, getting on the scoresheet had to feel good, even if there is still plenty more work to do in his game.
The final period, though, was where Chicago spent most of the night hanging on. After carrying a slight edge in expected goals through the first 40 minutes at 5-on-5, the Blues flipped the ice and poured on the pressure in the third.
They owned the shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances and high-danger chances, and finished with a 79 percent expected goal share in 17:41 of 5-on-5 play in the period. A few posts helped keep St.
Louis from tying it, and maybe even more.
Spencer Knight was part of the reason the lead survived. He didn’t have to do much early, but he came through when the Blues turned up the heat, including on a breakaway stop. Knight finished with 25 saves on 27 shots and was one of Chicago’s three stars.
The injury situation took a hit, too. Teuvo Teravainen left in the second period after suffering a lower-body injury on an ankle issue and did not return.
After the game, Blashill said Teravainen would not be making the trip to New York. With Chicago already carrying eight defensemen and Andrew Mangiapane dealing with an injury, a call-up looks necessary.
The Blackhawks also made some clear lineup choices with their defense pairs. The Bowen Byram-Artyom Levshunov duo was given the highest share of offensive-zone starts on the team, and it paid off. The pair skated 15:10 together, posted a team-best 64.68 percent expected goal share, and came away without allowing a goal.
Ian Cole and Alex Vlasic, meanwhile, handled the tougher end of the assignment. They were given the most defensive-zone starts and spent much of their night against the St.
Louis line of Thomas, Snuggerud and Holloway. That trio didn’t score at 5-on-5 against them, though it did generate chances.
For Chicago, the biggest takeaway is simple: the season-opening losing streak is gone. The Blackhawks still have plenty to clean up, especially when it comes to protecting a lead, but they also got a few reminders of the upside on this roster. That made Tuesday night feel a lot better.
The Blackhawks head to New York next, where they’ll face the Islanders on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
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