Blues Win With New Coach Hitchcock
Game #14 St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks | November 8, 2011
Honoring former Blues Pavol Demitra and Igor Koralev started the night, but all eyes quickly turned to Ken Hitchcock. In his first game behind the St. Louis Blues bench, Hitchcock faced down division rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. A familiar foe from his days in Columbus, Hitchcock found a victory in his debut.
Wanting to evaluate the team with his own eyes, Hitchcock chose Jaroslav Halak to get the start over Brian Elliott. It turned out to be the right move as Halak shut out the Blackhawks on 29 shots. Chicago developed a lot of traffic in front of the Blues net but never found the back of the basket. However, the Blues did benefit from a quick whistle when the official lost sight of the puck and blew it dead just before it crossed the line. Halak silenced the Hawks and his critics – at least for one night.
The Blues got out to an early lead with a goal from Vladimir Sobotka for his first of the year. Dancing around Hawks, Kevin Shattenkirk displayed his skills sending a backhand pass to a speeding Sobotka. With Corey Crawford unable to stand his ground, the follow through by Sobotka finished the play.
Trying to change the momentum of the game, Dan Carcillo picked a fight with Ryan Reaves. The Blackhawk bit off more than he could chew as he was quickly out muscled by the Reaves.
The new coach claimed he could quickly turn around the power play. Whether Hitchock’s comment was taken in jest or not, his new system brought life into a dreadful man advantage. On their first power play of the night, the Blues capitalized to take a 2-0 lead in the second.
Carlo Colaiacovo manned the point and slid a pass to TJ Oshie who was stationed on the boards at the top of the faceoff circle. With Chris Stewart and Jason Arnott heading towards the net, Oshie guided the puck toward Stewart who redirected it past Crawford for his third goal of the year.
Not only did the Blues score on special teams, but the penalty kill was perfect on four Chicago opportunities. Two of which came back to back when Sobotka took Oshie’s place in the box seconds after he was released.
Oshie would contribute more scoring his fourth goal of the season in the third period. Once again it was Shattenkirk making the play for his second assist on the night and team leading eighth helper on the season. Moving out of his own defensive zone, Shattenkirk made a beauty of a pass through two Hawks onto the tape of Oshie who flicked a shot in on Crawford for a 3-0 lead.
Crawford had a rough night particularly with the Oshie tally. He finished the night stopping 20 of 23 St. Louis shots.
Up Next: Thursday the Toronto Maple Leafs visit St. Louis.
