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Rd. I: GAME III Recap
Tonight was a night of reckoning for the St. Louis Blues. There was bad blood, more bad blood between Joffrey Baratheon and Tyrion Lannister during the Purple Wedding. The lead up for game 3 was all about what shit heads the Hawks were and what a shitty situation the aftermath of THE hit is. Both Brent Seabrook and David Backes were out for the game. Seabrook of course for his suspension and Backes for an obvious "upper body" injury. The first game in Chicago would be a tough one for the Blues. They would hearken back to the grand old days of last year. They would fall in game 3 after taking a 2-0 lead over the Stanley Cup Champions… yadayadayada.
Tonight the Facts are that the Blues lost. But is it 2013 all over again? Fuck no its not. This year the Blues have played a better game than the past short season. They got stuck with a tough first round opponent, sure as shit they did, but last years game three was quite a bit different to this years game three. Last season the blue and yellow had to fight against the likes of wonder goalie Jonathan Quick, with Brian Elliott in net.
Ryan Miller is no Brian Elliott.
Miller was great tonight. Yes he let in a softie in the first period but fuck it, it happens. Jitters maybe a glare off of the ice… whatever. After that goal went in he shook it off and stood on his head for the team. Unfortunately as great as Miller was, so was Corey Crawford. This was a goaltenders' game. Both teams look a bit tired and off in some ways. Chicago hasn't shown its "Chicago Spark", as NBC put it, this series. Tonight they gave up quite a few awkward turnovers in the neutral and defensive zones. The Blues looked quite a bit shaken up at the first puck drop. They had a hard time gaining momentum after the goal in the first but some how found their legs about half way through the period. Sadly, they couldn't find their scoring prowess.
Several Blues made great plays in the offensive zone, outshooting Chicago all game. They out hit out shot and certainly had more scoring chances than the Chicago team. The Foreign Relations line looked very good tonight. In particular Jaden Schwartz was spectacular. I wouldn't be surprised if he led the team with scoring chances! The line would get shaken up after Vladimir Sobotka would break a few "hypothetical" knuckles when he attempted to block a shot by punching the fucker in the face. Okay not literally but I am sure he REALLY wanted to punch a Blackhawk at some point. He would return after a quick stint in the locker room and a swig of Skele Gro.
Ultimately, there was some dumb crazy as stupid shit that went down between the two beat up teams. It seemed the Penalty gods were on our side when Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell would be the only two with penalties in the first. The second was a different story. At 7:10 The Old Maxim Lapierre would show his ugly mug with a tame but illegal Board on Sheldon Brookbank. Clearly Brookbank antagonized Max about taking his spot and Lappy took it WAY too far. Let me educate you sir, When you can SEE and READ the full number on the other dudes back YOU DO NOT HIT HIM. Three more Blues penalties would follow through the second period: Roman Polak with a cross check, Alexander Steen with a Hook, and Vladimir Tarasenko with took many men on the ice.
The Blues are lucky the penalty riddled 2nd period didn’t amount to much for the Blackhawks, as they failed to convert all 4 penalties as they coasted with their 1-0 lead. The third period was just as tame. The Blues were close but just couldn't quite get it. The Hawks would take advantage of the Blues pulling Miller and attempting to get a spectacular comeback goal in the last minutes. Marcus Kruger would put the puck in the empty net at 19:40 sealing the loss for the St. Louis Blues.
I will just leave this here...
RT @RealBadRobot: @STLBlueshistory Do you by chance know when the last time the Blues won at the UC in Regulation?---- Feb 3, 2010
— STL Blues History (@STLBlueshistory) April 22, 2014
The series stands at 2-1 Blues.
The GIFS of the Almost GifCap
Lappy boards Brookbank. No, Lappy - just fucking NO!
Shooting high and wide and NO WHERE in between
The fact that there were fans who STILL wanted to talk about the Seabrook hit and how Backes deserved it
The Hawks got a lucky bounce to win the game, but the Blues outplayed them.
Bluenotes from Twitter
Okay, Blues. No stupid shit. Beat this fucking team. Beat them in their own house. Just do that. Because you can.
— TruBlueGirls (@TruBlueGirls) April 22, 2014
Tarasenko makes (yet again) a great play. Sobotka hasto at least get that on goal. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) April 22, 2014
St Louis Blues have scored only 3 Goals on their last 50 Powerplay attempts in the Playoffs (dating back to game 5 vs San Jose). #stlblues
— STL Blues History (@STLBlueshistory) April 22, 2014
Miller with a glove save on Kane, who splits Bouwmeester and Pietrangelo with ease. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 22, 2014
OMG COME ON. WHY ARE THE ODDS NOT IN OUR FAVOR? #HungerCupGames
— Jen (@jennybloozer) April 22, 2014
The first goal on Miller was one he has to have and wants back, also made 3 prime scoring chances look like easy saves though. #stlblues
— Nicholas Hand (@Nick_Hand) April 22, 2014
Lapierre doing what he does. Stupid shit.
— Sara Sinovich (@Sara_with_no_h) April 22, 2014
STOP TAKING DUMB PENALTIES YOU DUMBSHITS #stlblues
— please don't suck (@grobot20) April 22, 2014
Yeah Miller gave up a softie, but he's keeping us in it. Support your goalie boys. Let's get a dirty goal!
— 14 WINS LEFT! (@WashedUp_Tendy) April 22, 2014
Tremendous effort by Miller since that garbage goal in the first. Clutch save at the end of the period.
— Anthony Stalter (@AnthonyStalter) April 22, 2014
Blues PK and goaltending were outstanding. I would be worried about this lead if I was the Hawks.
— Reed Low (@ReedLow34) April 22, 2014
Of course. Oh look it's an open goal but the guy with the puck has stone hands.
— Laura (@hildymac) April 22, 2014
To play THIS well without your Captain and leader on the road is even impressive and bodes well for the SWAGGER this team has! #LetsGoBlues
— Jeremy Boyer (@JABsMusic) April 22, 2014
A big silver lining from tonight: We now have this picture: pic.twitter.com/uqnUNf0OkQ
— BLAKEOFFS (@ShattInMyKirk) April 22, 2014
Tweet of the Game
Good job Chicago.. Yes I'll be classy. Crawford won it for you guys, he did great. See you for game 4.
— BEAT THE HAWKS (@Fusion4days) April 22, 2014