CHICAGO — The St. Louis Blues kept pushing and pushing until a costly play by Patrick Kane provided an opening. And there was nothing for the Chicago Blackhawks to challenge.
Jaden Schwartz scored at 13:32 of the third period with Kane in the penalty box for high-sticking, and the Blues beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Patrik Berglund and rookie Colton Parayko also scored as St. Louis rallied after a difficult 3-2 loss in Game 2 that included two key coach’s challenges that went against the Blues — one of them wiping out a tiebreaking goal for Vladimir Tarasenko. Brian Elliott made 44 saves Sunday, keeping St. Louis in the game during Chicago’s strong second period.
“No one said it was going to be a short series and even with them getting the win in Game 2, that didn’t affect us,” Schwartz said. “We came out and executed again today and we did a good job of that.”
It was Chicago’s first regulation loss when leading after two periods since Game 2 of the 2014 Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks had been 70-0-4 since the start of last season when they had the lead at the beginning of the third, according to STATS.
“That was a tough loss,” Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville said.
Kane got four minutes for a high stick on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and St. Louis made Chicago pay for the mistake.
“I’ve got to be smarter in that situation,” Kane said. “Obviously I can’t take a penalty at that time of the game, especially when the score’s 2-2. I take responsibility on that one.” Tarasenko passed down low to David Backes, who sent it right to Schwartz in the slot. Schwartz then beat Corey Crawford low on the glove side for his third career playoff goal and a 3-2 lead.
The Blackhawks pulled Crawford for an extra attacker with 1:10 remaining, but Elliott and the Blues held on. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Chicago.
“We’ve got home ice back again,” Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “To me, that’s the whole thing. We’ve got to find a way to keep it now.”
Brent Seabrook and Artem Anisimov scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 28-7 in home playoff games since the 2013 postseason. It was their first home playoff game since they hoisted the Stanley Cup at the United Center last June.
Anisimov’s fluttering shot past Elliott at 1:04 of the second put Chicago in front, and Crawford’s stellar play helped preserve the 2-1 lead for a while.
First, Crawford stuffed Carl Gunnarsson on a nice look in front. Then Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival had an ugly turnover and Crawford made an outstanding glove save on Jori Lehtera at 5:31. He finished with 33 saves.
“It’s tough. You lose momentum when you give up a power-play goal late,” Crawford said. “We did play well in this game. We have a lot of chances, had some good looks. It’s a tough one.”
Elliott had his own series of impressive stops on a Blackhawks power play in the second. He also caught a break when Andrew Ladd’s shot bounced off the left post and then the right one with about 6:20 to go. Berglund tied it at 5:15 of the third when his shot from the middle of the ice went off the inside of Rozsival’s right leg and skipped over Crawford’s glove.
“It’s a lucky bounce, but you know we deserve some luck bounces, too, I think,” Berglund said.
RED WINGS 2, LIGHTNING 0
DETROIT — Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, Petr Mrazek made 16 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning. Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 in the firstround series. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5, which is now necessary, will be at Tampa Bay. Ben Bishop made 28 saves for the Lightning, who had their top line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn shut down after each of the three had six points apiece in the first two games of the series.
ISLANDERS 4, PANTHERS 3 OT
NEW YORK — Thomas Hickey scored 12:31 into overtime to lead the host New York Islanders over the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Hickey scored on a one-timer off a pass from Brock Nelson from behind the net to lift the Islanders to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is in Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
Ryan Pulock, Shane Prince and Frans Nielsen also scored for the Islanders in their first playoff game in Brooklyn. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves, and John Tavares and Kyle Okposo each had two assists.
Reilly Smith had a goal and two assists, and Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjustad also scored for the Panthers. Smith has four goals and four assists in the series. Roberto Luongo stopped 35 shots