The Chicago Blackhawks earned a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at United Center, driven by a two-goal surge in the second period and a 25-save performance from goaltender Spencer Knight.
Mason McTavish broke the ice for the Blues at 15:38 of the opening period, snapping a wrist shot past Knight off a pass from Connor McMichael. St. Louis carried the 1-0 edge into the first intermission after generating eight of the period's chances.
Chicago flipped the lead during a two-minute burst in the middle frame. Sam Rinzel recorded his first goal of the season at 5:40 on a power-play wrist shot, assisted by Frank Nazar and Nick Lardis. Anton Frondell then notched his first goal of the campaign at 7:40, beating Joel Hofer with a snap shot after setups from Artyom Levshunov and Teuvo Teravainen to push the Blackhawks ahead 2-1.
The final two minutes featured three goals. With Hofer pulled, Cole Smith scored an unassisted shorthanded empty-net goal at 18:51 to make it 3-1. McMichael answered for the Blues on the power play at 19:21, cutting the margin to 3-2 with his first goal of the year, assisted by Philip Broberg and Pavel Buchnevich. Nazar sealed the win with his own empty-net backhand with four seconds remaining, assisted by Tyler Bertuzzi and Frondell.
Special teams played an even role on the scoreboard, as both clubs finished 1-for-2 on the man advantage with four penalty minutes apiece. Knight turned aside 25 of 27 shots to collect the win for Chicago, while Hofer stopped 17 of 19 shots in the loss for the Blues.
The win improved Chicago to 1-3-0 on the season. St. Louis dropped to 1-2-0 and remains winless in two consecutive games.
Both clubs resume regular-season play at home. St. Louis hosts the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, October 20, while Chicago welcomes the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, October 23.
