Just like We Planned it, Bring On Game 7!

23 Apr, 2016

Dale Weise struggled after he was traded to Chicago in February. Then he was a healthy scratch for the playoff opener.

On Saturday night, when the Blackhawks needed him the most, he was in the right place at the right time – continuing a postseason tradition for the rugged winger.

Weise capped Chicago’s dominant second period with the winning goal in the Blackhawks’ 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues, sending their first-round playoff series to Game 7.

“Weiser scoring, you know it took a while, but nothing bigger than the one he got tonight,” coach Joel Quenneville said.

Artem Anisimov and Trevor van Riemsdyk also scored in the second, and Andrew Shaw added a third-period goal in his return from a one-game suspension for using a gay slur during Chicago’s 4-3 loss in Game 4. Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks improved to 15-1 in their last 16 Game 6s in the playoffs, according to STATS.

Chicago trailed 3-1 in the series, but stayed alive with a 4-3 double-overtime victory in St. Louis on Thursday. Then the defending Stanley Cup champions trailed 3-1 after one period in Game 6 – and found a way again.

Game 7 is Monday night.

“They raised the bar for a period, OK? So now it’s our turn to answer,” St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We’ve worked hard all year to get to this. We’ve got an opportunity in front of us. I really want to see us take advantage of it, but we’re going to need people to play better.”

Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo and Scottie Upshall scored for St. Louis, which lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Brian Elliott made 30 saves.

“They played great, but we were hesitant in our game,” Upshall said. “We didn’t do the simple things and they jumped on us.”

Facing the possible end of their title defense, the Blackhawks roared back with perhaps their best period of the season.

AP

Image Blackhawks Twitter

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