The St. Louis Blues may have a 3-1 lead on the Chicago Blackhawks, but they’ve hardly dominated the series.
In fact, based on Corsi, it’s been the defending Cup champions who’ve controlled most of the five-on-five action. Per war-on-ice.com, the ‘Hawks are at 54.3 percent in that puck-possession statistic.
In Game 4 at United Center, the Blues were outshot, 42-20, but came away with a 4-3 victory. They scored twice on the power play, and Brian Elliott was excellent again in goal.
“Timely goal-scoring never hurts, great goaltending never hurts,” captain David Backes told the Post-Dispatch.
This isn’t to say the Blues don’t deserve the chance to eliminate the ‘Hawks tonight at Scottrade Center. So far, they’ve done what they’ve needed to do. There’s nothing wrong with your goalie being your best player, which Elliott has been. And there’s definitely nothing wrong with burying your scoring chances, a specialty of Vladimir Tarasenko’s.
Puck possession isn’t everything.
Rather, it’s a long way of saying this series isn’t over. Everyone remembers 2014, when the Blues won the first two games, only for the ‘Hawks to rattle off four in a row.
“We all know that the last one is the hardest one to get,” Jaden Schwartz said. “We’re just hungry to move on and prove ourselves. We had that same belief a couple of years ago. It was a tight series, that one could have gone either way. We’ve got a chance here to try to redeem ourselves.”
Troy Brouwer: "We don’t want to let it go back to Chicago. This is a team that knows how to win." #Blackhawks .
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 21, 2016