Hawks' stars come through in Game 3
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CHICAGO -- Captain Jonathan Toews struck first and goaltender Corey Crawford closed it out late.
If the Chicago Blackhawks had scored a power-play goal somewhere in between, you could say that this is exactly how you draw up a must-win playoff game.
But after two wild overtime games, both lost in "brutal" fashion -- coach Joel Quennville's word, not mine -- Toews' goal just 4 minutes, 10 seconds into Monday's Game 3 was enough in a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in the Blackhawks' home playoff opener.
Have you ever heard 22,112 people exhale at once?
It happened twice Monday.
Once when Toews scored on a knuckler that traveled through Ryan Miller's 5-hole, and then again when Marcus Kruger knocked in an empty-netter with about 20 seconds left to vanquish the specter of overtime.
Despite a strong third period, the Blues couldn't recapture their late magic from the first two games. That's what the playoffs are all about, right? Magic. Those ephemeral bursts of "what the heck just happened?"
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