ST. LOUIS — Patrick Kane wanted to “see them miss the playoffs.” Erik Gustafsson wanted to “drag them down.” Alex DeBrincat wanted to “crush their hopes.” Maybe it was petty, but at this point, it was all the Blackhawks had.
And based on the way the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko snapped his stick over his knee in disgust at the end of a stunning 4-3 Blackhawks victory Wednesday night, mission accomplished.
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Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal with 8.5 seconds left — just his second goal of the season — to cap a rally from a 3-1 deficit, delivering a devastating blow to the Blues’ playoff chances. St. Louis entered the game one point behind the Avalanche for the second wild card. Keith’s goal delighted the Avs, Ducks and Kings, the latter of whom clinched a playoff spot as a result. The Ducks clinched a spot later by beating the Wild, leaving the Blues and Avs to vie for the last spot with two games left for each.
“For us, it’s just fun to play in a game like that, more than anything,” said Keith, who also saved a goal with a strong stick in the opening minutes. “We haven’t played in those situations where we’re really playing for much at this point. It was maybe a little easier to get some of the fire going.”
The Hawks trailed 3-1 midway through the second period and were lucky to be that close given all the odd-man breaks the Blues had. But Blake Hillman gave the Hawks life when he stepped into a Nick Schmaltz pass for his first NHL goal — a short-handed rocket — at 10:12 of the second. Hillman was planning to go for a line change but boldly jumped in the rush when he saw Schmaltz pull up. He said it was the hardest one-timer he’s ever fired.
DeBrincat tied it by beating Jake Allen with a far-side wrist shot from the right circle at 8:30 of the third. It was DeBrincat’s 28th goal of the season, moving him ahead of Patrick Kane for the team lead. After Patrick Sharp drew a penalty with two minutes to go, Keith delivered the game-winner.
