Blackhawks flip game in middle frame and finish off Blues 4-2 at United Center

A two-minute swing changed the night

St. Louis carried the first period and earned the opening goal at 15:38, when Mason McTavish scored on a wrist shot off a Connor McMichael setup. The Blues took that 1-0 lead into intermission and had reason to feel settled: they were generating the heavier shot total and winning just enough draws to keep the puck moving their way.

Chicago changed the game quickly in the second. Sam Rinzel tied it at 5:40 with a wrist shot, with Frank Nazar and Nick Lardis on the play. Just two minutes later, Anton Frondell put the Blackhawks ahead for good at 7:40, finishing a snap shot with Artyom Levshunov and Teuvo Teravainen drawing assists.

That sequence was the hinge of the game. Chicago did not need a flood of chances to reverse the scoreline. It needed two clean finishes in a short window, and the Blackhawks got exactly that after producing no goals in the opening 20 minutes.

Late chaos, but Chicago had the last answer

The third period stayed within reach until the final minutes, then turned into a sprint. Cole Smith pushed Chicago's lead to 3-1 at 18:51 with an unassisted wrist shot, a goal that looked as if it might close the night down.

St. Louis answered 31 seconds later. McMichael scored at 19:22, with Philip Broberg and Pavel Buchnevich assisting, to cut the deficit back to one and force a nervy finish.

The push lasted only 34 more seconds. Nazar restored the two-goal margin at 19:56, finishing on a backhand with help from Tyler Bertuzzi and Frondell. In a game that had been decided largely by Chicago's second-period burst, that final exchange made the result feel messier than the control the Blackhawks had built earlier.

Knight and the shot gap

One of the more notable numbers in this result is the shot count. St. Louis finished with 28 shots to Chicago's 21 and also held a 32-28 edge in faceoffs. On volume alone, the Blues gave themselves enough puck possession to make the game uncomfortable.

Spencer Knight was the stabilizing piece behind Chicago's win. He stopped 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage, turning aside 21 even-strength attempts and all five shots he faced while Chicago was shorthanded. On a night when the Blackhawks did not control every territorial measure, that goaltending mattered.

Chicago also helped its goaltender with 13 blocked shots, compared with eight for St. Louis. That does not erase the Blues' shot advantage, but it helps explain how the Blackhawks protected their lead after flipping the game in the second period.

Our take: Chicago found finishing; St. Louis wasted enough puck

The cleanest difference between the teams was not raw volume but what each side did with key moments. Chicago scored four times on 21 shots and got goals from Rinzel, Frondell, Smith and Nazar. Frondell finished with a goal and an assist, while Nazar matched that with a goal and an assist of his own. Chicago also received contributions from younger pieces and its blue line, a useful sign when a game is not carried by one line alone.

St. Louis had productive nights from McMichael, who posted a goal and an assist, and McTavish, who scored the opener. The Blues also got a team-level special-teams return with one power-play goal in two chances. Even so, the overall stat line leaves room for frustration. St. Louis recorded 18 giveaways, only one fewer than Chicago, and could not turn its shot edge into a lead after the first intermission.

For Chicago, the encouraging part is straightforward: the Blackhawks were efficient when the game offered them a chance to swing it. For St. Louis, the path to a better outcome looks just as clear. More of the pressure it created has to turn into cleaner finishing or longer stretches of scoreboard control, because the middle of this game slipped away too quickly to recover from.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 15:38

   Mason McTavish Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Connor McMichael (2)

2. 2nd · 5:40

   Sam Rinzel Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Frank Nazar (1), Nick Lardis (2)

3. 2nd · 7:40

   Anton Frondell Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Artyom Levshunov (1), Teuvo Teravainen (2)

4. 3rd · 18:51

   Cole Smith Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: none

5. 3rd · 19:21

   Connor McMichael Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Philip Broberg (2), Pavel Buchnevich (1)

6. 3rd · 19:56

   Frank Nazar Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Tyler Bertuzzi (1), Anton Frondell (3)