Joel Hofer made 27 saves as the St. Louis Blues edged the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Friday night.
Logan Mailloux and Matt Luff each scored their first goals in a Blues uniform. Justin Faulk also scored for St. Louis and Robert Thomas recorded two assists.
St. Louis had lost its previous two games by a combined 12-4 score.
Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Wyatt Kaiser also scored for the Blackhawks, who are 3-7-2 in their last 12 games.
Connor Bedard earned two assists, but the former No. 1 overall pick appeared to suffer a right shoulder injury during a last-second faceoff. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill told reporters that the young star will miss Saturday’s game against the visiting Detroit Red Wings, adding that an update on Bedard’s status will come on Monday.
Spencer Knight made 23 saves in defeat.
The Blues struck first by scoring 3:41 into the game. With a penalty pending against the Blackhawks, Mailloux took a pass from Thomas, moved in on left wing and snapped a shot from the faceoff dot past Knight.
After Chicago killed off a penalty, Luff put the Blues up 2-0 at even strength. He joined the rush coming down the middle, took Robby Fabbri’s pass and scored from the slot.
The Blackhawks cut their deficit to 2-1 with 4:10 left in the first period with their own rush goal. Kaiser came down the middle, accepted a pass from Burakovsky and scored coming through the slot.
St. Louis increased their lead to 3-1 midway through the second period. Faulk took a pass from Tyler Tucker in the right circle, attacked the net and slipped a shot past Knight on the short side.
Bedard stole the puck on the forecheck and set up Burakovsky’s tap-in at the right post as Chicago cut its deficit to 3-2 with 5:54 left in the game.
Dylan Holloway had an opportunity to finish off the Blackhawks, but he hit the post and crossbar on a breakaway. That gave Chicago an opportunity to remove Knight for an extra attacker and apply pressure until the final horn.
The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 23-15 over the final two periods.
The rivals have split a pair of meetings in St. Louis and have two more in Chicago when the calendar turns to 2026.
–Field Level Media
