Blackhawks pull away from Blues with 5 unanswered goals

ST. LOUIS -- Lukas Reichel scored twice and had an assist for the Chicago Blackhawks in an 8-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Wednesday.

“Every game you want to prove something,” said Reichel, who was playing in just his second game this season. “Just how the game went, pucks went my way from the whole team. We were shooting the puck a lot and it kind of went in. I think overall it was a good game and it feels good to have two (wins) in a row. … I was playing free and having fun. That’s what I did today.”

Reichel was in the lineup after Nick Foligno and the Blackhawks announced earlier in the day that the captain would be taking a leave of absence to attend to his daughter, who will be having a heart procedure.

"We're praying for him and his family and everything that's going on," Chicago forward Frank Nazar said. "That one was for him. It's something we as a group talked about before and after the game."

Ryan Greene scored his first NHL goal, Ilya Mikheyev and Tyler Bertuzzi each had a goal and an assist, and Nazar, Ryan Donato, and Jason Dickinson also scored for the Blackhawks (2-2-1), who have won two straight. Arvid Soderblom made 23 saves, and Connor Bedard had three assists.

“Obviously, we got a couple goals early,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “Obviously, on the puck play and then the one they’d like to have back, but in the first, we were fine. We gave up those rush chances that we’ve got to eliminate, (but) I thought in the second we came out and played really good. We got a huge save early by ‘Sody,’ huge save in the third by ‘Sody.’ … They’re a good team. They probably didn’t have their best night. From our perspective, I thought we competed and defended hard. I think we’re continuing to improve. I thought there were some good habits there. I thought some guys individually had some good nights.”

Joel Hofer was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots before returning for the third period for St. Louis (2-2-0), which had won two straight. Hofer ended up allowing seven goals on 22 shots, while Jordan Binnington stopped six of seven shots in relief.

“I don’t think we’re worried about our goaltenders at all,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “We have two of the best goalies in the League and a great tandem. If you want to talk about the goals, let’s maybe talk about the team and how we’re giving up odd-man rushes and point-blank chances. You can talk about the goals all you want, but I think we’re not doing a good enough job in front of them. It’s just that simple.”

Jake Neighbours scored his fourth goal in three games, and Dylan Holloway and Tyler Tucker also scored.

“Our habits just weren’t consistent enough to play winning hockey,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “Can’t give up that many odd-man rushes, we can’t give up that many grade A looks off the rush.

“Our game was building the right way in Vancouver (a 5-2 road win on Monday), but our execution today did not match the Hawks’ execution.”

Mikheyev gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 3:02 of the first period when he intercepted a pass up the middle from Hofer and quickly shot into the vacated net.

Neighbours tied it 1-1 at 4:29, finishing a rebound at the net.

Reichel regained the lead for the Blackhawks, putting them up 2-1 at 5:23 on a sharp-angled shot from the bottom of the left circle through Hofer.

Holloway tied it 2-2 at 14:54 when he beat Soderblom with a wrist shot from the inside of the left circle.

The Blackhawks scored three times in a 6:03 span in the second period to surge ahead 5-2.

Reichel scored his second of the game at 2:49, tipping in a Alex Vlasic shot to make it 3-2.

Nazar pushed it to 4-2 at 4:32 when he skated past Neighbours and beat Hofer over his left shoulder.

Hofer was then pulled at 7:09 in favor of Binnington, who was beaten off the right boards by Dickinson on the short side to extend Chicago's lead to 5-2 at 8:52.

Hofer reentered the game for the third period, and Donato quickly made it 6-2 at 1:17 by punching in a loose puck in the crease.

Bertuzzi made it 7-2 at 5:03 with a power-play goal. After Robert Thomas was called for a double minor for high-sticking, Bertuzzi deflected Teuvo Teravainen's one-timer from the right circle past Hofer's right shoulder.

Tucker ended the run by making it 7-3 at 11:28 with a shot from above the left circle that caromed in off Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.

Greene, who was playing in his seventh NHL game, converted a rebound in the slot at 12:21 for the final score of 8-3.

“It was a lot of fun,” Nazar said. “Obviously, felt really sweet to go out there and put up a good number against a team like that, obviously a playoff-contending team. It was really good there.”

NOTES: It was the most goals the Blackhawks had scored in a game since March 8, 2022 (also an 8-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks). … It was the eighth time Chicago had scored at least eight goals against St. Louis, and the first since Oct. 26, 1993 (a 9-2 win). … Bedard tied Bobby Hull (29) for the most multipoint games by a Blackhawks player before the age of 21. … Neighbours’ goal was his 100th point in the NHL (60 goals, 41 assists in 215 games).