Kane strikes twice in 3rd as Hawks down Blues

CHICAGO, Ill. - Things were going along very quietly at the United Center between the Blues and Blackhawks as they renewed their 45 year rivalry.

It was a pleasant, some would say sleepy, evening as both sides entered the final session in a 1-1 stalemate.

That was, until someone woke up the Blackhawks.

A flurry of scoring in the third period overpowered Chicago to a 4-1 defeat of the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night.

Chicago (16-8-1) needed all of 59 seconds to launch their blitzkrieg and send their stunned rivals back to Missouri.

After mustering a single goal in 41 minutes, they fired 3 past Jake Allen in a span of 4:20.

"It was big to start the third off that way. Just wait for them to press and make mistakes," Patrick Kane said afterwards.

Captain Jonathan Toews found himself with possession in the left circle of the Blues zone as the period began. He and Duncan Keith exchanged passes before Kris Versteeg came open into the attacking zone.

Toews darted the puck to Versteeg in stride, who flicked his 8th of the year past a confused Allen, resurrecting the Chicago audience and breaking the tie in favor of the home side.

Somewhere, Patrick Kane was jealous. 

Kane entered the night with a Blackhawks-best 23 points, and his 10 goals shared a team lead with Toews.

But the right-winger left the ice Wednesday two points and two goals richer as he notched two back-to-back scores to seal the deal for Chicago.

He struck first at 2:47, hammering a slap shot past Allen's left side.

Kris Versteeg was credited with the assist, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone and skating along the left boards. 

He flung a cross-ice pass over Alexander Steen's stick and into the path of Kane, who fired clean for his 11th goal on the season and 24th point.

Kane could wait only 152 seconds before doing it again, firing his season-13th goal after another pass from Versteeg near their blue line.

Kane skated alone on the attack, freed himself from the clutches of Barret Jackman, and shot clean past Jake Allen's left leg when the goalie came out of his net to face the chance.

"We had some chances, then scored a quick goal right after [a power-play] and got two a couple shifts in a row after that," Kane said. 

Jake Allen secured 29 saves on 33 shots for the Blues. He sat in net for Brian Elliott, who was injured last month, though the team signed all-time winningest goalie Martin Brodeur as a backup.

"You can't let a skilled team like that get those chances," Allen said of the sudden scoring bout he faced. "It was only a five-minute span but they took advantage of it. You can't let a team like that, with offensive threats, get their chances. We took our foot off the gas."

Marcus Kruger opened scoring on the night, giving Chicago the early 1-0 lead, taking his 4th goal this year off the assist from Brandon Saad when the Blackhawks enjoyed a sudden 2-on-1 rush.

St. Louis (16-7-2) had six chances on the Hawks with an extra man, but finished a forgetful 0-for-6 against Chicago's 1st-ranked penalty-kill unit.

Ian Cole would light the lamp in the middle frame for the Blues in defeat, darting his 2nd on the season past Antti Raanta's left leg after an exchange of passes between Steve Ott and Patrick Berglund.

Ott flung the puck from behind the Chicago net and it bounced around in front before sliding to Cole alone outside the crease for the 1-1 tie.

Antti Raanta stopped 40-of-41 in net for the Blackhawks in relief of Corey Crawford. Crawford is expected to miss at least two weeks after suffering an injury away from the ice.