Even a hockey stick in the face could not deter Patrick Sharp from making the St. Louis Blues’ recurring nightmare a reality.
With the Chicago Blackhawks up 2-1 early in the third period, Sharp shook loose for a breakaway on a delayed penalty call for the Blues, determined to make the pending penalty moot.
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The Hawks’ leading scorer in the regular season (78 points) had yet to even register a point through six playoff games. He had 34 goals in 2013-14, but despite firing more than 20 pucks Ryan Miller’s way, had failed to score in eight games.
As he burst toward Miller’s crease, Sharp took a high-stick to the face by defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk but kept his feet moving. He made kind of a non-deke — appearing to try to go backhand but fanning — and slid the puck softly past Miller, giving the defending champions the insurance necessary to lock up a 4-2 opening series victory and another early exit for a Blues team with legitimate Cup aspirations.
“All the good shots I’ve had in the series, it’s funny that one kind of rolls off my stick and in,” said Sharp, who simultaneously got the monkey off his back and broke St. Louis’s.
“The third goal was really a backbreaker for us,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of Sharp’s effort. “That was really the one that hurt. The third goal… the air just went right out of the bench.”
Sharp’s first post-season point ignited the towel-twirling sellout Madhouse crowd of 22,144. And so began the jeering chants of “Mil-ler! Mil-ler!”
Chicago would add two more for a 5-1 win in what could be Miller’s final game in a Blues uniform.