Blues Overcome Blackhawks in a Classic Game 7

Any Game 7 in any sport is destination viewing.

But nowhere else is its sheer urgency on an intense, determined, second-by-second display like it is in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

No better example of this could be found than in the first-round game of reckoning last night.

That's right: first-round. A defending champion's survival was on the line.

The game of inches thing may be the ultimate in obviosity, but no-goals don't get any closer than Brent Seabrook's double-poster:

Divine intervention?

Well, figure that out.

The Blues Brothers were Chicago dudes, but they were Blues.

So, about that mission stuff ..

It was amazing enough that Troy Brouwer got a third bite of the biscuit, but look how close he was to actually stepping on the puck and being as frustrated as Robby Fabbri had to be after missing an open net earlier in the game.

The series itself, though, was not decided by inches.

St Louis held Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Artemi Panarin to two goals total, forcing other players to snipe them. It's a tribute to the Blackhawks' depth and fortitude that they still nearly advanced.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who probably saved his job, said it best:

There's a reason teams win, and it's not skill ... It's this inner confidence that you have when you think you can make the other team crack.

This time, after three straight first-round exits, it was the Blues who remained intact.