ST. LOUIS _ A head coach on the hot seat. Salary cap hell. A season going nowhere.
It wasn't too long ago the Blackhawks checked off every one of those unwanted items.
Well, things have changed.
Joel Quenneville has been pushing all the right buttons to get his team to play inspired hockey, general manager Stan Bowman maneuvered to get $4 million in cap space to work with and the Hawks are one of the NHL's best stories in the early going of this season.
Now let's take a look at the Blues: Head coach on the hot seat. Salary cap hell. A season going nowhere.
Check, check, check.
After 10 games, the Hawks and Blues appeared to have undergone a wholesale swap of how their seasons were expected to go. But beware, circumstances can change again. They already might be changing.
Vladimir Tarasenko had a pair of goals and Ryan O'Reilly scored 18 seconds into the game as the Blues pulled off a desperately needed 7-3 victory over the Hawks on Saturday night at the Enterprise Center.
Embattled Blues coach Mike Yeo had a long team meeting after Thursday night's 7-4 loss to the Blue Jackets, a game they led 2-0 before coming unglued over the final two periods. They were 2-4-3 and in last place in the Central Division entering Saturday's game against the Hawks.
"Definitely when a team has those types of discussions they're going to be excited," Quenneville said. "It's going to be like that playoff mentality, coming out and being ready to start is what we expect and knowing that we have to make sure we take care of our own game and be ready for a really hungry and dangerous opponent."
Using the same lineup for the third straight game, the Hawks were not ready at the start. O'Reilly shoved a pass from Zach Sanford just past Corey Crawford to put the Blues up 1-0 on their first shot on goal.
The Hawks also scored with their first shot on Blues goalie Jake Allen when Patrick Kane's shot through traffic went in at the 16 minute, 13 second mark for his 10th goal. Kane added his 11th late in the second and also had an assist on Artem Anisimov's first period goal to give him 17 points.
Allen left the game late in the second after Zach Sanford, who scored the Blues' second goal, hit him in the head while defending Brandon Saad's rush to the net.
Entering the season the Blues were considered a playoff lock. They had signed free agents Tyler Bozak and David Perron, and made a widely praised trade for O'Reilly. Along with superstar Tarasenko, the pieces seemed to be there but victories haven't followed. And with no cap space, changes aren't likely to come.
That still may be just fine. Tarasenko's power-play goal, his fourth of the season, and Bozak's second early in the second period put the Blues up 4-2. And Tarasenko's second came 4:20 to go in the game before Alex Pietrangelo and Alexander Steen wrapped up the scoring in the final two minutes.
