ST. LOUIS _ In two weeks, the Blues and Blackhawks will play outdoors at Busch Stadium in the NHL's Winter Classic.
On Saturday, they were indoors, but it was a game that is often referred to as "pond" hockey.
The scoring was back and forth. There were breakaways, wicked slap shots, and even a goal that went in off a broken stick. The teams combined for 10 goals, and though the Blues led the entire way through the first seven, the Blackhawks scored three in the third for a 6-4 victory.
Vince Hinostroza's backhander with 4 minutes, 25 seconds left in regulation was the game-winner for Chicago, after Niklas Hjalmarsson tied the game just one minute into the final period.
The Blues pulled goalie Jake Allen and threatened to tie the score late, but with an extra attacker, defenseman Colton Parayko couldn't corral a puck near the blueline, allowing Artemi Panarin to run away for an easy empty-netter.
A crowd of 19,197 at Scottrade Center, which was the sixth sellout of the season, erupted because there was a large contingent of Blackhawks fans in attendance Saturday.
The loss snapped the Blues' stretch at 14 games with at least one point at Scottrade Center, and was Allen's first regulation loss at home (11-1-2), following an eight-game winning streak. It also pushed the Blackhawks eight ahead of the Blues (46-38) in the Western Conference standings.
In the chase after Chicago, the Blues have five more games to play before facing the Blackhawks in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2.
On Friday, both teams admitted to thinking ahead to the upcoming outdoor game, but stressed the importance of their third meeting of the season Saturday.
The Blues won the season opener in Chicago, 5-2, but the Blackhawks responded with a 2-1 overtime win in St. Louis.
The pace was brisk from the start Saturday, and the Blues needed only 41 seconds to pick up the game's first goal from Berglund, his third of the season.
Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson sprung Berglund with a stretch pass, and the Swedish center released a rocket of a shot at Chicago goalie Scott Darling. Darling, subbing for starter Corey Crawford who is out after appendectomy surgery, got a large chunk of the puck, but it wound up trickling past the netminder for a 1-0 lead.
The Blues nearly took the lead into the locker room, but with 25 seconds left, the Blackhawks' Dennis Rasmussen punched in a rebound for a 1-1 score. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was standing nearby, but couldn't outmuscle Rasmussen.
But Berglund got some offensive help Saturday from Alex Pietrangelo and Kyle Brodziak.
In the second period, Brodziak made a bid for his fourth goal of the season on a partial breakaway. Darling turned that aside, but 17 seconds later, Brodziak got No. 4 in bizarre fashion.
A broken stick belongs to teammate Scottie Upshall lay in the offensive zone, and Brodziak's shot hit a piece of it and redirected past Darling for a 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the period.
Chicago, you're up.
The Blues were changing, and that's not something that works out well when the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane is on the ice. He got the puck on a breakaway and beat Allen for his first goal in 10 games for a 2-2 score with 9:16 left in the period.
The Blues continued the trend of never falling behind, using Berglund's second goal of the game to take a 3-2 lead. A terrific passing sequence from David Perron to Alexander Steen to Berglund, who beat Darling for his first two-goal game since Jan. 12, 2016 (68 games).
But Chicago wouldn't let Berglund be the hero Saturday, resetting the score on a goal by Brian Campbell. Jay Bouwmeester let the Blackhawks defenseman slip in front of the net undetected and he had a give-me goal to knot it, 3-3, with 1:01 left in the second period.
The Blues went ahead again with just 11 seconds left in the second period on Pietrangelo's sixth goal of the season, a blister from the point. But in the third, the Blackhawks' Hjalmarsson tied for the last time on a shot that went in off Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.
The Blues did kill off a 4-on-3 power play for the Blackhawks in the third period that lasted 1:21, and just seconds after that expired, Hinostroza scored on a rebound, after Allen denied a shot by Brent Seabrook. The Blue did not have a power in the game.
