Jocelyn Lemieux scored once, but it was his cannonball image that will be the one that lives in the minds of most people who watched the Blackhawks beat St. Louis 6-4 Sunday night.
He turned the Stadium ice into his personal pinball machine. Lemieux plunged Blues to the left, to the right and into the glass with his strong body checks.
Lemieux made the Blues so crash-conscious they started looking over their shoulder to make sure a runaway bus would not suddenly veer into the building from West Madison Street and mow them down.
The Blues are only one loss away from being run over for the last time this season. The Hawks hold a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven Norris Division semifinals with the next game Tuesday night in St. Louis. If necessary, Game 7 would be Thursday night at the Stadium.
Steve Larmer finally showed up in these Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring for the first time. The second of his two goals in the game pulled the Hawks into a 3-3 tie midway through the second period after goals by Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan earlier in the period wiped out a one-goal lead the Hawks owned after one period.
Goalie Ed Belfour didn`t have his stick down at the right post, allowing the puck to get into the crease as Chris Chelios and the Blues` Dave Lowry battled for control at that spot. Hull was all alone at the left crease to bat in Lowry`s pass.
Shanahan popped in a rebound of a Garth Butcher shot. Defenseman Igor Kravchuk couldn`t tie up Shanahan to avoid this go-ahead score. But the Hawks didn`t fold.
They scored the next two goals to lead by a goal after two periods. On the power play, Larmer unleashed one of his patented rockets from the top of the left circle that traveled just over Curtis Joseph`s left shoulder, a tough spot for the goalie to try and reach.
Then Brad Lauer made Hawk fans notice his presence. In the minors most of the regular season, Lauer accidentally ended up with the puck in his uniform when Steve Smith rushed the Blues` net and the puck was knocked high and away and into Lauer. Dropping it to his feet behind the net, Lauer skated out at the left post and surprised Joseph with a shot that went off his stick and into the right side of the net for the lead.
Joseph was under siege early in the third period. Narrowly stopping the puck from getting in at the right post, seconds later Joseph saw the puck land inside the net near the opposite post when Chelios scored from the top of the right circle. With a two-goal edge, the fans began to feel a victory within their grasp.
Lemieux had his share of scoring chances as well as big hits. For instance, he made a nice pass to Dirk Graham on a two on one rush in the third period. Joseph saved his team from falling behind three goals with the stop on Graham.
Larmer scored his first goal of this year`s playoffs when he tapped in a pass he received from defenseman Keith Brown at the point. The puck went under Joseph`s right leg as he tried to make a pad save and enabled the Hawks to lead 2-1 after the first period.
Brown barely managed to stop the puck before it crossed outside the Hawks` offensive zone. Blues defenseman Murray Baron attempted to clear the puck from the low slot area by flinging it off the side boards.
Lemieux started the game with a vengeance. First, he drove Butcher`s head into the glass on a hit, dazing the defenseman briefly. Referee Terry Gregson had to get out of the way of the smash along the side boards and didn`t have the best view of it. He decided not to call a penalty.
Lemieux was back a short time later in the offensive zone, dropping two Blues within a matter of seconds as he tried singlehandedly to energize his team. He knocked over Butcher again and went right on to Philippe Bozon, sending him flying off his skates with another impressive check.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, their power play didn`t attack as hard and as effectively as Lemieux. Given the first two power plays, at 2:27 when Lowry roughed Lemieux in retaliation and at 5:11 when Nelson Emerson held Lemieux`s stick while the Hawk was in scoring position, the Hawks had trouble skating the puck into the offensive zone.
St. Louis, meanwhile, had already scored the first goal, as the Blues have in every game of the series. Good passing left Bozon open right of the crease to blast the puck by Belfour at 1:57.
Credit Ron Wilson with a good play. Receiving the puck in mid-slot on a point pass from Butcher, Wilson made a quick touch pass down to the unattended Bozon.
Stephane Matteau tied the score 1-1 at 10:07 of the period with a second effort.
