Coming into this year’s first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks fans knew this would be quite ugly. Both sides knew players would be plastered to the boards, and goals would only really come from ugly battles in front of the net. Through three games of the gut-wrenching series, those have all lived up to their expectations.
While some goals have been pretty snipes, others have come from players working hard deep in their offensive zone and badda bing, badda boom, the puck finds its way to the back of the net. While the defenses for both teams have stepped up a lot, the best players on both teams have been the men between the pipes.