NHL Playoffs: Blues advance, fans react on Twitter
The St. Louis Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks to advance to round two in the NHL playoffs.
Troy Brouwer snapped a third-period tie with a goal against his former team at 8:31 into the final period, sending the St. Louis Blues into the second round for the first time in four seasons and eliminating the reigning Stanley Cup champions from the postseason.Chicago missed the chance to tie the game when Brent Seabrook’s shot with about 3:00 remaining in regulation hit both goal posts but dropped before the goal line.
This is St. Louis’ first advancement to the second round since 2012, when they beat the San Jose Sharks in five games, but then lost four straight games to the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks have won three of their last five Cups. However, they also had three first-round eliminations in the last six seasons.
The Blues dominated the entire first period of the series between the teams, outscoring their guests 7-3. However, as period two came along, the Blackhawks took back control with a 11-3 advantage.
St. Louis will now face the top-seeded team from the Central Division, the Dallas Stars, in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Dallas ended their series with the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, April 24 after defeated their opponent 4-2. The Stars’ offense is dominated by captain Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, and Tyler Seguin—who may or may not be healthy enough to participate in the next round of the playoffs.
Both Blues fans and Blackhawks fans took to Twitter to express their joy, frustration and sadness over the drama and final result of Game 7 in the heated first round series. Here are some of the most memorable Tweets:
— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) April 26, 2016
wait guys hold on when is the next playoff game my calendar is broken
— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) April 26, 2016
People can poo poo the Hawks being out all they want but reality is the 2 best teams in the Central this year are about to face each other.
— Daryl Reaugh (@Razor5Hole) April 26, 2016
The Stars Blues series should get good ratings in STL since no one will be watching the NFL Draft
— Baby Billy Bible Bonker (@JoshL1220) April 26, 2016
No Original Six teams remaining, but a '67 Expansion team still looking for its first Cup is a pretty nice storyline.
— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsAHL) April 26, 2016
Hockey Twitter gon’ love this one pic.twitter.com/KGC7lbRjNy
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 26, 2016
.@scottmatla I got you, Fam pic.twitter.com/phvPGMshFh
— manu 🎨 (@MoeninGlory) April 26, 2016
GAME OVER! SERIES OVER! BLUES WIN! #WeAllBleedBlue #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Dins7LnDYE
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 26, 2016
Not sorry. pic.twitter.com/QI1dwUPA9I
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) April 26, 2016
This was the first postseason Jonathan Toews did not score a goal.
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) April 26, 2016
How cool is this? Was told that Coach Q during handshakes told members of the #Blues "Win The Cup" class move. #stlblues #hawks
— Martin Kilcoyne (@martinkilcoyne2) April 26, 2016
The best part of being a Blackhawks fan is that I didn’t really think they were gonna lose this series until the last seconds of Game 7.
— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) April 26, 2016
Ken Hitchcock: "The naysayers can all take a day off. We can celebrate for a day, and then you all can start bashing us again."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 26, 2016
I don't have a prediction for next round.
— Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) April 26, 2016
All I'm saying is that it's going to be a long one.
For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.