Brian Elliott stays hot and carries Blues to series lead

If you’re trying to make sense of a Western Conference playoff series between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks in which the better team has lost all three games, look no further than Blues goalie Brian Elliott.

Chicago outshot St. Louis 35-18 in Game 1 and lost 1-0 when David Backes’ shot from the corner deflected off Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and past goalie Corey Crawford.

On Sunday at the United Center, the Blackhawks looked utterly dominant, outshooting St. Louis 46-36 and out-chancing them badly, only to come away with a 2-1 series deficit after Elliott made 44 saves and St. Louis scored two third-period goals in a 3-2 win.

Patrik Berglund’s shot from the top of the circles deflected off Hawks defenseman Michal Rozsival’s stick and past goalie Corey Crawford to tie the game 5:15 into the third period — the third of six Blues goals in this series that deflected off Chicago players. Patrick Kane sealed the Hawks’ fate when he took a four-minute minor for high-sticking Alex Pietrangelo in the face with 8:09 left to play.

Jaden Schwartz scored off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play from Vladimir Tarasenko to David Backes to Schwartz and the Blues earned a Game 3 win, but they never would have been in that position if not for Elliott, who has followed up a superb regular season with an even better postseason.

On Sunday, Elliott became the first St. Louis goalie to make 44-plus saves in a playoff game since Curtis Joseph did it on April 20, 1994 (47 saves). In 42 regular-season games this year, Elliott led the NHL with a .930 save percentage. In three playoff games, he has stopped 105 of 109 Chicago shots for a .963 save percentage to outduel Crawford (.930).

“He’s been OK,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock deadpanned to reporters after the game.

What’s odd at first glance is that Elliott would not have played slightly more than half the Blues’ games if Jake Allen had not been injured this season. Elliott has never played more than 46 games in any of his five seasons in St. Louis, and the Blues have experimented with a number of other players (Jaroslav Halak, Ryan Miller, even Martin Brodeur) in the search for that goaltending magic that could allow the team to escape the first round of the playoffs.

Maybe it’s because Elliott has never had anything close to this kind of success.

In the 2011-12 regular season, he posted a sparkling .940 save percentage in 38 games — one of just two seasons in his career when he had posted an elite save percentage — but he followed that up with a dreadful postseason in which he allowed 18 goals on 187 shots (.904) as the Blues did what they always seem to do — bow out in the first round.

There is a long way to go in this series, given Chicago’s history and the fact that every game has been a one-goal game.

“Every game’s been up for grabs,” Hitchcock said. “Probably going be like that. No quit in either team.”

Elliott has largely run hot and cold in his career so it’s hard to know if he has finally discovered the special sauce this season, or if he is due to regress to his normal numbers. The Blackhawks hope the latter happens soon.

Elliott runs hot/cold. This year, small sample aside, he's been consistently hot all year, especially down stretch. pic.twitter.com/uZ5tR28f4L

— Nick Mercadante (@NMercad) April 17, 2016

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