In St Louis Wednesday night, the Blues’ Jaden Schwartz found the back of the net three times in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
It had appeared Schwartz was headed to hospital care after crashing into the end boards in the first period.
“I just toe-picked or caught a (divot) in the ice and it just happened fast and went head-first into the boards and I couldn’t get my hands up fast enough,” Schwartz said. “Just kind of a bit of a scary moment, but it could have been worse. I ended up taking 20, 30 minutes there and I felt like I was good enough to come back.”
He returned in the middle frame to cheers and goals.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Brodziakalso scored for St Louis.
Jake Allen had 22 saves and an assist in the win.
“When he’s (Schwartz) going, he brings everyone else into it,” Allen said. “He’s really the guy that gets guys going, sparks guys, gets guys the puck. He works his best down below the goal line. … He’s really coming into a league of his own.”
Richard Panik and Ryan Hartman scored for the Hawks.
“They played well and we were brutal,” Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was a bad start, it was a bad middle, it wasn’t very good. Even a little excited at the end, but that wasn’t very good. That was as close to brutal as you can get.”
[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Blues highlights]
Corey Crawford made 28 saves in the loss.
“They always play well at home, and I think for the first time you try to withstand their start. They’re always a good starting team. I thought we did a decent job of that, but obviously they took it to us the rest of the forty minutes. Not a good first two periods for us,” Chicago’s Patrick Kane said after the loss.
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