Defenseman scores twice in 1,000th game, Faulk gets 3 points for St. Louis
Blues at Blackhawks | Recap
CHICAGO — Hey hey and holy cow, it was all St. Louis Blues on a cold, memorable New Year’s Eve at Wrigley Field.
Cam Fowler scored twice in his 1,000th NHL game, Justin Faulk had a goal and two assists, and the Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at the old North Side neighborhood ballpark on Tuesday.
Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for the Blues (18-17-4), who had 12 players with at least a point. They improved to 3-0-0 in Winter Classic games, including 2-0-0 against the Blackhawks (4-1 win in the 2017 Winter Classic at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Jan. 2, 2017).
Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi scored, but the Blackhawks (12-24-2) gave up two power-play goals in the first 8:10 of the game and Petr Mrazek allowed six goals on 28 shots. Chicago lost its fifth straight game and fell to 0-5-0 in Winter Classic games, including 0-2-0 at Wrigley Field.
The temperature at the time of puck drop, 4:26 p.m. local time, was 38 degrees. The attendance was 40,933, the NHL’s second sellout at Wrigley, which also hosted the 2009 Winter Classic between the Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. Detroit defeated Chicago 6-4 on Jan. 1, 2009, in front of 40,818.
Fowler, the first player to skate outdoors in his 1,000th game, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 1:40 of the first period. He cut down from the point, received a Pavel Buchnevich pass from behind the goal line and scored from between the hash marks.
Jordan Kyrou made it 2-0 at 8:10, scoring from below the left face-off circle off a pass from Jake Neighbours, who was below the right circle.
Kyrou had an NHL outdoor-game record four points (two goals, two assists) in the Blues’ 6-4 win against the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Chicago cut it to 2-1 on Hall’s power-play goal at 15:26, but St. Louis scored three consecutive goals in the second period.
Faulk made it 3-1 at 7:15 with a one-timer from inside the blue line that went straight in through traffic.
Binnington stopped Hall on a breakaway with a right-pad save at 12:48, and 46 seconds later Dylan Holloway made it 4-1. Faulk’s shot from above the right circle hit off the left post and went to Holloway, who settled the puck and scored before Mrazek could turn and react.
Fowler extended it to 5-1 at 17:51 with a shot from inside the left point that got through everything, including Mrazek, who didn’t appear to see it. He became the first defenseman to score two goals in an NHL outdoor game.
Bertuzzi cut it to 5-2 at 11:15. Connor Bedard had the second assist on the power-play goal.
Alexandre Texier scored off a rebound of Faulk’s shot at 16:18 for the 6-2 final.
