Stauber makes 29 saves in NHL debut, Blackhawks hold off Blues

ST. LOUIS --Jaxson Stauber made 29 saves in his NHL debut for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Stauber was recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis on Jan. 17 after Alex Stalock was placed in concussion protocol.
"It felt really good," Stauber said. "I can't put it into words. It was so awesome and exciting. I've dreamed about this for so long that I didn't know how it was going to feel, but it felt really good."
Jason Dickinson had a goal and two assists, and Sam Lafferty had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (14-26-4), who have won three straight and six of seven.
"I saw this coming before we got here to this bit of a stretch here," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "I thought we were playing some good hockey, but we just couldn't connect. Maybe not getting the scoring chances. When guys aren't confident, they don't shoot confident. Overall, when we got over that hump, we got a win, and it was a breath of fresh air. Guys are enjoying each other. We're winning together. It becomes infectious and contagious."

Jordan Kyrou and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist for the Blues (23-21-3), who had two straight. Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on seven shots before being pulled in the second period for Thomas Greiss, who made 10 saves.
Dickinson scored on Chicago's first shot at 10:27 of the first period to make it 1-0. Lafferty beat Blues forward Josh Leivo up the left wing before passing to Dickinson for a one-timer.
Lafferty then made it 2-0 at 13:20 when he beat Binnington five-hole on a breakaway for his third short-handed goal of the season.
St. Louis outshot Chicago 11-3 in the first period.
"It's obviously disappointing," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I thought we started the game off excellent, really moving the puck well. Shooting, getting chances. Made two mistakes that shouldn't happen and they're both in the net and it's 2-0, so we're fighting uphill the rest of the game, and it wasn't good enough, obviously."
Reese Johnson made it 3-0 at 2:00 of the second period, scoring on a tap-in in the crease after beating Blues defenseman Calle Rosen to the front of the net.
Kyrou cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 2:54, but Andreas Athanasiou pushed it to 4-1 at 3:59 on a wrist shot from the slot, ending Binnington's night.
"We gave up, not a lot of chances, but the ones we gave up went in our net," Berube said. 'Some of them we shouldn't have done. It's careless mistakes."

Barbashev made it 4-2 at 13:12, taking the puck to the net and beating Stauber five-hole on a backhand.
Nick Leddy's first goal of the season brought St. Louis to within 4-3 at 9:15 of the third period. During an extended shift in the offensive zone, he received a pass from Colton Parayko and scored with a slap shot through traffice from the top of the left circle.
"We had chances, I think," Leddy said. "At the end of the day, their goalie played pretty well tonight. At the end of the day, they capitalized more on their chances than us."
Max Domi scored from the right circle off a return pass from Tyler Johnson at 16:01 for the 5-3 final.
"Winning is fun. It's what we play for," Domi said. "It wasn't pretty tonight, but we'll take it."
NOTES: Stauber is the first Blackhawks goalie to win his NHL debut since Collin Delia on March 29, 2018. … It was Chicago first win in regulation against St. Louis since Nov. 14, 2018. The Blues were 9-0-2 the previous 11 games, which was their longest point streak against the Blackhawks in their history. ... Chicago had lost 13 of 14 prior to winning six of its past seven. ... Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, six assists). ... Dickinson's goal was his first since Nov. 3 (31 games). ... Leddy's goal was his first since April 9 (52 games).