Blues vs. Blackhawks: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

There will be a new Stanley Cup champion this year after the St. Louis Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 7 of their first-round series on Monday night at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

The Blues were ready to celebrate afterward:  

The deciding goal came with 12:29 remaining in the third period. Troy Brouwer was able to find the puck in a scrum in front of Chicago goalkeeper Corey Crawford and get it past him.

No matter the sport, Crying Jordan is always ready and waiting to be unleashed, as Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports did here:

"

Well, I’m not gonna let them do it to me. pic.twitter.com/vMTZ4SGa2Q

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) April 26, 2016"

With the win, the Blues have earned a spot in the Western Conference Semifinal to meet with their division rivals and the top seed in the West, the Dallas Stars.

It's been a long time coming for St. Louis to win a Game 7, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The Blues' win also means the second round of the NHL playoffs is great for the NHL, as Andy Glockner of The Cauldron noted:

As they've been for the entire series, goals were aplenty in Game 7. St. Louis jumped out to a lead early after Jori Lehtera found the back of the net one minute into the game, via the Blues:

Colton Parayko netted his second goal of the postseason 12 minutes and 43 seconds later to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

Marian Hossa put the Blackhawks on the board late in the first off the assist from Richard Panik with his third goal of the playoffs. Chicago wasted no time in the second period to level the game at 2-2, thanks to a power-play goal from Andrew Shaw 3:20 into the frame.

Penalties were also a minimum in this game, with only three called throughout 60 minutes. St. Louis went 0-of-2 with a man advantage but did not need the help when the game was on the line. When the Blues needed a goal, it was up to Brouwer to knock in the loose puck, and he did, via the Blues:

NHL tweeted this after the game:

St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott had 31 saves, so Chicago was able to get its shots on goal. But the Blues got off 26 shots, and three of them found the back of the net. The Blues used patience and precision to get the win and move on to the next round.

The Blackhawks did not look like themselves late in the season. It appeared that they were content to just get into the playoffs and lacked the killer instinct that's driven them to multiple Stanley Cups this decade. The St. Louis defense ultimately made enough plays down the stretch to contain Chicago's high-octane offense and set up a seven-game series between the two teams with the most points in Western Conference.

Dallas and St. Louis finished the regular season in the top 15 in goals per game. But the Blues beat the Stars four out of five times in the regular season, and three of those victories came via overtime or shootout. Whoever comes out of this series has to be considered the favorite to represent the West in the Stanley Cup Final.

Postgame Reaction

Brouwer came into Monday's Game 7 with seven career playoff goals. This one, he'll attest to, was not the prettiest.

"That was the ugliest goal I've ever scored," Brouwer said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "And probably the most timeliest goal I've ever scored."

Brouwer also would have taken it one step further had that goal somehow not gone in, per Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

None of that would have been obtained had Lehtera not scored a minute into the game.

"Ville Nieminen once told me, 'If you want pizza, you go to Pizza Hut," Lehtera said, per Rutherford. "If you want to score goals, you go to the net.'"

Even in defeat, the former champions were gracious to their opponents, per Martin Kilcoyne of Fox 2 in St. Louis:

As were the Blues, who had the daunting task of putting away the best hockey team this decade.

"It was really eye-opening what a championship team like them can do," Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said, per Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "You find yourself on the bench in awe sometimes."

Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith also gave credit to the Blues for taking care of business, per Rutherford:

It's also been a rare occurrence for Patrick Kane to be watching the remainder of the playoffs from home.

"It just doesn't really feel right," Kane said, per the AP. "Pretty quick right after to put everything right after into words. Obviously not the outcome we were looking for."

This was only the first round. The Blues' attention now turns to the Stars, and then possibly the Western Conference Final after that.

"We're still not where we want to be," Brouwer said, per the AP. "We want to be playing in a month and a half still."