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CHICAGO -- St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock got what he needed from his top players, and that was more than enough on opening night.Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, and the Blues kicked off the season with a solid 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.The guys that have been around did a number today, Hitchcock said. The guys that have been here before and know what its like to play in this building, know what its like to play against Chicago, they played really well today.Kevin Shattenkirk and Paul Stastny each had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who eliminated the Blackhawks in seven games in the first round of the playoffs in April. Jake Allen had 17 saves in his first game since he was handed the lead goaltending job with Brian Elliotts June trade to Calgary.St. Louis went 3 for 5 on the power play.I think that last two days in practice really helped us find our groove, said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who took over as captain after David Backes signed with Boston in the offseason. We kept it simple, try not to be overly complicated. Weve got a lot of guys who can shoot the puck. The big thing is putting the puck toward the net.Richard Panik and Ryan Hartman scored for Chicago, which struggled in the second period. Corey Crawford finished with 29 saves.The Blackhawks had five rookies in the starting lineup, and four players made their NHL debut. And they looked out of sync for much of the night.Theres definitely some learning going on, coach Joel Quenneville said. Well accept mistakes through hard work, because thats how you get better.Hartman put Chicago in front 2-1 with his first NHL goal at 13:57 of the second, but the Blackhawks were whistled for three penalties in a span of 1:34 late in the second. Captain Jonathan Toews was sent off for slashing with 2:06 left in the period, veteran center Artem Anisimov got called for hooking and defenseman Duncan Keith received a high-sticking penalty at 19:28.During the delay after the call on Keith, Tarasenko tied it at 2 with a wrist shot that beat Crawford on the goaltenders stick side. The 24-year-old Tarasenko set career highs with 40 goals and 74 points last season.Hes proven to be a big-time player and obviously these games mean so much to us, Shattenkirk said. He is someone who just shows up in those big games.Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook saved a goal when he swept a bouncing puck off the line late in the second. But the Blues went ahead to stay on Stastnys power-play goal 55 seconds into the third off a rebound from Tarasenkos shot.Chicago had two power-play opportunities in the third, but it was turned away each time. Tarasenko then finished off the Blackhawks with an empty-netter with 1:06 remaining, and Scottie Upshall was credited with a second empty-netter on what looked like an own-goal for Chicago.We didnt do a whole lot of what we wanted to, Toews said. Our energy, our speed and our work ethic wasnt quite there. Weve got to regroup and try to come with that energy in that next one, and play a little bit smarter, too.Game notesRW Nail Yakupov played 10 1/2 minutes for the Blues. He was acquired in a trade with Edmonton on Friday. ... Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa remains stuck on 499 career goals. He assisted on Paniks goal in the first. ... Blackhawks D Niklas Hjalmarsson completed his suspension for charging Blues forward Ty Rattie during a preseason game on Oct. 1. D Michal Rozsival and C Dennis Rasmussen also were scratched. ... St. Louis scratched Rattie, D Carl Gunnarsson and LW Magnus Paajarvi. ... Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles got a standing ovation when she was shown on the videoboard during the first period. She acknowledged the cheering crowd with a wave.UP NEXTBlues: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Visit Nashville on Friday and then host the Predators on Saturday night.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenapCustom Jerseys . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. NBA Jerseys . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. NHL Jerseys . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Stitched Jerseys . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace.TORONTO -- Sixty minutes into the World Cup of Hockey and the American plan, so meticulously mapped out, is in tatters.All the talk of identity and character and imposing their will on opponents was swept aside by the shocking results of the teams tournament-opening 3-0 loss to Team Europe on Saturday.The loss, of course, was disastrous, putting the Americans in the position of pretty much having to beat host and pre-tournament favorite Canada on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) to have a legitimate chance of advancing from the three-game preliminary round.But it was the manner in which this game was lost that is most disheartening and calls into question almost every aspect of this team, from how it was originally selected to the game plan envisioned and even to the personnel decisions for the opening-game roster. This is not a marathon, as coaches always talk about in NHL seasons, this is a sprint, Team USA head coach John Tortorella said. Weve put ourselves in a spot, now were chasing. Were chasing the tournament. Its a spot we didnt want to be in. Its a very dangerous spot, but we are here. We just need to stay together and not blow ourselves up here, have a couple of good days of practice and get ready for our next opponent and try to do better.Hes right, of course.The Americans still control their own fate.The Americans split two pre-tournament games with the powerful Canadians, but what we saw from Team USA Saturday afternoon suggests they are a long way away from where theyll need to be to beat Canada and revive their hopes of advancing.What was supposed to be a hard-driving, blue-collar group of players who would push the pace and exact a toll physically on any and all opponents was inexcusably flat-footed throughout the first two periods.They missed assignments, and while they allowed only 17 shots on goal, they inexplicably allowed multiple odd-man rushes that allowed a surprisingly disciplined, patient Team Europe to score early in both the first and second periods and carry a 3-0 lead into the third.An American team that eschewed more talented offensive players Phil Kessel, Tyler Johnson, Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk in order to be a team that would be harder to play against was shockingly passive until it was too late.Through the first two periods there might have been two consecutive shifts that revealed that kind of hockey.Not the start that we had drawn or had anticipated, said veteran Zach Parise, who earned a silver medal with Team USA at the 2010 Olympics, but who was also part of a 2014 Olympic team that was shut out in their final two games in Sochi, Russia.Saturdays shutout loss now counts three straight goalless outings in best-on-best tournaments for the Americans.Parise noted there has been a significant gap between Sochi and the start of the World Cup of Hockey.If we got shut out every game this tournament, then we can talk about it, Parise said. Then he paused.You know what? You kind of look back at those games in Russia, and uunable to get one, and then unable to get one tonight, so yeah, weve got to do a better job as forwards as a group, he acknowledged.ddddddddddddAfter going 0-for-4 on the power play and failing to get one of their 35 shots past European goalie Jaroslav Halak on Saturday, the decision to leave hard-shooting defenseman Dustin Byfuglien off Saturdays roster seems ill-conceived. Likewise, its easy in the wake of the loss to second-guess the decision to have grinding winger Justin Abdelkader in the lineup ahead of Kyle Palmieri, who scored 30 goals for the New Jersey Devils last season.Of course, if the players who were in the lineup had executed the game plan successfully, well, the story would be different, no?But they didnt.Captain Joe Pavelski led the team with five shots but has yet to find his stride.Brandon Dubinsky took a double minor early in the third period with a needless high stick on Zdeno Chara behind the Team Europe net, and Ryan Kesler, whose agitating presence is key to American success, took two minor penalties in the first half of the game.Defending NHL scoring champ and league MVP Patrick Kane had four shots on net but continued his struggles offensively on the international stage. His turnover at the Team Europe blue line led to an embarrassing 2-on-0 goal by Leon Draisaitl that gave Team Europe a 2-0 lead in the second period.Thats a play that Ive made a million times in my career, Kane said. Just kind of lost the puck, and the next thing you know, they go down 2-on-0. Thats unacceptable from me. But at the same time throughout the game we had chances, we had looks, just didnt really seem to get a break in that game, which is unfortunate because that was a huge game for us.And lets be very clear on one key element: Team Europe was full value for this victory.Marian Gaborik, Frans Nielsen, Draisaitl, Roman Josi and, of course, Halak, had strong games. And a team that began the pre-tournament schedule being embarrassed by Team North America has now beaten Sweden and the U.S. in back-to-back games.Weve come here to play nine periods, and like everybody else, we want to play next weekend, a defiant Team Europe head coach Ralph Krueger said.So that was from the get-go the reason for us to be here. We didnt see ourselves as just a sideshow ever. This group has always been building to do this, what happened today.Sideshow? Far from it. Team Europes victory Saturday reinforces that things like identity arent forged by words but by confronting adversity. And while many believed Team Europe would be easy prey for teams like Canada and, yes, the United States, their commitment to their plan and to their teammates has dramatically altered the narrative of this tournament.Now Team USA has until Tuesday to figure out a way to alter a storyline that right now looks like it will end very quickly at the World Cup of Hockey. ' ' '