The Blues surprisingly lacked any emotion in Sunday’s first period, but did manage to the tie the score 1-1 on Oshie’s second playoff goal with 3:32 left before the first intermission.

Oshie didn’t show any emotion after scoring because he didn’t see the puck hit the back of the net.

“It came out so quick, I didn’t really see it,” Oshie said. “There was obviously no reaction from the fans, so I couldn’t tell if it was in or not.”

The Blues played a much improved second period, outshooting Chicago 17-3 in the second period and 27-11 through two periods. They had four power plays in the period, but despite nearly scoring on a puck that danced along the goal line, failed to convert.

The Blues had 11 shots on the man-advantage — as many as the Blackhawks had overall in the game at that point — but the unit dropped to zero for six. And with score still knotted, the prevailing thought was that the inability to take advantage on the power play would come back to haunt.

“You got to score, you got to finish, and we didn’t finish,” Hitchcock said.