Toews, Hawks take 3-games-to-2 lead on St. Louis

We had to win one in St. Louis. Last night, we did.

Jonathan Toews scored on a breakaway a little more than seven minutes into overtime, and the Blackhawks beat the Blues 3-2, to take a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Hawks can close the Blues out tomorrow afternoon at the UC (2:00 CDST faceoff), but I'm not counting my chickens. The Blues are a very, very good team- good enough that they were my pre-playoff pick to win the Cup, as much as I hated it- and they will be desperate. It should be some game.

Meantime, with teams like Colorado, Anaheim, San Jose and Boston looming ahead of them, the road to a repeat for the champs doesn't get much easier from here.

It's going to be a fascinating month of May.