Blackhawks vs. Blues: Anton Frondell and Sam Rinzel Give Patrick Kane's Homecoming a Happy Ending

The video tribute rolled, the United Center roared, and Patrick Kane skated back onto the ice where he became a Chicago icon. Then the Blackhawks spent the first period threatening to ruin their own party, chasing the St. Louis Blues the same way they had chased everybody during an 0-3 start, all on the road.

They didn't let it happen. Sam Rinzel tied it and rookie Anton Frondell put Chicago ahead two minutes later in the second period, Spencer Knight made 25 saves, and the Blackhawks beat St. Louis 4-2 on Tuesday night to christen their home schedule with their first win of the season.

Welcome Home, Kaner

It was Kane's first game in Chicago as a Blackhawk again, the 37-year-old having signed a two-year, $16 million deal in July, according to the AP. A sold-out crowd of 20,270 gave him the kind of ovation usually reserved for banner nights. Per NHL.com, he logged 20:55 and put two pucks on net, and he admitted the moment got to him. "It was special," he said. "Obviously a lot of buildup to the night."

Even his goalie sounded a little starstruck. "It's a good home opener, great crowd, and I mean it's really cool having Patrick Kane back here, how much it means to the city, to the fan base in general, this organization," Knight said.

The Blues Crash the Party

St. Louis came out like a guest who read the script and hated it. Nick Lardis coughed up the puck in the neutral zone, Connor McMichael gathered it and gained the zone, and his backhand feed set up Mason McTavish for a wrister from the slot that beat Knight's glove at 15:38 of the first. It was McTavish's second goal of the season.

"We knew they were going to come out hot," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "It was obviously a pretty big game for them with 'Kaner's' comeback."

The Blues appeared to double the lead just 65 seconds into the second, but Chicago challenged McMichael's goal for offside and won. Coach Jim Montgomery wasn't in a forgiving mood about his team's blue-line discipline. "That was one of three offsides we had," he said, adding that the Blues need to be "more disciplined at the line."

Two Minutes That Flipped the Script

With a Chicago power play about to expire, Frank Nazar attacked down the right side and threw a shot at Joel Hofer, and Rinzel crept in from the back end to cash the rebound at 5:40, tying it 1-1.

Exactly two minutes later, Artyom Levshunov turned a routine possession at the right point into a slalom through the middle of the ice, and his backhand dish found Frondell low in the right circle. Frondell hammered a one-timer home at 7:40 for a 2-1 lead and his first goal of the season, with Teuvo Teravainen picking up the second assist.

McMichael didn't sugarcoat what happened to his team in the middle frame. "We were playing our game. We were dictating play. But we kind of fell asleep there in the second," he said.

The Turning Point

Call it the Knight shift. Late in the second period, with Chicago protecting a one-goal lead, Pavel Buchnevich broke in alone, and Knight shut the door. That stop kept the margin intact, and Knight followed it with a sharp third period while St. Louis pushed. The Blues outshot Chicago 27-21 for the night, and without that breakaway save, Kane's welcome party might have ended with a shrug. Holloway saw it the same way from the other bench. "We just kind of let them claw back into it," he said.

Bedlam in the Final 69 Seconds

The ending was pure chaos. Roman Kantserov went to the box for tripping at 17:37 of the third, the Blues emptied their net, and Cole Smith found the vacated cage while short-handed at 18:51 for a 3-1 lead. McMichael answered on a 6-on-4 power play with 38 seconds left, from Philip Broberg and Buchnevich, for his first goal of the season. Nazar then slid a backhand into the empty net with 4 seconds remaining to seal it.

Who Delivered

Anton Frondell: A goal, an assist, a plus-2 and nine faceoff wins in 18:38. The rookie played like he had been waiting for this stage.

Frank Nazar: A goal and an assist in 19:34. He created the rebound on the tying goal and finished the night with the clincher.

Spencer Knight: 25 saves on 27 shots, highlighted by the breakaway stop on Buchnevich.

Connor McMichael: A goal and an assist for St. Louis, plus the disallowed goal that would have made it 2-0.

Joel Hofer: 17 saves on 19 shots for the Blues.

Stats That Matter

• 2:00: The gap between Rinzel's tying goal and Frondell's go-ahead goal.
• 1 for 2: Each team's power play. Chicago also added a short-handed goal.
• 27-21: St. Louis' edge in shots on goal, which is why Knight's night mattered so much.
• 28-18: The Blues' advantage in hits.
• 803: Career games for Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, matching Barret Jackman for the most by a defenseman in franchise history and second overall behind Bernie Federko's 927, per the AP.

What It Means

Chicago improves to 1-3-0 after losing its first three games on the road, a stretch in which it was outscored 15-5. One win does not erase that, but doing it on Kane's night, in front of a full house, is about as good a reset as a young team can ask for. The worry is Teravainen, who left in the second period with what NHL.com described as an apparent lower-body injury and did not return. Coach Jeff Blashill said Teravainen is staying home for Thursday's trip to face the New York Islanders.

St. Louis falls to 1-2-0 and has lost two straight since opening the season with a 4-0 win in Dallas. All three of its games have come on the road, and the Blues finally get to sleep in their own beds before hosting San Jose on Thursday.

Closing Take

Kane's return played out like a Cheers reunion episode: everybody knew his name, everybody was on their feet, and a couple of new cast members ended up stealing scenes. Frondell and Rinzel handled the plot, Knight handled the suspense, and the old star got the ending he came back for. "Coming out for warmups, hearing the cheer, and then getting ready to go out for the introduction was definitely a little emotional," Kane said. Chicago finally gave him something to celebrate after the introductions, too.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.