ST. LOUIS -- There was no doubt that the St. Louis Blues had the physical edge in Game 1 of their series against the Chicago Blackhawks, which the Blues won 1-0 in overtime. On Thursday, St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo joked that it was the first time in their careers playing together that he and fellow defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk both registered two hits in the same game.
"I [do] hit!" Shattenkirk responded, defending his physical play. "It was funny; we were joking around about that after the game. The intensity definitely got to us."
In all, the Blues officially outhit the Blackhawks 41-24 in Game 1.
"Sometimes our building is a hard building to get some hits in too," Shattenkirk pointed out, and the Blues internal number verified Shattenkirk's suspicion. According to coach Ken Hitchcock, the Blues tallied 57 hits.
Still, it's not enough. Not to Hitchcock.
After the game, he suggested that his team needed to aim for 70 hits to win against the defending Stanley Cup champions moving forward.
Really, 70?
"Yup," Hitchcock said after the game.
He didn't back off that number following an optional practice on Thursday.
"We've got to be more physical on the forecheck," Hitchcock said. "It's not just running into people, it's playing through the checking. I think that's the element of the game we have to get better at."
As we all learned in an analytics lesson from former Edmonton Oilers coach Dallas Eakins last season, the perfect hit total for a hockey team during a game is zero because that means the team without any hits had the puck the entire time.
Hitchcock's goal of 70 hits was relayed to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.
"I hope there's some validity to it," Quenneville said. "I hope he tries to go to 70. It means we got the puck the whole [game]."
As for Quenneville's players, they were tactful enough not to roll their eyes, but they've heard this all before. Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler famously said, while facing the Blackhawks in multiple overtime games last spring, that "no human can withstand that many hits."
The Blackhawks withstood the hits all the way to a Stanley Cup title.
"[In] 90 percent of the games, we'll be outhit because we have the puck," winger Patrick Kane said on Thursday. "We'll focus on what we do best."
Somewhere between Eakins' ideal hyperbole and Hitchcock's striving for 70 sits the perfect number. The Kings led the league in possession numbers, controlling 56.4 percent of the even-strength shot attempts this season. No. 1 in the league.
The Los Angeles Kings also led the league in hits, with 2,495 (30.4 per game). Hitting an opponent, it turns out, is a pretty darn good way to get the puck back and maintain those high possession numbers. Chicago, for the record, was dead last in the league with 1,389 hits.
So where's that ideal for the Blues?
Over the past three postseasons, the Blues have averaged more hits in their playoff losses than in their victories. Going back to 2013, the Blues have averaged 35.3 hits in their playoff losses. When they win, they average 33.2 hits.
Their highest playoff hit total during that span came in Game 5 of St. Louis' 2014 first-round series loss to Chicago, a game in which it outhit the Blackhawks 54-17. The Blues lost that game 3-2 in overtime.
St. Louis' three highest playoff-hit totals during the past three years (Games 5 and 6 in 2014 vs. Chicago and Game 3 in 2013 vs. Los Angeles) all came during losses.
Those stats, for whatever they're worth, suggest it might be counterproductive to focus so much on hit totals. That focusing on hit totals might be shifting the focus from something more important. Perhaps that has been the goal all along.