Here’s my take for this story the Stars are got to the western conference finals because they have the momentum on their side because St Louis blew it in game 6 and game 7 will be in Dallas and based on that the Stars are in the Western conference finals.
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Even if removing Elliott was more of a kick in the butt to his team than a condemnation of his goalie, the move paid off with an enormous push-back by the Blues in the final 40 minutes, when they overwhelmed the Stars with a relentless forecheck-and-cycle game. It was again the big Finn Kari Lehtonen who kept Dallas in the game registering save after save.
“So when you’ve got this type of competition in front of you, you’ve just got to play your best. It’s easy to say, but today it worked”.
Vernon Fiddler and Jason Spezza also scored for Dallas, which reclaimed home ice for the deciding game.
“We usually used the street (traffic) cones”, he said. “The third goal is the one that hurt us”.
Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen potted goals for St. Louis, while David Backes and Vladimir Tarasenko added an assist each.
The Predators will, of course, have to buck the trend that has seen the home team win every game in this series.
“I really liked our response, I really liked our heart”, Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said. Whether Seguin has a real chance at returning for Game 7 is still unclear.
Teammates accepted responsibility for the deficit.
The Stars have scored just four regulation goals during their past three games.
Hitchcock wouldn’t name his starter for Game 7 (“I want to sleep on what I’m going to do”) but whoever is trying to stop the Stars in net will be facing an ever-evolving beast.
“Everything is from feel, how I feel when I get up in the morning or think it through tonight when I get rid of you folks”, Hitchcock told reporters.
Although Dallas finished with only five shots in the second, Allen did have to make a key save on Ales Hemsky from point-blank range. A win there should buy them a few more days to get Seguin ready as it is believed the Western Conference finals would not start until at least Saturday or Sunday.
“When you score goals early, it changes the game a lot”, Lehtonen said modestly and accurately. “Getting it 3-2 and playing at home, that win is going to be the upper hand for us”.
Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen played very well in his team’s 3-2 triumph over the Blues in St. Louis Monday night. That early show of strength muzzled another standing-room crowd of 19,808 at the Scottrade Center with the first two goals coming in a span of 20 seconds.
Janmark blocked Colton Parayko’s dump-in from just inside the blue line and skated in alone on Elliott, scoring on a high shot. It was the first goal of the series for Canadian Spezza and only the Stars’ second power-play goal in 17 opportunities in the series.
Elliott continued that hot play in the first round of the playoffs against Chicago and continues to play solid in this series. Dallas had several very good scoring chances, and had as much success clearing the puck out of their own zone as they have had all series.
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Dmitrij Jaskin buried a goal in his first playoff game this year in the second period.
