In the arduous quest to claim Lord Stanley’s Cup, now and then a team needs one player to step up and steal a win that will keep the journey going another day.
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“We took advantage of some early opportunities”, Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. But Lehtonen stood tall. If the Blues win, Bill has agreed to make a donation to Safe Connections (@SafeConnections on twitter) whose mission is to reduce the impact and incident of relationship violence and sexual assault through education, crisis intervention, and counseling services.
Alexander Steen and Patrik Berglund scored for St. Louis.
The Dallas Stars’ Vernon Fiddler, left, scores past St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott during the first period of Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference semifinals, Monday, May 9, 2016, in St. Louis.
If he plays it’ll be a new dynamic the Blues haven’t had to deal with yet this series.
The year was 1972 and the Blues were facing the Minnesota North Stars (Dallas’ predecessors) in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs.
St. Louis has rolled with both netminders since Allen became a regular in the National Hockey League. Maybe more worrisome is that he was beaten high all three times.
All four of the Game 7s the franchises have played against each other since 1968 have gone to overtime. His counterpart, Brian Elliott, was pulled in the first period.
The Blues started to come to life in the second period, outshooting the Stars 14-5.
“Another trip to Cali, but at least we have two days off between the games”, goalie Pekka Rinne said. “Certainly I knew they were going to come after us”. Those types of mistakes could have cost them dearly, but somehow a 33-save performance from Lehtonen and a stronger defensive showing minimized the damage. “I knew we were in big trouble in Dallas”.
The Stars did what they needed to in Game 6 and forced Game 7 on friendly ice; however they will need to be massively improved if they want to advance. Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester fell down seconds before Spezza’s first of the series and fifth of the playoffs. “But we have to do everything we can (Monday) to get that win, pour it all in, see what happens”. Janmark had been scoreless three straight games. Most nights, what separates the victor from the loser is one key contributor from whom everyone else seems to feed off.
“I think they’re disappointed”, Hitchcock said. Those are series-changing saves. “But you have to be able to help the team, too”.
“For us you get used to it to be honest with you. They came, they had a great second period and we hunkered down”.
“We have a lot of confidence”, Shattenkirk said. Yet, they’ve won seven of 10 series so far. “And we accomplished that, and now we’ve got a game on home ice here in front of our fans that we deserve, we worked hard to get, and we want it to be a difference for us”.
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Coach Ken Hitchcock held off naming a starter until after the morning skate, several hours ahead of the pivotal game. Dallas is ranked ninth among playoff teams with a power-play percentage of 16.7. The Blues need to dig deep and find another road. “It’s kind of slipping away a little bit”, he said. “That’s something that’s our goal”. “I just try to stay as relaxed as I can and just follow the puck and not try to play it any other way than I’ve done last 59 and a half minutes”.
