Tune in for game seven, as the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues battle for a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
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You wouldn’t have bet a nickel on the Stars’ chances had it gone to overtime.
After getting pulled in Game 6, with some question surrounding whether he’d get the start in Game 7, Blues goalie Brian Elliott was locked in from the start.
“I think they’re disappointed”, Hitchcock said. It worked out today.
The Stars will counter with Lehtonen who has started the last three games for Dallas. These two are tied up at 3-3 in the series. “He was phenomenal for us, and we’re going to have to ride a couple more times throughout the course of these playoffs”.
He hasn’t scored since Game 4, but he does have six points (two goals, four assists) in the series.
There’s nothing better than a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think Brian has given us every opportunity to advance in every series we’ve been in so far”, said Troy Brouwer.
– Patrick Berglund played one of the best games I have ever seen him play.
Of course, home ice hasn’t exactly been an advantage in this series.
So Hitchcock said he would sleep on it before naming his choice for Wednesday night’s deciding game of the Western Conference semifinal, and he did.
“When you score goals early, it changes the game a lot,” Lehtonen said.
Jake Allen finished in his first appearance of this postseason, facing just seven more shots in the final two-plus periods.
With the St. Louis Blues about to take on the Dallas Stars in another Game 7 (7 p.m. Wednesday, TV: NBCSN), it might be a good time for a reminder of the types of guys that sometimes come up big in Game 7 situations.
“It was exciting”, said Lehtonen. The “Let’s Go Blues” chant that was reverberating through the building early on was muted. Facing elimination, Jason Spezza knocked in the power-play victor in the first period to make it 3-0 while goalie Kari Lehtonen made some key saves to preserve the lead in the eventual 3-2 victory.
St. Louis were 52 seconds into a power play resulting from a hooking call on Goligoski against Tarasenko at 4:31 of the first period. On a stretch pass, Scottie Upshall had a chance but was stopped by Lehtonen and then, just a couple minutes later, Vladimir Tarasenko was set up well near the faceoff circle but Lehtonen made a great glove save.
Brouwer made it 5-0 with his fifth goal of the playoffs with 5:54 remaining in the second period. The Blues will not bail on Elliott, and it will not discount the incredible play he has given the team. This means that the Blues will just have to outplay the same Stars team that they’ve been able to dominate for a solid chunk of this series, as they’ve outscored the Stars 14-5 in their three wins throughout the series.
The Blues went on the game’s first power play shortly after Sharp exited, but generated no shots on goal.
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Berglund cut the deficit to one at 8:59 of the third, tapping it in from close range off a nice setup from Jori Lehtera.
