St. Louis will face the victor of Game 7 between San Jose and Nashville on Thursday with the conference finals starting on Saturday. They will now play the victor of Thursday’s Game 7 between the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators.
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The STL Blues clinched Home Ice advantage through the entire NHL Playoffs with the series win over Western Conference champs Dallas Stars and the fall of Presidents cup champions the Washington capitals to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Fabbri now has three goals and 13 points in 14 playoff games, placing him second in team scoring behind Vladimir Tarasenko and tied for third across the entire National Hockey League. Patrick Eaves scored the lone goal of the game for the Stars in the 3rd period.
It wasn’t quite an improbable series victory for the Blues, who were the No. 2 overall seed in the West with 107 points, but they weren’t a popular pick to escape the first round versus the Chicago Blackhawks, let alone advance this far. “Several of these games have become three-line games, and the guys that are going best, you want to try to play the most”. 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. But Ruff challenged the goal for offside and won – Tarasenko’s trailing skate was inches off the ice as Jaden Schwartz carried the puck over the line. He puts the puck in a decent spot but the Blues lose that board battle.
The Blues, a battle-hardened squad and one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season, played exactly the game that they wanted to tonight, going into an opposing arena, sucking the energy out of the crowd early and successfully defending the lead right to the very end.
The Blues weathered the unbridled passion the Stars came out of the gate with and then got into their own game quickly. Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues in the 3rd period. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was the Stars coach for their previous Game 7 at home, a win over Colorado at Reunion Arena in the Western Conference final. But while there are a variety of other reasons why the Stars lost the series, the reason they lost Game 7 was between the pipes for the first twenty minutes.
Are you ready for Game 7? The lefty pulled his shot from the right side of the goal and hit the side of the net. The 24-year-old hasn’t played since, and the team says he did not reinjure the Achilles.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff has used two goalies all season, and Lehtonen was replaced after allowing three goals in eight shots.
The three goals matched what the Stars did in the first period of their 3-2 win in St. Louis in Game 6 on Monday.
As for Lehtonen, his first Game 7 could not have unraveled much faster against the big, physical Blues. “We wouldn’t be here without him, so I don’t think we can keep questioning his play tonight”.
As to potential lineup changes, Brian Elliott looks to get the start.
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The shots in the second period were 14-5 in favor of the Blues and 14-2 in the third period, but Lehtonen did not falter. They missed one of their two best players [Tyler Seguin].
