A three-goal first period helped the St. Louis Blues clinch a spot in the NHL Western Conference final with a win over the Dallas Stars.
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It was a quick start for St. Louis after Robby Fabbri’s second goal of the series gave the Blues a 1-0 lead 5:23 into the game.
The St. Louis Blues got behind the eight ball early in a game six loss at home and couldn’t fully recover as they dropped a pivotal victory and now must find a way to win on the road in hostile territory to keep their Cup aspirations in tow. Their opponent will either be the Nashville Predators or the San Jose Sharks. Vladimir Tarasenko’s empty net goal in the third period closed out the 6-1 final score.
This was the third time in the series St. Louis won a game by at least three goals. 43 seconds later Paul Stastny scored with 1:38 remaining, and the energy was gone from Dallas and gone in the building.
The offense wasn’t the only aspect of St. Louis’ game that shined, though, as goaltender Brian Elliott made 31 saves in 32 chances, including going a flawless seven for seven against the power play.
Elliott is a big reason the Blues have gotten this far, but Monday night it was Kari Lehtonen who came up big for the Stars. Tarasenko scored a sneaky goal past Lehtonen, but it was disallowed and deemed offsides.
To a man, including backup goalie Jake Allen, the Blues expressed devout belief in Elliott following the defeat on Monday. Especially because the Stars had given their fans a huge ray of hope by winning Game 6 in St. Louis on Monday. That means Game 7 won’t be won by a team playing at less than 100 percent, and it can be expected that both squads will bring their A-games. The veteran was partly at fault for his team’s capitulation at the Scottrade Center as they lost 3-2 and were forced into game 7. His coach, Ken Hitchcock, said he knew Elliott was poised for a bounce-back gem of a performance in a pressurized situation.
Now, with an obvious stretch of good years coming, we can look back on the past season for the Stars. FYI, Brian Elliott came to the rink yesterday to stop pucks even though I believe it was optional. They will get to play Game 1 of that series – and the Stanley Cup as well if they advance – in front of their fans in St. Louis.
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. But the lack of their second best player, and the complete lack of consistency between the pipes cost them that chance.
David Backes made it 4-0 Blues when he scored at the 16:10 mark of the second period as St. Louis continued to separate itself from the Stars. “It was my first crack at a Game 7 and hopefully there are going to be more opportunities like that to play at a high intensity level like this”.
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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.
