St. Louis Blues captain David Backes banged home a rebound in overtime to beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 in Game 2 and steal home ice advantage away from the Stars. The Blues struck again for their first lead of the night at 07:02, Brouwer feeding the puck too Joel Edmundson who had space at the back post to slide the puck home for his first goal of the playoffs. Though he did help set up the OT goal in game two in Dallas, he has looked sluggish and unmotivated lately, especially in the Blues’ end.
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It was a rough day for goaltenders as St. Louis scored on its first two shots of the game and on three of five shots in the first period on Dallas starter Kari Lehtonen.
Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk had tied it at 1-1 with 8:28 left in the third period with a shot from the top of the left circle after Dallas failed to clear the puck out of the zone. Game 3 is Tuesday night, with Game 4 also in St. Louis on Thursday before the series returns to Dallas for Game 5 on Saturday.
Dallas rookie center Mattias Janmark had a breakaway goal 4½ minutes into the final period, and Dallas was nearly immediately on the power play after the ensuing faceoff. “And if he didn’t get it up I could turn around and find a rebound”, said Backes, who entered these playoffs without ever having scored a playoff OT victor, and now has two.
Now the St. Louis Blues, already down a game in their second-round series matching the Western Conference’s top two teams, have to do the same. Niemi stopped three shots in that two-minute span.
But while players and coaches weren’t pleased with an interference call on Antoine Roussel that led to the eventual game-winning goal by David Backes (the second Stars’ penalty in overtime), coach Lindy Ruff said Dallas can’t blame officiating.
“They have a tough job, ” Roussel said. And by 9:02, Backes buried a rebound from Alexander Steen’s point blast to tie the series at one game apiece as it shifts to St. Louis on Tuesday.
Blues goalie Brian Elliott, a former Wisconsin star, had 31 saves, including big shots by Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn about a minute apart in overtime.
Joe Thornton started the sequence by sending a cross-ice pass to Matt Nieto, whose initial shot was stopped by Pekka Rinne.
Alex Goligoski gave the Stars a 1-0 lead just 3:26 into the game. He played 4:47 on a Blues penalty kill that was a flawless 4-for-4 against a power play that was fourth in the National Hockey League this season.
In a game in which the Stars kept trying to wrestle control, Pietrangelo would make a small play to setting things down.
Style is going to determine the Western Conference semifinal series between the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars. It was only the second time all playoffs – dating back to Game 1 vs Chicago – that the Blues did not allow any goals in the period. In these playoffs he’s a younger version of Dave Andreychuk, Ray Bourque or Ray Whitney – a long-serving hockey man who plays the game in a way that Canadians approve. But Couture jumped on the rebound and knocked it in with 1:24 left for his third goal of the series.
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Dallas lost veteran winger Patrick Eaves to an injury early in the third period.
