The Blues jumped out early and blew out the Dallas Stars on the road, winning 6-1. Now they’re in the final four for the seventh time in franchise history and the first since 2001, and St. Louis fans have reason to be optimistic.
Advertisement
The teams have come off two games in which they have mirrored the play of each other, the Stars getting the bulk of the chances in Game 5 and losing at home, the Blues getting the bulk of the chances in Game 6 and losing at home.
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. Backup Antti Niemi allowed two more on ten shots (one empty net goal).
“You can’t be surprised when you’re kind of confident in yourself”, said Blues goaltender Brian Elliott, who bounced back from his benching in Game 6 with a masterful 31-save performance. The Predators and Sharks play the deciding Game 7 on Thursday night. Do his rights get traded along with Lehtonen to [fill in the blank] for draft picks?
Expect St. Louis to up its speed to match Dallas, and expect Dallas to hit heavier along the blue line to mirror that of St. Louis.
Dallas caught a break late in the first period when an apparent goal by Tarasenko 2:21 before the first intermission was waived off. Tarasenko scored from the edge of the left circle with a shot that deflected off the stick of Stars defenseman John Klingberg, Ruff used a coach’s challenge, asserting that Tarasenko was offside. Once he did, it was apparent that the Game 6 issues were an aberration.
Elliott has dealt with adversity during his five seasons with the Blues. 891 save percentage. In this series, the Stars have lost Lehtonen’s last two home starts.
Remember Tony, AKA @soloucity on Twitter, who fell in love with hockey during the Blues/Blackhawks Game 7?
Hitchcock is being coy with his choice of goaltenders for Game 7, saying he will make that decision Wednesday. “This was my crack at Game 7 and hopefully there’s going to be more opportunities like that to play high-intensity and high-level games like this”. I think he’s earned the right to go at it.
The Blues started to try and climb out of the hole they dug themselves and Kari Lehtonen was called in to action several times, his best save of the period coming at 08:49 denying Jori Lehtera on the doorstep. I don’t think Tarasenko has been figured out…I think he is just going through this stretches good players go through. 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.
There is nothing more to say than we love game sevens. “We had good energy, but it’s a tough way to end (your season)”.
The Blues had a mini-push after the Stars’ second goal, and gained a little edge when forward Patrick Sharp went to the locker room holding his left arm after a collision with David Backes.
A lot of credit has to be paid the Dallas Stars, a team who had one of the worst defenses in the league this past season. “We just wanted to make sure”. What he anxious about was the physical toll of this series and the previous seven-game series.
Advertisement
The Blues were ahead to stay when rookie Fabbri scored on a power play 5:23 into the game with a backhander after Kari Lehtonen was unable to control a loose puck in front.
