Coming off one goal, two assist performance in Game 3, Tarasenko not only opened the scoring Thursday night on his breakaway goal in the first period, but he also set up the equalizer when the Blues were down 2-1, as he shot the puck on Lehtonen before it was tipped in by teammate Paul Stastny for the equalizer.
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But instead of cracking under the pressure, the Stars responded.
“It nearly looked like it was on the outside of the net, and then went in”, Elliott said. Just like that the momentum swung in favor of the Stars.
We’re in this one deep now, folks, two games apiece and hurtling towards a likely Game 7 in Dallas on Wednesday. “We were able to feed off it. He told us, ‘I’m going to make those big saves.’ He’s been doing it for us these entire playoffs and it’s been fantastic”.
Troy Brouwer also scored for the Blues, who now lead the best-of-7 series 3-2.
“That’s the nice thing about finishing first, we’ve got home court advantage back”, Eakin said.
“We’re not going to beat them at their game”, observed Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, “and they’re probably going to struggle at our game”. When we do that, we’re right where we need to be.
“A couple blocks (by players) where I had no vision at all of the puck and we managed to get out”, Elliott said. “We let them off the mat with those two quick goals”, Hitchcock said.
Game 5 is Saturday in Dallas. Outside of a wicked one-timer from Alex Goligoski in the first period, the offense could never get in a rhythm against Blues goalie Brian Elliot. “Worry about going in there Saturday afternoon and winning a game”.
For the second time, the game is tied.
After three consecutive first-round exits in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Blues dispatched the Blackhawks in a grueling seven-game series.
Benn is among the National Hockey League playoff leaders with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) after producing two assists Thursday. “I thought Jamie Benn was great again, and I thought some young guys played really well”.
“Sometimes when you’re at home, you feel like you have to impress a little bit more”.
Nashville’s Mike Fisher scored at 11:12 of the third overtime to give the Predators a 4-3 win against San Jose in the longest game in franchise history, which stretched into Friday morning. Seguin missed the last 10 games of the regular season but still finished with 73 points. Not on media-drive storylines and narratives that fill newspapers and websites during the playoffs.
“It’s just unbelievable”, Blues’ forward Dmitrij Jaskin said.
“If you spend any time on the opposition, it’s like the white noise”. Just get a break and come out strong.
Lehtonen stopped 18 of 21 shots in a losing effort for Dallas. Many of those saves had a high degree of difficulty.
The Blues can practically taste the Western Conference finals, but they know how quickly a series can turn. They believe that they are wearing the Stars down with their physical style of play, according to defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. “Pretty rich competition, too”.
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“It’s best two out of three now”, forward Jason Spezza said.
