“The energy in the games is so high and so extended that it just isn’t a three-line game”. “You just kind of have to forget about it, shake it off and go out and make your next shift your best”.
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“Yeah, those things happen”, Elliott said.
This was the game Blues fans have been waiting for in this round.
The St. Louis Blues are roaring in the second round of the NHL Playoffs, but the Dallas Stars haven’t given up yet.
The Blues’ David Backes, right, deflects a puck past Dallas goalie Antti Niemi, for a goal during Tuesday night’s playoff game in St. Louis. Niemi got his first start of the series after he was effective in Game 2 by stopping 19 of 20 shots in relief of Lehtonen.
“He is go, go, go and guys sometimes wish he had a muzzle on him at times”, Backes said. Sharp had a tap-in for his first point of the series on a power play off an assist by Jamie Benn, giving the Stars two goals in 1:09 and the lead.
While goalies inevitably take most of the heat for these sorts of games, the prime culprit was the Stars’ serially Jekyll-and-Hyde puck management and defensive coverage. So yeah, they appear to have put the ugly Game 3 loss behind them. The Blues talked about it before the game. That’s the sign of a good team, capable of making a long run in the spring. They expect the Stars’ best effort on Thursday.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff didn’t mince words when asked if a combination of the 6-1 drubbing and the Reaves shenanigans would ramp up his team’s emotions. We know we have two rocks back there, and they’ve been able to pick each other up, and they’ll be motivated just like the rest of us, to bounce back.
“Last game in the third period, we had a little bit of a letdown, sitting back on our heels, and we made it more of a game than we wanted to be”, Brouwer said.
The one point Backes liked was that each Blues line returned to the bench leaving a positive situation for the next line hopping onto the ice.
Against Chicago, the Blues built a 3-1 series lead only watch the Blackhawks win the next two to force a Game 7. The winger boasts two goals and three assists in the past two tilts.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal of the series, when his attempted pass ricocheted off Alex Goligoski’s skate and past Lehtonen.
“We’re at our best when we’re playing good D”, he said.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock thinks there’s enough emotion in a playoff series without having to manufacture it. It’s an extremely disappointing result as a fan because earlier in the day I wrote a piece saying they needed to treat this game like it was a must-win.
This was the longest game for the Sharks since a four-overtime game in Dallas in 2008.
Trading shoves and shots off the crossbar for the remainder of the period, the score stayed knotted 2-2. Lehtonen gave up three goals on 27 shots.
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“It’s our job to create and develop National Hockey League players in Cedar Park”, said Texas Stars general manager Scott White. If they win this game, they have two more home games to finish the series. That’s something new out of the Blues in this postseason. There were similar plays made later in the game as well that nearly led to goals by Benn and Sharp.
