“It was a bit of an ugly game”.
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St. Louis then went ahead 3-1 with 2:18 remaining before the second intermission when Brouwer scored his fourth goal of the playoffs.
His acclimation to the Blues has taken a little longer than expected, but he’s steadily returning to the player he was just a few years ago.
That quote about sums up what you could aptly describe as an Oreo cookie of a second-round series.
Once Cody Eakin tied the series at 2 with his overtime goal in Game 4, it was clear this series is not for the easily tired.
The Stars got even about 5 minutes later when Alex Goligoski had a shot into an open net on assists from Vernon Fiddler and Jason Spezza. With the series now in an essential best-of-three, Stars coach Lindy Ruff will have to find some way to fix his defensive issues.
“A couple blocks (by players) where I had no vision at all of the puck and we managed to get out”, Elliott said. “I just don’t think guys are physically alert”.
“When we get away from our building, I think we play a simple game”, Brouwer said. Captain Jamie Benn said Eaves’ addition would be critical.
What has become evident in this series is that Dallas wants to run and gun, scoring off the rush whenever possible.
If they walked away from American Airlines Arena feeling anything other than unlucky to have dropped a 4-1 decision, they’re giving the Blues far too much credit. There were plenty of hi-sticks, crosschecks, and interference calls that were missed, and the traditional “Ref you suck” chants broke out several times during the game. Fellow forward Jaden Schwartz is heating up of late, notching an assist in the two most recent contests to extend his point total to nine (three goals, six assists) in his last 10 games.
St. Louis could insert veteran defenseman Robert Bortuzzo into the lineup for rookie Joel Edmundson, who had a costly giveaway that led to a Dallas goal Thursday.
The Blues tied the game 2-2 on their own power-play goal, on a four-on-three advantage, when Paul Stastny deflected a pass from Tarasenko past goaltender Kari Lehtonen in the second period.
“We didn’t bury them when we had the chances in the first period when we had all the odd-man rushes and breakaways”, Hitchcock said. The Stars already have displayed a strong resolve at Scottrade Center during this series. Traveling to St. Louis in a must-win scenario in game six presents no easy task for Dallas, and after today’s game, the Blues may have enough momentum to send the Stars home on an extremely low note in game six. Elliott has come up with big saves at big times, which is deflating for a Stars team that is still learning about the emotions of the postseason. He ended the night with two assists in 24:15 of ice time, and left no doubt in anyone’s mind why he wears the C in Big D.
“The message was, ‘Stay positive, get back at it.’ We know we’re a good team”, he said. Throw out Game 3. Entering Thursday’s game, Dallas needed one of its goalies, either Lehtonen or Antti Niemmi, to steal a game, and Lehtonen did just that.
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“It’s two very bad good teams going at it”, Hitchcock said. Why would we expect anything less?
