You cannot ask a goaltender to make every stop if they are facing more than 50 shots in a match.
You cannot expect them to withstand a barrage of shots when your own offense is lacking; in the second period of Game 7, the St Louis Blues hammered the Dallas Stars’ goal with 18 shots while permitting only one in the second period. Over the final two periods of regulation, the Blues outshot the Stars 31-4.
Barring a greasy goal, the Blues were destined to win Game 7.
They did just that when Pat Maroon poked in a loose puck in the crease at 5:50 of the second overtime period to give St Louis a 2-1 win and 4-3 series win.
The winner came off a face-off win in the offensive zone on the right circle.
Robert Thomas collected the puck and took a shot that popped up over Ben Bishop’s shoulder and laid like a platter in the paint.
Maroon had only to tap it in for the winner.
“That’s a face-off play we run all the time, and [Bozak’s] a veteran player that wins face-offs, a lot of face-offs at key times,” Maroon said.. “He won that, Thomas came around, made a great move around [Stars defenseman John Klingberg], hit the post, off the back of Bishop, and I just found the rebound. It’s a greasy goal that I kind of score.”
Jordan Binnington made 29 saves in the win.
“Obviously, we had lots of shots and the puck was in their end a lot of the game , and as a goalie you just have to be patient and stay composed and just believe in your team,” Binnington said. “Pat Maroon came in huge.”
The ice was tilted toward Bishop’s net all night, even when Dallas mounted an offensive threat, the Blues were able to get the puck out of the zone and attack.
“I thought our goaltender was great, I thought a lot of players had good games, but overall, I thought the Blues were the better team,” Dallas head coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought they were in Game 6 (a 4-1 loss) and I thought they were in Game 7. They continued to get better and we kind of stagnated.”
“The Blues played better. Game 7, they played better, they earned the right to move on. We almost got it because of Ben Bishop, and we were getting better throughout the game, but it didn’t materialize.”
Vince Dunn staked the Blues to a 1-0 lead in the first period at 13:30.
“It was a pretty good effort from the get-go,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “We threw everything there and gave it everything we had. They battled and they stayed in it. Their goalie had a great game, but our guys never quit and stayed with it.”
Mats Zuccarello replied with a goal at 15:55 of the first to tie the game.
“Not good, pretty empty. What a game by [Bishop]. He was incredible tonight. Really wish we could have got him one,” Tyler Seguin said after the game.
[WATCH: Stars vs. Blues Game 7 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Bishop made 52 saves in the loss, a career high.
“I guess the first word that comes (to mind) is frustrated,” he said. “There was a good opportunity there and just a little frustrated right now, tough to end your season in OT. … But the guys did a good job and kind of have to look back on it in a few days.”
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