ST. LOUIS, MO – With one win away from advancing to the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all the St. Louis Blues had to do was return home with a raucous fandom waiting and dispatch the Dallas Stars. Not long after the puck dropped on Game Six, the home team barely had a chance thanks to several early goals and stellar goaltending throughout the game by Kari Lehtonen. The Dallas Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2.
It was nearly a complete reversal of Game Five where the road team was victorious despite an onslaught of shots in the third period by the losing team.
Dallas started strong when just under five minutes into the period, Valeri Nichushkin delivered stretch pass to Mattias Janmark. The Dallas Stars’ sniper slung a shot over the shoulder glove side past Blues goalie Brian Elliott to give the visitors the early lead. The Stars were not done.
Just twenty ticks later, Dallas continued swarming the net when the Stars’ Kris Russell sent a backhand pass from the side of the net to a waiting Vernon Fiddler. He tipped the puck past Elliott just inside the post for 2-0 lead.
Before the period ended and on the man-advantage after Troy Brouwer’s cross-checking penalty, Dallas extended their lead. With just more than three minutes left in the frame, Jason Spezza found himself in traffic, high in the slot. A toe-drag and snap shot later and the Stars extended their lead 3-0. This led to Brian Elliott being pulled in favor of Jake Allen.
At 7:29 of the second period, St. Louis began to climb back into the game. With pressure around the net, Alex Steen deposited a rebound from a Vladimir Tarasenko drive to get on the board. The Blues had life and the home fans were re-engaged.
The period ended with St. Louis holding the edge 14-5 in shots, 23-12 for the game, but had little to show for it largely due to Lehtonen’s solid play in net.
St. Louis pressured the Dallas net from the start of the third period. It was just nine minutes into play when the relentless attack finally led to a goal. With the puck bouncing just in front of the Stars net, Patrik Berglund drove along the crease and sent a drive past Lehtonen. The Blues drew close to Dallas, closing their lead to 3-2.
The last nine minutes were furious with St. Louis ending the period with a 14-2 shot advantage. Lehtonen was solid making save after save with remarkable composure and leaving St. Louis scratching their heads before the final buzzer came.
Lehtonen and Elliiott were complete opposites from their showing in Game Five. Lehtonen was the difference in Game Six stopping 37 of 39 shots while Elliott stopped just 4 of 7 before being pulled in favor of Jake Allen late in the first period.
The Blues will try to reach the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001 and just the sixth time in their 49-year history. The Dallas Stars will attempt to reach their fifth Western Conference Final since relocating from Minneapolis in 1993.
Game Seven in Dallas will be Wednesday, May 11th (8:00 PM ET, NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports).
Follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL and you can contact me at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.
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