DALLAS, TX – Game Two started in stark contrast to Game One. The St. Louis Blues were still in recovery mode after grueling seven-game series victory against defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago. Game Two ended differently than Game One, too, with a different victor, as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 on overtime. On his 32nd birthday, Blues captain David Backes netted the game-winner.
Dallas goaltender Antti Niemi made a pad save on Alexander Steen‘s slap shot from the top of the right circle, but Backes was there to knock in the rebound. It’s the second overtime goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Backes; the other gave the Blues a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The goal came with Dallas forward Antoine Roussel serving an interference penalty and was the Blues’ second power play in overtime.
After allowing the game’s opening goal to Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski just 3:36 into the game, St. Louis stormed back with three goals in the first period. Patrik Berglund tied the game just 35 seconds after Dallas took the lead. Joel Edmundson game St. Louis the lead just led than three minutes later while Troy Brouer gave the Blues the 3-1 lead with a power play goal at the end of the period.
St. Louis’ lead came in a period where they mustered just 5 shots to Dallas’ 10. The onslaught by the Blues chased starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen in favor of Annti Niemi. In the second period, St. Louis gained the upper hand in shots 10-6, but neither team could light the lamp.
Desperate to draw near, Dallas came out firing in the third period. The attack even rattled the head of Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. A shot to the head chipped paint of the mask into the St. Louis’ goaltender’s right eye, halting play momentarily. After changing masks for a short while, Dallas continued to shoot high on Elliott in an effort to get an edge. For awhile, it seemed to work.
Mattias Janmark took a fluke tip pass in the neutral zone and took off like a rocket in on Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. As the St. Louis goaltender attempted a poke check, the lightning-fast forward for Dallas slid the puck between Elliott’s pads to draw the score to 3-2.
With 2:36 to play, Stars’ captain Jamie Benn gained the equalizer, his fifth of the playoffs. It came while he was alone in the slot and picked up a loose puck, quickly lifting a shot over Elliott. In the period, Dallas outshot St. Louis 13-2.
Overtime involved two power play opportunities for St. Louis, the second one leading to the game-winning goal.
For St. Louis, Troy Brouwer had a goal and an assist while Robby Fabbri and Kevin Shattenkirk each had two assists. Dallas; center Cody Eakin had three assists. Niemi made 19 saves while Brian Elliott finished with 31.
The series shifts to St. Louis for Game Three of the best-of-7 series is set for Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports). Game Four is set for Thursday (8:00 PM. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports) before it heads back to Dallas on Saturday, May 7th (time to be determined).
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