NHL Playoffs, Blues vs. Stars, 4-3, Game 2: Full recap and highlights

The Dallas Stars fell to the St. Louis Blues in a 4-3 in OT in Game 2, tying the series 1-1.

Dallas’ high-octane offense has won the Stars nine of their last 10 games at home in the American Airlines Center, but the flat-footed St. Louis the Stars saw in Game 1 was ready to win. They came out to play like the team we saw in their series against the Chicago Blackhawks: hard, mean and fast.

The teams wasted no time getting on the board. Alex Goligoski, assisted by Jamie Benn and Cody Eakin, got the first puck in the net, scoring mainly because key Blues players like Vladimir Tarasenko were not in their proper positions. However, St. Louis responded almost immediately, scoring on Dallas about thirty seconds later, at 4:11 into the first period. The goal was scored by Patrik Berglund. Joel Edmundson then added another beautiful goal for Dallas right into the back of the net. Then, with 1:20 remaining in the first, Troy Brouwer got another goal for the Blues. Out of five shots, St. Louis got three goals; that’s terrifyingly terrific efficiency.

First period roundup: The Blues have been outhit only once this playoffs. They outhit Dallas 16-7 in first period. The Stars have outshot the Blues 24-11 in the two first periods this series, 10-5 in Game 2 alone. But St Louis has outscored Dallas 3-1.

Antti Niemi went in for Lehtonen in the second period, the tenth time this season Stars have pulled their starter. Eight have come in the first 21 minutes. What does this mean for Lehtonen’s future on the ice? Lindy Ruff could have just wanted to wake up his other guys on the ice, who frankly did not do much to help out their goalie during the first 20 minutes of play. However, most spectators viewed the switch as just another sign of Dallas’ unreliable goaltending taking full form.

It’s growing more and more obvious that Lehtonen and Niemi have their moments but generally and overall tend to be a hindrance to the Stars’ success rather than a supporting factor for it.

Period two was relatively sluggish on both sides (with the exception of the Jaden Schwartz-Goligoski scrum towards the end of the period), noticeably so for the Dallas Stars. They weren’t moving with speed we are used to, their cross slot passes weren’t producing any goals. Kris Russell chipped a puck around the boards when he had an option open literally a few feet away. Understandably, the Stars were getting nervous about dropping a home game — especially when next game is in the lion’s den of the Scottrade Center — but lack of smart playing was hurting their chances of evening the score, let alone winning Game 2.

Starting in the third, the Stars needed to figure out a better game dynamic to somehow get some more goals on the board. Colton Sceviour replaces Val Nichushkin on line of Spezza-Janmark. Mattias Janmark finally accomplished that plan, adding his first playoff goal to the scoreboard. The celebration, however, was cut short by Elliott getting a Spezza shot right in the face, through his mask. Though backup goalie Jake Allen was prepared to fill in, Moose opted to stay in the game.

When all hope seemed to be lost, the Stars captain stepped up. Benn reportedly told Lehtonen that his goal was coming, and it did: he scored the tying-goal 17:24 into the third period, blowing the roof of the American Airlines Center and waking up the crowd and the players themselves and then sending the teams into overtime. After 60 minutes, Dallas outshot St. Louis 29-17, with shot attempts at 57-43 also favoring Dallas.  The Blues dominated face offs, winning 32 to Dallas’ 27, as well as hits, 36-20.

The St. Louis Blues has a postseason overtime record of 32-30 (8-17 road), while the Dallas Stars holds one of 29-38 (13-21 home), according to the NHL.

Three Stars

1. G Brian Elliott (BLUES)
The netminder made 26 saves during the three periods of regulation with a .897 save percentage after allowing three goals. 

He even endured a puck right in the face thanks to Jason Spezza. Clearly the man is hardcore.
2. G Antti Niemi (STARS)
After Lehtonen let in 3 goals in the first period, Niemi had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He ultimately made 19 saves had had a .950 save percentage, only letting in one goal in 10:58 into OT.
3. LW Jamie Benn (STARS)
Oh captain, my captain. When the Stars called, Benn answered, getting the game-typing goal with minutes remaining in regulation. His goal pushed the game into OT. he also added an assist.

Highlights

To add to the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff’s growing list of awkward situations with pucks and sticks, Elliott got a brutal knock in the face, courtesy of Jason Spezza. The champ stayed in the game despite shock and pain.

In case that clip of pain wasn’t enough for you:

John Klingberg got a penalty for holding Tarasenko, giving St. Louis a power play just over a minute into OT,but the Stars held on. Niemi made two epic saves, and the Stars killed the penalty.

And boy, was Klingberg relieved that he wasn’t the cause of his team’s loss:

Klingberg reacting to the Blues not scoring on the PP pic.twitter.com/JPOxSZ6A3K

— Stephanie (@myregularface) May 1, 2016

But then Antoine Roussel got his third penalty of the night, and the Blues won on the power play:

Next Game

The Dallas Stars travel to the Scottrade Center for Game 3 of the series against the St. Louis Blues. Game 3 is on Tuesday, May 3 at 9:30 PM ET and will be aired on NBC Sports Network.

For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.