NHL Playoffs: Blues vs. Stars Game 7 recap, full highlights

The Dallas Stars  lost to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7, eliminating them from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Game 7s are often bitterly close and aggressive. That of the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues was nothing short of a slaughter. After a season with so much promise, the Stars fell miserably to their Central Division rivals.

Alex Goligoski received a two minute penalty for hooking Vladimir Tarasenko, giving the Blues the first power play of the night. Unfortunately, the Blues wouldn’t waste it: at 5:23, Robby Fabbri scored on a power play, assisted by Troy Brouwer and Paul Stastny.

With a violation on the defensive zone committed by Blues Jori Lehtera, Dallas earned a power play. The Stars have only performed 11.8% on the power play in round two, compared to about 22% in round one.

Goal scored by Vladimir Tarasenko, assisted by Jaden Schwarz and Alex Steen. The Blues lead the Stars 2-0 with 2:21 remaining in the first. However, on a review, the goal was deemed invalid: Tarasenko was offside.

However, the Blues did not waste time making their second goal legitimate. With less than two minutes to go, Stastny got the puck between Kari Lehtonen’s hip and the crossbar, with assists from Brouwer and Fabbri.

If that wasn’t enough, the Patrik Berglund scored a third goal for the Blues with four seconds remaining in the period. The puck changed directions as it headed towards the net, but Lehtonen unquestionably had enough time to prevent the goal.

At the end of a nauseating first period for the Stars, it was evident that Dallas simply can’t convert and that Lehtonen—who let in three out of eight shots on goal—couldn’t remain in the net.

Comparatively, the Capitals were 3-0 against the Penguins the other night and pulled their way to knot the score before losing 4-3 in overtime.

Unsurprisingly, Antti Niemi took over in goal in the second period, but even he couldn’t fend off the Blues. David Backes, assisted by Berglund and Colton Parakyo, got a puck in the net with 16:10 remaining in the second period. This is his fourth goal of the series.

The Blues now have eight players with at least five points in this series. The Stars, meanwhile, have one.

Steve Ott got a penalty for interference (i.e. knocking Jamie Benn to the ice in the middle of the rink) at 9:55, giving the Stars a power play they desperately needed. Dallas needed to wake up if they wanted any chance of getting back into the game.

With 4:54 remaining in the second, Brouwer, assisted by Fabbri and Stastny, scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, bring the score to 5-0 Blues. St. Louis scored on five of 17 shots on goal. Dallas failed to score on all 25 of theirs.

Finally, 5:15 into the third period, Patrick Eaves capitalized on a rebound to put the Stars on the board. He was assisted by Goligoski and Johnny Oduya.

According to SportsNet Stats, no team in NHL history has won a Game 7 on the road by 6 or more goals. The Blues still had a full period to make history. With 4:40 remaining in the final period of regulation, Tarasenko scored with assists from Schwartz and Lehtera, bringing the score to 6-1 with a 5-goal deficit. With one more goal, the Blues would have set a new postseason record.

Three Stars

RW Troy Brouwer (BLUES)
The trio of Brouwer-Stastny-Fabbri dominated the American Airlines Center.

G Brian Elliott (BLUES)
The stellar goaltender made 31 saves throughout the night out of 32 shots on goal

C Robby Fabbri (BLUES)
Fabbri, on the most dominant line of the game, scored a goal and added two assists.

Highlights

Ott being a wrecking ball on the ice:

In switching out Lehtonen for Niemi, the Stars hoped they’d have a better chance in the crease. Backes. however, had other plans. Minutes after Niemi started, the captain of the Blues got his fourth goal of the series.

Next Game

The St. Louis Blues will face the winner of tomorrow night’s Game 7 between the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference finals. This is the first time the Blues have reached the conference final since 2001. This is only the third time they have made it out of the second round for the third time since 1986.

After topping the Central Division and coming in second in the NHL, the Dallas Stars are eliminated from the postseason after the second round.

For more NHL Playoffs news, be sure to visit our hub page.