The St. Louis Blues managed to steal a win in Dallas last Sunday and they will look to build on that victory when they host the Dallas Stars for Game 3. Will the Stars go up again in the series, or will the Blues win two in a row? Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our analysis for Game 3 of Lightning vs. Islanders.
A comedy of errors and shaky goaltending from Kari Lehtonen largely caused Dallas’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Blues on Sunday.
The Stars, which committed 19 giveaways, also went scoreless on five power play chances in Game 2. However, the Stars flashed glimpses of their deadly offense when they scored two goals in the third period to tie the game and send it to overtime.
If it weren’t for Lehtonen’s bad start—he allowed three goals on five shots in the first period before being pulled out in favor of Antti Niemi—the Stars could’ve kept control of the game and bagged a win. Niemi surrendered the overtime goal to David Backes, but had an otherwise strong performance with 19 saves on 20 shots.
Whether Lehtonen will take back his starting gig or Niemi between the pipes later tonight is still up in the air, however.
With Tyler Seguin still out, Dallas’ offense will continue to put a heavy load on the shoulders of Jamie Benn. Benn scored his first goal of the series in Game 2 to increase his playoff total to eight. The Stars also need Jason Spezza to make his presence felt. He has yet to record a point after notching four goals and five assists in the first round against Minnesota.
Dallas is 4-2 in its last six road games.
Betting on the St. Louis Blues
Let’s call them the St. Louis Bruise. The Blues went full physical in Game 2, as they massively outhit Dallas, 42-23.
The Blues got three goals in the first period from Patrik Berglund, Joel Edmundson and Troy Brouwer and another one from David Backes in overtime as mentioned earlier. The Blues, however, appeared to play with little aggression after they went ahead by two goals in the first period, as they allowed Dallas to creep back into the game. They were even outshot in the third period, 13-2.
Playing consistent hockey is going to be crucial for the Blues, especially against the all-out offense of Dallas that ranked second in the league back in the regular season with 32.0 shots per game.
In any case, Brian Elliott has a big role minding the net for St. Louis. Elliott made 31 saves off Dallas’ 34 shots in Game 2 and he’ll be looking to weather again the storm that’ll be brought by the Stars later tonight. The Blues are 3-1 in Elliott’s last four home starts against Dallas.
More on defense: the Blues’ special teams have seemingly neutralized Dallas’ power play. The Stars are 0-for-7 on the man advantage thus far in this series.
