It’s anyone’s series now between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues. The Stars used a strong start on Saturday afternoon to defeat the Blues in St. Louis and knot the series at 1-1 as they now shift back to Dallas.
The Dallas Stars didn’t receive a goal from Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, or Alexander Radulov on Saturday afternoon. And even though their top line didn’t produce, they still found a way to win.
The Stars entered Saturday in a 1-0 hole in the series. They had dropped a 3-2 decision in St. Louis on Thursday to open their second-round series and were in search of a win before heading back home. Had they fallen behind 2-0 in the series before getting back to the American Airlines Center, the pressure would have been on. But for the Stars, there was no panic or anxiety. Instead, they simply stuck to their game plan and kept grinding.
It paid off. Dallas took it to the Blues early in the game and used a strong first period performance to push their way to a 4-2 victory and a first win in the series.
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It didn’t take long for the Dallas Stars to get going once the puck initially dropped. Unlike in Game 1 where the Stars looked a bit frazzled to begin the game, they were quick on the puck and immediately began creating chances. The fourth line of Mattias Janmark, Jason Spezza, and Justin Dowling made a quick impact, creating a few opportunities around the net and keeping Jordan Binnington on his toes.
With 12:49 left in the period, the Dallas second line turned in their first of multiple strong shifts in the game when Mats Zuccarello caught a pass from Jason Dickinson and took it behind the net. Zuccarello quickly fed it in front of the net to Roope Hintz, who had weaved through traffic and found an opening, and the rookie cashed in to open the scoring.
Hintz to Heiskanen. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/51YDnS16b6
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 27, 2019
Around six minutes later, Hintz got back on the stat sheet when he fed a beautiful pass to Miro Heiskanen through the legs of a Blues defender. Heiskanen made a perfect move to shift Binnington out of position and put the puck in the back of the open net to increase the lead to 2-0.
The Blues were quick to respond, though. 46 seconds later, Colton Parayko scored on a seeing-eye shot from the blue line to cut the lead to 2-1.
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But when the Blues tried to shift the momentum, the Dallas Stars shifted it back. 26 seconds after Parayko’s goal, Dickinson forced a turnover in the neutral zone. He and Mattias Janmark quickly charged into the offensive zone and passed the puck back and forth a few times before Janmark scored to push the lead to 3-1 with over five minutes remaining in the first period.
The second period came and went without a goal, thanks in part to some strong penalty kills by both teams.
The final period is where things got interesting. Less than two minutes into the frame, Jaden Schwartz scored a controversial goal on the doorstep when he deflected a Parayko shot past Bishop. The goal was reviewed for goaltender interference, but was confirmed shortly after to cut the Dallas lead back to one.
What came next was 18 minutes of pure action and energy. Both clubs traded punches back and forth. Ben Bishop stood tall and kept the Blues off the board. Jordan Binnington stopped 17-17 shots against. Both teams killed off a critical penalty, including the Stars, who endured a delay of game penalty with 2:45 left in the period.
And though there were plenty of chances and the ice seemed to open up as the physicality ramped up, neither goalie budged.
Bleedin' Blue
Hintz ended up scoring the game’s final goal with just three seconds remaining after the Blues pulled Binnington for the extra attacker. It was a remarkable effort by Hintz, who forced a turnover in the Dallas zone and took a shot from the blue line as he fell to the ice.
It was an energetic and enticing showdown between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues and added another thrilling chapter to what should be a long series.
There was physicality and emotion. The Dallas second line (Dickinson-Hintz-Zuccarello) was electric, combining for seven total points and eight shots on net. Roope Hintz registered a three-point game for the first time in his NHL career and is the first rookie in Dallas Stars history to post three points in a postseason game.
Miro Heiskanen put on another dazzling performance, tallying a goal and a +3 rating in 22:14 of ice time. Every line clicked at different times and helped the Stars continue their push after building the early lead. And finally, Ben Bishop had a strong bounce back effort, stopping 32-34 and picking up his first win of the series.
Oh, and the Dallas penalty kill went a perfect 5/5. That was pretty huge.
And now, they’re all even. The Dallas Stars stole a game on the road to start the series and now head home in a 1-1 tie. But unlike in their first-round series against the Predators, they won Game 2 instead of Game 1. That should give them the edge in momentum as they head back to Dallas for a definitive two-game stretch.
It was a pretty good Saturday afternoon for the Dallas Stars (even if Heiskanen got snubbed in the Calder Trophy race).