Dallas Stars Fall Short Against Blues In Game 6, Set Stage For Game 7

The Dallas Stars needed a clinching effort on Sunday afternoon at the American Airlines Center, but didn’t end up producing one. As a result, the Blues won an important Game 6 and set the stage for a deciding Game 7 in St. Louis on Tuesday.

When opportunity came knocking on the Dallas Stars‘ door on Sunday afternoon, they couldn’t find a way to answer. Instead, it was the St. Louis Blues that answered and took full advantage as they cruised to a 4-1 victory at the American Airlines Center.

In what has been one of the most thrilling back-and-forth series of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs,  the Stars and Blues added another exciting chapter to the novel on Sunday.

The stage was set for an intense game. After falling into a 2-1 series hole through the first three games, Dallas had bounced back in a big way and won two consecutive games. That included a 2-1 victory in Game 5 on Friday night in St. Louis that put them in front for the first time in the series.

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It was a win that perfectly fit the narrative that the Stars had established throughout their 2018-19 campaign. Dallas found a way to capitalize on a small handful of scoring chances (Jason Spezza and Esa Lindell both registered tallies), shifted the majority of their focus to playing a sound defensive game, and relied on goaltender Ben Bishop to deliver with a stellar performance away from home.

All of that ended up working out in their favor. Bishop stopped 38/39 shots, the penalty kill went a perfect 4/4, and they got timely depth scoring to take an early lead that they never forfeited. As a result, they found a way to pick up a big win and take the series lead back to Dallas with a chance to close it out.

And that’s what made Sunday so significant. The Dallas Stars had an opportunity to secure a trip to the Western Conference Final and officially eliminate the Blues from the race. They hadn’t been to the WCF since 2008, though they came close in 2016 before eventually falling one win short at the hands of the Blues.

It seemed poetic to an extent. It had been three years since the Blues had blasted the Stars in a deciding Game 7 at the AAC to punch their own ticket to the WCF and send Dallas into the offseason. This time around, things could and should be different. After all, the Stars had a win streak and plenty of momentum going into Game 6 on in front of their home crowd.

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But things didn’t end up working out. In a do-or-die game for the Blues, they were faster, more physical, and much more opportune from the opening face-off. Meanwhile, Dallas went somewhat cold in the offensive end and tried to play catchup for most of the contest.

Things got off to a rapid start when Alex Pietrangelo scored on a wrist shot just 63 seconds into the game. The Blues captain got St. Louis out to an early lead and took a raucous AAC crowd down a notch.

St. Louis ended up taking the first eight shots and seemed to be controlling almost every aspect of the game. But Dallas was quick to respond. After killing off an early penalty, the Stars got on their first power play and cashed in just 37 seconds later thanks to some precise passing and a finish by Tyler Seguin in the slot.

The first period was riddled with penalties and inconsistencies as each team grappled for position and an upper hand.

In the second period, the Stars were the better team but hit a rotten patch of luck. As the period drew to a close, David Perron scored on a tip-in that was set up by Oskar Sundqvist on a quick rush into the offensive zone. And although Dallas outshot St. Louis 9-4 in the frame, they came up on the wrong end on the scoresheet.

The third period involved a handful of both controversial calls and controversial no-calls. There were penalties that went uncalled as the officials allowed play to roll on. Around the 12:30 mark in the period, Ben Bishop took a hard slap shot to the collarbone area and immediately fell to the ice, lying motionless. No whistle blew as play went on and, after a few seconds of cycling the puck around, Jaden Schwartz scored by deflecting the puck into the open net.

The goal stood as called, which led to an immediate outbreak on social media. Current and retired officials weighed in on the call, as did analysts, writers, and fans. The opinions differed heavily as people attached screenshots of the NHL rulebook to their tweets and made their case. Even after the game, players in the Stars’ locker room were split on the situation.

After Bishop was checked out by the medical staff, he decided to stay in the game. 33 seconds later, Sammy Blais scored his first career playoff goal to push the lead to 4-1. Bishop was replaced by Anton Khudobin and went to the locker room for x-rays.

And so, the Stars dug in for the final few minutes of a game that was entirely too far out of reach. They had been outplayed for much of the contest, had no substantial form of goal support after averaging 3.00 goals per game through the first five games of the series, and only put up a total of 23 shots on the afternoon. Besides a solid fight for a good 20-minute span in the middle of the game, Dallas gave the reins to St. Louis. The Blues quickly took control and set the tone in their own do-or-die situation.

"“That’s just hockey. We were trying to create and generate good opportunities. We knew this was going to be a long series. They’re a good team, they play good team defense, and they’ve got a great goalie.” – Stars captain Jamie Benn after the game"

Now, the do-or-die scenario applies to both clubs. The Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues will be pitted against each other one last time in the 2018-19 campaign. Game 6 didn’t go the way it could have, and now the Stars will be forced to swing back in retaliation and close the series on the road.

It’s a tough way to go, but all this Stars team seems to know is the tough way. We’ll see how they handle it on Tuesday night.