The Dallas Stars finished ahead of the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division standings during the regular season. But as we’ve seen on many occasions, regular season records don’t mean anything after mid-April. Now, the Blues have pushed the Stars to the brink of elimination with their 4-1 win in Game 5.
St. Louis opened the scoring in the first period when Robby Fabbri’s pass hit Stars forward Brett Ritchie before heading into the net.
Things got away from St. Louis quickly after that, as the Stars dictated the pace of play for most of the period before Alex Goligoski scored the equalizer.
Shots are 10-8 Stars. They have opened up the game, creating many chances. Blues built good zone time initially but have been sloppy lately.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 7, 2016
The Blues regrouped in the second period and really took it to the Stars in the middle frame. Dmitrij Jaskin, who had been a healthy scratch for the last month, gave the Blues a 2-1 midway through the period. Troy Brouwer added the insurance marker just over seven minutes later.
Hitchcock on Jaskin: "He's a really physical player. He's a determined offensive player. His goal was a perfect example of that." #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 7, 2016
Of course, it also helps when your goalie is making saves like this:
Elliott made a number of key saves, especially in the third period. The 31-year-old served as St. Louis’ backup for a good chunk of the season, but those days appear to be long gone.
I think I just saw Brian Elliott stop a kitchen sink.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 7, 2016
St. Louis leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. The series now heads back to St. Louis for Game 6 on Monday night. If the Stars can extend the series, Game 7 will be in Dallas on Wednesday night.