St. Louis Blues Ride The Rollercoaster En Route To Game 5 Win

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t picturesque. The St. Louis Blues, like the Stars in Game 4, did just enough right and got the win for Game 5.

The St. Louis Blues came out in Game 5 with a lot of jump and things seemed like it was going to be a great game for both sides. Then things got even better when Robby Fabbri scored what is admittedly a pure luck goal.

The puck deflected off a defender’s skate, very similarly to David Backes‘ OT goal against Chicago. It was proof that you just need to get the pucks to the net and good things can happen.

From there though, the Blues seemed to falter. They backed off, they got timid, they started giving pucks away again. It was eerily similar to Game 4 and the Blues were very fortunate to escape the first period tied 1-1.

Dallas’ goal came a little over halfway through the opening period. Alex Goligoski got the score after he hammered it high to the glove side when it popped out in front.

Dallas kept creating chances and the Blues seemed to have no answer other than to let their goaltender, Brian Elliott come up with save after save. To their credit, the Blues did manage to knock several chances away since there were only 10 first period shots for Dallas, however it was the constant pressure that was worrying.

In the second period, things were much steadier if not a ton better. The Stars were still buzzing overall, but the Blues did a better job to control things and create counter attacks.

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They were rewarded for their efforts 10:31 into the middle frame from an unlikely source.

Ken Hitchcock rolled the dice a bit and instead of including Ryan Reaves or Steve Ott, he inserted Dmitrij Jaskin onto the fourth line. Jaskin hadn’t played in a month and usually doesn’t fit well with fourth line players, but he came up big on this day.

The goal sent fans into a tizzy in more than one way. Initially it looked like Jaskin’s shot hadn’t gone in and then the whistle blew before the rebound goal. Fortunately, upon replay, the puck had clearly bounced off the camera in the goal and the Blues were up 2-1.

About seven minutes later, the Blues got the insurance goal they needed.

Troy Brouwer scored his fourth goal of the playoffs, giving him four goals in only 12 postseason games with the Blues. TJ Oshie is also producing for the Capitals, but the trade is looking better and better and better this playoff year.

St. Louis played a very solid third period for the most part. When there were defensive lapses, Elliott came up huge as he tends to do.

The St. Louis Blues took a few silly penalties. Backes got caught holding in the offensive zone – though the way the game had been officiated up to that point, it seemed a light penalty to give for the first penalty of the game – and Brouwer took a silly slashing call also in the offensive area.

The Blues killed them both off though and actually looked more solid defensively on the penalty kill than they did five-on-five.

The flip side of that coin is the Blues failed to create in the third period again. Give Dallas credit for a tremendous push. The Blues had no answer for the Stars third line. Even so, three shots just isn’t an acceptable number. Sometimes trying to play offense is a good defense.

In usual Blues fashion, they almost failed to put the final nail in the coffin. The Blues missed three consecutive empty net chances before Paul Stastny finally buried one to give the Blues a 4-1 lead and eventually the win.

Negatives

Unlike Game 4, it was more apparent that Dallas was doing a lot to keep the Blues at bay and they were playing a solid game. That said, the Blues had many of the same problems.

They failed to consistently get the puck out of the zone to alleviate pressure, they turned the puck over in quality scoring areas for the Stars and just looked unenergized for stretches.

I’m not one of the stereotypical Hitch haters, but this was not the time to tinker with the lines. Putting Jaskin in obviously worked, but switching up Schwartz and Berglund didn’t seem to make sense and put the Blues on their back foot as they tried to figure things out.

Positives

On the same token of the line changes, at least Hitchcock was smart enough to switch back. Putting the lines back together seemed to coincide with the Blues looking better and more cohesive, so no reason to go change again any time soon.

Jaskin came up big at the right time. I freely admit that I didn’t want him in there. Not because he isn’t a good player, but he isn’t a fourth line player. He looks lost playing with up-tempo but lower skill guys most times. Not so in this game and his energy and tenacity was what cause that game-winning goal.

Might as well just copy and past Elliott in this section. Win or lose, Elliott has been the consistent in just about every playoff game with the exception of maybe one. He stopped the Stars at just the right time, which is something the Blues have failed to do in years past, and that allowed the Blues to breathe after they had made a mistake and that’s invaluable.

Looking Ahead

Game 6 will be back in St. Louis on Monday night. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. CST baring any last minute changes by NBC.

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St. Louis will have an opportunity to close out a series at home for the second round in a row. This one might be more important because there are no home games remaining in this round if they fail. As good as the team has played on the road, it’s not wise to leave things up to a do-or-die Game 7 on the road.