St. Louis Blues Play A Full 60 And Finish Off The Dallas Stars

The St. Louis Blues made a habit of not doing things the easy way in the past two series. They kept that up by failing to win Game 6, at home, against Dallas. They did things very easily in Game 7.

The St. Louis Blues, like just about every game they won in this series, looked a bit shaky at the start of the game. For one of the first times, that shakiness was only due to the Dallas Stars coming out on fire instead of their own sheepishness.

The Blues weathered the unbridled passion the Stars came out of the gate with and then got into their own game quickly. It wouldn’t take too long for them to hit paydirt either.

Robby Fabbri got the goal after a mad scramble in front of the net with the Blues on the powerplay. Fabbri wisely held his ground on the side of the crease and popped it over the prone goaltender when it came his way.

After the goal, the Blues had to weather a bit more of the storm. Dallas continued to pressure and push. While they were only credited with seven shots on goal, they had a ton of chances. Like the Blues in previous games, the Stars put many of their shots just wide or they were blocked.

Once the Blues got on the board again though, it was all downhill from there.

Paul Stastny snuck one in on the short side as his shot just wormed its way between Kari Lehtonen and the post. That came mere moments after the Blues thought they had already taken a 2-0 lead on a Vladimir Tarasenko goal which was correctly called offside on a coache’s challenge.

Interestingly enough, the no-goal call benefited the Blues in the end. Not only did Stastny score, but when Tarasenko’s goal was called back, they put four seconds back on the clock.

Patrik Berglund scored with four seconds left on the clock in the first period and put the Blues up 3-0 with 40 minutes remaining in the contest.

Blues fans, in typical fashion, still didn’t feel comfortable. No reason to say they’re wrong either given the fact the Blues almost overcame a 3-0 deficit one game earlier and the Pittsburgh Penguins watched a 3-0 lead evaporate before winning in overtime the night prior to the Blues’ game.

Enter the Blues captain. David Backes, as he has done in several big moments this postseason, put the team on his shoulders and gave them even more insurance.

Backes’ goal came just short of four minutes into the second period. It was his sixth of the playoffs, put him as the second leading goal scorer on the team.

Troy Brouwer was playing in his eighth consecutive Game 7 in his career. He came up just as bit in this one as he did the last.

The goal wasn’t as important as the one against Chicago, but it was a lot prettier. A tic-tac-toe play from Fabbri and finished off by Mr. Game 7. Additionally the FBS line had three of the Blues six goals and nine of their 18 points.

The Dallas Stars got one back early in the third period. Patrick Eaves was left open on the back side and a deflection went right to him, leaving an empty net to shoot into.

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The Stars then went for an empty net, feeling they had nothing to lose, with around seven minutes to go in the game. Tarasenko would finally get on the board officially by getting an empty net goal with under five to go.

With the win, the Blues are going to their first Conference Finals in 15 years. The last time they were there, they lost to a buzzsaw in the eventual champion, Colorado Avalanche. This Blues crew will be hoping for a much different outcome.

Negatives

The Blues lost the shutout. It’s nitpicky, but that’s about all there was. The Blues took a few silly penalties, but the team managed to kill them all off. Even this negative isn’t too bad because the puck took a fortunate bounce right to Eaves, giving the defenders no chance to react.

Positives

The Blues played a full 60 minutes. They killed penalties, scored on the powerplay, absorbed pressure, created their own pressure and played a smart game. Throughout this series, we’ve said when the Blues are on their game, they were the better team. Dallas had some bad goaltending, but a lot of energy and the Blues proved they were the better team by playing a full game of Blues hockey.

Robby Fabbri became the youngest player in NHL history to record three points in a playoff game. He was slippery and smooth on his skates and just solid overall. As was said on twitter (sorry, it was too difficult to go back and find the tweet), the scary thing about Fabbri is that he hasn’t even hit his peak yet.

Brian Elliott had a heck of a rebound game. The vast majority of fans were sure he would, but there’s always that fear the bad performance might carry over. Not so for Moose. He wasn’t tested by 40+ shots, but he still faced a lot of quality.

Elliott ended up stopping 31 of 32 against him. He was close to a shutout, but in the end I don’t think he’ll mind that one got by.

The FBS line was great. Fabbri, Brouwer and Stastny all contributed even beyond their goals. They were just this side of unstoppable. Now, if they can do all that in a game that isn’t Game 7, the Blues will be set.

Berglund was also big in this game. He’s been steady throughout the playoffs with several standout performances as well. He’s starting to come up in the big moments as well.

Looking Forward

The Blues will open up the Western Conference Finals on Sunday evening at home. Their opponent will either be the Nashville Predators or the San Jose Sharks.

It will be the first time since 2001 that the Blues will be in the finals of the conference.

Next: Tarasenko Has Been Hit Or Miss

Each potential opponent provides different challenges. The Blues aren’t bigger than the Sharks, so the physicality isn’t as big of a deal and the Blues haven’t had much success against them lately. The Predators haven’t had as much success against the Blues of late, but Pekka Rinne is always the scary option to face in net.

That’s all for discussion later. For now, fans should bask in the glow of winning and let the worry about who the Blues play come later.