Despite a strong effort, the Dallas Stars were unable to win their second straight game as the St. Louis Blues earned a 4-1 win in Game 5 on Saturday to take a 3-2 series lead.
Blues vs. Stars results, NHL playoffs 2016: St. Louis pushes Dallas to brink with Game 5 win
The Stars’ offense was silenced on Saturday.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The series heads back to St. Louis on Monday.
Brian Elliott was stellar in net for St. Louis with 25 saves. Valeri Nichushkin was the most dangerous player for the Stars with five shots on net but no goals to show for it.
The Blues used a little luck to take a coveted early lead in the first period. Six minutes into the game, St. Louis forward Robby Fabbri fired a puck towards the net that banked off Stars winger Brett Ritchie's skate and into the Dallas net. It was Fabbri's second goal of the postseason.
Dallas answered four minutes later. The Stars outnumbered the Blues in the offensive zone off a rush, and defenseman Alex Goligoski let a shot loose over Elliott's shoulder to tie the game, 1-1. By most measures, the Stars outplayed the Blues in the first period.
But St. Louis adjusted well in the second frame, using extended shifts in the offensive zone to pull ahead of the Stars. Dimitrij Jaskin broke free of Dallas at 10:31, shooting his own rebound past Lehtonen to regain the lead for the Blues. And with three minutes and change left in the period, Troy Brouwer scored his fourth of the playoffs as St. Louis took a 3-1 lead.
The Stars brought the pressure in the third period, especially on the first power play of the game for either side. By the midpoint of the third, the Stars had outshot the Blues 9-1, including two prime scoring chances by Ales Hemsky and Nichushkin. It was for naught, as Elliott shut down each of them, Paul Stastny scored on an empty net and the Blues weathered a Game 5 win.
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