Facing a critical swing game in the Western Conference semifinals that means the difference between a tied series and a three games to one deficit, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars are in St. Louis on Thursday night to take on Ken Hitchcock's St. Louis Blues. Game time at the Scottrade Center is 7:00 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on NBCSN.

On Tuesday, the Stars did very little right and the Blues did little wrong in a 6-1 blowout in Game Three of the series. Dallas actually scored first as Colton Sceviour opened the scoring but it was all Blues after that.

For the second straight game, the Dallas starting goalie did not last much beyond the first period. Kari Lehtonen (three goals on five shots) was pulled after 20 minutes in Game Two; relieved by Antti Niemi (19 saves on 20 shots) in a 4-3 overtime loss. In Game 3, Niemi (nine saves on 12 shots) was taken out at 2:34 of the second period after Troy Brouwer gave the Blues a 3-1 lead following first period goals by Alex Steen and David Backes (power play). Lehtonen went the remaining 37:26, stopping 24 of 27 shots. Vladimir Tarasenko, Steen and Backes extended the Blues lead to five goals.

While goalies inevitably take most of the heat for these sorts of games, the prime culprit was the Stars' serially Jekyll-and-Hyde puck management and defensive coverage. Dallas has ranked among the NHL elite teams all year but they are notably prone to getting blown out when things go awry.

A hopeful sign for the Stars is that they have usually bounced back quickly when they churn out a clunker. The challenge will be to once again get back to playing an intelligent high-tempo game rather than taking low-percentage risks and forcing the puck.

St. Louis was not happy with its third period in Game Two but the club put forth a rather complete 60-minute effort last game. The team went 2-for-7 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Brian Elliott stopped 25 of 26 shots. Apart from scoring two goals, Backes won 13 of 18 faceoffs (72 percent) and was credited with a game-high nine hits. As a team, the Blues won 58 percent of the faceoffs and blocked 15 Dallas shot attempts.

Dallas remains without Tyler Seguin (Achilles tendon injury) and Patrick Eaves (leg). Both players are skating on their own at the Stars training facility in Frisco. The Blues have a full lineup available.

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