St. Louis Blues (43-20-5) vs. Dallas Stars (32-27-10) @ 5 p.m. CST on FS-MW.
Season series: This marks the fourth of five meetings this season between the two teams and Dallas has taken two of the first three. The Stars took the last meeting on February 17th by a score of 4-1 in which the Blues gave up three goals in the first five minutes of the game. The Blues have struggled of late against the Stars and will look to avenge a disappointing 3-1 loss at home to Minnesota last night at home.
The Blues travel to Dallas opening up a six game road trip for a late afternoon game against the Stars. Last night’s home loss was very disappointing in a variety of ways. Scoring one goal on 42 shots is unacceptable on any night, credit given to Devan Dubnyk, but most of the Blues shots were not great scoring chances. The Blues played more than well enough to win the game but once again the defensive breakdowns and turnovers in the defensive zone put the game out of reach. I attended last night and I liked how the Blues controlled the play against arguably the hottest team since the all-star break. I have never seen a goal get reviewed twice with two different outcomes in my life. I did not think the puck went in the first time but sure got excited when they called it a goal (the first time). I usually give the referees the benefit of the doubt but over the past few seasons, I feel like I have to call out Tim Peel. His calls against us the last few years have been absolutely atrocious. I still do not understand how you can call a penalty and embellishment. It is one or the other. Either way, they are not the reason the Blues lost the game. Too many times we passed up golden scoring chances by trying to make that extra pass. Perfect example was the 3 on 1 that the Blues had in the second period and never registered a shot and nearly created an odd man rush for the Wild the other way. We could have probably had 60+ shots on goal if we didn’t do that. Pietrangelo completely lost track of his man on the Wild first goal and it was an easy goal for them in front. I sat on the attack twice side so I did not get a good look at the second goal but I think it was a bad rebound given up by Elliott. 17 seconds later the Wild took a 3-1 lead in the third after a terrible turnover by Tarasenko right in front of the Blues net. Hard to fault Elliott on that goal. After a Hawks and Preds win last night, the Blues have no time to think about what happened last night and have to move on to an even more important two points tonight in Dallas.
The Stars come into tonight’s game opening up a four game homestand as the rested team after playing Friday night in Washington and winning 4-2. Dallas is 5-1 in their last six games and are six points out of a wildcard spot. They still feel like they have a chance to slide in there and their play of late has proved it. Kari Lehtonen is expected to start in goal for the Stars with a record of 8-1-2 in his last 11 games. Expect a physical, fast paced game from the Stars tonight. They always seem to give the Blues trouble and I wouldn’t expect anything different from their game tonight. Keys to the Game: The Blues will need to come out with a strong start tonight because as the game wears on Dallas will be expected to have more energy. If the Blues play the same way they played for over 59 minutes last night, the hockey gods should take care of them. This team cannot fall asleep for even 17 seconds without the majority of breakdowns and turnovers ending up in the back of their net. The Blues have not been very good in the second game of a back to back all season, so it is imperative that they play a simple, but yet strong puck possession game in all three zones. With Blues killer Jamie Been and also Tyler Seguin now back from his injury, the Blues cannot afford to turn this game into a track meet or pond hockey game with this team. Jake Allen will make his first start since the shootout loss to Vancouver. He has not been very good of late and should have it in his head that if he plays up to his potential today, he could close the gap between him and Elliott and look for more starts. A big key to tonight’s game for the Blues is to keep their composure. Dallas is a physical team that likes to ride the lines of legal and illegal in some of their hits. Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt are two players that love to get under the Blues skin and have done a good job of it of late. They do a lot after the whistles and the Blues need to make sure that they don’t go out of their way to take a dumb penalty. The Blues need to get a lead, build on it, and then play strong defensively the rest of the way to pick up these important two points. Need to start this six game road trip off on the right foot.
Players to Watch: Blues: Jake Allen—first start in a few weeks. Hopefully there’s no rust. Alex Pietrangelo—I did not think he had a good game last night in the defensive zone. He’s too worried about joining the rush and playing offense that many of his brain farts defensively have proved costly. Look for him to play a stonger defensive game. Vladimir Tarasenko—pointless in a few straight. Bad turnover last night. I think he will be making better plays tonight. Stars: Jamie Benn—always seems to hurt the Blues every time we play them. Tyler Seguin—he has it all. Speed, a wicked shot, and soft hands. Do NOT lose track of where he is on the ice. Antoine Roussel—He will be involved in scrums and will go after Tarasenko before and after the whistles. Keep your heads on a swivel Blues.