Follow @stlgoalie The Blues look to move into the Western Conference Finals tonight by defeating the Dallas Stars tonight at Scottrade at 7pm. The Blues are 4-2 on the road in this playoff season but are only 3-3 at home. Meanwhile, the Stars are 3-2 on the road in the playoffs. A win will propel the Blues to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2001.
The Blues look like they will keep the forward lines like they were through most of the last game as follows: Schwartz – Lehtera – Tarasenko Fabbri – Stastny – Brouwer Berglund – Steen – Backes Upshall – Brodziak – Jaskin
Of course, Brian Elliott will be in net but the defense pairings will have a new look if the morning skate is any indication. It looks like Robert Bortuzzo will step in for Joel Emundson tonight creating the following pairs: Bouwmeester – Pietrangelo Shattenkirk – Bortuzzo Gunnarsson – Parayko
The Stars lineup is in more flux as Patrick Eaves has traveled with the team and might play tonight. I do not believe Tyler Seguin traveled with the team so one would assume he is out. Playoff notes - Congrats to Ben Bishop and the Lightning for moving on to round 3. - Jamie Benn is only 5th in points per game. - Brent Burns is tied for 2nd in points per game and leads the next highest D by 30%. - Robby Fabbri leads all rookies in points. - The Blues remain 2nd in power play efficiency, behind the eliminated Blackhawks. - The Blues have moved up to 80% in PK efficiency, from 63.4% in the 1st round. - The top 3 teams in shots per game in all have been eliminated (Panthers, Hawks and Isles). - If the Stars lose tonight, the best 5 teams in playoff shots against all will have been eliminated. - Jaskin's game winning goal meant that of his 19 NHL goals, 6 are game winning goals.
NHL Champions for Charity In what I hope becomes a hockeybuzz tradition, Bill Meltzer and I placed a wager on the series. If the Blues win, Bill has agreed to make a donation to Safe Connections (@SafeConnections on twitter) whose mission is to reduce the impact and incident of relationship violence and sexual assault through education, crisis intervention, and counseling services. If the Stars win, I will donate to Snider Hockey ( @SniderHockey on twitter) whose mission is to build lives and unite communities, helping educate young people to succeed in the game of life.
I'm going to work on starting NHL Champion for Charity which I hope will get players and fans to pledge donations for each win their team makes in the NHL playoffs. For the players, it would be great if they would agree to donate a small percentage of their playoff bonuses to charity while fans could donate an amount per win, perhaps both upping it if their team won the Stanley Cup. As a simple example, a player could pledge 0.25% per win with a bonus 1% if they win the Cup, bringing their total to 5%. I likely won't get any traction on this until next year if ever but at least wanted to put the idea out there now.
It’s a great day for hockey.