By KEN WIEBE
ST. LOUIS — This was a goaltender’s duel of epic proportions and given the combatants, that came as little surprise.
In what had been a pick-’em series, it only stood to reason both Ben Bishop and Jordan Binnington would do their part to ensure a low-scoring affair — what with Bishop being a nominee and possibly front-runner for the Vezina Trophy and Binnington a candidate for the Calder Trophy, not to mention the guy with the lowest goals-against average in the NHL during the regular season.
That it was a mostly tight-checking affair did not come as a shock, as the success of both of these clubs is deeply rooted in a sound structure.
There’s no doubt Bishop was the busier of the goalies, especially during the second period when he was forced to make 18 stops and Binnington just made one.
The big guns on both of these clubs were mostly kept in check, the play of the shutdown defence pairings had a key role in that — with Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester doing a fantastic job for the Blues and John Klingberg and Esa Lindell carrying a big chunk of the load for the Stars.
With the series hanging in the balance, it was a local lad who delivered, as Pat Maroon buried a rebound after a Robert Thomas shot at 5:50 of the second overtime to propel the Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.
“It is different. It means the world. You’re playing street hockey and playing with your brothers or your in the basement and you dream of those moments. To score a goal like that, I’ll never forget that moment,” said Maroon, who scored his second game-winner of the series and delivered his third goal of the playoffs. “I’m proud. I’m proud to be from St. Louis and I’m proud to put that jersey on every night and I’m proud to work hard in front of these fans and to work hard for these guys that deserve it in here, that have been here for so long and want nothing more to win. Right now, that’s Round 2 and we’ve got to go onto Round 3. We’ve got to play the same way, that relentless hockey. That ground-and-pound hockey, just never give up and continue what we’re doing. If we do that, we’ll have success.”
Thomas was thrilled for his frequent linemate Maroon, who endured some tough times early in the season but eventually found a way to make a big contribution on the third unit with Tyler Bozak.
“We’ve tried that play a lot and we were bound to score one there,” said Thomas. “I just saw an opening in the middle, tried to cut there, got a shot off and (Maroon) was there to bang it in.
“It doesn’t get any better than that, Game 7, double OT goal in your hometown. That’s pretty special. I don’t even know how he’s feeling. He’s probably jumping over there. That’s pretty cool to do.”
That spoiled a brilliant performance from Bishop, who made 51 saves and did everything he could.
“It went off the post and then it hit me in the back of the head and then it (puck) just laid there. I don’t know I haven’t seen the replay, but, yeah, it hit the post and then the back of my head, I haven’t seen how (Maroon) got a hold of it,” said Bishop. “I guess the first word that comes is frustrated. There was a good opportunity there and just a little frustrated right now, tough to end your season in OT. It’s frustrating to lose in an overtime and then to lose season-ending, it’s frustrating right now. But the guys did a good job and kind of have to look back on it in a few days.”
Binnington did his part, finishing with 29 saves.
“It was fun for the first three or four periods, then I was starting to get a little tired there. The guys were incredible,” said Binnington. “Happy to win, for sure. I wouldn’t be very happy if we lost that game. It was a pretty special game for me.”
The Blues advance to the Western Conference final and will face either the San Jose Sharks or the Colorado Avalanche, who play Game 7 on Wednesday.
Although the Blues hadn’t played that well on home ice during the playoffs, they came out strong and scored the first goal of the contest on a point shot from Vince Dunn at 13:30 of the first period.
The Stars evened the score on a goal from Mats Zuccarello at 15:55.
It was a fortuitous break for the Stars as a clearing attempt from Blues forward David Perron caromed off referee Marc Joannette and ended up going in front to Zuccarello.
“It was just a series of unfortunate events. I kind of lost sight of the puck because I thought it was going behind the net. I saw (Joel Edmundson) trip on my stick and it was a disaster and they just got the goal. All you can do is pick up your stuff and get back at it,” said Binnington, who was bumped by Stars centre Tyler Seguin earlier in the sequence. “I don’t know the ruling on that. It might have been too far back. Obviously I had a chance to get back into position. It’s playoff hockey and you’ve got to control what you can control and keep moving forward.”
The Blues had a dominant second period, but the scary thing was that the Stars were closest to scoring the only goal of the period, as Jamie Benn nearly backhanded home a loose puck after a Seguin slapshot.
The Stars penalty kill continued its strong play, going two-for-two in the contest, which meant the Blues finished the series two-for-22 with the man-advantage.
NO INJURY CONCERNS
Some eyebrows were raised when Stars centre Roope Hintz skipped the morning skate Tuesday.
Hintz blocked a series of shots (at least two) during the first period Game 6 with his left foot and was seen in Dallas in a walking boot before boarding the plane, leading some to speculate he might not be available for the seventh and deciding game.
Hintz had only 12:58 of ice time Sunday, which was his lowest total in 12 games during the 2019 playoffs.
“Just maintenance, you know,” said Montgomery. “He doesn’t need to be out there with the minutes he’s been playing. Oh yeah, he’s playing.”
But Hintz, who had some additional padding on his left skate, came out for the pre-game warm-up and started the game on the second line with Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov.
The Stars made one lineup change, inserting right-winger Brett Ritchie on the fourth line for Matthias Janmark.
Janmark had the game-winning goal in Game 2 and had an assist in Game 3 and Game 5, though he sat out Game 4 with a suspected injury.
Ritchie brings some size (6-foot-4, 220 lb.) and has a good shot, but was playing his first playoff game of 2019.
The forward had 16 goals and 24 points during the 2016-17 season, but dipped to seven goals and 14 points in 71 games last season and had four goals and six points in 53 games this season.
THE COACHING DUEL
Blues head coach Craig Berube has made a number of adjustments in the series — both with his personnel and his line combinations.
What does that say about Berube’s ability to have his finger on the pulse of his hockey club?
“It shows his intelligence and how he knows his players. He knows when we need to make an adjustment,” said Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly. “What every guy does is unique, he knows how to fit that into the roster and bring it at the right times.
“He has a great feel for the game, he says the right things at the right time. Know what we need to be pushed and find our game that way, he’s great at getting that across. When things aren’t going well but we’re doing the right things, he knows how to get us to the next level and be patient with it. He finds a way to read the game very well that, I think, all of us have faith in him and faith in each other because of it.”
Montgomery has enjoyed the chess match as well.
“Absolutely. It’s a lot of fun to be in the trenches like this and trying to get two percent more out of your group, you know,” said Montgomery. “Trying to put them in favourable positions, whether it’s matchups or structure changes.”
ZUCCARELLO DOES IT AGAIN
The Stars won’t lose a first-round pick to the New York Rangers in 2019 as they didn’t advance to the Western Conference final, but if Zuccarello stays with the Stars, the Rangers will get a first rounder in 2020 (instead of a third-round pick).
As for Zuccarello’s impact on the Stars since the trade, it’s been undeniable.
“He’s influenced the passing a lot. In this series, I saw it in Nashville (series), too, it’s immediately come to fruition,” said Montgomery. “But he makes some passes that are so creative that it’s not connecting with our players and sometimes it’s hitting their players and skates and I don’t think anyone on the ice except him knows the pass is happening already. That’s how smart he is. How quickly his brain sees something and it triggers the right signals to his hands, it’s got to be one-tenth of a second how quickly he does that. It’s impressive.”
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