NHL Playoffs Roundup: Blues Counting Their Lucky Stars After Split in Dallas

It’s a good bet everyone knows what David Backes’ birthday wish was.

Whatever the reason, luck was on the St. Louis Blues captain’s side as he scored the overtime game-winner on the day he turned 32, giving the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday and tying their second-round series at one game apiece.

The Blues better hope they have more team members blowing out candles this week. They could just as easily have been heading home with a two-game hole to climb out of in the best-of-seven series after allowing the quick-strike Stars offense to climb back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period and force the extra frame.

It was a rare and controversial overtime power play that helped them overcome their serious struggle with the Stars forwards, and there was a collective sigh of relief in St. Louis when Backes quite literally jumped on a rebound and shoveled it into the net after leaping to get out of the way of the original shot.

Stars pest Antoine Roussel was either the victim of a call that went against him because of his reputation, or the goat with a boneheaded move that ultimately cost his team a chance at winning both home games to start the series.

Roussel was called for interference on Jay Bouwmeester at the blue line as the Stars attempted to enter the Blues' zone. But the contact may have been incidental as Roussel made a last-ditch effort with a full body break to stay onside.

We all know how critical keeping the play onside has been with the introduction of the coach’s challenge and league-run video replay in these playoffs.

“He was trying to stay onside," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters, per Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports. "It doesn’t matter if I like the call or don’t like the call. We thought we were going to get an odd-number rush and they got a couple of hooks on (Radek Faksa) just before, going through the middle of the ice, which I was frustrated with.

“You can’t use it as a crutch. Can’t use that as an excuse."

But whether you believe Roussel was guilty or not, there’s no question these Blues are fortunate to be back on even ground after a third period that saw the Stars erase a two-goal deficit and threaten to win it in regulation thanks to goals from Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn.

The Stars dominated the final frame, firing 13 shots at Brian Elliott while allowing just a pair on Antti Niemi. Dallas had a Fenwick for percentage of 75.00 in the third according to naturalstattrick.com, suggesting they had the puck a whole lot as the Blues clung to their diminishing lead.

The Blues, however, did some good things in the first two periods of play.

By the end of the first, they looked like they had the game in total control. They’d chased Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen from the net and had a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes thanks to three straight scores from Patrik Berglund, Joel Edmundson and Troy Brouwer.

Berglund made a great one-timer on a pass from behind courtesy of rookie Robby Fabbri. Edmundson redirected a pass from Brouwer into the top corner on a back-door play to give the Blues their first lead of the contest.

Brouwer padded that lead with a rebound goal on the power play with a little more than a minute left in the period. The Blues came away with a 61.76 Corsi for percentage in the second and shut down the Stars.

But the Stars were the top-scoring offense in the regular season for a reason. Speed, skill and explosiveness were on display as the home side started the comeback that forced overtime.

Janmark took a long feed from Cody Eakin and found the five-hole on Elliott 4:35 into the third. Stars captain Benn scored his fifth of the postseason with 2:36 left in regulation, collecting a loose puck at the top of the crease and easily beating a sprawling Elliott to force a fourth period.

The Blues didn’t even get a shot in the third until the 11:34 mark. Their overly defensive approach wasn't working, and Blues forward Patrik Berglund was well aware of it as he chatted with Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

To either outpace or shut down the league’s best regular-season offense, the Blues will have to be much better in all areas of the game. They were outplayed in Game 1 of the series and despite improvements, still could not put forward their best efforts in Game 2.

A sign of encouragement for Blues fans, St. Louis did find some success with its chip-and-chase strategy. The Blues used their forecheck and physicality to keep the puck out of the neutral zone as much as possible, especially in the second period. 

But the third showed they still have a lot of work to do if they want to get to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001.

Joe Pavelski at the Heart of Sharks’ Newfound Playoff Swagger

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Sunday featured a goal and two assists for Joe Pavelski. But it’s the goal that defines the player he has become.

Clutch.

The first-year San Jose captain led the Sharks to a 2-0 series lead over the Nashville Predators, scoring the key goal in a 3-2 decision with 2:40 left in regulation.

Thanks to a desperation tally from Ryan Johansen with four seconds left on the clock and the Preds' net empty, it was teammate Joe Thornton’s empty-net score that stood as the official winner. But Pavelski’s sixth goal of the playoffs is what crushed the Predators’ hopes.

The Sharks were a mess last year, missing the playoffs and letting go of head coach Todd McLellan. They played without a captain but had a pair of stripped former wearers of the "C" on the team in Thornton and Patrick Marleau. That year of awkwardness and disarray followed the most disappointing spring in Sharks history, when the team staked itself to a three-game lead but still was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings.

Well, these are no longer those Sharks, as CSN Bay Area’s Ray Ratto noted in a tweet following the Game 2 victory : 

The biggest reason why is the kind of player and leader Pavelski has become.

His six goals through seven games played through parts of two rounds tie him for top spot in the NHL playoffs so far.

He’s scored early in games to set the tone for the night, and late in games to secure victories.

Even when Sharks may not deserve to win, he helps them find a way to do it, as Thornton alluded to on the Sportsnet broadcast after Sunday’s win.

“We didn’t really play a good game tonight,” Thornton said. “The bench just said, 'OK, it’s time.' What a finish by (Pavelski). We deserved that, but we’ve still got to play a lot better.”

Asked specifically about the change in atmosphere in the room this year, Thornton said the team “feels comfortable.”

“We love our goaltender, we love all six D and 12 forwards,” he said. “You see it. Usually every night we have all four lines going, we ‘re all contributing, and that’s how we’re winning right now.”

That is true. The Sharks have 15 players with at least a point. A dozen different ones have scored at least a goal.

Pavelski, though, sets the tone. He has average size and speed, but there is no quit in him.

His goal on Pekka Rinne in the dying minutes Sunday, past diving Predators defenseman Shea Weber, was just another example of that.