NHL Playoffs Roundup: Stars Tie Series as Blues Fail to Take Important Next Step

The doubts about the St. Louis Blues are back.

It’s true they sent the defending Stanley Cup champions packing in the first round and are technically the underdogs in their second-round series against the Western Conference’s top-seeded Dallas Stars, but the Blues had a golden opportunity in Game 4 to take a stranglehold lead and move to within a single win of their first berth in the conference final since 2001—and they coughed it up.

Thanks to some sloppy play and a real lack of desperation, the Blues found themselves the victims of a 3-2 loss in overtime in Game 4 on Thursday night at the Scottrade Center.

And it wasn’t a resoundingly strong effort from the Stars that led to the result. There was just no killer instinct from the Blues, who seemed to be buying into their recent success and believe they would dispatch the Stars without breaking a sweat the rest of the way.

Just two nights earlier, the Blues seemed to convincingly persuade skeptics that this was their year—that they’d learned from their many recent playoff disappointments.

They hammered the Stars 6-1 on Tuesday, looking like a well-oiled machine that could not be stopped by a team that is missing one of its most dynamic offensive weapons in Tyler Seguin and has almost no defensive game to speak of, all in front of two of the league’s worst goaltenders.

But the Stars proved all they need, apparently, is one of those two netminders to simply avoid giving up a single stinker to give the team a chance. Kari Lehtonen wasn’t spectacular by any means while making 24 saves, but he didn’t cost them with any blunders, either.

As usual, he didn’t have much help. Even when the Stars were somehow able to play with six skaters on the ice—avoiding detection by some mathematically challenged referees and linesmen—they still failed to defend the most dangerous offensive player on the Blues roster, watching as a 50-foot pass found Vladimir Tarasenko all alone past center ice.

Tarasenko made no mistake, putting the puck under Lehtonen with ease to give the Blues a 1-0 lead 10:17 into the game.

The Blues, however, made many other errors on the night, and the Stars capitalized on those mistakes to take the lead in the second period.

First came a brutal giveaway by defenseman Joel Edmundson, who from behind his own goal line fired the puck right to the Stars’ Radek Faksa in the slot. Faksa took advantage of Brian Elliott’s inability to prepare for the turnover and slapped it under his pads.

The Stars took the lead on their first power-play goal of the series when Patrick Sharp benefited from captain Jamie Benn’s hard work along the boards and in front of the net by pouncing on a rebound at the far post.

A nice redirection by Paul Stastny on a pass from Tarasenko tied the game 13:06 into the second frame. Neither team would score again until overtime, when Cody Eakin flipped a short-side wrist shot top shelf on Elliott less than three minutes in.

But the Blues had plenty of time to find that extra gear they showed in their last meeting. They just failed to do it. They looked nothing like the Western Conference powerhouse that played arguably its most complete game of the spring season Tuesday.

And now the series becomes a best-of-three contest, with the Stars enjoying home-ice advantage.

This game could have been another defining moment for the Blues. An opportunity to show their growth as a group and their determination to shed the label of playoff bust. They failed to do so.

They’ll get another chance Saturday, and at least one more on Monday.

The doubts about the Blues are back—at least when it comes to external observers.

It will be interesting to see whether their play on the weekend suggests the guys in the dressing room have let the same worries creep in, or if they rediscover the kind of confidence that can bring the series home for Game 6 with a chance to clinch.

Nashville Neck and Neck with Sharks After Epic Overtime Win

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s a fun fact for you: The San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators finished just two points apart in the Western Conference standings this season. The Sharks were third in the Pacific Division with 46 wins and 98 points. The Predators finished in the top wild-card slot with 41 and 96.

That slimmest of margins has been on display throughout their second-round series, which produced arguably the greatest overtime ever to have been played in the NHL on Thursday night.

In no particular order, highlights included the Preds’ Ryan Johansen hitting a post, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski scoring a subjectively illegal but nonetheless incredible goal from his belly, Preds goalie Pekka Rinne robbing both Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi in spectacular fashion with first the left then the right pad, and Sharks goalie Martin Jones denying Colin Wilson on a breakaway. 

Mike Fisher eventually ended the marathon, grabbing a rebound in front of an exhausted Jones and giving the Predators a 4-3 triple-overtime victory in Game 4 to tie the series at two games apiece.  

With that epic goal, the Predators proved they are a legitimate contender in the Western Conference despite their seventh-place seeding. They're not going away easily, especially with Rinne's play since late in the first round against the Anaheim Ducks. 

Thursday's game was an all-out war that left guys so fatigued, even the guy who scored the game-winner struggled to describe the play that ended things. 

"I'm so tired I almost forget," Fisher said in an on-ice interview after the CNBC broadcast. 

It's easy to understand why. The Predators are not a team loaded with star power. They rely on strong group play and goaltending to eke out close contests. Because of this, they can never be counted out. 

It looked like the Sharks were going to take the stranglehold on the series, but the Predators forced overtime with James Neal’s tying goal late in the third period after Sharks defenseman Brent Burns put his team ahead earlier in the period with his second score of the game.

Donskoi had the other goal for the Sharks in the second period, with Wilson opening the scoring just 41 seconds into the game and Fisher giving the Preds a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

People seem to be surprised by the way the Preds have emerged as such a force, as Nashville's made strides as a franchise with its first win in a multi-overtime playoff game and tied a second-round series at 2-2 for the first time in three attempts. 

But the regular-season standings are a reminder of just how much parity exists in the NHL. The Preds reminded everyone of that again Thursday to guarantee at least one more game in Nashville in what's now a best-of-three series.