Patrick Maroon's Late Goal Leads Blues to Win vs. Stars; Take 2-1 Series Lead

The St. Louis Blues took a 2-1 series lead on the Dallas Stars following their 4-3 win Monday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Patrick Maroon scored the winning goal with 1:38 left in the third period.

The Stars played the final 43.3 seconds with a two-man advantage. They had pulled their goalie while Colton Parayko was serving a two-minute penalty for delay of game. The St. Louis penalty kill held firm to preserve the victory.

Ben Bishop made 30 saves after what was an excellent performance in Game 2. He'll be unhappy with his effort on what proved to be the decisive goal, though.

Stars fans will likely argue Maroon was guilty of interference. The Blues forward even seemed to register some surprise he scored.

The referees didn't blow the whistle, and Bishop had time to position himself much better than he did to stop Maroon's shot.

Through two periods, the game was shaping up to be a defensive struggle. Bishop and Jordan Binnington and were holding their own between the pipes, and neither team was creating a wealth of scoring opportunities.

That all changed in the third period.

With the Stars trying to kill off a Blues power play, Andrew Cogliano brought the home crowd to life. Vince Dunn got in the way of Mattias Janmark's pass across goal, but the puck took a couple of fortunate bounces and fell perfectly to Cogliano, who tied the game at two with 13:06 gone in the period.

Dallas then looked to be in the clear. The Blues were unable to use their man advantage to get a go-ahead goal, and Roman Polak exited the penalty box to give the Stars five men on the ice.

Mere seconds after Polak's penalty expired, Alex Pietrangelo beat Bishop in the top corner. Robert Thomas appeared to block Bishop's vision momentarily, which was enough time for the Stars netminder to lose track of the shot's trajectory.

The Blues didn't get to enjoy their lead for very long. They turned the puck over in their own end, and Miro Heiskanen ended up with possession. Heiskanen waited long enough for Tyler Seguin to get into position for a tap-in.

Overtime felt an inevitability until Maroon intervened, bookending a night in which his team started perfectly and closed just as well.

Jaden Schwartz silenced the Dallas crowd early in the game. He got the Blues on the board 1:27 into the first period. Bishop had no chance at stopping Schwartz's redirect off a slap shot by Parayko.

St. Louis' one-goal advantage lasted for nearly 16 minutes before Alexander Radulov tied the game on the power play. The Blues couldn't clear the puck, allowing Justin Dowling to find Jason Spezza along the boards. Spezza skated toward goal before finding Radulov in a perfect position to beat Binnington.

Tyler Bozak was responsible for the only goal of the second period, which put St. Louis ahead 8:30 after the first intermission.

Home-ice advantage hasn't meant much for the Blues in the playoffs so far. They're now 4-0 on the road, with all four games decided by one goal apiece.

Perhaps the Blues are riding their luck a bit—they were perhaps a bit fortunate on Maroon's goal. A course correction could be in store in Game 4 and beyond.

Granted, this isn't a departure from the regular season. St. Louis lost 20 road games, but only 13 were in regulation—fewest in the Western Conference. Seven times the Blues lost away from home in overtime.

They now sit in the driver's seat in this series and can put one foot in the Western Conference Final with a Game 4 win.

What's Next?

The series stays in Dallas for Game 4 on Wednesday. The puck drops at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Stars will want to avoid dropping their third game. Since 2015, only one team has overcome a 3-1 playoff deficit (the San Jose Sharks over the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round).