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 And thanks to a goal and an assist from right winger Patrick Sharp
and goalie Kari Lehtonen stopping all 22 shots he faced, Dallas came
away with a 3-0 victory one night after losing to the Blues 3-2 in a
shootout in St. Louis.
"There was some great emotion," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "This
team's just getting closer and closer, and they care about each
other. They play for each other and they all stepped in for each
other, and that's pretty powerful."
Lehtonen earned his 33rd career shutout and third of the season.
"I was able to make one good glove save on (Alexander) Steen and
right after that their defenseman (Colton Parayko) I was able to
make another glove save," Lehtonen said. "I think those were, at
that point of the game, being [up] 1-0 [in the second period], they
were important."
Stars left winger and captain Jamie Benn and center Cody Eakin also
scored for Dallas (27-7-3), who got two goals on the power play.
Sharp's goal, the eventual game-winner, came late in the first when
he collected his own rebound to score his 13th of the season after
his initial effort was turned away by Blues goaltender Brian
Elliott, who stopped 35 of 37 shots.
"Knew [my first shot] didn't go in," Sharp said. "I heard the horn
go and I knew the puck was still sitting right there. Luckily, I
didn't slide too far by the net after being hit and was able to put
it in."
The Stars had gone on the power play with 2:51 remaining in the
first after Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo was called for slashing
Jamie Benn.
With 3:01 remaining in the opening frame, Elliott made a spectacular
diving save at the far post on a wrist shot by Stars defenseman
Jordie Benn from the right circle.
"It was outstanding," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of Elliott's
performance. "That's the part that disappoints everybody here, is he
battled like crazy, he made great saves, he kept us right there and
we couldn't get a goal for him."
Dallas outshot St. Louis 16-5 in the first period and led 1-0 after
20 minutes.
The start of the second period featured two fights. Blues right
winger Troy Brouwer and Stars left winger Antoine Roussel dropped
the gloves three seconds in. Four seconds later, Bortuzzo and Stars
left winger Travis Moen went toe-to-toe.
Elliott robbed Stars right winger Ales Hemsky at the near post as he
tried to score on a backhand tap-in with 6:18 remaining in the
second.
"Yeah, sometimes you get those, sometimes you don't," Elliott said.
"That's all we're trying to do as a goalie back there, is just try
to keep in the game."
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Jamie Benn made it 2-0 40 seconds into the third period when he
received a Sharp pass from the left side that deflected off Blues
defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and tucked a wrist shot under Elliott at
the far post for his NHL-leading 23rd goal of the season.
The Stars had gone on the power play with 31 seconds remaining in
the second after Blues right winger Dmitrij Jaskin was called for
tripping Stars center Tyler Seguin.
Eakin made it 3-0 with an empty-net goal with 1:32 remaining,
getting a fortunate deflection while sending the puck around the
boards after winning a faceoff.
Now 15-4-0 at home, the Stars are 4-1-1 in the second night of a
back-to-back. Dallas outshot St. Louis 38-22 in the game.
Elliott headed to the bench with 2:13 remaining, but St. Louis
(22-12-4) was unable to find a goal, even with the extra attacker.
Elliott returned to the crease after Eakin scored.
NOTES: Blues C Kyle Brodziak (undisclosed), RW Jordan Caron and D
Joel Edmundson were scratched. ... Stars RW Patrick Eaves, D Patrik
Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak were scratched. Eaves was a healthy
scratch for the first time since Dec. 4 at Edmonton, ending a run of
nine consecutive games. ... Blues G Brian Elliott was starting for
the first time since Dec. 19 against Calgary. ... Stars G Kari
Lehtonen started for the first time since Dec. 21 at Minnesota, when
he was pulled for Niemi after allowing two goals on the first four
shots he faced. ... Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, a
Dallas native and three-time winner of the National League Cy Young
Award, dropped the ceremonial first pick prior to the game. ...
Referee Brad Meier was not at the arena in time for puck drop, so
the game began with one referee.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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