Stars double up Blues, even series

[May 02, 2019]  Mats Zuccarello, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov each collected a pair of assists as the host Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Wednesday night and evened their Western Conference semifinal series at two wins apiece.

Four different players scored goals for Dallas, which got 27 saves from Ben Bishop.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will be Friday in St. Louis.

With his team trailing 1-0, Jason Dickinson put the Stars on the board with an on-the-spot tally at 11:23 of the first period. A point shot went wide, but Seguin whacked at the loose puck, and it came to a wide-open Dickinson to bury for his third goal of the playoffs.

Jason Spezza scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 52 seconds remaining in the opening frame when he fired a rocket of a slap shot from the top of the right circle.

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington made a series of big saves early in the second period, but his team's loose play finally proved costly when John Klingberg scored the eventual game-winning goal just before the midway point. After yet another St. Louis neutral-zone turnover, the Stars rushed up the ice, and Klingberg ripped a top-corner shot after taking a cross-ice pass from Seguin.

The hosts didn't let up, and rookie Roope Hintz made it a 4-1 affair late in the second period with his fifth goal of the playoffs. Hintz joined a three-on-two rush and finished a perfectly executed rush with his wrist shot.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) watches the puck against the Dallas Stars during the second period in game four of the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Vladimir Tarasenko opened the scoring, putting the Blues ahead 1-0 five minutes into the clash, and Robert Thomas rounded out the offense by scoring his first NHL playoff goal with 6:16 left in the third period.

Binnington stopped 27 shots for the Blues, who lost on the road for the first time in the playoffs.

Binnington also took a pair of penalties at the end of the second period, a roughing call against Jamie Benn and a slashing infraction on Bishop as they headed to their respective benches. The blood was boiling after David Perron earlier slashed Bishop on the back as the Dallas goalie was behind his net playing the puck.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.