Blues blow out Stars in Game 7 to advance
DALLAS -- Troy Brouwer, Robby Fabbri and Paul Stastny each had three points and Brian Elliott stopped 31 of 32 shots for the St. Louis Blues in a 6-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs on Wednesday at American Airlines Center.
St. Louis, who won the series 4-3, also got a goal and an assist each from David Backes and Patrik Berglund and two assists from Jori Lehtera.
The Blues are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. St. Louis will face the winner of Game 7 between San Jose and Nashville on Thursday with the conference finals starting on Saturday.
St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock is now 5-2 in Game 7. Stars coach Lindy Ruff is 0-4.
Patrick Eaves scored the lone goal for Dallas, breaking the shutout early in the third period.
Eaves broke the shutout 5:05 into the third with his third goal of the playoffs. Eaves scored on an easy tip-in at the near post after Alex Goligoski's slap shot from the right circle deflected off Joel Edmundson.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored an empty-net goal with 4:40 remaining to make it 6-1.
Antti Niemi stopped eight of 10 shots in relief of Kari Lehtonen, who stopped just five of eight shots.
Fabbri scored a power-play goal 5:23 into the first period off a rebound to give the Blues an early 1-0 lead. Stars Lehtonen stopped the initial shot by Brouwer with a pad save, but Fabbri popped in the carom for his third goal of the playoffs.
Fabbri is the youngest player in Blues history to score in a Game 7.
St. Louis was 52 seconds into a power play resulting from a hooking call on Goligoski against Tarasenko at 4:31 of the first period.
Dallas caught a break late in the first period when an apparent goal by Tarasenko 2:21 before the first intermission was waived off. Tarasenko scored from the edge of the left circle with a shot that deflected off the stick of Stars defenseman John Klingberg, Ruff used a coach's challenge, asserting that Tarasenko was offside.
Replay showed Tarasenko's left skate was just offside.
However, the Blues scored twice in the final 1:38 of the first period to lead 3-0 after 20 minutes. Paul Stastny sent a wrist shot from the right of the Dallas goal through Lehtonen with 1:38 remaining.
Then, Berglund gave the visitors a three-goal edge with his fourth goal of the playoffs with four seconds remaining in the first period. Berglund's wrist shot from the left point traveled in under Lehtonen's blocker.
Niemi replaced Lehtonen in goal to start the second period.
Backes made it 4-0 in the second with his sixth goal of the playoffs. Berglund set Backes up beautifully by sending the puck just over the Dallas blue line from inside the neutral zone.
Backes received it just inside the Dallas zone and beat Niemi far post with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Brouwer made it 5-0 with his fifth goal of the playoffs with 5:54 remaining in the second period. Brouwer's wrist shot from near the far post off the rush capped a well-executed 2-on-1 sequence by the Blues.
NOTES: The Blues scratched C Ivan Barbashev, G Jordan Binnington, D Robert Bortuzzo, D Chris Butler, D Peter Harrold, RW Dmitrij Jaskin, D Petteri Lindbohm, G Anders Nilsson, LW Magnus Paajarvi, RW Ty Rattie, RW Ryan Reaves and D Jordan Schmaltz. ... The Stars scratched D Jordie Benn, G Jack Campbell, C Jason Dickinson, C Justin Dowling, LW Curtis McKenzie, D Julius Honka, LW Travis Moen (arm), D Patrik Nemeth, D Jamie Oleksiak, LW Brendan Ranford, RW Brett Ritchie and C Tyler Seguin (lower body). ... St. Louis played its second Game 7 of the 2016 postseason. ... Dallas last played in a Game 7 in the 2007 first round, losing 4-1 on the road to Vancouver. ... Blues G Brian Elliott, pulled late in the first period of Game 6 on Monday after allowing three goals on his first seven shots, started his 14th game of the playoffs.