Photo Credit : AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
The Stars earned three of a possible four points between back-to-back games against the Ottawa Senators last night and the St. Louis Blues tonight. Despite last night’s 5-4 comeback win in Dallas for the Stars, the Blues took a 4-3 overtime win at Enterprise Center in St. Louis tonight. The three points keep Dallas tied for first in the Central Division standings with the Winnipeg Jets and the Colorado Avalanche.
Dallas broke the team’s six-game streak of giving up the first goal of the game tonight, taking the lead early against the Blues.
Five minutes into the first period, Stars center Matt Duchene passed the puck to Tyler Seguin who was advancing on the net just ahead of Duchene and to Blues goalie Jordan Bennington’s right. Seguin quickly dropped the puck via backhand pass to left wing Mason Marchment, who had skated to Binnington’s left toward an open net in front of him and slid the puck easily across the goal line.
Two minutes later, Stars center Radek Faksa skated the puck into the Blues zone, holding off St. Louis defenseman Marco Scandella. Faksa drove the puck and Scandella toward the net, but lost control of it just in front of Bennington. Dallas center Sam Steel had followed behind Faksa and grabbed the puck before taking a backhand shot on Bennington that the goalie couldn’t hold on to. The rebound bounced out and into open ice directly in front of Stars center Ty Dellandrea who held the puck momentarily, waiting patiently as Bennington dropped to his hands and knees in the crease, before shooting it up and into the top of the net over the netminder’s back.
The Blues new head coach as of December 12th, Drew Bannister, challenged the call of a good goal on the ice, believing there to be goalie interference on the play, but ultimately lost the challenge and was charged a bench minor for delay of game. St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou served the penalty for the team, but the Blues held off the Stars power play.
With seven minutes remaining in the period, Dellandrea was called for tripping St. Louis’ Hugh McGing, and halfway through the ensuing power play, the Blues cut the Stars lead in half.
Blues right winger Kevin Hayes won the faceoff to Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood’s right and passed the puck to center Jordan Kyrou behind him. Kyrou began to skate the puck through the faceoff circle but quickly sent it to left wing Brandon Saad, who was near the top of the circle. As soon as the puck was on his stick, Saad sent the puck toward the Stars net and snuck it past Wedgewood. It was the Blues first power play goal in 20 power play opportunities.
The second period belonged to the Blues, who made quick work of whittling away at the Stars now meager lead.
Just a minute and a half into the frame, Blues defenseman Torey Krug and center Robert Thomas broke up an attempted play by Stars center Joe Pavelski in the Blues zone, stealing the puck from Pavelski just inside the St. Louis blue line. Krug gained control of the puck and spun to see Kyrou speeding through the neutral zone. With only defenseman Jani Hakanpää present in the neutral zone to chase him down, Kyrou blasted into the Stars zone and shot from the middle of the zone directly in front of Wedgewood, sending the puck between the goalie’s left pad and glove, tying the game at two.
The Stars had two opportunities to regain the lead in the period, both when Krug took a penalty for holding Pavelski, and when center Braden Schenn was sent to the box for tripping Stars center Roope Hintz, but the Blues killed both power plays.
With slightly more than three minutes left in the period, the Blues took their first lead of the game. St. Louis’ Alexey Toropchenko took a shot on goal that bounced off the ankle of Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, sending the puck past the net and off the boards behind Wedgewood. Hayes had skated toward the Stars net and was in the prime spot to recover the puck as it ricocheted off the boards and back into the zone right beside Wedgewood, sneaking it through the goalie’s legs before he could find the puck again.
But the Stars fought back in the third period, and with just under seven minutes left in the game, forced overtime. Duchene won a faceoff to Bennington’s right and sent the puck to defenseman Miro Heiskanen at the blue line. Heiskanen tapped it to Harley who skated it along the line as Heiskanen headed into the zone and advanced to the top of the faceoff circle to Bennington’s left. Harley passed the puck back to Heiskanen who shot it into the center of the zone, where right wing Evgenii Dadonov tipped it up and into the top of net, bringing the final score in regulation to 3-3.
Overtime was short lived though, with Blues defenseman Colton Parayko scoring the final goal of the game just 37 seconds into the extra period. Wedgewood blocked the initial shot by Kyrou but was splayed on the ice with no time to recover after the puck bounced off his left foot. Parayko was on the puck immediately, lifting it over the legs of a scrambling Wedgewood and into the net.
The Stars return to home ice on Monday to face the Seattle Kraken for the first time since the two teams met in the 2022-2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
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