The Dallas Stars gave up a lead to the St. Louis Blues in the third period and clawed back late to get the victory 4-2. Ben Bishop was in the crease again for his 300th career game and finished with 35 saves on 37 shots. The Stars were perfect on four penalty kills and went 1-for-4 on the power play.
Bishop and Pateryn turned the puck over behind the net, and it almost led to a goal for the Blues, but credit Greg Pateryn for making a diving desperation play to clear the crease. It was the only real gaffe Bishop made in the first period as he faced 14 shots and kept the Stars clean. In the other crease, Jake Allen had a good first period as well and didn’t get beat until the second. Allen did have to leave the ice in the third period for concussion protocol and was replaced by Carter Hutton for a few shifts.
The Stars gave up 1:37 of 5-on-3 time in the beginning of the second period. Bishop made two incredible saves from point blank range in the slot on Alex Pietrangelo and Paul Stastny. Tyler Seguin nearly set the building off with a shorthanded chance when the Stars were down two men, but the shot caught the left pipe. The Stars responded positively after killing the penalties with a goal from Mattias Janmark on the next shift. Jason Spezza found him streaking in close to the net on the weak side and fed him from across the ice for a tip in goal.
The Blues finally solved Bishop a few minutes into the third quarter with back to back goals. As Bishop attempted to get the puck to his forwards, and Vladimir Tarasenko picked up the turnover at the Stars’s blue line and was uncontested as he beat Bishop with a wrist shot. The Stars were sloppy with the puck again, and rookie forward Tage Thompson collected the turnover and beat Bishop from the high slot–a save Bishop should have made.
Jamie Benn got the equalizer for the Stars when he stole the puck from Joel Edmunson, went behind the net and wrapped the puck around with his backhand. With less than three minutes to go, the Stars had a chance to take the lead again on the power play and nailed it. Alexander Radulov took a pass from Tyler Seguin and shot from the right circle to beat Allen short side. The Blues emptied their net with two minutes left and paid for it as Radulov netted his second goal into the empty net.
Play of the Game
The Stars needed an answer, and their captain Jamie Benn had it. The game almost got away from them, but Benn wouldn’t let it with his wrap around backhand goal that knotted the game up and started the comeback in the third period.
The Upset Three Stars of the Game
1. Alexander Radulov (2 G) – Radulov had the game winning goal and caused the American Airlines Center to nearly capsize in the process. He also had a late empty netter and was a motor for his team.
2. Jamie Benn (1 G, 1 A) – The Stars captain stepped up in a big way to tie the game late. He also had an assist on Radulov’s empty net goal.
3. Ben Bishop (35 saves on 37 shots) – Apart from a hiccup in the third period when he let in back to back goals, the Stars net minder was one of the major differences in this game, particularly his work on the penalty kill when the Stars were down two men.
The Goals
First Period
No Goals
Second Period
3:49 Jason Spezza dug a puck off the side boards and found Mattias Janmark skating to the net. Spezza made a perfect pass for Janmark to finish the back door tip in. Stars 1, Blues 0
Janmark buries a tremendous feed from Spezza. 1-0 #Stars. pic.twitter.com/w7S7BwIZBN
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 30, 2017
Third Period
3:26 Vladimir Tarasenko got the Blues on the board after the Stars turned the puck over on their blue line. He beat Bishop glove side to ruin Bishop’s shutout bid. Stars 1, Blues 1
Vladimir Tarasenko blows one by Bishop. 1-1. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/CTgmF6eZ50
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 30, 2017
4:31 The Stars turned it over in the neutral zone and Tage Thompson shot from the high slot to beat Ben Bishop on the blocker side. Stars 1, Blues 2
Tage Thompson! Are the floodgates open? 2-1 #stlblues pic.twitter.com/LUBKI1pYFe
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 30, 2017
15:10 Jamie Benn stole the puck behind the net from Jake Allen and scored with his backhand as he wrapped around the net. Stars 2, Blues 2
JAMIE BENN STEALS ONE AND SCORES WITH LESS THAN 5 ON THE CLOCK, STARS TIE IT! pic.twitter.com/d97O4otvZD
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) December 30, 2017
17:39 Alexander Radulov gave the Stars the lead with less than three minutes to go in the game on the power play. Tyler Seguin freed up some space for him in the high slot, and Radulov fired from the right circle to beat Allen and send the AAC into a frenzy. Stars 3, Blues 2
RADULOV BEATS ALLEN CLEAN AND THE STARS WIN THE GAME! WOW! pic.twitter.com/0lISsTXafH
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) December 30, 2017
18:21 Alexander Radulov followed up Dan Hamhuis’ initial shot down ice that hit the post to score into the empty net late in the game to seal the victory. Stars 4, Blues 2
Blues lineup
Alex Steen — Paul Stastny — Tage Thompson
Ivan Barbashev — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Sobotka — Patrik Berglund — Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall — Kyle Brodziak — Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmunson — Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson — Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Injured: Robby Fabbri (ACL), Zachary Sanford (shoulder), Jay Bouwmeester (undisclosed), Jaden Schwartz (ankle)
Scratched: Jordan Schmaltz, Oskar Sundqvist, Magnus Paajarvi
Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Devin Shore
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie — Gemel Smith — Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Injured: Marc Methot (knee), Martin Hanzal (lower body)
Scratched: Jason Dickinson
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.