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Stars Get Blanked Against the Blues 3-0

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The cream of the Central division continued to be too much for the Stars on Thursday night as the St. Louis Blues thumped the Stars —. It seemed like the Stars spent most of the night shorthanded as they couldn’t keep their sticks on the ice, resulting in seven power plays for the Blues. St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen didn’t face many high danger chances, thanks to his impeccable blue liners, and finished with a — save shutout. The Stars went 0-for-2 on the power play, their second occurring with 22 seconds left in the game.

The Blues went 1-for-2 on the power play in the first 14 minutes of play before the Stars recorded a single shot on goal. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but the Stars were making back-breaking mental errors and ended up ceding two more power play opportunities before the period expired, including ample time on the 5-on-3. Kari Lehtonen (.923 SV%) got the start as Ben Bishop was back in Dallas nursing his ailing back and did all he could to help the Stars on the penalty kill. As St. Louis’s fifth power play expired, Lehtonen had to bear down and absorb a 2-on-1 shot attempt from Chris Thorburn as he came crashing hard to the net.

Goal scoring has eluded Stars captain Jamie Benn in the last eight games. With seven seconds left in the second period, Benn sparked a rush and made the most of it with shot attempts from Alexander Radulov and Stephen Johns. Blues goaltender Jake Allen was scrambling in his crease, and Johns’s attempt from the slot got past Allen, but a half second too late. The Blues caught a break as the goal would’ve counted with another couple of ticks left on the clock.

Frustratingly, the Stars spent more time in the penalty box in the third period and couldn’t keep the high scoring St. Louis defensemen at bay. Colton Parayko fired from the high point, and Lehtonen never had a chance as his vision was completely taken away by a horde of players. Parayko netted his third of the season, and that’s about all the Blues needed for insurance.

Play of the Game

The shot attempt from Stephen Johns in the final milliseconds of the second period gets the nod. Johns beat Jake Allen cleanly on the rush sparked by Jamie Benn, but unfortunately for the Stars, the periods only last 20 minutes. If Johns has .2 seconds of more time, this would’ve been a different game.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Jake Allen (29 saves on 29 shots) – Outside of the goal by Johns that wasn’t, Jake Allen had a perfect game. It’s been a pretty regular thing for Allen to have great games against the Stars, and he has been the primary reason the Blues have had so much success against Dallas in the past season and a half.

2. Brayden Schenn (1 PPG) – The offseason acquisition for the Blues has been turning heads and continued to pay dividends as Schenn had the first goal of the game. Schenn’s goal forced the Stars to chase the rest of the way.

3. Kari Lehtonen (24 saves on 26 shots) – This game should’ve been more embarrassing for the Stars, and Lehtonen is the reason it never got to that point. He had to work hard on seven total penalty kills and kept the Stars competitive.

The Goals

First Period

13:39 Brayden Schenn went back door with a rebound on the power play as the Stars couldn’t clear the zone. Alex Steen had the initial shot from the point, and Dmitrij Jaskin had a chance on the first rebound before the puck bounced over to Schenn. Stars 0, Blues 1

Second Period

No goals

Third Period

5:01 Colton Parayko capitalized on the seventh power play of the game for the Blues. Parayko shot from the high point, and Kari Lehtonen never had a bead on it as there were at least five bodies in his line of vision. Stars 0, Blues 2

19:12 Vladimir Tarasenko scored into an empty net when the Stars got desperate late in the third period. It was his 13th of the season. Stars 0, Blues 3

Blues lineup
Vladimir Sobotka — Paul Stastny — Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Alex Steen
Magnus Paajarvi — Patrik Berglund — Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall — Kyle Brodziak — Chris Thorburn

Jay Bouwmeester — Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmunson — Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson — Vince Dunn

Jake Allen
Ville Husso

Injured: Robby Fabbri (ACL), Carter Hutton (lower body), Zachary Sanford (shoulder)

Scratched: Samuel Blais, Robert Bortuzzo, Oskar Sundqvist

Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Gemel Smith — Mattias Janmark — Devin Shore
Remi Elie — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Curtis McKenzie — Jason Spezza — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Jamie Oleksiak — Stephen Johns

Kari Lehtonen
Mike McKenna

Injured: Ben Bishop (back), Martin Hanzal (hamstring), Marc Methot (knee), Antoine Roussel (illness)

Scratched: Julius Honka

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