The St. Louis Blues dominated Wednesday night’s Game 7 from puck drop to final horn in a 6-1 rout of the Dallas Stars, who paced the Western Conference with 109 points during the regular season but couldn’t advance past the Stanley Cup playoffs’ second round.
It wasn’t quite an improbable series victory for the Blues, who finished second behind Dallas in the Central Division with 107 points, but they weren’t a popular pick to escape the first round versus the Chicago Blackhawks, let alone advance this far. Ho hum.
"the blues can't beat the blackhawks in the playoffs"
"the blues won't get past the second round" pic.twitter.com/ggJS52Jpgj
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 12, 2016
It was St. Louis’ first Game 7 road win since 1999 against the then-Phoenix Coyotes and marks its first trip to the conference finals since 2001. The Blues scored five even-strength goals in the first two periods and tacked on an empty-netter in the final frame for good measure.
Fabbri gets the #stlblues on the board early! #WeAllBleedBlue #NHL17Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/G5lxr6NfX0
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
Stastny from a tough angle. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue #NHL17Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/tiXrpGW3O4
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
With 4.5 seconds left, Patrik Berglund came up big! #WeAllBleedBlue #NHL17Tarasenko #stlblues pic.twitter.com/FV11Y1RpSh
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
The captain comes through again! #WeAllBleedBlue #stlblues #NHL17Tarasenko #NHL17Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/WNvko4AbvB
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
Beauty. #WeAllBleedBlue #stlblues #NHL17Tarasenko #NHL17Tarasenko #NHL17Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/nUr3TKfIFI
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
The offense wasn’t the only aspect of St. Louis’ game that shined, though, as goaltender Brian Elliott made 31 saves in 32 chances, including going a perfect seven for seven against power-play shots. A few of his saves were downright inhuman, too.
Could watch this ALL day. And probably will. #Moooooose #NHL17Tarasenko #NHL17Tarasenko #NHL17Tarasenkohttps://t.co/lf8YEP3OUc
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
The Moose is completely loose. OMG! #WeAllBleedBlue #stlblues #NHL17Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/lnb5PfCyiw
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 12, 2016
The Blues will play the winner of the San Jose Sharks-Nashville Predators series in the Western Conference finals, which open Sunday.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images