Friday 19th April 2024

blues-vs-stars

Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. The Blues were in the lead until Joe Pavelski tied it with 31.4 seconds left in the third period.

After Denis Gurianov scored the only goal of the shootout, Dallas will face the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. The Stars are now going into that best-of-seven series after picking up their first win of any kind since Feb. 25.

Defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis went winless in the round robin and will next face the Vancouver Canucks. The Blues dropped from first in the West when the NHL season was halted in March to the conference’s fourth seed.

Although Blues coach Craig Berube said Jordan Binnington is healthy, last year’s Cup-winning goalie did not dress. Robert Thomas scored on the first shot of the game, and St. Louis didn’t have another goal the rest of the way.

The Blues scored first in all three games, but couldn’t hold any lead.

The two teams that played in the 2019 Cup Final, the Blues and Boston Bruins, each went 0-3 in round-robin play to go from first to fourth.