Big guns step up to lead Blues

One of the best things in the National Hockey league post season is the way third and fourth liners will get their moment in the sun, producing a late game goal or even better, an overtime game winner.

But in order for teams to get deep into the post season a team’s best players have to be just that — the best players.

The St. Louis Blues got stellar efforts from all of its prime players on Tuesday (May 3) night powering the team to a big and possibly momentum building 6-1 win against the visiting Dallas Stars.

As a result, the Blues grabbed its first lead in the series with a 2-1 margin. The team battled back after dropping the first game of the set and that was the way this game went as well as the Stars notched the first goal, but then faced a barrage from the home town crew.

Brian Elliott grabbed his sixth playoff win handling 25 of 26 shots while the Blues peppered first Antii Niemi and then Kari Lehtonen with a total of 39 shots — both beaten three times on the night.

The Stars hit the board first, Colton Sceviour stepping up from the blueline to take a pass from Jason Spezza and snapping a shot from the hash marks. Elliott made the original stop but the rebound came back to Sceviour who fired it over Elliott for the goal just 4:44 into the contest.

It was all Blues after that.

Alex Steen opened the flood gates with his second of the post season and first of two on the night just 57 seconds after Sceviour’s marker and the suddenly hot David Backes fired his fourth and also first of two in the game two give the home side a lead it would not relinquish late in the period.

Troy Brouwer started the play getting the puck to Paul Stastny at the top of the crease. He had the puck knocked off of his stick by a Dallas defender but it went right to Steen who snapped it home high the blocker side. Backes’ goal came as he stood in front and got his stick on point shot by Kevin Shattenkirk.

Brouwer added a goal to his assist and opened up a three-goal second period for the Blues 2:34 in when a design play off of a faceoff worked to perfection. Steen won a draw to defender Alex Pietrangelo who turned and relayed it to Jay Bouwmeester behind his own goal. Bouwmeester quickly fired it to Brouwer even with the Dallas defense at the blue line setting him on a coast to coast rush to the net. Brouwer got by Dallas defender Kris Russell at the Dallas blueline and cut in front lifting a shot high on the blocker side that caught Niemi sliding the wrong way.

Vladimir Tarasenko notched his fifth of the post season and second of three points in the contest as the Blues took advantage of a Stars giveaway just over a minute after Lehtonen replaced Niemi in the Dallas goal. Robby Fabbri gathered in the loose puck at the Dallas blueline and got a pass to Patrik Berglund in the slot. He immediately relayed it on to Tarasenko on the left side and the slid a shot under the pad of Lehtonen to the right side of the net.

Steen scored his second late in the middle period on a Blues’ powerplay, with a 30-foot wrister that squeezed through the pads of Lehtonen and Backes notched his other goal in the final period as he found some open ice following a give and go play with Carl Gunnarsson through the neutral zone, that saw both defenders to the Gunnarson’s side. Backes snapped it home from the faceoff dot on the right side.

The Blues have a chance to grab a commanding lead with another game on home ice at the Scottrade Center Thursday (May 5) starting at 7 p.m. CT (NBCSN).