Stars Lose In OT
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DALLAS — With captain David Backes out with an upper-body injury, the St. Louis Blues needed someone else to step up on Sunday.
For the second straight night, that individual was Kevin Shattenkirk, who delivered the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining as the Blues beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime at American Airlines Center.
On Saturday against Chicago, the Blues defenseman had the clinching goal in a 6-5 shootout win. Shattenkirk’s one-timer from the left circle came with St. Louis on the power play after Stars rookie defenseman Kevin Connauton was called for tripping with 36 seconds left in the extra frame. The Blues (26-7-5, 57 points) finished the night 2-for-2 on the power play.
“Yeah, I think we’re happy with getting four points out of four,” Blues left winger Jaden Schwartz said. “Pretty gutsy wins by us, a nice comeback win last night and kind of a character win for us tonight. So it’s definitely nice getting that extra point both nights.”
Just 23 seconds into the game, Dallas (19-12-7, 45 points) appeared to strike first when center Cody Eakin knocked in a rebound after the initial shot by center Ryan Garbutt was denied by St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott. But Eakin’s goal was waved off when Garbutt was guilty of keeping Elliott from playing Eakin’s attempt.
“I thought we did our best to try to avoid contact,” Stars head coach
Lindy Ruff said. “It’s a tough call. It’s a call they make a decision on the ice, and it’s made.”
St. Louis went on the power play 30 seconds later when Garbutt was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The visitors capitalized at 2:41 of the first when Schwartz scored his 13th goal after being left alone at the right post.
Blues center Vladimir Sobotka, who had two assists, made a great pass from the left circle to Schwartz, who summarily converted with a quick snap to give the visitors an early lead.
“Yeah, he’s got great patience,” Schwartz said of Sobotka. “He holds onto the puck when he needs to and he can make plays along with playing all three zones. He’s a fun guy to play with.”
After the Stars peppered Elliott early in the second period, the Blues doubled their advantage when center T.J. Oshie scored his fifth at 5:12, beating goalie Kari Lehtonen with a wrister to the short side from the left circle.
After Connauton misplayed the puck outside the left circle, Oshie collected the puck and converted on St. Louis’ first shot of the middle period.
However, Dallas pulled one back at 8:13 when left winger and captain Jamie Benn scored his 13th of the season with the Stars on the power play. Left winger Ray Whitney set up Benn beautifully with a pass from the right corner, a feed Benn finished with a one-timer into the far side of the visiting net.
Dallas then tied it at 11:31 when Garbutt scored his seventh after redirecting a long-range shot by defenseman Aaron Rome. Rome’s initial wrister came from near the St. Louis blue line. Garbutt deflected the puck inside the left circle, changing the direction of Rome’s shot enough to make it a 2-2 contest.
Following an uneventful and penalty-free third period, the game headed to overtime.
“The third period for me was really impressive,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We managed the game in the third period. We were outplayed in the second but in the third we really managed the game properly and did a good job.”
The Stars got a great chance to win in overtime when Oshie was called for slashing Benn 1:11 into the extra frame, but Dallas couldn’t convert.
“We had our opportunity in overtime and we didn’t get it done,” Ruff said. “We gave them an opportunity and it was a perfect shot.”
Lehtonen stopped 19 of 22 shots for Dallas.
