St. Louis Blues Back On Top In Game 3 of Stanley Cup Playoffs; Lead Series 2-1

Published on April 30, 2019

A quick start to Game 3 in Dallas was needed for the St. Louis Blues to control the fired-up, green dominate crowd.  

The Blues got off to a quick start to the first period with a deflection by Jaden Schwartz off of the shot by Colton Parayko just 1:27 into the match. Relatively even play from both sides followed this goal throughout most of the first period.  

Alexander Radulov Ties the Game at 1

Each team encountered a tripping minor penalty in the opening frame, Jamie Benn of the Stars and Jay Bouwmeester of the Blues. But it was during the tripping minor by Bouwmeester, that Alexander Radulov buried a powerplay goal to tie the game at 1.  

After some physical play on the side board in the Blues defensive zone, Dowling give a pass to Spezza in the corner, and Speeza then gave a picture-perfect pass to the slot for Radulov to score. Shots in the first were 11-10 in favor of the Dallas Stars.

Enter Tyler Bozak; Puts Blues At 2-1

The middle frame fell more in favor of St. Louis.  Despite getting 3 penalties in the second period, they also outshot the Stars 15-10.  Ben Bishop’s solid play in the second kept the Stars close, yet it was Tyler Bozak who broke through halfway through the game.  

A terrific play by Dunn at the point to carry the puck into the zone, gives a quick pass to Robert Thomas who gets a powerful shot off that beats Bishop, but doesn’t go into the net until a little tap in by Bozak to put the Blues up 2-1 going into the 2nd intermission.

Going Into the Second Half

The first half of the third period was actually relatively quiet.  Action was happening at both ends of the ice, but no team could out-will the other team until the 13th minute of the period when Andrew Cogliano of the Stars plants himself in front of the net and scores a shorthanded goal off of the rebound from the shot/pass attempt by Mattias Janmark.

This tied the game at 2′ with dwindling time remaining in the third, but this goal opened the flood gates for the rest of the game.

Alex Pietrangelo (SLB): Blast Away

About a minute and a half later, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo is able to wire one past Bishop. Sound puck movement by the Blues gave them time and space to work with in their offensive zone, and Pietrangelo gave a blast of a shot that would have been difficult for any goalie to stop.   

Tyler Seguin (DS) Ties the Game at 3-3

The Stars would have a quick answer to this goal. About another minute and a half later, Miro Heiskanen held the offensive zone after a clearing attempt by the Blues and gives a tremendous across the slot pass to Tyler Seguin, who did not have a lot of room to work with in front, but just got enough separation to get the job done to tie the game 3-3.

The Final Blow

Things seemed to be indicating overtime for Game 3, but with less than 2 minutes to go in the regulation time, the Blues would make the final blow.  A shot from the point by Bouwmeester missed wide to the right of Ben Bishop, at the side of the net is Patrick Maroon who is able to pick up the puck sitting behind the goal line, bring it back in front of the net, and quickly lifts it on net from in tight and it goes top shelf past Bishop on his far blocker side.

The Stars would not have an answer in time, so the Blues took Game 3 by a score of 4-3.

The final shot count was 34-31 St. Louis over Dallas.

What To Expect for Game 4

Getting the first goal is crucial to the majority of every hockey game, and even though the Stars tied the game 3 times in this Game 3, the first goal of the game is something that is hard to break through.  Look for the Stars to come out with tenacity in the offensive zone early on in the hopes to put an early goal on the board and get the crowd going. If the Stars don’t get the first goal, let alone an early one, it will get harder for them to gain any type of momentum as time moves forward.

Game 4 of this best of 7 series will be Wednesday, May 1st at 8:30 PM CT.

For Game 2 recap, please click here.

Ian Shidlofsky is a Sports Columnist at Grit Daily. Based in Dallas, Texas and a hockey fanatic, Shidlofsky primarily covers the NHL. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Colorado State University.

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