Blues Beat Stars in Double Overtime to Advance to Stanley Cup Western Division Finals

The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars were pretty well evenly matched in their NHL Western Conference playoff semifinal, as evidenced by the teams going all the way to a decisive game seven in the series. Then, Game 7 was tied a 1-1 at the end of regulation, and it was still 1-1 after one overtime period. Finally, at 5:50 of the 2nd overtime, the Blues’ Pat Maroon, a St. Louis native, flicked the puck in the net after it had gotten loose from Dallas goalie Ben Bishop to win the game and the series.

The goal should not diminish Bishop’s performance in the game; he made 52 saves. His counterpart on the Blues, Jordan Binnington, was also excellent in net and had 29 saves in this defensive contest.

St. Louis will play the winner of the San Jose Sharks–Colorado Avalanche series in the Western Conference Finals. The last time St. Louis was in a conference final was three years ago. The Blues lost to San Jose in six games in that series. Before that, the last time St. Louis was in a conference final was in the 2000-1 season, with the Blues losing to Colorado in five games. So there will be a chance to avenge one of those losses.