A trip to the Western Conference Final hangs in the balance as the Blues and Stars face-off for Game 7 in Dallas as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
St. Louis squandered a chance to clinch the series on home ice and will look to win a do-or-die road game, while Dallas avoided elimination in Game 6 and will hope to advance on home-ice.
The Blues are 7-8 in Game 7s all-time and eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in Round 1 in a series that went the distance. Dallas is 5-6 all time and hasn't played a Game 7 since 2007.
The Stars took Games 1, 4 and 6 in this series, while the Blues took Games 2, 3 and 5 -- a run that includes winning of two of three contests in Dallas.
Facing elimination, Dallas was able to topple St. Louis, 3-2, in Game 6 on Monday.
Mattias Janmark (2), Vernon Fiddler (1) and Jason Spezza (5) each scored to give the Stars a 3-0 lead in Game 6. Alexander Steen (4) and Patrik Berglund (3) both found the twine for the Blues, who outshot their opponents 37-14, but the comeback stalled out.
Stars captain Jamie Benn is tied with Spezza for the team lead with five goals in the playoffs and also paces the team with 10 assists and a league-leading 15 points. Vladimir Tarasenko has six tallies and 12 points to lead the Blues this postseason, while rookie Robby Fabbri has a club-leading eight helpers.
Benn created a stir when he missed practice, but he's good to go.
"It's as simple as optional, and everyone went except for him," coach Lindy Ruff, who is 0-3 all-time in Game 7, said of Benn per NHL.com. "That's it."
In net, St. Louis is sticking with Brian Elliott, who was pulled in favor of Jake Allen after allowing three goals on seven shots to begin Game 6.
"Brian showed up at the rink yesterday, saw pucks, which surprised everybody," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who is 4-2 in Game 7s, told NHL.com. "He wanted to go on the ice. I think he's earned the right to go at it. He's given us a chance to get to Game 7 again."
Elliott is 7-6 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage this postseason. Dallas will counter with Kari Lehtonen between the pipes and he is 9-6 with a 2.58 GAA and a .908 save percentage in these playoffs.
Game Preview & Live Stream
Details: Blues at Stars Game 7
Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas.
Time: 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT).
Radio: St. Louis (KMOX 1120); Dallas (KTCK 97.6)
Prediction: Our predictions for this series can be found here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds can be found here.
Preview: Keys to Game 7 can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
