Tuesday, May 1 7:00pm ET
Blues cruise to 3-0 series lead with 2OT win
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BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) – One more victory, and the St. Louis Blues are in the conference finals for the first time in 15 years. One more loss, and the Dallas Stars' drive for a third straight Stanley Cup final is history.
|  | | Roman Turek deflects a shot for one of his 25 saves. |
Cory Stillman scored at 9:26 of the second overtime as the Blues overcame a two-goal deficit to win 3-2, taking a 3-0 series lead Tuesday night in the Western Conference semifinal series.
"They have the hammer and we're the nail," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "If we could have won this game, psychologically it could have worked wonders for us."
After winning the first two games at Dallas, the Blues can advance at home, where they had the NHL's best regular-season record, in Game 4 Thursday night. The last time they made it out of the second round was 1986, when they lost in seven games to Calgary in the conference finals.
St. Louis outshot the Stars 6-1 in the second overtime. It was the first of 19 overtime games in this year's NHL playoffs to require a second extra period.
Dallas won the Stanley Cup two years ago and lost in the finals to New Jersey last year. The Devils closed out the finals last year with a double-overtime victory.
Stillman, a late-season pickup from Calgary, scored his third
goal of the postseason. Scott Mellanby left a drop pass for Stillman, who put a wrist shot between Ed Belfour's pads.
"I couldn't ask for it to be in a better place to shoot it," Stillman said. "There's probably two that you'll remember when you're done and one's the first goal I ever scored, and definitely tonight."
Mellanby was relieved as much as elated.
"I was almost in disbelief when I saw it went in the net, the way things have been going for us as a line," Mellanby said. "It was hard on the old body to have to play that many minutes."
Alexander Khavanov's first career playoff goal, with 2:15 left
in regulation, capped the Blues' comeback from a two-goal deficit
and forced overtime. Khavanov, a 29-year-old first-year player who
had seven goals in the regular season, was alone at the left circle
even though Jamal Mayers flubbed his centering pass, and beat Belfour with a high drive.
"Without that goal, we'd be at home already," Khavanov said. "This goal just gave us a chance to keep going."
After Brett Hull's power-play goal at 7:53 of the second period made it 2-0, the Blues outshot the Stars 22-5 the rest of regulation.
"It's a game of mistakes, and the ones we seem to be making end up
in our net," said the Stars' Mike Modano. "You give a talented team that many chances, they are going to score."
The Stars and Blues both got off nine shots in the first
overtime, and each team had several good scoring opportunities. Richard Matvichuk nearly ended it at the horn for the Stars with a
rink-long drive after the Blues pulled goalie Roman Turek with 2.9 seconds to go before a faceoff in the Dallas end.
"I don't even have an answer for that," Stillman said with a
sheepish grin. "That was different."
Jochen Hecht also scored for the Blues, who have won five straight playoff games, and Mayers had two assists.
The Stars lost despite inspired efforts from Modano, whose
sprained left ankle got a lot better in a hurry, and Belfour, who
made 45 saves. Modano, who missed Game 2, set up both of the Stars'
goals and played more than 35 minutes.
"Early on, there was a lot of ice time, and that kind of got it going," Modano said.
Hull scored his 90th career playoff goal to end a dominant stretch by Blues penalty killers, whose streak ended at 34 in a row. Mike Keane also scored for the Stars.
The Sharks were 0-for-23 against the Blues in the first round and the Stars had been 0-for-11.
The Blues also are having a hard time on the power play. They were 0-for-4 in Game 3, going without a shot after the Stars were whistled for too many men on the ice in overtime, and are 0-for-14 in this series.
The Stars scored first for the first time in the series, and connected on their second shot of the game, when Keane converted a setup from Modano at 5:29 of the first. Keane scored on a high wrist shot from the right circle.
Hull scored his second goal of the playoffs on a deflection that
made it 2-0 at 7:53 of the second. Hull was on his way down when he
deflected Darryl Sydor's pass high into the net.
The Blues outshot the Stars 10-1 the rest of the period, with several good opportunities. St. Louis cut the gap to a goal when Hecht scored on the rebound of an Al MacInnis slap shot at 17:59. Hecht's shot beat a sliding Belfour, who made a kick save on MacInnis' drive.
Game notes
D Bryce Salvador, who had his head rammed into the boards
and bloodied by Benoit Hogue in Game 2, was among the St. Louis
scratches. ... Belfour has 79 career playoff wins, one behind Ken
Dryden for fourth on the career list. ... The Blues were outshot
52-45 in Games 1 and 2, although they outscored the Stars 6-3. ...
The Blues and Stars have played 16 overtime playoff games, most in
the NHL since 1968. Five of the last nine have gone to OT, and St.
Louis is 10-6 overall.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
St. Louis 3
Dallas 2
New Jersey 3
Toronto 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Cory Stillman rips the one-timer past Ed Belfour for the double-OT victory.
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Ed Belfour makes a great save in the first OT to keep the Stars alive.
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Alex Khavanov's slap shot knots the game at 2 and forces OT.
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Jochen Hecht handles the rebound and lights the lamp for St. Louis.
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Brett Hull falls to the ice, but manages to score the tip-in goal.
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Mike Keane takes the pass from Mike Modano and roofs it past Roman Turek.
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 Cory Stillman joins ESPN's Tony Twist after netting the game-winning goal.
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