Patrick Maroon‘s goal at 5:50 of the second overtime pushed the St. Louis Blues past the Dallas Stars — and into the Western Conference finals — with a historic 2-1 win in Game 7 of their conference semifinals series Tuesday night in St. Louis.
It was the third series this postseason to go to a Game 7 overtime, the first time that has happened in Stanley Cup playoff history.
Vince Dunn had given the Blues a 1-0 lead at 13:30 of the first period. But Stars winger Mats Zuccarello tied it with an unassisted goal just 2:25 later.
That the teams went so long without scoring can be attributed to Dallas goalie Ben Bishop‘s stellar play at one end, and his team’s ineffective offense at the other end (just four shots on goal combined for the second and third periods). The Blues peppered Bishop with 54 shots in the game, making him just the fifth goalie in history to face 50 or more shots in a Game 7.
Both Carolina and San Jose advanced in the first round by winning a Game 7 in overtime, the Hurricanes over the Washington Capitals and the Sharks over the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Hurricanes swept the New York Islanders in the second round to move on to the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins starting Thursday night in Boston. The Sharks will be looking for more Game 7 magic when they play host to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.