The St. Louis Blues did not have to wait too long to figure out their second round opponent. They will face the Dallas Stars, which is about as unappetizing as their first round opponent. Winning a Stanley Cup might be (likely is) the hardest thing to do in sports. The St. Louis Blues and their fans know this since it is shoved in our faces yearly that the team has not brought one home yet. Unlike the NBA playoffs, or any sport really, almost anyone can win it in the NHL. That is especially true this season with the top seeds going out and traditional powers not around. So, we all knew this was going to be difficult going into it. St. Louis had their back up against the wall facing the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg had dominated the Blues the last few seasons and 2018-19 was no different. Their high-end talent was better than St. Louis’ and they were bigger. We know how that turned out. Now, the Blues have to face the Dallas Stars. Some will wring their hands and some will shrug. Dallas is a really good team, but so was Nashville. It was a pick your poison situation and Dallas is the pill the Blues now have to swallow and hope there are no side affects. It is going to be a tough series. Anyone who thinks this one will end quickly, one way or the other, is mistaken. With that, let’s look at the reasons the Blues should be worried about the Dallas Stars. There is also a reason or two they should be confident.<doc-sep>DALLAS, TX - SEPTEMBER 18: Miro Heiskanen #4 of the Dallas Stars skates the puck against the St. Louis Blues during a preseason game at American Airlines Center on September 18, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) After the disastrous Round 2 Playoff exit of 2016 at the mercy of the St. Louis Blues, these Dallas Stars may finally have the squad ready to avenge history. Before I write this, let’s take a quick moment to catch our collective breath. Rejoice, Dallas Stars fans! For the first time in what feels like forever, we did it! Of course I’m talking about Monday night’s spine-tingling, heart-arrhythmiating 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators – after capturing that all-magical 4th win, the Stars are advancing onto Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now set to square off with the once dead St. Louis Blues, this next contest will most likely be another all-out, physical chess match. Similar to the boys sporting Victory Green, this central division rival had to overcome tremendous adversity in their opening round, stunning the heavily favored Winnipeg Jets to advance. From an outsider’s perspective – this looks like a tale of two evenly matched squads battling for a trip to the 2019 Western Conference Finals. True Dallas fans, however, will painfully recall their last postseason experience and why they were scorched from the 2016 playoff bracket – a Game 7 collapse against the St. Louis Blues cost the 1st place Stars a chance to move on. I know, I know… that was a difficult memory to pull from your conscience. That crazy season under Lindy Ruff was one filled with tremendous ups, only to come crashing down with an equally monumental heartbreak. I don’t like to recall that season, either. Fandom aside, I’m here to tell you these Dallas Stars are a much different club, very much capable of overcoming these skeletons. For the first time that I can truly remember (pardon me, seasoned fanatics – I was born in 1999), Dallas looks to finally possess the talent needed to make a much deeper run. Let me explain. A legitimate Top 6 Oh, doesn’t it feel good to watch our offense now? I mean, you guys also remember all that old hoopla about depth scoring too, right? Everyone knows the trio of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov could probably contend for NHL’s most dangerous line – but how about this second group? Emerging Jason Dickinson and Roope Hintz, coupled with grizzled vet Mats Zuccarello have really meshed come playoff time. Although they did not score any points in Game 6’s clinching effort to send the Predators packing, you cannot tell me that these men weren’t noticeable – they are consistently driving play and add another layer of juice to this Dallas forecheck. With a formidable 2nd line, Dallas’s big bad 3 are now able to consistently attack together – something the St. Louis Blues will be seeing in their nightmares post gameday. For the first time since Brad Richards was playing 2nd fiddle to Mike Modano, the Dallas Stars have found a consistent top 6 tandem capable of producing offense on any given night. Three Unfathomably Special Defenseman Speaking of old hoopla, someone pull up those terrible defense articles while we’re at it. If I remember anything from that Lindy Ruff era, it was that crazy, potent offensive coupled with a horrible defensive game plan. It wasn’t too long ago we were looking up to Julius Honka to save our franchise alongside Klingberg, right? Well, those days are far removed. The Dallas Stars have since bred a 3-headed monster in John Klingberg, Miro Heiskanen, and Esa Lindell – and boy are they mesmerizing. All three of these kids – yeah, they’re still very young – have proven equally heroic in their own right. We were all witness to #3’s overtime goal, but did you guys catch Esa Lindell dominating on that final penalty kill? And Miro – dang, does that teenager do everything. All three of these defenceman show up night-in-out with exceptionally stellar play, and have looked more than rock-steady throughout this knotting, gut wrenching tournament we call Playoff Hockey. The Blues better buy some Advil after a series against these headaches. They will not play a sub-par defense this go around. A Vezina Caliber Goaltender Someone grab me some vinyl for this broken record – Ben Bishop has been the NHL’s best goaltender over this 2018-2019 campaign. We’ve already discussed how this man is the only finalist worthy of the Vezina Trophy, yet just when we think there’s no more to say, Big Ben churns out another other-worldly performance as if clockwork. After stopping 47 of 48 shots during that invigorating Game 6, Bishop put the league on official notice – this man will fight tooth and nail for his team upon the biggest of stages. Gone are the days where fans needed to be reminded of Kari Lehtonen’s playoff stats; Bishop has proven an absolute monster capable of keeping the Stars in every game possible. St. Louis should worry. The history books will tell you that these Blues were the last team to eliminate the Dallas Stars from playoff contention, but those men who sobbed their way off AAC ice are not similar to this intimidating roster. The Stars are showing the makings of a complete team – one more than ready for this proverbial postseason rematch. Want your voice heard? Join the Sports Dallas Fort-Worth team! Write for us! The NHL is set to announce official dates for Round 2 in the very immediate future. The Dallas Stars will see you then, St. Louis – looking to even the score.<doc-sep>“We beat them, too,” Binnington said, a reference to his Jan. 12 victory. “So every game’s a different game, new game. It’s about composure ... playoffs, anyone can win. So we’ve got to prepare the same way and watch some video, just believe in ourselves and stick to our game plan.” In preparing for Dallas in the playoffs, coach Craig Berube said the Blues won’t ignore what happened against the Stars in the regular season. “We do pay attention to them, but I’m more interested in what they did against Nashville (in the playoffs) than back then,” Berube said. “But we do take a look at some things. “Looking back in those games, Jamie Benn had a couple big nights obviously against us, so we’ve got to make sure we’re doing a good job there. They play good defense. We had shots and chances. But not enough second and third opportunities.” The Blues outshot Dallas in all four regular-season games, and by a combined total of 130-83. Nonetheless, the Stars outscored the Blues 13-7. Benn probably can’t wait to see the Blues. He had two goals in the Stars’ 5-2 win Feb. 21 and recorded his fifth career hat trick in the 4-1 Stars win March 2.<doc-sep>ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 02: Dallas Stars leftwing Roope Hintz (24) and St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas (18) go after a loose puck during an NHL game between the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues on March 02, 2019, at Energizer Center, St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) St. Louis Blues: 3 Reasons To Fear The Dallas Stars And 2 Why Not To by Todd Panula The St. Louis Blues found out who they would play in the second round first, but now they know when they will play. We will be looking at more late nights ahead. The St. Louis Blues know who and when they will play Game 1 of their series against the Dallas Stars. It is not the best option for those that have school or work. The Blues will open their series against Dallas at home on Thursday, April 25 at 8:30 pm. That might become a rather familiar time in this series and beyond. Right now, it must be said, the Blues only know their schedule for Thursday. If the NHL keeps the same type of schedule going, you would assume the Blues will play Game 2 on Saturday. The main question will be whether that is an afternoon or evening game. The Blues earned home ice. We don’t yet know if that will make any kind of difference, but in the end, you would rather have it than not. St. Louis would have home ice all the way through the conference finals if they make it that far. So, they better take advantage. The issue for most fans is the timing of these games. The sad part is we just have to get used to it. From a hockey standpoint, the Blues will see a lot of these games coming up. While we are in the middle of the country, if the Blues manage to get past Dallas, there is Colorado, San Jose or Vegas waiting. You know that will not mean earlier games. For this round, from a television standpoint, NBC will get better ratings if they have one game just flow into another. They can preempt certain coverage in local markets, but from a national standpoint, they will get and keep more eyeballs if they have one game then immediately another. That means double headers. That means the Blues get the shaft on the timing since they are not on the I-95 corridor up the east coast. I get it. You have more people out east, so more eyeballs available and more people appeased with their regular time slot. It just stinks to always be on the short end. Instead of treating everyone the same and putting the Eastern Conference games all on one day and the Western on a different, you play favorites with the Eastern Conference. It could easily be Columbus vs. Boston in an early slot and New York vs. Washington/Carolina in the late one and then switch. The Blues/Dallas and Vegas/San Jose vs. Colorado could do the same. Instead, the Blues will always be the later game as long as their is an Eastern Conference matchup at the same time, unless they get an afternoon game during the weekend. We can debate the merits of that another time. Ultimately, it is what it is. The Blues, as a team, cannot worry about it whatsoever. They need to focus on shutting down some of the players that have owned them. They can’t be worried about start times, other than knowing when to get their nap in. For us couch warriors, we can complain about it. It is an annoyance, but one that is not going anywhere anytime soon as long as NBC is the television partner. That’s another problem. NBC seems to give the Blues some of the worst national crews they can find. But that’s another article for another day. For now, let’s look forward to more late nights during and hopefully beyond the Dallas series.<doc-sep>
The last time that the Blues and the Dallas Stars met in the playoffs, it was a long slog through seven games. Fresh (though not really that fresh) off of a long series against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Stars pushed the Blues to the brink until St. Louis polished Dallas off 6-1. It wasn’t an easy series, and the punishment of those seven games may be why the Blues didn’t make it past the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference final. The Blues’ regular season redemption story is one for the record books - from worst to playoffs. They’re also the first team to accomplish that and then win a playoff round. The Stars fought for a bit of the season to get into the playoffs as a comfortable Wild Card, and then were the decided underdog against the Central Division champion Nashville Predators. Instead of forcing a game seven, Nashville was sent packing last night. So here we are, Blues/Stars, round two. The third place team versus the first wild card. This series is going to be a lot harder than some people expect, for both teams. It has yet to be determined if Stars CEO Jim Lites still believes that Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are “fucking horseshit,” but Seugin finished with 33 goals and 80 points to lead the team, and Benn finished with 27 goals and 53 points. So far these playoffs Seguin has two goals and six points, and Benn has just one goal and three points. Alexander Radulov seems to be the Star to contain, but they have a lot of high powered players who have been a thorn in the Blues’ side. Last season, the Stars took the series 3-1, with two of those games coming after the team’s resurgence. On March second, Benn had a hat trick against Jordan Binnington in the Stars’ 4-1 victory, and Benn scored twice on February 21st to end the Blues’ 11 game winning streak. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but this is going to be a tough road for the Blues. If they play like they did on Saturday night, they should be fine - but hopefully it won’t take being behind the eight ball to get them to do it.