After more than three months, hockey finally returned, and the first battle was played between the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues.
We witnessed a big comeback from Radek Faksa, who signed as a free agent over the summer after spending last season right here in St. Louis.
The game picked up pace quickly when, just four minutes in, Justin Hryckowian and Nathan Walker dropped the gloves—it was quite a show right from the start. St. Louis Blues got the better of the early part of the period with several opening shots, but they couldn’t beat the steady Rémi Poirier. Dallas created a huge chance about eight minutes before the end of the period when Bourque and Steel combined, but the Dallas crowd couldn’t celebrate as Binnington came up with a brilliant save.
After a series of dangerous Dallas shots, a late penalty gave the Blues a power play, which carried over into the second period and was converted by Carbonneau with a surprising strike. Dallas then had their own power play but failed to capitalize. Shortly after, Dorion broke away but was denied by another great save from Poirier.
Following heavy pressure from Dallas, Mavrik Bourque, wearing number 22, scored on a rebound and lit up the whole AAC. Dallas controlled most of the third period, and after both teams swapped goaltenders, we saw several more excellent saves.
Three minutes before the end, after a missed power play by the Blues, two players in green jerseys went alone against goaltender Ellis – but with an excellent save, Ellis made sure the puck didn’t end up behind him. Despite some great chances, we didn’t see the winning goal, and with the score tied 1–1, the game went to overtime.
In overtime, Capobianco was fouled, giving Dallas a big opportunity with a 4-on-3 power play. However, Dallas couldn’t capitalize. The best chance came from Lind, who aimed from the right circle at the top right corner, but Ellis stopped him. Even in overtime, no decisive goal was scored, so the game went to a shootout. Dvorsky missed his attempt, while Sam Steel scored on the other side. In the second round, the Blues failed again, but thanks to the post they survived. Finally, Bibeau saved all three shootout attempts, and Dallas won 2–1 in the shootout.
Overall, Dallas was the better team, both in activity and aggressiveness. Mavrik Bourque had a solid game, and thanks to his equalizing goal, Dallas was able to celebrate the victory.
