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ST LOUIS BLUES VS DALLAS STARS- 3:00PM EDT/12:00PM PDT- (St Louis leads 1-0)
Though they came up short on Thursday night in the opener, the Dallas Stars saw some things that could help them tie up their series against the St Louis Blues. They poured on the pressure in the 3rd period, and it led to more second chances off rebounds and they were able to get one past Jordan Binnington, who was solid in goal for the Blues. Creating chaos in front of Binnington and getting him scrambling is going to lead to more opportunities for the Stars today.
They’re going to need to make sure that Vladimir Tarasenko doesn’t get the kind of chances he did in Game 1, as he scored twice including the winner. Dallas has done well defensively so far, but a little tightening up could go a long way. St Louis knows they can’t sit on a lead the way they did in Game 1, especially with the way Dallas’ top line can take control of things.
BOSTON BRUINS VS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS- 8:00PM EDT/5:00PM PDT- (Boston leads 1-0)
Columbus came out of the gates a little sluggish, but picked it up as the game went along, and showed they’re more than game to keep up with Boston physically. The Bruins seemed to have things in control and then in the blink of an eye, they were down a goal. They can’t sleep on this Blue Jackets team, so you can bet they’re going to take that lesson from Game 1. It will be interesting to see how much bullshit Brad Marchand gets away with in Game 2 after going unpenalized for breaking the stick of Cam Atkinson on a faceoff with his skate. I am sure that John Tortorella will be reminding tonight’s officiating crew to keep a close eye on Marchand.
This was the first loss of the playoffs for the Blue Jackets, so expect them to come charging out of the gates in this one and send a message to the Bruins that winning Game 1 doesn’t mean this series will be easy. They’ll need to tighten up a bit on D, as they got exposed on that OT goal by Charlie Coyle. I won’t be surprised to see this series head to Columbus Monday tied 1-1.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Italian thrashers ULTRAVIOLENCE are set to tour across Canada in May (including dates in Vancouver, Nelson and Kelowna) with support from Kitchener, ON’s INVICTA. Here’s a great VENOM cover, ‘Don’t Burn The Witch’ to get you goin’ today!