*Photo from Sportsnaut*
One of the strong points this season for the St.Louis Blues has been their home record, which now just got a little better. Logan Brown scored, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice, and the Blues defeated the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Friday night.
The Blues have now swept the home and home series with the Dallas Stars, having beaten them on Tuesday night in Dallas. The Blues are on a hot streak, with a 5-0-1 record in their last 6 games, and they are 8-0-1 in their last 9 home games. That bumps up their record to 17-8-5 this season, good for a spot in 3rd place of the Pacific Division.
Asked about the team's hot streak, Tarasenko said that "Winning is fun. I think it's enough to say it's fun. The atmosphere, the mood, the confidence, it's great to keep winning. We have a tough trip coming up, so looking forward to the next game."
It was a scoreless first period to start, but Brown broke the stalemate by scoring his 3rd goal of the season 3:35 into the second period, making it a 1-0 lead for the Blues. It remained that way until there were 11 seconds left in the second, when Tarasenko scored his 10th goal of the season, making it 2-0 Blues after two periods.
The Stars got on the board first in the 3rd period, when Jason Robertson scored his 9th goal of the season 12:11 into the 3rd, cutting the deficit in half to make it a 2-1 score. A few minutes later, on the power play, Tarasenko ripped off his highlight shot to score his second goal of the night, making it a 3-1 game. With the net empty with 2:43 remaining, Ivan Barbashev converted, making it 4-1 to seal the win.
Getting the start in goal for the Blues was Charlie Lindgren. He continued his strong stretch for the Blues, winning his 5th straight start. He's the first goalie in Blues history to win their first 5 starts, beating our Ryan Miller, who had won 4 straight. Lindgren saved 26 of 27 shots, posting a .963 save percentage to move to 5-0-0 this season.
Lindgren said his winning streak is "A pretty cool thing. It's an individual award, but again, cliché, but it's a team award as well. The guys are battling hard for me. It isn't just about me, it's about the team. Very excited about it, but let's keep it going."
On the Stars side of the ice, Braden Holtby got the start in goal and performed well, but it was not enough to get the win. Holtby turned aside 30 of the 33 shots on goal the Blues sent his way, good for a .909 save percentage in the loss. With the loss, Holtby falls to a 5-7-1 record in 14 starts for Dallas.
Stars head coach Rick Bowness said "It's the same script as last game. We're right in there, we're one shot away and then we take a penalty at the wrong time of the game and the penalty killers have got to come up with that job. It's the same script. But regardless of that, our power play had three opportunities to get us that goal to get us in the game, and they got outworked. Our power play got outworked, simple as that."
The Stars get back in action with a back to back against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, with Jake Oettinger to start in net. The Blues face the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, with Jordan Binnington in line to start if he can clear health and safety protocols. If not, look for Lindgren to start again.
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