“This team genuinely likes being around each other. We didn’t want to go home tonight.” — Dallas Stars centre Jason Spezza.
ST. LOUIS — Hockey players.
Six years old, 16 or 36. No matter how old, they’re all the same.
They play Game 6 of a Round 2 series in the National Hockey League no harder than they played as a Bantam or Pee Wee — as much to win the game as to avoid having to say goodbye to each other and embark on those crappy few months without hockey.
And when their parents are at the game, they find them in the stands during the warmup. In Novice or in the NHL, nothing changes. “Oh yeah, you do. For sure,” said Dallas veteran Vern Fiddler.
And still, with a beard on their face and a million dollar pay cheque in the bank, they try that little extra to score a goal, when their parents are in the house.
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With parents Patricia and Bob in from Edmonton to watch their 36-year-old “boy” play, Fiddler — a fourth-line centre who didn’t have a goal yet this spring — scored the second Dallas goal in a 3-2 road victory Monday night. It was the middle goal in a three-goal first period that stunned 19,808 fans at the Scottrade Center, and had Dallas supporters scurrying to StubHub in hopes of grabbing tickets for Game 7 on Wednesday night.
“You know, it’s funny,” said Fiddler, packing his equipment bag as he stripped off his gear post-game. “My mom and dad, they bring out the best in me. Every time we go home to Edmonton, Calgary, they’re in the building. They’re my lucky charms. Definitely nice to have one in front of them.”
And nice to have another couple of days with the boys.
“We really like our group,” said Stars’ Jason Spezza, whose slick toe-drag preceded a missile wrist shot that flew glove side past Brian Elliott, making it 3-0 just 16:49 into the first period and spelling the end to Elliott’s night just seven shots in.
“We have fun, we’ve had a great year together,” Spezza added. “We have great chemistry in this room and we want to keep playing together. This team genuinely likes being around each other. We didn’t want to go home tonight.”
We knew when this series began that the Stars and Blues were the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the NHL’s regular season standings, finishing behind only Washington’s 120 points. Now, we’ll find out who moves on in a series that has featured four wins by the road team, and two by the home side.
“The way the playoff format goes — two, two, one, one, one,” began Stars defenceman Alex Goligoski, “we get the big win in Game 4 and it feels like we have all the momentum. Then they get us in Game 5 at home, and it’s like they’ve sealed it up.
“Now, it’s going to be big to play in front of our fans.”
So Alex, in a series where home ice advantage has meant little, it becomes important now?
“Game 7?” asks Goligoski. “I think it is.”
Of course he does.
This numbing loss drops St. Louis to 1-3 in elimination games this spring, and it was the first time in the playoffs that the Blues have trailed after one period. It was also the first time Elliott has been pulled, which is a tad disconcerting considering the circumstance.
“This isn’t a reflection on Brian,” said his coach, Ken Hitchcock. “Guy’s had a hell of a March, hell of an April and hell of a May.”
One hundred and ninety feet away, Kari Lehtonen perhaps stole this one for Dallas. He was fabulous, saving his best save for 23 seconds to play, flashing a left pad on Jaden Schwartz with six St. Louis attackers pressing.
After they scored their third goal late in the first period, Dallas only mustered seven more shots on goal through the rest of the night. In the final two periods, St. Louis peppered Lehtonen with 28 pucks, missing the net or refusing to shoot on a number of other prime chances.
“I don’t like giving the other goalie credit for anything, other than he wears pads,” Hitchcock said. “I think (Lehtonen’s) save of his year was with the (Blues) goalie pulled (on Schwartz). That’s hockey. When you get two good teams going at it, that’s hockey. I really liked our response, I really liked our heart, I really liked that we stayed on task. But …we could have made him make more saves.”
Meanwhile, Dallas won’t have to pack up their gear quite yet, and dig through the shed for the baseball gear or soccer cleats. In fact, they’re 60 minutes at home from another two weeks of hockey.
Awesome!
“We’re having a blast in here. Just a bunch of guys digging deep for each other,” Goligoski said, with a smile.
“It doesn’t get any better than this.”
