St. Louis Blues rediscover killer instinct while obliterating the Dallas Stars in Game 3

ByCRAIG CUSTANCE
May 5, 2016, 12:24 PM

— -- ST. LOUIS -- If the six goals and dominant play from start to finish wasn't enough of an announcement that the St. Louis Blues have arrived, there was a bit of swagger at the end to close it out.

Moments after fighting Dallas Stars forward Curtis McKenzie late in the third period, Blues forward Ryan Reaves blew a kiss toward the Stars bench to seal the win.

"Just a little emotion, that's all," Reaves explained quietly after the game. "In the heat of the moment."

But you can't help blame the Blues if they were feeling good about themselves at the conclusion of their 6-1 thumping of the Stars.

This was the game Blues fans have been waiting for in this round. The moment they eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks, you knew this Blues team was capable of something special if it used that series as a launching point and not a final accomplishment.

It took a couple of games to get there, but in returning home for the first time since beating the Blackhawks in Game 7, St. Louis turned in its most complete game of the playoffs.

The Blues chased a Stars goalie for the second time in two games, this time knocking out Antti Niemi after three goals, and they might have chased Kari Lehtonen too if Lindy Ruff had a third option on the bench.

They smelled weakness. And instead of hoping the Stars would wither away, they finished them off. It was a marked difference from the third period in Game 2.

"When you smell blood, you have to go for it," Reaves said. "When we're lighting the lamp like that, it only helps our favor when you're putting your foot on their throat and finishing the game the right way."

Since blowing a two-goal lead in Game 2 and nearly letting that opportunity slip away, the message has been consistent from the Blues' players and coaching staff. They need to play a full 60 minutes and play it the same way. No sitting back. No letting the Stars back into the game with overly cautious play.

It's getting the puck in deep and unleashing a forecheck the Stars couldn't handle in Game 3. The Blues talked about it before the game. They talked about it in between periods.

In this game, you saw the growth of a team that blew similar scenarios not only in this series but earlier in the playoffs as well. That's the sign of a good team, capable of making a long run in the spring. They keep getting better. The find new ways to win, and in these tight Stanley Cup playoffs, a blowout most certainly is a new way to win.

"That's what we were looking for," said Blues captain David Backes, who scored his fourth and fifth goals of the playoffs. "There was a shift or two they came at us hard, rather than sitting back, we made the push back, got pucks deep, made wave on wave. ... That's our best game, I think, of the playoffs in 10 games."

The one point Backes liked was that each Blues line returned to the bench leaving a positive situation for the next line hopping onto the ice.

As Backes put it, the Blues weren't leaving the next line with the Stars "coming at us Mach 1 and starting the whole shift in our zone, the way we did in our third period in Dallas."

No, this was the balanced team effort that the Blues were built to play. Backes had two goals. Alexander Steen, whom coach Ken Hitchcock continues to call the Blues' best player, had two as well and could have had a third.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal of the series, when his attempted pass ricocheted off Alex Goligoski's skate and past Lehtonen.

"It was a good bounce," said Tarasenko, with a small smile.

With a comfortable lead, Hitchcock was able to roll four lines and those lines kept on coming, like the big blue machine they're capable of being when all is going well.

They were most certainly aided by suspect goaltending in the Dallas end. This series is going to end quickly if neither Lehtonen nor Niemi find their game and make the timely save that has been missing since Lehtonen's sharp Game 1. Niemi gave up three goals on 12 shots before being pulled. Lehtonen gave up three goals on 27 shots.

So the Stars played their part in this blowout.

The difference was the Blues never let them back in this game. That's something new out of the Blues in this postseason. They're learning. Ten games in and they turned in their best performance of the playoffs. They're getting better with each new lesson learned and put behind them.

That's the way the best teams do it.