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The Stanley Cup playoffs are well underway and at theBRKDWN sports are analyzing and previewing each second-round matchup. In this article, I will be dissecting and predicting a team to advance to the third round of the playoffs, so let’s begin.



Headlines

St. Louis Blue are coming off a 4-2 series win against the Winnipeg Jets

Jaden Schwarts lead the Blues with 4 goals in the series with 3 of them coming in the form of a Hat Trick in Game 6.



Alex Pietrangelo led all Blues Players with 6 Points (all assists)



Dallas Stars are coming off a 4-2 series win against the Nashville Predators

Alexander Radulov lead the way with 4 goals 2 assist for the Stars as their point leader.



Goaltender Ben Bishop was 4-2 with a 9.45 Save % Limiting the Preds to just 1 goal twice in the series.



Second-round games start on Thursday night and theBRKDWN sports will be all over it.



Schedule

Game 1 Thus., April 25, Dallas @ St. Louis, 9:30 p.m. ET

Game 2 Sat., April 27, Dallas @ St. Louis, X:xx p.m. ET

Game 3 Mon., April 29, St. Louis @ Dallas, X:xx p.m. ET

Game 4 Wed., May 1, St. Louis @ Dallas, X:xx p.m. ET

Game 5* Sat., May 3, Dallas @ St. Louis, TBD, TBD

Game 6* Mon., May 5, St. Louis @ Dallas, TBD, TBD

Game 7* Wed., May 7, Dallas @ St. Louis, TBD, TBD

*If necessary



Season Series Winners

Dallas won the season series 3-1 outscoring St. Louis 13-7

Jan 8th: 3-1 W for DAL

Jan 12th 3-1 W for STL

Feb 21st 5-2 W for DAL

Mar 2nd 4-1 W for DAL

-Jamie Benn has scored 5 of those 13 goals including a hat trick on March 2nd

-John Kingberg has 7 points (2G, 5A) in 4 games, & Tyler Seguin has 6 points (3G, 3A)



theBRKDWN



This series is going to be all about defense and goaltending as both teams rank in the bottom half in scoring (Blues 15th / Stars 28th) and top 5 in goals against (Blues 5th / Stars 2nd). Both teams rank top 15 on the Power Play and top 10 on the Penalty Kill. Limiting special teams play will be key with two evenly matched teams.



Rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington has been the Blue success story all year. Binnington was given the starting spot between the pipes but he is 1-2-0 against the Stars this year with a 2.76 GAA and a .879 save %. With five losses on the season, it is shocking to see two were to Dallas. His goals against stats versus the Stars compared is almost a full point higher than his season average (1.89 GAA).



On the other side of the ice veteran netminder Ben Bishop has a 2-1 record with a 1.69 GAA and a .941 Save % against the blues this year. Bishop has the veteran presence needed to win in the playoffs. He last saw postseason success in 2015-2016 going to the Conference Final, before being replaced by Vasilevskiy and in 2014-2015 went to the Cup Final with Tampa Bay.



The deciding factor in this series will be whether or not the Blues stop the Stars top line. In 6 games against the Predators; Benn, Seguin and Radulov have 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists). The Blues top D pair allowed 15 points to the Jets top line of Scheifele, Wheeler and Connor in 6 games. Limiting the Power Play will be key and playing most of the game 5-on-5 for the Blues to limit extra chances.



Series Prediction

St. Louis Blues In 6



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