Game Four: On the Verge
Although they lost Game Three, the fact that the Blues fought all
the way back from a 4-0 deficit to make it competitive gave them
momentum going into Game Four in St. Louis.
They used that momentum to jump on top early.
Pierre Turgeon and Pavol Demitra set up Pascal Rheaume's first goal
of the playoffs to give the Blues a 1-0 advantage just under six
minutes into the second period.
Then, Phoenix took the momentum.
Sparked by two big saves Nikolai Khabibulin made following the
Rheaume goal, Phoenix shut down St. Louis' offense for a 2-1
victory and a commanding three games to one lead in the series.
Greg Adams tied the game with nine minutes left in the second and
Dallas Drake tallied the game winner on a power play 8:25 later,
although the goal was originally given to Tempo Numminen.
Need a Game Four hero? Look at Keith Tkachuk. He was paired against
Al MacInnis most of the night, falling down in front of numerous
MacInnis blasts, blocking two of them.
"If you want to go down in front of that shot you've got to be a
little weird upstairs," Drake said of his teammate, "because he's
got a cannon."
Grant Fuhr atoned for his four-goals-on-ten-shots performance the
previous game by stopping 18 of 20 shots in a losing effort.
Al MacInnis was held without a point for the first time in the Cup
campaign.
Game Five: Staving
Their backs were to the wall.
And in a series where goals have been at a premium, with the
exception for Game Three, the Blues couldn't afford a mistake or
the season would be over.
With so few players scoring goals, it would not come as a surprise
that a player who hadn't scored yet would be a hero.
Scott Young was that man.
Young picked up his first goal of the 1999 post-season 5:43 into
overtime to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory and hold off elimination
for one more game.
"It was an exciting game," Young said. "We came back. We hung in
there, Al got the big goal, and we did what we had to do. We got
some timely goals tonight, which we hadn't been getting."
Al's big goal, his third of the postseason, tied the game at 1-1
with 8:10 left in regulation. The power play goal, assisted by
Chris Pronger and Pierre Turgeon, was MacInnis' third of the
postseason.
The Blues were almost eliminated by the play of Khabibulin. "The
Bulin Wall" stood strong all night, stopping a total of 41 shots,
including six shots the Blues made in overtime before their seventh
shot, on which Young scored.
Grant Fuhr stopped 26 of 27 and helped kill off a Coyote power play
earlier in the overtime to earn the win, his second of the
post-season.
Game Six: Frustrating The Opponent
My oh my how things change.
Just six days earlier, the Coyotes were predicted to run the Blues
out of the playoffs and onto the golf course.
Now, it's time for Game Seven.
That ultimate game will happen thanks to a 5-3 St. Louis victory in
Game Six, tying the series at three games apiece.
Craig Conroy contributed two goals and Pierre Turgeon helped thrice
to force a seventh game.
The Blues led 2-1 after twenty minutes. 12:18 into the second the
Coyotes started a 1:33 stretch where Phoenix scored twice and took
a 3-2 lead late in the middle frame.
On a power play with three minutes left in the period, Chris Pronger
collected a loose puck in front of Khabibulin and tied the game with
his first goal of the post-season.
St. Louis took the lead for good almost nine minutes into the third
when "sniper" Jeff Finley beat Khabibulin to give St. Louis a 4-3
advantage.
Craig Conroy added his second of the game with 4:41 left to ensure
the victory. Conroy was the third player of a three-on-one to touch
the puck. His goal sent the microscopic crowd of 16.629 to their
feet. (Here's a question: What else was going on in St. Louis on a
Sunday afternoon that kept the Kiel Center from being packed?)
Grant Fuhr stopped 18 of the 21 puck that flew toward him to help
his team to a Game Seven, something the Blues have obviously been
involved with.
St. Louis is 5-6 lifetime in seventh games during their 31 years of
hockey existence, losing there last three and five of the last six
Game Sevens dating back to the 1986 Campbell Conference Finals, a
series that was extended to a final game thanks to Doug
Wickenheiser's "Monday Night Miracle" that gave St. Louis a 6-5
overtime win, sending the series back to Calgary.
The Blues have won a seven-game series when trailing
three-games-to-one before. Back in 1991, the Blues beat Detroit in
seven to win their Norris Division Semi- final series.
Game Seven: The End
They are the two greatest words in sports when used together.
Game Seven.
One mistake and your team goes home. One great play and you will be
forever immortalized as a hero.
At approximately 1 a.m. in St. Louis, Pierre Turgeon became the
hero. After 77:59 of scoreless hockey, Turgeon deflected a Richard
Persson shot past Nikolai Khabibulin for a 1-0 overtime win,
sending the Blues to a second-round meeting with President's
Trophy-winning Dallas.
Grant Fuhr's 35 saves earned him his first shutout of this playoff
season and sixth overall.
The game was the third-ever Game Seven that went to overtime
scoreless. The Blues participated in the second game, losing to
Detroit in the 1996 Western Conference Semi-final on a fatal Steve
Yzerman shot from the blue line that blew past then-backup Jon
Casey.
This game, which will go down as one of the greats in playoff
history, was as close as a game could possibly be. Both teams had
35 shots. Both teams were 0- for-4 on the power play. Both teams
held the other without a goal for almost 78 minutes.
Turgeon's goal gave him at least one point in every one of the last
six games.
The Blues and Stars met four times during the regular season, with
the Blues going 1-2-1 in those games, being outshot 16-14 in the
season series.
Both sides last met in the playoffs back in 1994, with Dallas
sweeping the Blues in four straight. Overall, the Blues and (North)
Stars have each won five series head-to-head... but that means
absolutely nothing now.
Game One is Thursday. That means something.
Brett Hull will be playing for Dallas.
That means something too.
