Blues upend Stars’ Bishop, force Game 7
DALLAS — Colton Parayko was shooting to score for the St. Louis Blues and delivered a stunning blow to the Dallas Stars even without getting the puck in the net.
Parayko’s hard shot from the slot hit Ben Bishop’s left shoulder, knocking the goalie onto his back and deflecting the puck to deep in the circle. Alexander Steen took a shot from there that was redirected by Jaden Schwartz over the still laid-out goalie in a 4-1 victory that forced Game 7 in the second-round Western Conference semifinal series.
“That’s a hard shot. A really hard shot. Shoot the puck, right? It’s a great play by (Steen) to put it right back on the net,” Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. “Great job Schwartzy. He’s been around that all series long and keeps getting rewarded.”
Schwartz’s eighth playoff goal with 12:23 left was the first of two goals by the Blues in a 33-second span and gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
Bishop was tended to by a trainer and initially stayed in the game, but a switch was made soon after when Sammy Blais, playing his first postseason game, rifled a slap shot past him.
“When you’re right there in the slot and you’re going to try to shoot to score,” Parayko said. “Obviously, I just try to get it around that first guy and find a corner. … I’m never out there to hurt anybody.”
Stars coach Jim Montgomery said Bishop was fine, pointing out that he had stayed in the game before Anton Khodobin got his first action of the postseason.
While St. Louis maintained possession while Bishop was down, Stars defenseman John Klingberg thought there should have been a whistle to stop play.
“We can’t change anything right now,” Klingberg said. “We didn’t play good enough to win. It’s not like we’re focusing on that right now.”
Blues coach Craig Berube said officials “don’t blow the whistle when you have possession. … His mask was still on, so that’s the reason.”
Pietrangelo scored 63 seconds into the game and David Perron, the former Golden Knights wing, also had a goal for the Blues, who will be on home ice for the decisive game Tuesday night.