ST. LOUIS — Finnish forward Roope Hintz scored two goals as the Dallas Stars beat host St. Louis 4-2 Saturday to level their National Hockey League playoff series.
The Stars equalized the best-of-seven Western Conference second-round series at 1-1, which continues Monday in Dallas.
Hintz opened the scoring for Dallas 7:11 into the game and countryman Miro Heiskanen doubled the Stars’ lead just 6:28 later.
Canadian defenseman Colton Parayko answered for St. Louis just 46 seconds later to pull the Blues closer but just 26 seconds after that Dallas restored a two-goal edge with Swedish center Mattias Janmark’s first goal of the playoffs.
After a scoreless second period, the Blues scored 1:48 into the third, Jaden Schwartz’s goal off a pass from Parayko surviving a video replay review appeal by Dallas for goaltender interference.
The Stars killed a late power-play chance for the Blues with the St. Louis goaltender benched for an extra attacker and Hintz scored the clincher into an empty net three seconds from the final horn.
St. Louis coach Craig Berube said his team wasted too many good chances. The Blues were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
“Our power play could have helped us tonight, it didn’t,” Berube said. “That might have made the difference in the game.”
Elsewhere, Matt Duchene scored on the power play 3:42 into the second overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins and square their second-round playoff series at 1-1.
Artemi Panarin tallied two goals and one assist and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets.
The best-of-seven series shifts to Columbus on Tuesday.
With Patrice Bergeron — Boston’s best penalty killer — in the penalty box, Duchene was parked in front of the net. A shot from the point was stopped, but Duchene fooled Boston goalie Tuukka Rask by using his skate instead of his stick to collect the rebound.
Duchene then kicked the puck to his stick and slipped a shot past Rask for the winner.
Twice the Bruins took a lead in the first 40 minutes and both times Columbus came back to tie it. — AFP
