The Associated Press
DALLAS—David Backes gave the St. Louis Blues a big gift on his 32nd birthday—another overtime goal to go home even.
What a serenade of “Happy Birthday” for the Blues’ captain from his teammates after Backes scored off a rebound during a power play 10:58 into overtime of Game 2 last night for a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
“I want to know what they did with the money their parents gave them for voice lessons,” Backes smiled.
After blowing a two-goal lead while getting outshot 13-2 in the third period, the Blues took advantage of their second power-play chance in overtime.
Backes followed up Alexander Steen’s shot 17 seconds after Antoine Roussel was called for interference—his third penalty in the game.
“The thing that impressed me more than anything was the way we played in the overtime. Outstanding,” said Blues’ coach Ken Hitchcock.
“We went into attack mode and stayed on it the whole time.”
Instead of a 0-2 hole, the Blues go home 1-1 in the best-of-seven series matching the Western Conference’s top two teams.
Game 3 goes tomorrow night, with Game 4 also in St. Louis on Thursday before the series returns to Dallas for Game 5 on Saturday.
When Roussel was asked if the overtime penalty was the right call, he responded, “I don’t know. They have a tough job. It’s not easy to be a ref out there.”
Roussel slammed his stick when exiting the penalty box after Backes scored to end the game.
“He was trying to stay onside,” said Stars’ coach Lindy Ruff, referring to it as a tough penalty.
“It doesn’t matter whether I like the call or don’t like the call . . . we looked like we were going to get an odd-numbered rush and they got a couple hooks on [Stars’ rookie Radek Faksa] just before going through the middle of the ice, which I was frustrated with,” he added.
Antti Niemi had stopped 19-straight shots since relieving Kari Lehtonen after the first period until Backes scored.
Blues’ goalie Brian Elliott made 31 saves, including big shots by Jason Spezza and Stars’ captain Jamie Benn about a minute apart in overtime.
Elsewhere, San Jose beat Nashville 3-1 to lead their second-round series 2-0.
