Robert Bortuzzo bumped into Jamie Benn (Vladimir Tarasenko’s competition for the league’s scoring leader) on his way to the bench. Benn bent over and grabbed his face immediately. The replay shows Bortuzzo tapping his mid-section.
The embellishment was rewarded with a Dallas power play late in the period.
Jamie Benn danced around Troy Brouwer and into the zone with about two minutes left in the period. He moved it to Alex Goligoski, who found Patrick Sharp wide-open in front. Sharp hit the crossbar with his shot as he fell to the ice. When he got up, the puck was in front of him, but Elliot wasn’t. He knocked it in for his13th goal of the season.
In the first period, the Blues were outshot 16 to 5.
The second period started out with a fight. Antoine Roussel dropped the mitts with Troy Brouwer. At the next whistle, Travis Moen ignored Ryan Reave’s offer to fight and skated directly to Bortuzzo. In an attempt to avenge the previous “cheap shot”, they dropped the gloves, as well.
The hits were plenty, but neither team scored in the second. The Blues were outshot 13 to 7.
Benn cross-checked Jay Bouwmeester in front of Elliott, and Sharp’s wrist shot bounced off the fallen Blue to Benn. He hit it past Elliott for the Stars’ second goal and his 23rd of the season. The goal lifted him past Tarasenko (22) as the league’s leading goal scorer.
Cody Eakin shot the puck off the boards deep in the Star’s defensive zone. The puck hit the right part of the glass and trickled into the Blues empty net with 1:32 left in regulation.
Each team landed 30 hits. The Blues were outshot 38 to 22.
The Blues’ next game is against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday at the Scottrade Center. Tune in at 7:00 p.m.
Check out Brian Elliott’s unreal save: Elliott robs Hemsky
