Blues pull away from Stars in Game 6, even series

DALLAS -- Jaden Schwartz and Sammy Blais scored 33 seconds apart in the third period, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 3-3. Game 7 is at St. Louis on Tuesday.
Jordan Binnington made 22 saves, and Alex Pietrangelo and David Perron scored for the Blues, who are 5-1 on the road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Stars highlights | Complete series coverage]
"I've said it all series, I've said it all season, that this is a group that's going to stick to that game plan," Pietrangelo said. "It might take us to the third period, (but) we're just going to keep on playing the way we need to play."
Ben Bishop allowed four goals on 20 shots for the Stars before leaving in the third period. He was replaced by Anton Khudobin, who made five saves.
"We knew this was going to be a long series, they're a good team," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "They play good team defense and got a great goalie, so we've got to find a way to try and put some in the back of the net."
Pietrangelo scored 1:03 into the first period on a wrist shot from the point that beat Bishop blocker side through a screen to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
The Blues recorded the first eight shots on goal before Justin Dowling got the first for the Stars at 8:25.
Tyler Seguin tied it 1-1 at 11:35 on the power play, taking a pass in the slot from Mats Zuccarello and scoring on a one-timer that trickled past Binnington.
"We expected them to come hard and they had a good start," Seguin said. "We would have liked to have had a better start, but it doesn't matter what's happened now. It's one game and looking forward to getting on the road tomorrow."
Perron made it 2-1 at 15:24 of the second period after tapping in a cross-ice pass from Oskar Sundqvist while fighting off Stars defenseman John Klingberg.

Schwartz extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:37 of the third period. Bishop went down on the ice in pain after making a high save on a slap shot from Colton Parayko, but St. Louis kept possession of the puck and Schwartz eventually scored on a redirection into an open net.
"It's the referee's discretionary call. We've got to keep playing, we've got to keep fighting through that," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "[The referees are] doing a good job and they're at this level of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a reason, and they thought there was no reason to blow the whistle."
Blais, who was playing in his first NHL playoff game, made it 4-1 at 8:10 with a slap shot from the left circle on a 2-on-0. Blais, who hadn't played since March 12, replaced Robby Fabbri on the second line after receiving a text from Blues coach Craig Berube on Saturday night telling him to see him on Sunday morning.

"I was a little bit nervous, but I had a good night's sleep," Blais said.
Montgomery said Bishop, who left the game following the goal, wasn't pulled because of the previous shot by Parayko and expects him to play in Game 7.

They said it

"I'm ready to turn the page and move on to the next game. It was an exciting challenge for us. None of the guys came in here with their head between their legs. ... We're just excited to keep playing hockey. That's what it's all about. Obviously, we want to get to the end, but we're excited to keep it alive. We'll do the same thing next game. It's a seven-game series for a reason. We're looking to amp it up and play even better next game." -- Blues forward David Perron
"Maybe he's got some secret recipe he's got going on there. Good coaches find a way to find the right mix, right?" -- Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo on coach Craig Berube inserting Sammy Blais
"It's a Game 7, we knew it was going to be a tight series. If you want to go far in the playoffs, you usually have to go through some Game 7s. So we come back to work tomorrow and be excited for our opportunity to play in a Game 7." -- Stars forward Mats Zuccarello

Need to know

Schwartz has eight goals in the playoffs, one behind Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks for the NHL lead. Schwartz scored 11 goals in 69 regular-season games. … It was St. Louis' first win in the playoffs by more than one goal. … Pietrangelo has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 12 playoff games. … Seguin has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 12 playoff games. … Dallas went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and leads the NHL in the playoffs (33-for-35, 94.3 percent). … Stars defenseman Taylor Fedun had four hits in 14:07 of ice time after being scratched the previous two games.

What's next

Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round at Enterprise Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS)