Lindell made it 2-0 at 9:36 with a power-play goal, beating Binnington with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a cross-crease pass from Roope Hintz. It was the defenseman's first power-play goal since Oct. 19, 2019, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I just got the tail end of the power play there before it comes to 5-on-5,” Lindell said. “We ended up getting in the zone. I’ve got to give credit to [Hintz], who made a nice pass.”
The Blues outshot the Stars 21-10 after the first period, hit multiple posts and missed a number of high-danger scoring chances but couldn’t solve DeSmith.
“We really didn’t show good finish,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. ‘I think we whiffed on maybe five shots tonight, but execution-wise, we weren’t screening the goalie well enough. We were off to the side. We weren’t fighting through checks because we had a lot of point shots, especially in the second where you’d like to take away his eyes to create either goals, tips or rebound goals.”
Blues forward Brandon Saad had a clear look at DeSmith’s goal with 1:37 left in the third period and St. Louis skating with an extra attacker, but the 33-year-old goalie fended off a snap shot from the top of the right circle with his blocker to preserve the shutout.
“In the third period when we were low on gas, we just chipped pucks in and chipped pucks out and just weathered the storm,” DeSmith said.
NOTES: The last time St. Louis was shut out was March 30, 2024, 4-0 against the San Jose Sharks. … Blues forward Radek Faksa was 8-for-12 in the face-off circle in 12:01 of ice time in his first game against the Stars after he was acquired in a trade for future considerations on July 2; he spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career in Dallas.