Blues look to avoid 0-2 deficit vs. Stars

The top-seeded Dallas Stars have cleaned up their act after that frantic finish in the first round.

Now the St. Louis Blues, already down a game in their second-round series matching the Western Conference's top two teams, have to do the same. They have to get past their thrilling seven-game opening series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

"We can't have that excuse in Game 2," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We are going to have to find a different energy, but we are going to have to really simplify our game in a better way."

After a 2-1 loss in the opener at Dallas, the Blues had only a day to get ready for Game 2 this afternoon.

"We weren't as good as we were against Chicago, and that's on us," Blues captain David Backes said. "That's on me to start and have guys going in the right direction."

Five days after their frenzied finish in their Game 6 clincher at Minnesota when they won 5-4 after taking a 4-0 lead into the third period, the Stars had a postseason-high 42 shots on goal in Game 1 against the Blues. Kari Lehtonen, the goalie in net to open both series, had 31 saves.

"The only thing we dealt with after the [Wild] series was we dealt with that 15 minutes," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We completely turned that around. We stayed calm. We made plays. We had the puck more. We believed in how we were playing and I think it showed that we can play right through 60 minutes the same way."

Dallas will likely be without right wing Patrick Eaves, who late in the opener got hit on the lower leg by a teammate's shot and struggled to get off the ice before hobbling to the locker room.

Eaves has five points (two goals and three assists) in the playoffs, trailing only Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza on the Stars.

Ruff on Saturday described Eaves "as questionable unless it comes around, but it's awfully sore."