St. Louis Blues T.J. Oshie is upended by Dallas Stars Nicklas Grossman in the first period at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on January 16, 2012. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
T.J. Oshie’s backhanded goal, just over 11 minutes into the third period turned out to be the lone goal, and Jaroslav Halak earned his third shutout of the season and 19th of his career with 22 saves as the Blues won 1-0 over the Dallas Stars at Scottrade Center.
The win pushed the Blues (27-12-6) into first place in the League, tied on points with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, who are first in the Eastern Conference.
The Blues moved Oshie to the top line with Perron and David Backes before the game, dropping Chris Stewart down to the second line with Patrik Berglund and Matt D’Agostini. The moves by coach Ken Hitchcock paid off. Backes won the faceoff in the Blues’ zone, and Alex Pietrangelo, who extended his consecutive points streak to seven games, made the initial outlet pass to Perron who worked a nice give and go with Oshie for the goal. Hitchcock talks about the line change and the team’s charge to the top of the standings.
AUDIOÂ Ken Hitchcock’s postgame (5:00)
