Through two games, the series with the St. Louis Blues is going exactly as Stars coach Lindy Ruff expected.
The Stars took Game 1, 2-1, the Blues took Game 2, 4-3, and in 120-plus minutes of hockey thus far (Game 2 went to overtime), the two teams that spent the homestretch of the regular season battling for top position in the Western Conference have made it abundantly clear that nothing will be given away in this series.
So yeah, not many surprises for Ruff, who has come to know the intensity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as anyone over the years.
"It's exactly what I expected,” Ruff said, per the Dallas Morning News. “They're a real good team. They don't give up a lot of chances. We created a few extra in Game 1. I thought the chances were kept real low by both teams in last night's game. The game kind of unfolded like a regular-season game where they ended up winning it on special teams. Their special teams were better than ours and that's something that I have to fix going forward.”
