The St. Louis Blues are on the cusp of their first appearance in the conference finals since 2001. All they have to do is beat the Dallas Stars once more.
St. Louis is in a familiar position with a chance to eliminate a division rival, though in the first round against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues made things difficult by waiting until Game 7.
This time around, however, the Blues have more experience under their belts, and are looking forward to the opportunity of clinching on home ice.
"We've been in this situation before, so we know what we have to do a little bit different than last time," defenseman Carl Gunnarson told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We've got a good feeling in the group right now. I think everyone was a little nervous on both sides (Saturday), who's going to get the advantage. Getting it 3-2 and playing at home, that win is going to be the upper hand for us."
St. Louis took Game 5 by a convincing 4-1 margin, but the road team has won three times in the series, and the Stars aren't going to roll over.
"Once you get backed into a corner it brings out the best of you in a lot of ways," Dallas defenseman Johnny Oduya said. "It's always talked about where if you are on the other side, winning that fourth game is the toughest. I think we felt that the last series (against Minnesota) too. For us, we are looking at winning one game. That's the mindset we're approaching every game in the playoffs, but it becomes even more important now."
Game 6 gets underway Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
