ST. PAUL, Minn. — The statistics tell you that when a series is tied two games apiece, the winner of Game 5 goes on to win an NHL best-of-seven series more than 79% of the time.
With that in mind, advantage St. Louis. Getting two goals from Vladimir Tarasenko early in the third period, the Blues erased a 2-1 Minnesota lead for a 5-2 victory before a sold out and loud crowd at Xcel Energy Center.
Ad then for good measure, Tarasenko scored again into an empty net for a hat trick with 1:33 to play.
