DALLAS — Brian Elliott didn’t let this third-period lead get away, and St. Louis is going home with a chance to close out its second-round series against Dallas.

Elliott turned away a strong push from the Stars in the final period, rookie playoff points leader Robby Fabbri had a goal and assist, and the Blues beat the Stars 4-1 Saturday for a 3-2 series lead.

Dmitrij Jaskin’s first career playoff goal in his first postseason game this year put the Blues ahead for good in the second period, and St. Louis protected a 3-1 lead in the third for a second straight road victory.

The Blues surrendered the same lead before winning in overtime in Game 2 in Dallas. Elliott was perfect in the third period this time, getting 12 of his 27 saves to send the Blues home with the series edge. Game 6 is Monday night.

“I know we’ve done well on the road, but we’ve set ourselves up well to go home and win a game,” Elliott said after his seventh win of these playoffs and 13th overall. “If we can do more of the same, I think we’ll be on the right side of things after Game 6.”

There were quite a few empty seats at the start of such a pivotal game, which began at noon, but the pace was brisk early before the Blues established themselves in another physical game with frequent scuffles after whistles in a matchup of the top two Western Conference teams.

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“It felt like we were going out for a pregame skate and then all of a sudden you’re playing,” Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “And then it’s going 100 miles an hour and you’re trying to keep up. It’s hard to be alert that early in the day physically from a body contact standpoint.”

Jaskin’s go-ahead goal came after a long sequence in Dallas’ defensive end. Kari Lehtonen, who finished with 18 saves, stopped a backhander with his pad, but Jaskin got his own rebound and put it in over a sprawling Lehtonen midway through the second period.

Fabbri, who has four multipoint games in the playoffs and 10 points (eight assists) in 12 games, started the sequence to Troy Brouwer’s goal for a 3-1 lead with a cross-ice pass to Paul Stastny, who had an empty-net goal and an assist. Stastny’s shot was deflected to Brouwer, who almost missed the puck but got enough to send it into an open net.

HART TROPHY: Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins are the finalists for NHL MVP.

The winner will be announced June 22.

Kane became the first U.S.-born player to lead the league in scoring. His 46 goals, 60 assists and 106 points are career highs.

Crosby rebounded from the worst start of his career to put up 76 points in his final 62 games and help get the Penguins into the playoffs. The two-time Hart Trophy winner finished with 36 goals and 49 assists.

Benn finished second to Kane in the scoring race with 89 points on 41 goals and 48 assists. He led the Stars to their first division title since 2006.


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