Second-round preview: Stars vs. Blues

2:51 PM ETDallas Stars (1st seed, Central Division) vs. St. Louis Blues (2nd seed, Central Division)

ST. LOUIS — The Blues just knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks, the reigning Stanley Cup champs, in seven games. Their reward in Round 2? The No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

St. Louis’ road won’t get any easier.

The showdown between the Stars and Blues is a fascinating matchup between two teams with distinct styles of play that ultimately try to do the same thing — defend by having the puck as much as possible. It’s a flashback to 1999, when Ken Hitchcock and Lindy Ruff squared off in the Stanley Cup finals as the coaches of the Stars and Sabres, respectively.

It’s also a series that features some of the most exciting offensive players in the game in Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Vladimir Tarasenko but may come down to which of these teams plays defense best.

Vladimir Tarasenko, left, had 40 goals in 80 regular-season games for St. Louis, while Dallas’ Tyler Seguin — who missed a month, including most of the first round because of an Achilles injury — had 33 goals and 40 assists in 72 games. Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportswire

Here’s a look at the second-round showdown between the Stars and Blues:

How they win

St. Louis: The Blues take the knowledge they gained from beating the reigning champions and apply it to this series against the Stars. The first-round victory over Chicago was a major hurdle for the Blues, who enter this series as a wiser, playoff-tested team.

“We have knowledge now of what it takes, and now we’ve got to use it,” said Hitchcock, now the coach of the Blues. “We have an opportunity in front of us. I’m sure everybody in that room knows it’s going to get harder. But we have knowledge, and it’s the emotional knowledge of how deep you have to dig.”

The Blues will win if they continue to get spread-out scoring from their deep forward groups, along with the occasional Tarasenko breakout. Rookie Robby Fabbri was fearless in the opening series and was a major part of St. Louis’ offense. It bodes well for the Blues if he builds off that performance. At their best, the Blues play a relentless, machine-like game that keeps on coming. They did a terrific job of shutting down Chicago stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. If they can do the same against Benn and Seguin, the Blues will move on.

Dallas: The Stars have to turn this into a shootout. …

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