This series was always going to come down to goaltending.

In Wednesday's Game 7, it was the best of times in net for one team and the worst of times for the other as the St. Louis Blues straight up throttled the Dallas Stars.

Brian Elliott, who was yanked from Game 6 after allowing three goals on seven shots, responded with a 31-save performance in the series-clinching 6-1 win.

He's started all 14 playoff games for the Blues, posting a .929 save percentage while his team has been pushed to the limit in each of the first two rounds.

Whether it's the San Jose Sharks or Nashville Predators who join the Blues in the Western Conference finals, St. Louis will have full confidence in its goaltending.

The same, however, can't be said in Dallas moving forward.

Appearing in his first career Game 7, Kari Lehtonen allowed five goals on eight shots before giving way to Antti Niemi, who didn't fare much better (two goals allowed on 10 shots).

Over the course of the playoffs, the alleged 1A-1B tandem combined for a sub-.900 save percentage, which simply won't cut it for any team with serious Stanley Cup aspirations.

That general manager Jim Nill is tied to this pair for two more seasons and for more than $10 million is troubling, to say the least.

Sure, the Stars were playing without one of their very best players in Tyler Seguin, and the nucleus of a contending team is in place, but in order for this team to take another, bigger step next season, Nill is going to have to return to the drawing board and figure out how to get out of this mess.

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