Stars Blow Third Period Lead, Lose To Blues In OT
By Marcus Gatto
Oct 28, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) is congratulated by center Maxim Lapierre (40) after scoring his second goal during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Blues defeated the Stars 4-3 in overtime. Tarasenko gets a hat trick. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars saw three 1 goal leads evapourate at home on Tuesday night, and eventually ended up losing 4-3 to the St. Louis Blues. The Stars held leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, before the Blues scored on a powerplay in overtime to end the night. Stars goal scorers were Jamie Oleksiak, Tyler Seguin, and Trevor Daley. Vladimir Tarasenko had a big game for the Blues tallying 3 goals and 1 assist. Jori Lehtera scored the other Blues goal. The Stars will be off for a couple days before getting back to business against the Anaheim Ducks at 730pm CST at the AAC on Friday.
Recap
The Stars started the night off fairly sluggish and found themselves trailing 6-0 in shots only a few minutes into the game. They squandered an early powerplay chance just 49 seconds into the game when Blues forward Jori Lehtera was called for hooking. The Stars would climb back to even the shots at 7 before defenceman Jamie Oleksiak scored his first career goal. Jamie Benn carried the puck into the zone before dropping a pass to Tyler Seguin, who then delivered the puck to Oleksiak at the right point. Oleksiak’s shot found its way through a maze of players infront of the net to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. The lead would be very short lived. Just 35 seconds after Oleksiak’s first goal of his career, Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko picked up a drop pass from teammate Jori Lehtera and rifled a wrister top shelf on Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen. The teams would head to the second period knotted at one.
The second period saw a lot of the same play as the first period. The Blues and Stars exchanged powerplay opportunities and no team could find a way to break through the stingy penalty kills. Then, just 5 minutes into the second period, Seguin scored a one timer from the right circle to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. The play started as Stars defenceman Trevor Daley dumped the puck into the Blues corner. Stars forward Jason Spezza was the first player to retrieve the puck. He then sent a pass to Seguin in the bottom of the right circle. Seguin made no mistake for his 7th goal of the season and 100th for his career. This lead would also be very short lived. Only 37 seconds after Seguin’s go-ahead tally, Lehtera backhanded a puck past Lehtonen to tie the game at two.
Very early in the third period, the Stars would once again regain their one goal lead. Trevor Daley scored his 5th powerplay goal of the season from the bottom of the left circle. It was a wrist shot that seemed to handcuff Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. Although the Stars would regain the lead early in the period, they would once again relinquish it. Following an offensive blue line turnover, the Blues went in transition back the other way. Tarasenko received a stretch pass from Lehtera and put a slick half-spin move on Stars forward Ryan Garbutt. Tarasenko managed to escape the defending of Garbutt, and fired a low wrister past Lehtonen’s blocker to knot the game at 3. The Stars and Blues would trade chances the rest of the period but neither team was able to break through. The teams would head to overtime tied at three.
Less than 20 seconds into overtime, Seguin was whistled for a high-sticking penalty on Blues defenceman Alex Pietrangelo. The Blues would end the game as Tarasenko completed the hat-trick with a one timer from the right circle.
Observations:
-Although the Stars looked better defensively tonight, they were still noticeably struggling in certain areas. The forwards did a good job tracking back and picking up the Blues forwards in transition, but their inability to take away the wide drive of the Blues forwards was their demise. Tarasenko and Lehtera both scored goals by using foot speed to beat Stars defenders wide and get to the net fairly easy.
-Kari Lehtonen looked fantastic again tonight. He ended up stopping 24 of 28 shots in the loss. He deserved a better fate tonight as he made several spectacular stops late in the game to keep the Blues from finishing the Stars in regulation. It should also be noted that he didn’t have a chance on any of the four Blues goals tonight. Tarasenko scored 3 goals that were labeled for precise spots in the net. Lehtera’s goal on the backhand went of a Stars defender and in, as well.
-In the end, the Stars picked up another point tonight. That is now 5 of the last 6 games with atleast one point. That tells us that they are very close to being a special team. With a few more practices and a little more familiarity with one another, these games will soon start to end up on the favourable end for the Stars.
Don’t forget, the Stars return to the AAC on Halloween Night (Friday, October 31st) to take on the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm CST.