Dallas Stars Shine in Third, Beat Coyotes 3-1 – Postgame

As Ralph Strangis would say, finally finally finally.  The Stars, behind three third period goals, beat the Coyotes 3-1 to end the losing streak at the American Airlines Center.  Down 1-0 entering the third, the Dallas Stars came out of the locker room and just refused to lose this game.  John Klingberg scored his first career NHL goal early in the third and Cody Eakin tipped one home soon after.  Jason Spezza would add one later in the period for some insurance and Kari Lehtonen finished the job with some nice saves.  Here is the recap.

Recap

The first half of the first period showed us exactly what these teams are.  Two teams that cannot seem to find a consistent rhythm and look stable out on the ice.  There were turnovers and sloppy puck play on both sides to start this game with the grinding lines having the best chances for each team.  The Moen-Fiddler-Eaves line was easily the best on the ice for the Stars in the first, generating a lot of zone time.  It was the Coyotes that struck first however, when Lauri Korpikoski shoved a rebound past Kari Lehtonen for a powerplay goal.  Each time had a powerplay in the period, with Arizona’s looking far more effective.  With about a minute to go, the Stars got their best chance of the period when Trevor Daley drilled a slapshot into Mike Smith‘s pads and Ales Hemsky was in front for a rebound chance, but Hemsky continued to be snakebitten and the Stars went into the locker room down 1-0.

The second period was more of the same for each team.  Some blown coverage and turnovers on each side led to some good chances for the likes of Shane Doan and Cody Eakin, but nobody was ultimately able to beat a goalie in the second frame.  Jason Spezza had a few solid chances with his legs doing the work.  John Klingberg continued his superb play in the second period with numerous breakout passes that beat Coyotes.  Unfortunately, the Stars were unable to cash in on any of their opportunities and the biggest blow came when Travis Moen had appeared to score his first as a Star but it was disallowed due to Brenden Dillon being in the crease.  The second frame ended the same as the first, a 1-0 Coyote lead.

The third period could not have started better for the Stars.  John Klingberg dangled past a Coyote defender off an early attack zone face off and sent a wrister sailing past Mike Smith for his first NHL goal to tie the game at one.  Not even a minute later, Cody Eakin deflected a Trevor Daley point shot to the back of the net to give the Stars a quick one-goal lead.  They came out like a team who is just sick of losing at the American Airlines Center.  They played like it in the third and continued to put the pressure on the Coyotes.  Jason Spezza had a strong play wrapping around the net and slipping one under the arm of Mike Smith to give the Stars a two goal lead late in the game.  The Coyotes almost scored with about 15 seconds left but Alex Goligoski got his stick in front of the goal line to stop the puck.  The Stars would win the game, 3-1.

Thoughts and Observations

-The hype for Klingberg just will not go away.  He plays so well with the puck as evident by one of the prettier goals you will see from a defensemen.

-Ales Hemsky added two assists in the game, hopefully a couple points is what he needed to get going.  He played a solid game offensively.

-Both Seguin and Klingberg had injury scares in this game.  Seguin crashed hard into the boards while Klingberg got a skate near the wrist area.  Both returned to the game and didn’t appear to have serious injuries but it is worth monitoring going forward.

The Dallas Stars take home ice again on Saturday as they welcome the Los Angeles Kings to town, puck drops at 7:00pm CT.  Keep reading Blackout Dallas for pregame and postgame coverage!