Ghost Of Games Past Returns To Haunt Stars In Colorado

Sep 22, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Anders Lindback (29) makes a save on a shot by the St. Louis Blues during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Blues 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars had dreams of getting their first interdivisional victory on Saturday night as they headed to Denver, Colorado to take on the Avalanche. The Stars appeared to have turned an early season corner collecting points in their previous four games, three of those via the win. However, Saturday night proved to be a nightmare in Colorado as the Stars fell 5-2.

The Stars received goals from Cody Eakin and Patrick Eaves, but it was not enough as the Avalanche peppered Stars netminder Anders Lindback with 47 shots. Matt Duchene, Alex Tanguay, Jarome Iginla, Gabriel Landeskog, and Daniel Briere all had tallies for the Avalanche.

The Stars game tonight was a very concerning one. Fans had hoped the team was starting to emerge from an early season slump after winning three of their past four, but the Stars reverted right back to their bad habits tonight.

–Exhibit A– Backup goaltender Anders Lindback was a surprise starter for tonight’s contest. Kari Lehtonen had played the last several games and looked noticeably shaky on Friday night against the Minnesota Wild. As we have seen so many times this season, Lindback was unable to come in and get a win while their No.1 goaltender had a night off. Lindback allowed 5 goals on 47 shots. It is tough to win in this league when you are giving up five goals on a nightly basis. The Stars have now surrendered 10 goals in their past two games. Lindback’s numbers fall to an abysmal 0-5, with an .861 save percentage and a goals against average of 4.63.

–Exhibit B– The Stars allowed a season-high 47 shots on goal tonight. This has been a very concerning part of their game all season showing they are being outplayed for long periods of time. When a team is giving up lots of shots, you can be sure they are not possessing the puck a whole lot. The Stars game is one that hinges on puck possession. They certainly struggled with this part of their game, again.

–Exhibit C– Giving up the bad goal at the wrong time has been a reoccurring theme for the Stars this season as well. Shortly after the Stars had gained a huge momentum boost by Eakin’s opening tally, Daniel Briere scored from the corner on a light wrister that caught Lindback off guard.

–Exhibit D– The Stars have been on the wrong side of the special teams battle a whole lot this season. They had multiple chances to build a little bit of momentum with a penalty kill or powerplay goal in the third period, but ultimately failed at both. The Avalanche ended up 2 for 7 on the powerplay and a perfect 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.

I could go on longer about how tonight’s game was a very accurate microcosm of the Stars season so far. However, what’s the fun in beating a dead horse? The Dallas Stars still have a lot of hockey to play this season, and subsequently have a lot more talent than they are currently showing.  It may be a little premature to officially press the “panic button”, but an 0-6-2 record within your own division is alarming to say the least. The Stars have got to get this figured out sooner rather than later.

Like a good friend once told me, “A division can’t be won in October or November, but it can certainly be lost”. Although it may be naïve of me to believe the Stars should be challenging for the central division crown that is not the point. The point is the Stars need to figure out how to turn around this ship before it is too late. It starts on Tuesday as the team will head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs. Puck drop is scheduled for 630PM CST.

Let us know what you think! Is it too early to be sounding the alarm on the Stars season?