It’s A Good Morning To Be A Dallas Stars Fan; Here’s Why

Go to your closet, trash can, or wherever you decided to stash your Dallas Stars jersey until next season and take it out before it’s too late! Give it a nice dusting or washing and get it back in your outfit scheme, because the Dallas Stars we were all hoping and praying for on October 9th, 2014 may have finally showed up.

Though it was not pretty, the Dallas Stars did the almost impossible and beat the Edmonton Oilers in a shootout victory that would make any diehard Dallas Stars fan cry tears of pure joy.

The Dallas Stars entered Rexall Place on Sunday night with three straight wins under their belts over the past week. Kari Lehtonen had led the way to their streak, giving away just 1.33 goals per the last three contests. The offense had looked a little shaky, but continued to get enough for the two points, and the defense looked as good as it ever had to date. They had a showdown scheduled with the NHL’s worst team, the Edmonton Oilers, who had yet to win eight games through the 2014-2015 campaign. The Stars had already beaten the Oilers once during Thanksgiving break, and expected a similar result.

The Oilers started out with signs of life. Not even three minutes passed by when Taylor Hall sent a power play goal past Lehtonen, giving an early advantage to Edmonton. As the Dallas Stars do most of the time when they are behind, they came roaring back and notched two straight goals from Shawn Horcoff and Erik Cole, both former Oilers. They took the lead into the first intermission, with hopes high and heads in the clouds.

The second period reversed their hopes entirely. Edmonton skewered Lehtonen, pinning three on him within the first ten minutes of the period and taking control with a 4-2 lead. After Lindy Ruff was convinced that Kari’s miraculous rebirth had shifted into reverse, he benched him for backup goalie Anders Lindback, who had not set his skates on the ice in regulation since being recalled from the Texas Stars on December 14th. Many assumed that was the sign to turn the game off and look forward to the next one, considering Lindback was 0-5-0 when wearing Victory Green. But if that was not a good enough sign, Lindback gave away a goal no more than four minutes after he assumed the position in the crease. Jamie Benn found a power play goal with 21 seconds to go in the second, and led the self-destructive Dallas Stars into the locker room with a 5-3 deficit to overcome.

The third period started up, with all Dallas Stars fans praying for mercy. But it did not turn out to be the Dallas Stars that would need it. Within the first minute, Tyler Seguin came alive and put away his 24th goal of the season, leaving the Stars down by just one. Nobody believed it could ever happen, but with 10:47 left in the third frame, Seguin found #25 and tied the game back up. The momentum was heavily in favor of the Stars, who ended up outshooting the Oilers 16-5 in the final period. Overtime rolled along, and the Stars were set to face the five minutes that had haunted them for the entire season, leaving them 0-4 in the extra period on the season. The Stars and Oilers tossed the puck back and forth for five minutes, and the shootout eventually became the only answer.

Through eight rounds and eight different shooters, the Dallas Stars found a way to seal the deal for their fourth straight win, with Anders Lindback snagging his first win as a Dallas Star and Shawn Horcoff sinking the game winner against his former team as the fans so unkindly booed him (that had to feel good).

Now, the Dallas Stars have won four straight, and will look to make it five against a struggling Toronto Maple Leafs team that has lost three straight but beat the Stars into submission back on December 2nd. This is the longest win streak the Dallas Stars have strung together so far this season, and we’ll see if they have the mentality to build on it. Tuesday night is going to be an interesting matchup to watch. But, since it’s a drag Monday, at least you can enjoy it a little more by reading everything above. Though it wasn’t pretty, a win is a win.

Leave your comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Go Stars.