The Dallas Stars Need To Forget Revenge, Focus On Two Points vs. Panthers
By Josh Clark
The Winnipeg Jets, who currently occupy the top wild card spot in the Western Conference, dropped a 3-1 decision to the Ottawa Senators Wednesday night. This loss gave the Dallas Stars a slight window of hope as they now sit ten points behind the Jets with a game in hand. It’s a very slim chance that they will be able to complete a near-miracle and rise back into the playoff standings and qualify for the postseason, but this is a step in the right direction.
The Dallas Stars will face off with the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Sunrise, Florida, kicking off a five game road trip, their longest of the season. They are 1-0-0 against the Panthers this season, winning the first meeting 2-0 on February 13th in Dallas. The Stars are 5-5-0 on the road since the All Star Break, while the Panthers are 5-3-2 on home ice since the break.
The Dallas Stars last win against Florida came with a severe toll attached. After a cheap and gutless check from Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was labeled on Stars dazzling center Tyler Seguin, Seguin was declared injured for 3-6 weeks. Kulikov was ejected from the game and hit with a five game suspension following the hit. Seguin is on his way to a strong and quick recovery, and could be back on the ice before the Stars come back home from the long road trip. But the loss of Seguin over the last three weeks has all but extinguished the Stars playoff hopes.
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There will be a few different storylines in this game as well. First off, since the last meeting between the two teams, Jaromir Jagr and Dany Heatley have been added to the Panthers lineup, while Tomas Fleischmann was subtracted. Also, the Panthers experienced a bit of plaguing bad luck Tuesday night against Toronto, when both goaltenders went out with injuries. Both Roberto Luongo and Al Montoya are considered day-to-day, and former Dallas Star Dan Ellis will man the pipes for Florida tonight. This will be the Stars first time to face Ellis since trading him at the trade deadline last season for Tim Thomas.
Ellis has not played a game at the NHL level this season, but Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant seems to have plenty of faith in the net-minder. “Dan Ellis is an NHL goalie,” Gallant said. “We know that. Things didn’t go great for him a couple years ago, but hey, he’s an NHL goalie. He’s played a lot of games in the league and he’s won games. We’re confident in Dan. He’s a good guy, a good person and he gives us a chance to win.”
But the big focus for most who will tune in to tomorrow’s matchup will not be focused on the goalie, but instead on the Stars investment in dishing out revenge. Kulikov exited the ice immediately after laying the hit on Seguin on February 13th, unable to be reached by any Star for the rest of the game. Antoine Roussel, a hot candidate to pull something off Thursday night, was serving a suspension and did not suit up for the first clash between the two clubs.
It will be in the Dallas Stars’ best interest to drop the itching to harass and settle on strictly business and performance. If they had ten more points than they do, a scuffle would easily be allowed and welcomed by the Stars. But when two points is crucial, the team cannot be let down by one player or another and requires the effort of every member in order to succeed.
“Those situations are always in the back of your mind. We’ve got a game you’ve got to win. We feel like when something like that happens, the league has to deal with it. The team on the ice needs to go out and win a game. We don’t need to lose anybody in the process. So, we are going to try to focus on getting two points.”
Lindy Ruff wants his club focused on gaining two very important points in the race. At this point, if the Stars drop a game, it may as well be considered as the deal breaker between them and playoffs. The Stars have not won in Sunrise, Florida since October 21, 2010. Their last game in the BB&T Center turned out as a 3-2 loss, one in which Roberto Luongo stopped 35 of 37 in the face of the playoff-hungry Stars.
This year, the playoff hunt is a bit deflated, but not dead just yet. A win is crucial, and no wins come out of games wasted with stupid penalties. The Stars will need to hold their emotions in check and figure out how to crack Dan Ellis. If Ellis proves to be anything like the other goalies the Stars have faced this season, he is going to be really “hot” and the Stars will have a lot of trouble cracking him. Let’s hope that is not the case.
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