Dallas Stars Send Calgary Down In Flames 2-1

The Dallas Stars earned their second regulation win of 2016 in a 2-1 decision against the Flames, sending us into the All-Star break hopeful and ready to leave January in the dust.

The Stars pulled two wins out of their three-game homestand, improving their record to 31-14-5. Although it was only their second win of 2016, the Dallas Stars showed some marked improvement in struggling areas and proved that they may be ready to leave the fiasco of the month of January behind them.

Recap

The Stars practically began the game on a power play, which started off a little rusty but seemed to shake off the cobwebs and managed to generate several good runs before expiring. The Calgary Flames defense just did not seem up to the challenge, and gave the Stars the advantage in shots even early on.

It was obvious early, too, that the Stars’ biggest obstacle would be Jonas Hiller. They dominated in shots, but kept hitting a brick wall until the second period, when the Stars unleashed a double whammy within a span of two minutes.

First, Jamie Benn scored off a great pass from Val Nichushkin, deking it out to slip it past Hiller. Then, Jason Spezza followed suit with help from John Klingberg.

The Flames didn’t answer until the third, when Joe Colborne scored to make it 2-1. Down to the wire, the Flames just couldn’t pull ahead for the equalizing goal, and the Stars came out on top.

Thoughts and Observations

Putting Ghosts To Rest…

The Dallas Stars were able to address two concerns expressed by Ruff and the players going into tonight’s game. The first, they addressed thoroughly: their struggle with leaving scoring chances at the net.

Both of Dallas’ goals were the product of hanging around the net, waiting for those second and third chances that may have gotten passed up in prior games. The follow-through and patience demonstrated in this game are what the Stars have been missing.

The second issue addressed, perhaps slightly less competently, was that of special teams. The Stars failed to score on either of two power play chances. However, the upside is that they showed improvement. Watching their first power play was a bit like watching a rusty machine start to turn its wheels again. It wasn’t smooth enough to score off of, but it was an improvement from allowing shorthanded goals for sure.

The Stars’ penalty kill, well, that was another story. Things got physical from the start of the game, and your Stars took a lot of manhandling from a clearly frustrated and dramatically-talented Flames team. In a word, the Stars were on the penalty kill a lot. And the Flames were unable to score a single power play goal.

A lot of the credit, to be honest, goes to Antti Niemi, who was a brick wall in net the entire 60 minutes. Clearly, at this point in the season, he is pulling ahead as the Stars’ top goalie. He’s proven himself dependable in goal, and had save after big save to keep tonight’s game at a 2-1 score.

More stars: Stars Earn First Regulation Win Of 2016

…But There’s Still Trouble In Paradise

So let’s talk about what the Stars did wrong. Against a team like the Flames, who have more losses than wins, our beginning-of-the-season Stars could have thrashed them with a much more dramatic goal difference. However, it was a tight, nail-biter of a game, up until the last second.

One of the Stars’ mistakes was not taking advantage of the Flames’ mistakes. Countless Flames turnovers in the first period didn’t lead to much of anything for the Stars, because they were still trying to find their focus. And it’s clear that the Stars have maybe developed some hasty/lazy passing habits that come back to bite them when let out to play.

Next: Dallas Stars Defensive Calamities Could Cause Click

Thankfully, this was one game in which the Dallas Stars scored first, and held their lead in the third. Best of both worlds, right?

So now we can all depart bravely into the All-Star break with our heads held high and our hopes rekindled for the dawning of a new day- and new month- for the Dallas Stars.