Dallas Stars Needed To Lose At Hands Of Wild
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars have finally lost a game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. But the ugly loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night had a silver lining.
Monday’s tend to be rather regretful and disappointing days in the average week. It is the first day of the work week after a weekend that always seems to get shorter and shorter. The weather seems to be a little gloomier, the morning coffee a bit more bitter, and the entire day seems to be a foggy mess.
But then Monday night comes along, and you find yourself kicked back in your recliner, sipping on a nice glass of whatever your heart desires, and watching TV to wind the rest of your day down. All in all, you are just happy that the Monday blues are exiting your system.
Last night, just as soon as the Monday blues were on their way out for rest of the week, they snuck right back in and are more than likely still hanging over your head this morning. This can all be traced back to the Dallas Stars and their ugly loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The Stars flew up to Minnesota on Sunday morning after a brief practice at home and prepared to endure the State of Hockey until Wednesday night. They had started their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Thursday night against the Wild and won in dominant fashion in front of a sold-out home crowd. They continued the tradition on Saturday night when they snuck by the Wild to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Things were looking up for the best team in the West. The Dallas Stars had closed their year out on a high note by being crowned Central Division and Western Conference champions in game 82, posting one of the best records in franchise history of 50-23-9 for a whopping total of 109 points.
The Stars entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs for just the second time in the last eight years, but seemed much more prepared this time around than ever before. The Stars were in full surge while the Wild looked depleted and scared.
But after last night, Minnesota no longer looks bewildered. Instead, they look like a potential candidate to snatch control of this series.
The Wild put on a clinic last night in front of their furious and energetic fan base, scoring four unanswered goals to come from behind and defeat the Stars by a final score of 5-3.
The Stars looked lazy and unmotivated throughout the majority of the game. The defense was in a fritz, with each of the six members turning in a final performance riddled with errors. The offense took a season-low 17 shots on net throughout the entire game and barely controlled possession throughout the final 40 minutes. Kari Lehtonen stood his ground as best he could, but in the end surrendered four goals on 24 shots, mainly due to the lack of defensive effectiveness in front of him.
Overall, it was just a pathetic game. The Dallas Stars surrendered just about all of their momentum to the home team Wild, and have to play Minnesota one more time in St. Paul on Wednesday before moving back home for a pivotal game five.
Things may not be looking entirely too good for the Stars at this point, but this loss was bound to happen sooner or later. In fact, the Dallas Stars should be happy that it came along in this fashion.
The Dallas Stars entered this season with one goal on their minds: gaining a fast start that led to a playoff berth. They achieved that in magnificent fashion. But now that the postseason has come along, there were some questions raised against Dallas. Would they have enough playoff experience? Would the offense learn how to deal with scoring less? Would the defense and goaltending handle postseason pressure?
The Stars proved to be effective in the majority of these categories. But something they would have to deal with is an excruciating loss that has the potential to turn the tide of the series.
The Wild embarrassed Dallas last night. They out-hustled, outscored, out-skated, and overall performed significantly better than the Stars. That is what happens when a team becomes desperate. This is very similar to what happened to the Dallas Stars in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After fighting hard in games one and two on the road in Anaheim, the Stars battled back at home and tied the series at 2-2.
Minnesota has an opportunity to do the exact same thing and salvage the momentum. This is where the loss can serve as a motivational factor for Dallas. They saw what it was like to get smacked in an opponent’s building. They felt the harassment and the threat sent from the state of Minnesota. The seats were full last night, and will more than likely be full Wednesday night as well.
It’s time for the Dallas Stars to rally together and figure this thing out before it is too late. But they have done that well in the past, and they have the potential to do it again. Rallying is always a significant defining moment in a team’s run, and the Stars need to figure out how it is done. This will only serve them better down the road.
More stars: Go In Openminded And Take It All In, Stars Fans
The Stars needed this loss to have a firsthand experience at what losing a playoff game is like. It sucks and it could become critical to the team’s survival. Blowing through the first round on a 4-0 sweep would not teach Dallas what they have hopefully learned about losing.
It is time to use the pain as motivation and strive to be better, faster, and stronger come Wednesday night in St. Paul. It is an enticing time in this playoff series, as things have once again gotten interesting. The Dallas Stars need to rally together and figure out their weaknesses in order that the Wild may no longer exploit them. It’s time for a quick rebirth so they can come out swinging tomorrow night.
Next: Stars Must Avoid Kryptonite In Games 3 And 4
In the end, the Stars probably just lost on purpose so they could win game four and then come home to win game five on home ice, right?