Dallas Stars Perseverance Helping Prove Their Cup Readiness
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars took it to the city of St. Louis last night in game four after being embarrassed in game three and beat the Blues. You might as well call them Cup contenders at this point.
Shania Twain seems to be quite the influential musician. Yes, I’m talking about the singer who released her last original song in 2012 and has not written any headline-grabbing tunes since the early 2000’s.
She may not be as relevant as she used to be, but that does not mean she cannot keep making a difference, specifically in the Dallas Stars’ locker room.
On Thursday morning, the Stars held their typical morning skate at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis before game four of the Western Conference semifinals that night.
Dallas had been royally trounced and embarrassed by the home team Blues in game three by a score of 6-1 in game three. This game had been played just two days prior, and the Stars were in dire need of a win in game four if they were expecting to have a shot at winning the series and advancing.
Going into game four, the Stars were already being counted out (for what seemed like the 5,000th time throughout this playoff race). So many things went wrong in game three for Dallas, including only scoring one goal, going 0/4 on the power play and 5/7 on the penalty kill, and allowing a plethora of goals to find their way to the back of the net.
The night ended with Ryan Reaves wrestling Curtis McKenzie to the ice and blowing a kiss to the Dallas Stars’ bench that was standing in a lethal mixture of disbelief and rage.
Before game four, Jamie Benn and Lindy Ruff both talked about the kiss that was blown in their direction. “We embarrassed ourselves, and then we got embarrassed,” coach Ruff told the Dallas Morning News. “I think that all plays a factor.” Jamie Benn added that, “It’s something you don’t forget.”
After the morning skate on Thursday, the Dallas Stars entered the locker room and took a few personal moments before the media came in to “loosen up.” By loosen up, I of course mean listening to Shania Twain as loud as the speakers could go.
Why was it Shania? Who knows. Did it work? It looks like it, and that’s what matters.
Following puck drop, it was clear that the Stars were at least more prepared than they were for game three. Jamie Benn drew a hi-sticking penalty against Jay Bouwmeester and the Stars pinned three shots on net, but came up unsuccessful. Vladimir Tarasenko would eventually find his way behind the defense and receive the puck for a breakaway at Kari Lehtonen that he ended up scoring on.
The Stars struggled through the rest of the first period, and many (including myself) expected it to be another one of “those” nights that Stars’ fans know so well. But Radek Faksa and Patrick Sharp had other plans, and both scored in the second period to take the 2-1 lead. The Blues struck back, and the game wallowed into overtime.
Dallas was 0-2 in playoff overtime going into last night’s extra session, but improved to 1-2 when Cody Eakin roofed a shot on Elliott and officially knotted the series up at 2-2 on their way back to Dallas.
We can blame it on Shania Twain all we want, but she is not the sole reason that the Dallas Stars are now back in this fight and acting like they want to stay for the long run. The other thing is clear and aggressive perseverance.
Lindy Ruff enjoys pointing out the ability that this specific Stars team has acquired over the past season in terms of being able to bounce back. Fans seemed to have finally gotten sick of that excuse, so the Dallas Stars put their own revolt into orbit. The put their nose to the grindstone as they have many times this past season, and gutted out a 3-2 overtime victory.
This series has been tight from the very beginning, making game three’s pummeling an unexpected event. The Stars slipped by with a 2-1 win in game one, and the Blues returned the slim favor with a 4-3 overtime win in game two.
So what was it that helped motivate the Stars in enemy territory against a team with all of the momentum in game four? You guessed it: perseverance.
The Dallas Stars ground it out last night and figured out a way to finally stun the Blues’ intimidating squad and clinch their second series win. Things looked a little sloppy in the beginning for Dallas, but they picked up two goals in the second to inject hope back into their fan base.
More stars: Stars Get Sweetest Revenge On Road In Overtime
The Blues were quick to answer, leaving many Dallas Stars fans to believe that the Stars would continue their tradition of controlling the play in the third and never finding the back of the net while the other team gets one average chance and cashes in on it (see reference to “one of those nights” above).
But the Stars continued to push, giving every ounce of effort they had. Lehtonen stood on his head and made some show-stopping saves, Ales Hemsky was skating like he was in his early 20’s, Radek Faksa could easily be considered the MVP of the night, and Cody Eakin struggled along but scored when it mattered most.
All of this is not natural among most NHL teams. Most rely on their primary starting goalie and their top two or three forwards and defensemen to get the job done, while the others fill the voids. This is why the Dallas Stars are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. No matter what anyone says about them or how the odds are stacked against them, they never lay down in submission to anyone.
Next: Stars Turning A Kiss Of Insult Into A Kiss Of Death
These two teams are making sure that we enjoy the battle, with one set of fans going to bed angry every other night simply because they believe that their losing team should have won. Game five is going to be just as pivotal as last night’s was, so make sure to attend and/or be watching from home. Puck drop is an early one, scheduled for 12:00 on Saturday in the warm, homely confines of the American Airlines Center.