Dallas Stars Top Three Games Of 2015-2016 Season
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars put together some exceptional games this past season. It’s hard to determine which ones were the most entertaining, but we took a crack at it below. Enjoy.
It’s officially been one month since the Dallas Stars stood on their heads in a game six matchup with St. Louis to emerge victorious and force a game seven. Most Stars fans are either a part of the, “Wow. It’s been a month already” group or the, “Gosh, only one month? This offseason is never going to end.”
Whatever the case may be for you, just know that we are inching closer and closer to more exciting times. While the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks wrap up their Stanley Cup Finals series, the rest of the NHL waits in agony for a clean slate.
But it’s almost time to get involved again. If the NHL sticks to tradition, the regular season schedule should be out in the next two weeks. The NHL awards will take place on June 22. The 2016 NHL entry draft is scheduled for June 24-25. And as everyone knows, the free agency market opens up on July 1st.
With today being June 9th, all of this is just about within a matter of three weeks. The offseason is about to get very fast and very full, and that’s how the Dallas Stars have come to like it.
Since general manager Jim Nill took over the club’s front office in 2013, the Stars have yet to go through an offseason without making a blockbuster trade and signing at least one or two free agents. It’s always an aggressive time of year for Nill, and it’s definitely exciting to see what he does to the team with each passing year.
But in this coming offseason, he may not have to do much. That’s because the 2015-2016 regular season was the best one the Dallas Stars have put together in over a decade.
The Stars finished with an astounding 50-23-9 record and 109 points, good enough for second place overall in the NHL. They won the Central Division title and took first place in the Western Conference as they entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While they did get knocked out in the second round, their season was an incredibly strong effort and they more than likely will have an even stronger push next season.
With 50 wins to choose from, it’s rather difficult to pinpoint the three best victories of the season. But, since it’s the offseason and the Stars are still in downtime, we decided to go ahead and make a logical guess on the three most entertaining games of the season. Enjoy the walk down memory lane.
3. October 8, 2015: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars had experienced some troubles with their season openers in years past. With a regulation loss to the Florida Panthers in 2013 and a shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2014, the Stars needed to set the record straight in front of their fans.
They did just that to start this year off. Facing off with the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the season, the Stars eliminated all the doubt surrounding their team in this first game and used the momentum throughout the rest of the season.
The game had barely even gotten underway when rookie Mattias Janmark scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot during his first NHL shift. Ales Hemsky, who set Janmark up on the first goal, would go on to score a power play goal of his own in the second period.
Jamie Benn closed out the scoring with a power play deflection goal to put the icing on the cake. Led by a strong 37-save shutout from Antti Niemi in the crease in his Stars’ debut, the game could not have had a better outcome.
2. December 8, 2015: Carolina Hurricanes @ Dallas Stars
This is one of the most entertaining and definitely the wackiest game of the Stars entire season. The Stars welcomed the struggling Hurricanes to Big D. Being the first place team in the NHL, it seemed like a one-sided affair. Through the first period, it looked as though Dallas would be routing the Canes.
In a matter of 11:55, the Dallas Stars received goals from Patrick Eaves, Jamie Benn, Johnny Oduya, and a PPG from Tyler Seguin to take a 4-0 lead into the locker room. It seemed as though the game was already over, but you cannot trust any lead, especially with the Stars.
The second period got underway, and Jaccob Stavin scored early on to get the Canes within three. But Valeri Nichushkin capitalized with 34 seconds to go to once again take a four-goal lead into the intermission.
The third period began, and in a matter of 10:56, the Hurricanes found a way to tally four goals. So now the game was at 5-5, and Stars fans were feeling a familiar aching in their stomach that they had not felt since the middle of the 14-15 season.
Patrick Sharp made sure to get rid of that ache. With just 19 seconds to go, the Stars were in the middle of a power play when Sharp scored to take the 6-5 lead and the eventual win for Dallas. It was no cakewalk, but the Stars found a way to make a game against an average team both exciting and much too close. Still, a thrilling win is a win.
1. March 22, 2016: Dallas Stars @ Chicago Blackhawks
The Stars entered Chicago in late March with one thing on their minds: clinching a playoff spot. Dallas had fought hard all year and were one mere win away from being the first Western Conference team to clinch.
Now, of course, I had to include a win against the Chicago Blackhawks, because they are always oh so much fun, and usually pretty rare. Except for this past season, when the Stars went 4-1-0 against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
I could have chosen the 4-0 shutout just before Christmas. I also could have picked the 4-2 win that included a Patrick Eaves hat trick or the 5-2 win back home in Dallas. But this one just seemed like the most relevant simply because the Stars clinched a playoff spot in dominant fashion.
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Similar to what they did in the Carolina game, the Stars offense was on fire early in the game. Colton Sceviour, Vernon Fiddler (2), and Patrick Eaves all tallied goals in a matter of 7:09 to take a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. Talk about scoring early and often against a championship-caliber club.
In the second period, the Stars and Hawks traded goals towards the end to make it a 5-1 affair going into the third. Another period of trading goals that included a Cody Eakin empty netter would seal the game at a 6-2 victory for the Dallas Stars.
The Stars would officially clinch a playoff spot for just the second time in the past eight years and eventually take first place in the highly-contested Central Division.
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Of course, these are just three of 47 memorable games this past season for Dallas. If you’re feeling lonely or if there’s a hole in your life, just scroll through the Stars schedule from this past season and look at a couple of the game recaps. It definitely brightened my day up. Enjoy your day, Stars fans. The fun times are almost here.