Dallas Stars Seem Lost, Confused in 4-0 Loss to Wild

It wasn’t a pretty sight in St. Paul, Minnesota tonight as the Dallas Stars fell hard to the Minnesota Wild to drop to 3-4-1 on the season. Post game recap below.

The Dallas Stars fell to the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in tonight’s match-up.

Recap

The first period saw Dallas fall behind as the Wild scored shorthanded. They took their 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The second period saw the Stars fight hard and spend a large portion of the frame in the offensive zone, but they still trailed the Wild 1-0 going into the second intermission.

Everything fell apart for Dallas in the final twenty minutes. The Wild capitalized three times in the span of fewer than fifteen minutes and ended the night taking home a 4-0 victory over the Stars.

Thoughts and Observations

Passing Them By

The Dallas Stars fell victim to bad passing again tonight. They were troubled in their transition from zone to zone and it was difficult for there to be any type of consistency with their play.

Dallas was unable to find their teammates on the ice and it seemed like another discombobulated night for the Stars. Yes, their lines have been switched up, but that’s a Lindy Ruff system.

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It’s not a good enough excuse to say that a player isn’t used to a teammate because it’s the NHL. Harsh as it may be, that’s the bottom line. As a player in this league, you have to be able to adapt your game and play with almost anyone.

It certainly is more challenging to play on a line or in a partnership that is unfamiliar, but that’s the name of the game. Passing is something that happens at every level of hockey and it isn’t the slightest bit unreasonable to expect quality passing from the Stars.

Identity Crisis

This is a Dallas Stars team that doesn’t know who they are. They led the NHL in scoring last season, but that certainly hasn’t been a highlight in October this year. They’re not a particularly defensive-minded club and they’ve yet to decide definitively on a starting goaltender.

Not exactly the best combination for the creation of a new identity. Dallas is lost and confused about who they are and they need something to spark the resiliency of last season. While injuries have plagued this club just a few weeks into the season, they can’t be using that as an excuse.

Saying that some of your best players are hurt doesn’t affect the standings. And because it won’t change their placement in the league, it isn’t something to focus on.

They have the players in the line-up that they have. As simplistic as that sounds it’s something they need to remember because harping on the fact that Patrick Sharp is injured isn’t helping anyone.

Effort

One good thing about the game tonight was Dallas’ work ethic. They didn’t end the night with two points and they weren’t excellent in any particular part of their game, but they tried. The Stars continued to push the Wild, especially in the second period, and they gave themselves a shot to stay in the game.

That ultimately fell apart when the Wild went on a scoring frenzy in the third period, but still their hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Next Game

Maybe this stretch of bad hockey will be a motivator for the Stars. Maybe they’ll change their special teams approach or figure out how to pass to one another again. Until that time, we’ll wait.

Next: Stars Shouldn't be Afraid to get Scrappy

Dallas will look to get back on the right path Tuesday night as they finish off their road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets.