What Dallas Stars fans have been waiting for months to see is exactly what they got tonight: a vengeful win over the St. Louis Blues and their first domination of the year.
The Dallas Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues, 6-2, in their first match-up at the American Airlines Center since being eliminated from the playoffs last spring.
Recap
The first period saw the Dallas Stars taking a lot of offensive chances, but ended with the two teams tied, 0-0.
Patrick Eaves scored off of a deflection in front of St. Louis’ Jake Allen to take a 1-0 lead. St. Louis then tied the game at 11:26 of the period. John Klingberg, however, tallied a goal fewer than 20 seconds later after a beautiful feed from Jamie Benn to restore the one-goal lead. Dallas took their 2-1 advantage into the second intermission.
The third period saw the floodgates open for the Stars.
Stephen Johns added to the Stars’ lead with a goal on the tail-end of a Stars power play, when there was a delayed call against the Blues, to make it 4-1 Dallas. St. Louis challenged the play, but it was upheld. Midway through the third period the Blues looked to have cut Dallas’ lead to two with a goal from Alexander Steen, but after a Stars challenge the goal was deemed as goaltender interference.
Klingberg added an empty net goal to give Dallas a 5-2 lead. Seventeen seconds later Jordie Benn scored, with Allen in the net, to put Dallas up four goals over the Blues. The Stars went on to win 6-2 over the Blues and earn their two points in a high-scoring fashion.
Thoughts and Observations
Dallas Stars Get Strong Response
The Stars were a great team at responding to adversity last season. When they were scored against, they turned right around and got their revenge almost immediately.
Tonight’s game saw a glimpse of that with Klingberg’s first goal of the season and Dallas’ second of the game midway through the second period, only seconds after they had given up a goal against. That goal was a turning point in the game because it re-established Dallas’ confidence in themselves.
More from Analysis
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Taking a look at the teams the Dallas Stars will be playing in the preseason
- Should the Dallas Stars revisit signing Patrick Kane this season?
- Realistic regular season stats for Dallas Stars Roope Hintz
- Realistic regular season stats for Dallas Stars Joe Pavelski
The home crowd was supporting the Stars and appreciating the fact that they were up 1-0. To give that up on a strange play with a bouncing puck was deflating. However, Benn’s ability to power his way through the offensive zone and make that kind of a pass to No. 3 kept the crowd in it.
Playing at home is supposed to be an advantage and last season the Stars made the American Airlines Center a place to fear for the opposition. This year’s rough start has reduced that reputation a little, but plays like Klingberg’s in the second period really contributes to getting Dallas back to a home-dominant team in the NHL.
Big Plays from Big Names
The Stars have been not-so-patiently waiting for their big name forwards to play their game. Tyler Seguin looks to have finally come out of his shell and is ready to make an offensive impact.
Tonight’s game featured No. 91’s touch on for of Dallas’ six goals scored tonight. He assisted his teammates throughout the game with incredible passes and great shots to produce rebounds. That kind of a contribution isn’t going to happen on a nightly basis, but it certainly is a confidence boost to produce so many points in one night.
Another name that was notably on the score sheet and easy to spot on the ice was Jamie Benn. He’s a player teams know is tough to defend against, but he hasn’t been himself lately. Maybe it was the offseason abdominal surgery or the pressure of having to follow-up such a great season last year. Whatever the case, it was nice to see the old No. 14 powering through the Blues’ defensive zone tonight.
Benn was instrumental in Klingberg’s goal in the second period mere seconds after the Stars surrendered the tying goal. He skated through his offensive zone, lost the puck and then regained possession in order to make a fantastic pass to Klingberg. That kind of skill is possessed by only a few players in the league and Dallas is lucky enough to have one on their team.
He added an assist on Klingberg’s second goal of the night, an empty netter that made it 5-2.
Overall, it’s great news that the two best forwards for the Dallas Stars have seemingly returned to last season’s form. They’ve managed to make strides in their season to improve and Dallas fans have to hope they can maintain this level of play for as long as possible.
Next Game
The Stars will have the chance to continue their upward streaking momentum Saturday night as they host another Central Division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks.