Dallas Stars Love To Make Memories Against Arizona Coyotes
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars made Tuesday night worthwhile by beating the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 in overtime. In the recent past, the Stars have made it a tradition to hit milestones when playing the Coyotes.
Last night was yet another painful reminder of just how ruthless the 2016-17 season has been to the Dallas Stars.
In a game that meant very little to Dallas (besides playing spoiler) and a lot to the opposing Nashville Predators, the Stars were utterly humiliated in front of their own fans. The Preds jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first 21 minutes of the game and eventually ended with a 7-3 victory. Dallas had two “own goals” and changed goalies after 13:02 of playing time.
Everything went wrong yet again and the Stars ended up on the wrong side of the paddle. They fell to 33-37-11 on the year and remain at 77 points. With only one game to go, the loss means that the Dallas Stars will not reach the 80-point mark since the 1995-96 season (not counting the 2013 lockout season, of course). Things are very bad in Dallas.
Upon first glance, it seems as though there are some quick fixes that can be applied in the offseason. Playoffs are out the window this season, but this team knows how to rebound strongly and have the basic tools necessary to make a turnaround as early as next year. It all depends on how they conduct themselves in the offseason. A few tweaks could get this team back in top-notch form.
Dallas Stars
But before that can happen, they will have to sit back and watch the postseason play out while planning out a careful road map for a jam-packed 2017 offseason.
And before that can start up, the Dallas Stars still have one more game in this three-game homestand that needs to be played before they can officially call the season over and done with.
Last night’s result is disappointing considering the strong note that the Dallas Stars started the homestand off with on Tuesday night. The Stars welcomed the Arizona Coyotes to town to wrap up a three-game series that had seen Dallas win the first two games.
It’s no secret that both the Stars and Coyotes (30-41-10) have missed the mark this year. Neither team was ever able to get the ball rolling in the right direction, and now both will suffer the consequences of an early offseason.
Tuesday night’s game meant nothing besides who would earn bragging rights. But the Stars had a different plan in mind. After going up 2-0 early in the game, Dallas coughed up two goals to Arizona and entered overtime with what seemed to be very little motivation.
But Dallas surprisingly came out on top, and Julius Honka was to thank for scoring the overtime winner.
It was Honka’s first NHL goal, and it couldn’t have been prettier or more perfectly timed. After creating a few quality chances through the game and into the extra period, Honka went bar down on Mike Smith to close the game out. Here’s a replay of the goal.
After watching the game, I began to think back on some of the younger Stars’ first goals. What I realized was that the Dallas Stars have seen a lot of “firsts” when playing the Coyotes.
In the past five years, Antoine Roussel, John Klingberg, Brett Ritchie, and now Julius Honka have all scored their first NHL goal against Arizona. It is also worth noting that former Star Jordie Benn registered his first fight against Eric Selleck of the Coyotes.
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For Roussel (watch the goal here) and Ritchie (fast forward to :25 or simply watch the entire thing and enjoy the memorable New Year’s Eve game), they scored in their NHL debuts. For Klingberg, it was only his sixth game (see the slick goal here). And for Honka, it took him 14 games.
But they all came against the Arizona Coyotes, which is interesting. There are more than likely some other “firsts” that the Dallas Stars have endured when facing off against Arizona, but these are the initial ones that come to memory. It’s a crazy pattern that has developed, that’s for sure.
So if you are a rookie in the Dallas Stars’ organization, you might want to start hoping for your big-league debut to be against the Coyotes. If so, you just might have something exciting happen that you will be able to tell about for the rest of your life.
Next: Learning From Season's Mistakes Will Help Stars Out
Just three more periods until a long and much-needed offseason for the 2016-17 Dallas Stars. Enjoy it while it lasts. They close it all out tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche.