Dallas Stars: Finding Motivation In Predators’ Game Two Performance

After splitting a two-game road trip to start their playoff series against the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars returned home with high hopes. But after dropping a big game three on home ice, the pressure is on. It seems as though now would be an ideal time to look back on game two for inspiration.

Succeeding in the Stanley Cup Playoffs requires a short-term memory. And right now, that’s exactly what the Dallas Stars need.

It’s been one week since the Stars began their 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs journey against the Nashville Predators. As the series began, it seemed as though the two clubs would provide one of the most entertaining stories of the opening round.

So far, they haven’t disappointed. The Stars and Predators have put on a thrilling bout through the first three games of the series, with neither team taking a confident hold of the series so far. Every contest has been determined by one goal, with strong defense, goaltending, and penalty killing taking center stage for both clubs.

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There have been some brutal hits, crafty plays, and big comebacks in each game so far, leaving both teams with a sense of cautious optimism as they approach the back half of the series.

And although there isn’t a frontrunner to win the series just yet, the Predators own a 2-1 series lead.

That lead was established on Monday night when Nashville stole a game three win in Dallas. The term “stolen” might not even be enough when describing how the game played out.

That’s because for the first time in the series, Dallas thoroughly outplayed Nashville. The Dallas Stars outshot the Predators 42-28, outhit them 42-23, owned the face-off dot with a 57 percent win percentage, and held an edge both in giveaways and takeaways.

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And yet, they couldn’t secure a win in front of a sold-out American Airlines Center crowd. They dug in, mounted a comeback from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game midway through the third period, but couldn’t close out the game.

Part of that was due to their power play, which went 0/4 on the night and couldn’t capitalize on a long 5-on-3 opportunity in the second period. The power play is now 1/13 in the series and hasn’t scored a goal since its second overall opportunity in game one.

Another part can be blamed on Ben Bishop. The Dallas goaltender, who was superb in his first two starts of the series in Nashville, gave up a handful of soft goals that helped the Predators maintain the lead. One of those soft goals came from a spinning Mikael Granlund on the half wall off of the face-off. It should have been a routine stop, but Bishop deflected the shot off of his blocker and into the net. The goal ended up as the game-winner.

And so, the Dallas Stars find themselves in a 2-1 hole in the series. But that’s no reason to panic. Why not?

“You never get too high and never get too low,” said Stars coach Jim Montgomery about the approach going into game four. “It’s 2-1. I think we’ve been the better team in two out of three games. Keep playing like that and usually the hockey gods get back on your side.”

The Stars will be back at home on Wednesday night and will look to even the series before heading back to Nashville for game five on Saturday. There’s an opportunity to get back to even ground and push back to the Music City with momentum on their side. On the other hand, there’s also an opportunity to be pushed to the brink of elimination before heading into enemy territory in a game six that could end up determining the series.

With that being said, the pressure is on. The Dallas Stars aren’t necessarily in a compromised spot. Like Montgomery said, they have arguably been the better team in two of the first three games.

It all started in game one when the Stars stuck to their usual game plan and suffocated the Predators in a strong, defense-based comeback. After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, Dallas bounced back with a Miro Heiskanen power play goal in the second period. That goal sparked a three-goal push from the Stars that helped them get out and stay out in front for the rest of the game.

On top of that, they dominated game three and should have won had it been for a power play goal or a bad night in their crease.

But then there’s game two. That’s a different story entirely.

After picking up the early lead in the series on Wednesday and taking two nights off, the Stars were back in action at Bridgestone Arena as they looked for a dominant 2-0 lead before shifting back to Dallas.

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The Predators didn’t let that happen. Instead, they bounced back from a slow start to the series and dominated game two. They possessed the puck better, generated more offensive chances, won outshot the Stars 42-23, went 6-6 on the penalty kill, outhit the Stars 23-17, and dominated the face-off dot by winning almost 60 percent of the draws.

To top it all off, they didn’t panic when the Stars drew first blood on a Jamie Benn goal early in the second period. Instead, they remained determined and tied the game up on a Rocco Grimaldi goal two minutes later.

The Predators outshot the Stars 16-9 through one period of play and 29-15 through two periods. And when the game was forced into overtime thanks to a stellar showing from Ben Bishop, the Predators continued to press and eventually capped off a 2-1 win on a Craig Smith goal.

Simply put: the Nashville Predators were the better team in game two and picked up a big home win to even the series before hitting the road.

That’s where the Dallas Stars can find their motivation going into Wednesday night.

When comparing the two games, there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn. The home team fought hard in their first game on home ice and seemed to own the momentum, but couldn’t close out a close game due to the road team capitalizing on a small handful of chances. The losses dropped the home team to one game back in the series and forced them into a high-pressure spot going into the second home game of the series.

"“There’s a lot of teams that go up one and end up losing the series. We gotta be humble and keep working. They’re still the favorites over there, so we just have to go out, try to do our job, help each other out, and be a good team. We have to go from there.” – Mats Zuccarello after Game 1"

That’s where the Stars can mirror the Predators. Nashville didn’t panic after falling into a 0-1 hole in the series. They regrouped, bounced back, and dominated in the second game in front of their raucous home crowd. They built up some momentum before heading on the road and used it to start a win streak.

The Dallas Stars have already talked about regrouping and focusing on winning game four. They talked about it during the game three postgame press conference, at practice on Tuesday, and on morning skate on Wednesday.

“I thought we played well and we had a chance to win,” said Bishop on Monday night. “Obviously, you’d like to make that save and get the 2-1 win there, but it didn’t happen. That’s why it’s a seven-game series, and we’ll bounce back in game four.”

“We stay patient with it and we stay calm,” added Stars forward Tyler Seguin. “We’re really a composed group here and we’ve learned that over time this year. We’ve faced lots of adversity and lots of ups and downs. It’s going to be a long series like I said.”

But now they have to go and do it. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the ultimate mental game for hokey players, and only the composed end up enduring and surviving.

“This is a very tough time of year mentally,” said Stars defenseman Ben Lovejoy following game one. “The emotions are incredible. You win one game, you feel like you’re winning the Stanley Cup. You lose one game, you feel like you’re going to get swept and the series is over. We’ve spoken a great deal about that. We need to be even keel. We have not won anything. We’re still the seven seed and we’re playing the two seed.”

Now, it’s time for the Dallas Stars to get it done on home ice. They’ve lost four consecutive home playoff games dating back to 2016.

But they aren’t out of this series yet. They have momentum and they have proven on multiple occasions that they can outplay the reigning Central division champions.

A bounce back is required, though. They still have home ice and a rowdy crowd on their side. They still have one of the NHL’s top goaltenders that will try and shake off a rough game three showing. They still have a belief and plenty of determination to get the job done. After all, it’s only 2-1.

If they can follow the Nashville blueprint from game two and respond to the road team stealing a game in their barn, there’s no reason that they can’t recapture the series momentum. They have to come out more desperate, more determined, and more focused.

If they can play their game, keep their heads held high, and take control off of the opening draw, this series could still be anyone’s for the taking.

The push to get back to even starts tonight at 7 p.m. from the AAC.