Blackhawks Score Four In Third Period, Pummel Stars 6-2

The Dallas Stars proved once again that they are still unable to play in the third period, and this most recent example stung, as the Stars were thrashed and thwarted by their division rivals the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 on Sunday night. The Dallas Stars are now 2-3-0 in their last five, 6-8-4 on the season, and remain at the bottom of the barrel in the Central Division. The Chicago Blackhawks are now 10-7-1 on the year and have moved into third place in the Central.

Game recap

The Chicago Blackhawks could not have asked for a better start to the game, and after just 1:18 of action, they found themselves with an early 1-0 lead after Duncan Keith capitalized on a beautiful feed from Patrick Kane in the left circle. The Stars seemed to break after this goal, thinking that enough was enough, and with 15:11 left in the first, Erik Cole sent a nice pass in front of Corey Crawford’s net to Curtis McKenzie who stabbed it home to tie the game at one a piece. This was McKenzie’s first goal in the NHL. A mere 39 seconds later, Shawn Horcoff found Vernon Fiddler’s rebound on the left side and sent it home for the Stars first lead of the night. John Klingberg was awarded the secondary assist and tallied his first NHL point with it. Antoine Roussel and Andrew Shaw found each other’s scents on the ice and dropped the mitts for their second career bout just 3:29 after Horcoff’s goal. With 8:02 remaining in the first, Brent Seabrook netted his first of the night while on the power play and tied the game at 2.

The second period was dead quiet, with nothing more than two penalties on Dallas to make the 20 minutes interesting.

The third period arrived, and the Stars followed tradition. With 15:11 left in the last frame, Patrick Kane fished a rebound out up close and sent one through rooftop on Lehtonen, claiming the lead back for the Hawks. It took about nine minutes for the Stars to put their first shot of the third on net, and by then it was far too late. With 7:26 remaining in the third, Jonathan Toews picked up a juicy rebound and took it around back of Lehtonen and scored on the rebound due mainly to a severe lack of defense. The lack did not improve either. Less than two minutes later, Kris Versteeg managed to get an open blast off from mid-range and make it 5-2 Hawks with 5:41 left. But wait, there’s sadly more. Brandon Saad found the back of the net one more time for Chicago with 4:31 left and sealed the deal at a 6-2 margin.

Thoughts and Observations

First off, this is not the way the Big Finn wanted to spend his 31st birthday. But apparently the defense did not acknowledge his wish. The Stars defense continues to be a nuisance and plague in the third period. They gave up three bad turnovers that led to goals and overall just did not seem like they wanted to win or even play. They left open lanes on Lehtonen and did not play tight on the puck through the last 20, and that needs to change before the losses become too much to bear. Lehtonen gave his best effort, but had no help in front and simply could not control the game by himself.

Chicago has some pretty decent actors on their team, don’t you think? Daniel Carcillo started it off when he flipped out after Klingberg merely touched him, and then Bickell followed suit after Garbutt barely touched him with his stick blade and he hit the ice like he had just been shot. Either way, the Blackhawks only converted on one of their four power play chances, but those four minutes could have been spent on the other side of the ice.

Lastly, this third period is the lingering kryptonite of the Stars. This year, they have scored 11 goals and have given up 27 goals in the third period through these first 18 games. Tonight ties the most they have given up in a single game this season at four, with the other coming against the San Jose Sharks a week ago. The Stars were also outshot 23-5 in the third tonight against Chicago, and could not produce the effort needed even for one goal. Some things you can fix in practice, but this problem that is hurting the Stars can simply only be solved mentally in the heads of each player. Who knows how long it will take to get sorted out.

The Dallas Stars now face a five game homestand, where they will face the Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Minnesota Wild. The Stars are 2-3 against all these teams combined and currently hold a record of 1-4-4 at the American Airlines Center. It looks like a double negative for the Stars. Will they be able to clean up their act and get back to their former status before it is too late?

Their next game is Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 CST. Will the Stars be able to get themselves a much needed win?

Keep an eye on Blackout Dallas for previews and post-game reports, along with news and insight regarding the matchup.

Comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Go Stars.