Dallas Stars Continue To Shine, Knock Off New York Rangers 3-2

The New York Rangers came into Monday night’s game with eight straight wins under their belt, looking for nine against a relatively hot Dallas Stars squad. They did not get their wish, as the Dallas Stars stumped the Rangers 3-2. The Stars improve to 16-14-4, along with 7-2-0 in their last nine.

Game recap

The Dallas Stars started the game out with some very good chances, but most of them could not find their way to the net. The Rangers slipped through the defense on one shift, causing Jason Demers to take a hooking minor with 15:12 left. With 14:03 remaining, J.T. Miller slipped through Jordie Benn and Jyrki Jokipakka and sent one sailing past Lehtonen to make it 1-0 Rangers. The Stars went to their first power play of the game moments later after Tanner Glass was called for tripping. With 10:58 left in the first, Erik Cole sent a pass to John Klingberg at the point who slammed one past Henrik Lundqvist, tying the game at one. With 7:45 left, Colton Sceviour and Tyler Seguin set up Jamie Benn for a grade-A chance, but it was tipped wide. With 4:14 left in the first, Ales Hemsky sent a backhand at the net that was tipped by Marc Staal in, giving the Stars the 2-1 lead. Exactly one minute later, Staal sent a shot from the point that was deflected by Kevin Hayes and in, tying the game back up at two. The first period came to an end with the Stars and Rangers tied 2-2, with nine shots a piece.

The Rangers started out the second period with some chances in the Stars zone, but with 19:06 left in the second, Cody Eakin andbRyan Garbutt combined to get the puck on the net, and Antoine Roussel sent it home on the backhand rebound, gaining a 3-2 lead for the Dallas Stars. The Stars had a “too close for comfort” event in the defensive zone, when Kari Lehtonen became sprawled out of net, leaving it open. A shot was fired by Chris Kreider, but Jokipakka slid into the crease and took the puck in an awkward area, but the Stars cleared and avoided the tie. The Dallas Stars took to the power play effort for the second time after Tanner Glass went off for interference with 10:38 left in the second. They almost beat themselves when they turned the puck over in their zone and handed the current second place NHL goal scorer Rick Nash a prime chance, but Nash shot wide, springing a great chance for Trevor Daley as he passed across to Jamie Benn on the opposite side of Lundqvist, but Henrik swallowed it whole. The Rangers ended up killing the penalty. Nash attempted to make another run with around 15:00 left, but Alex Goligoski stood tall and stopped his chance at a shot. With 18:40 left, Tyler Seguin was called for holding, giving the perfect Rangers power play their second chance of the night. The Stars finished the second down a man but held their 3-2 lead. The Rangers held the 20-17 shot advantage.

The Dallas Stars started the third period down a man for the first 40 seconds, but they killed it. Mats Zuccarello tripped Jamie Benn with 18:00 left in the third, but the Rangers survived a furious Dallas attack. Derick Brassard was sent to the box with 10:40 left, giving the Stars their fourth power play of the night, but they were unsuccessful. Kari Lehtonen had to make some key saves, and handled them all through the middle stretch of the third. The two clubs spent a few minutes trading goals back and forth, with neither side coming out with a tally. The Rangers pulled Lundqvist with 1:24 and called their timeout with :51 seconds left. But the Rangers couldn’t find a goal and the Stars walked away with the 3-2 win, snapping the Rangers eight game winning streak!

Thoughts and Observations

The Dallas Stars power play has been terrific over the last two games, going 3 for 8, if you don’t count the last two seconds of the St. Louis Blues game where they were technically on the power play.  These numbers are not too shabby, considering how it has been since the beginning of the season. The penalty kill is 4 for 6 over the past two, but could still use a little more work.

The Dallas Stars have been versatile as can be when scoring goals over the last two games. They have yet to see a goal from the top line since December 21, and three of the past seven goals have come from members of the blue line. It is always a good sign when the scoring is as spread out as the Stars have it.

The top line of Benn-Seguin-Sceviour has found many quality chances over the last two games, but have yet to pin one to the back of the net. Hopefully they will get out of this funk and back to cashing in.

John Klingberg and Erik Cole earn my stars tonight. I don’t feel like giving a third, okay? But these two were fierce on the power play and played a complete and smart game. Let’s hope they keep it up. The Stars could use it.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 28 of 30 shots, earning the first star of the game, and continues to produce effective results.

The Dallas Stars continue to surge, with a 7-2-0 record in their last nine games. They will look to continue their hot streak as they make their way back into a playoff spot.

The Dallas Stars face the struggling Arizona Coyotes next, looking for another two points. Check back to Blackout Dallas for c9verage on the game! We’ll have post game quotes up later. Go Stars!