The Dallas Stars are Disheartened, but not Submissive
The Dallas Stars will face off with the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the American Airlines Center, looking to regain some ground that was inexplicably lost Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche.
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The Dallas Stars, for about the umpteenth time this season, found a way to dominate their opponent last night, but still find a way to lose. The Stars held a 2-0 lead against the Colorado Avalanche, along with a 19-8 shot advantage, at the end of the second period last night at the American Airlines Center. The third period came along, and the Stars turned their mindset into the “don’t lose” mentality. This gave the Avalanche some breathing room, and they took advantage of it, scoring two goals in the third to tie it up, with the equalizer coming on the empty-net, man-advantage with 19.7 seconds left in the game. The Stars were forced into overtime and eventually a shootout, where they lost in the eleventh round.
“I could sense some frustration today with the fact that we didn’t win. You put that much into it. I really didn’t like our practice today because some of that frustration was in the practice, too.” -Lindy Ruff
This is not the first time this season that the Dallas Stars have outplayed an opponent and still found a way to end up in the loss column. At this point, it seems that they were lucky to snag a point from this one.
Jamie Benn did not take the game lightly, either. “It was a tough one sleeping last night,” said Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn. “You are 20 seconds away from getting two points, and then you turn around and you only get one. It’s tough to give up those leads and lose games like that, but there is the positive that we outplayed them pretty much the whole game. But we’ve got to find a way to win these games down the stretch.”
The Dallas Stars may have lost, but do not seem discouraged in the slightest and continue to find positives in their gameplay. If they continue to outplay the other team, they will have no trouble winning games down the road that leads to playoffs. First off, they must find that road. The Stars have outshot their opponents 147-118 since the All Star Break, and sit with a record of 2-1-1 as a result of that fact. If they can learn to keep the intensity up for the entire 60 minute frame in both the offensive and defensive zone, they should have no trouble in closing out games that they hold a lead in. They will face a Tampa Bay Lightning team tonight that leads the league in scoring with an average of 3.17 goals per game. The Stars sit very close behind in second with 3.14 goals per game. It will be a battle of the offenses and how mentally focused the defenses can play.
The Dallas Stars are currently sitting in a tie for tenth place with the Minnesota Wild with 54 points. In ninth is the Colorado Avalanche, who beat the Stars Tuesday night, with 55 points. The Stars and Wild have a game in hand on the Avalanche, who only have 15 regulation or overtime wins, compared to the Stars 21 and the Wild’s 22. The Stars are five points out of the final wild card spot, and seven points out of the first wild card spot. They have a game in hand regarding the last wild card spot, and three games in hand regarding the first wild card spot. They are also ten points out of third place in the Central Division with a game in hand (we can dream, right?).