Dallas Stars Lose in Shootout to Colorado Avalanche
103. Final. 4. 119. 5
The Dallas Stars (27-25-10) lost a valuable point in the Western Conference standings to the Colorado Avalanche (27-24-11) tonight, giving them 64 points on the season with twenty games remaining. The Stars will look to get back on track as they take on the Anaheim Ducks Sunday.
Recap
The first period started with a lot of back and forth play as each team accumulated offensive opportunities. In fact, they went almost half of the period without a stop of play and there had only been four face-offs in the first fifteen minutes of play. One of those was at 8:49 when Dallas’ Colton Sceviour took a high-sticking penalty, but Dallas had an effective penalty kill to keep the game 0-0. A 2-on-1 opportunity for the Avalanche was created when the puck got behind Jason Demers on the offensive blue line, but Jordie Benn made a good play to break it up. Then with just under two minutes remaining Jason Spezza tripped a Colorado player in the offensive zone to give the Avalanche their second power play of the period. The teams went into the first intermission tied 0-0.
The second period saw the Avalanche have twenty-two seconds of power play time, but the Stars’ penalty killers proved to be successful once again. Dallas then had an extended shift right after the penalty was killed, however, they were unable to score. Cody Eakin netted his 13th goal of the season at 2:45 to put the Stars up 1-0. Dallas then had their first man advantage of the night, but they didn’t convert. Colorado’s Tyson Barrie scored on a slap shot from the circle on a shot Kari Lehtonen should have stopped to tie the game 1-1. The very next shift, however, Spezza scored to restore the one-goal lead and put Dallas up 2-1. The teams then exchanged power play opportunities as Jamie Benn was called for hooking and during the penalty kill Alex Goligoski was high sticked to put Dallas on a power play of their own. Neither team scored on their respective man advantages and the game remained 2-1. Dallas took their one-goal lead and a 24-7 shots advantage into the second intermission.
To start the third period the Avalanche were aggressive in the offensive zone, trying to get more scoring chances being that they were held to seven shots through the first forty minutes. Despite their best efforts the Avalanche couldn’t score. Eakin netted his 14th of the season and second of the night at 3:05 of the third period to put Dallas up 3-1. That lead didn’t last long as Colorado’s Jarome Iginla got his 19th goal of the season at 5:43 of the period to cut the Stars’ lead in half. The Avalanche weren’t done there as they scored with just over thirteen minutes remaining to tie the game 3-3. Antoine Roussel then established another one-goal lead after a breakaway pass from Eakin, giving him three points on the night. Dallas, however, couldn’t hold onto their lead again as Colorado’s captain Gabriel Landeskog tipped in a shot to tie the game 4-4. Despite having a 33-20 shots advantage and having held multiple leads the teams remained tied 4-4 at the end of regulation.
Overtime saw the Stars and Avalanche exchange chances, including a missed opportunity by John Klingberg right in front of Varlamov, but neither team scored to win it.
Colorado shot first in the shootout as Ryan O’Reilly scored to put the Avalanche up 1-0. On Dallas’ first attempt Spezza missed the net. Colorado’s Matt Duchene was stopped by Lehtonen to start the second round, and Jamie Benn was poke checked. In the third round Lehtonen stopped Alex Tanguay to keep it going, but Vernon Fiddler couldn’t score and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 5-4 in the shootout.
Thoughts and Observations
Stepping Up
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Jason Spezza has taken over as the first line center for the Dallas Stars in Tyler Seguin’s absence and he has stepped up his play immensely. Spezza netted his 14th goal tonight, giving him eight points in the seven games since Seguin’s injury. Overall Spezza’s ability to turn up the intensity of his play when Dallas is dealing with a lot of injuries to forwards shows not only his skill, but his leadership within the room. If the Stars are going to make a serious run at the playoffs they’ll have to see continued contributions from veterans within the group, like Spezza. Even if Dallas misses the playoffs it is an encouraging sign that Spezza is becoming more comfortable playing the system.
Losing Leads
The Dallas Stars are a confusing team to say the least. They win games in which they are outshot, lose games they could have easily won, and can go from up by multiple goals to losing in a matter of minutes. Tonight was no different as the Stars lead 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, and 4-3 only to let Colorado come back and tie it up 1-1, and eventually 3-3 after a 75 second span that saw the Avalanche net two. Roussel’s breakaway goal put the Stars up 4-3, only to have Landeskog tip in a shot only a few moments later to once again tie it up at 4-4. Lately the Stars can’t, for whatever reason, play well enough for the full sixty minutes to come up with two points. It is especially detrimental in games like tonight when they lose to teams that are either just ahead or just behind them in the very competitive standings.
Confidence
Professional sports are arguably just as mentally taxing as they are physically, and the Dallas Stars this season are proof of that. They dominated play for the first two periods, only allowing seven shots against, and found themselves up 2-1 going into the third period. The Stars are well aware of their lack of ability to protect leads and it showed tonight as they, once again, surrendered leads and stopped doing what it was that made them so successful during the first forty minutes. When it comes down to it you can’t expect to be a playoff team when you give up every single lead you have in a hockey game. Dallas’ lack of confidence on the back end as well as Lehtonen’s rather disappointing season have proven to be the downfalls of the year for a Dallas Stars team that has so much potential.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back for the preview and post game analysis on Sunday as they take on the Anaheim Ducks.
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