Dallas Stars Self-Destruct Again In 3rd, Lose 5-4 To Lightning
Final. 5. 23. 4. 119
The Dallas Stars morphed an easy win into a dreadful loss in the final 20 minutes of Saturday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the 5-4 loss, the Stars have most assuredly knocked themselves from playoff contention due to the winning capabilities of the teams they are fighting with in the hunt.
Game recap
The first period turned out to be a much more enjoyable one than anyone expected. Curtis McKenzie started the good chances After holding possession for the first few minutes, Shawn Horcoff was called for slashing with 14:55 left, sending the Dallas Stars to their first penalty kill chance of the night. They followed suit and pulled off an excellent kill. After the kill, the Stars seemed to lose all of their energy and motivation and the Lightning took advantage with a few quality chances, all smothered by Jhonas Enroth. But with 8:44 remaining in the first, Jamie Benn was called for tripping immediately as he started his shift. With that power play, Anton Stralman was able to tip one past Enroth with 7:01 left. Just 25 seconds later, Brian Boyle was called for hooking, sending the Dallas Stars to their first power play of the night. One minute later, Tyler Seguin, who has missed ten games with a knee injury, sniped a power play goal home, immediately making his presence felt and feared. Sadly, with 4:08 remaining Nikita Kucherov glided into the zone and sent one sailing into the twine behind Enroth, sealing the 2-1 lead for the Lightning. Another penalty was taken by Jyrki Jokipakka, but the Stars managed to kill it off. They went into the locker room down 2-1 with the 11-10 shot advantage.
The second period turned into the Dallas Stars show. After roaring out with a few early good chances, Tyler Seguin received a luscious feed in front of the net from John Klingberg who was behind the net. Seguin cashed in with 16:08 left in the period, bringing the game back to even. About halfway through the second, Klingberg was dealt the puck, and as he skated towards the boards to let the Stars set up in front of him, his skate awkwardly twisted as he was gliding and he immediately iced the puck and left the ice, skating off on only his right leg. With 8:57 left, Alex Goligoski received a nice bank pass off the boards from Colton Sceviour. He launched the puck towards the net and found the stick of Vernon Fiddler who deflected it home, giving the Stars their first lead of the game at 3-2. At the 12:18 mark, Jason Demers went off for a questionable goaltender interference call, but the Stars easily killed the penalty off. At the end of the second, they led the Lightning 3-2. The Lighting held the 21-20 shot advantage. The Lightning are known for their high energy third periods.
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Bolts by the Bay
Known for their third periods they are, and the Lightning obliterated the Stars in the final twenty minutes. It’s difficult to watch a team with so much hope lose it all in the third period over and over again, but that is what the Dallas Stars have become. Just 3:40 into the third, Alex Killorn scored on a broken Stars defense that was in the middle of a poorly-timed line change. The goal knotted the score up, and the Dallas Stars continued to submit. Less than two minutes later with 14:29 remaining in the final frame, Victor Hedman advanced into the Stars zone during another poorly-executed change and scored to take the 4-3 lead. The Lightning had a 4-on-2 chance when Hedman found the back of the net. The Dallas Stars seemed to wake up a bit after learning that their lead had diminished and reversed while the Lightning sat back and paid no attention to offense and focused solely on defense. The Stars pulled Enroth around two minutes left, and it was not long before Hedman took a hooking penalty, giving the Stars a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 1:17. After Andrey Vasilevskiy made three more spectacular saves to add to his already crammed highlight reel of the third period, Brian Boyle sent a prayer from his knees in his own zone down to the Stars net. What do you know, that prayer was answered, as they always seem to be against Dallas. Boyle scored the empty netter and sealed the deal. But Fiddler pulled back into the fight and scored one of his skate with 2.6 seconds left. The Stars dropped the game 5-4.
Thoughts and Observations
The Dallas Stars went 2 for 2 on the power play and made a strong statement on both chances they had.
Tyler Seguin came back and the Stars still could not pull out a win, even with two goals from their leading score. You know things are bad when something like that happens.
John Klingberg did not return from the game and was sidelined with a lower body injury. His status is still questionable.
Jhonas Enroth looked disgruntled and a bit too loose in the third period. He could have saved one or both of the goals he allowed with a little more effort from the blocker side. Neither goal was a skillful one in any way. Enroth finished with a save percentage of .852, not what you want from your goaltender.
It is about time to pack up shop. The Dallas Stars took a loss while all other teams in the race that they need to worry about (Colorado and Winnipeg) gained wins. The Stars are now dead last among teams that are in competition for the playoffs and sit ten points back with 16 games left in the season. Not even a miracle could help them now, so it is time to wait in awe for the 2015-2016 season. This one is as good as over.
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